Issue 2 Mar 05

INTERNATIONAL FIRE TRAINING CENTRE

FIREFIGHTER INITIAL
HYDRAULICS (Calculations used in fireground operations)
Throughout this not he means he/she and his means his/hers.
Areas considered to be of prime importance are in bold type.

INTRODUCTION
This training note is intended to provide information to students attending Firefighter Initial
programme, on the subject of Hydraulics, as relevant to Rescue and Fire Fighting Services
(RFFS) employed at airports. This training note should be read in conjunction with the
previously issued Hydraulics Training Note, which deals with the basic concepts of
Hydraulics.
AIM
To ensure that all students attending Firefighter Initial programmes understand the principles
of Hydraulics and fully appreciate the role of Hydraulics in the calculations used for fireground
operations.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the instructional session dealing with this subject and after detailed study of this
note, you will be able to

State the formulas commonly used

Apply formulas commonly used to a range of theoretical situation

CONTENTS
The subject will be dealt with under the following headings:

General Review
Head and Pressure
Formulas
Rectangular Tanks
Circular Tanks
Nozzle discharge
Summary

Copyright 2000 Serco International Fire Training Centre, Teesside.

Version 1.0

Issue 2 Mar 05

GENERAL REVIEW
General
A basic knowledge is important for the safe and efficient movement of water for firefighting
purposes.
This note is produced to introduce you to hydraulics (movement of water) and to assist you
throughout your career. It should be retained for future reference.
This note is provided as an addition to the Basic Concepts of Hydraulics, as the next stage is
to appreciate and understand the need for fireground calculations.
Head
To the Fire Service this means the vertical height of the surface of the water above the point
where the pressure is to be measured. This is measured in metres (m) and expressed as a
metrehead.
1 cubic metre is expressed as 1m3. Therefore if 1m3 of water has a mass of 1000 kgs
(capacity of 1000 litres) it then exerts a force at its base of 1000 x 9.81 N/m2 that = 9810
N/m2. Remember 9.81N is the force due to gravity created by 1 kg of water at its base. So
from the information given above we can say pressure equals 9810 x Head (in metres)
Newton per square metre.
P = 9810 x H

Answer would be in N/m2.

So if we knew the pressure and wanted to know the head we could say
H = Pressure
9810

Answer would be in metres.

However the N/m2 is a small unit of measurement and involves us in using large numbers. We
can simplify. Atmospheric pressure = 101325 N/m2. 1 Bar = 100000 N/m2. So we use the Bar
instead for fireground calculations and this will give us an approximate error of 2%.
Remember 9810 N/m2 exerted by 1m3 of water. Round this off to 10000 N/m2.
2

Remember 100000 N/m 1 Bar.

Therefore if we set it out like this 1000 cancel down = 1 or 0.1 Bar
10000
10
So for every metre rise in the level of water will equal 1/10 or 0.1 Bar rise on a pressure
gauge. Then our calculation to find pressure and head becomes
Pressure = Head in metres)
10
Answers in Bars
Head = 10 x Pressure (in Bar)
Answer in metres
An example of this If we had a column of water 50m high, what is the pressure of its
base, (a) and what is the pressure half way up (b)?
a

P = (H)50 Answer 5 Bars.

10

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P = (H)25 Answer 2.5 Bar

10

A gauge registering 7 Bars, what is the head of water? H = 10 x 7 Bars.

Answer 70 meters high.
A gauge registering 2.5 Bars, what is the head? H = 10 x 2.5
Answer 25m. So 10m head = 1 Bar
FORMULAS
The calculation of the volume of water in any tank is done in two stages:

calculate the volume in cubic metres

convert the volume in cubic metres to a volume in litres

Remember there are 1000 litres in 1 cubic metre.
Rectangular Tanks
Volume of tank = length x breadth x height measured in metres
Answer in cubic metres
l x b x h = m3
Multiply by 1000
Answer is in litres
If you are asked for the contents of the tank you would have used the actual depth of
water in the tank instead of the depth of the tank.
Circular Tanks
The first step is to see how to calculate the cross sectional area of a circular tank. The
area of a circle (or cross sectional area of a circular tank) - x radius x radius.
Put this into symbols
Area of circle - r2

= 22
7

Example What is the area of a circle whose radius is 5 metres?

Area of circle=

r2

22 x 5 x 5
7

110 x 5
7

550
7

78.571

78.57 to two places of decimals

Area of circle equals 78.57 square metres.

Suppose the above was the radius of a tank 10 metres deep and we required to know the
volume of the tank.

Issue 2 Mar 05

Volume

= cross sectional area x depth

= 78.57 x 10
= 785.7 cubic metres

Contents in litres 1000 litres in 1 cubic metre

Contents

= 785.7 x 1000

Contents

= 785700 litres

Capacity of hose
When calculating the capacity of hose it is usual to calculate the capacity of one metre
length.
Capacity of hose = 8d2 litres per metre
10000
d

= 70 millimetre

Therefore capacity

= 8 x 70 x 70
10000
= 8 x 49
1000
= 392
1000

Therefore

Capacity

= 3.92 litre

Use this formula to calculate the capacity of 300 metres of 90 millimetre hose
Capacity

d
Capacity

= 8d2 litres per metre

10000
= 90 millimetre
= 8 x 90 x 90
10000

x 300

= 72 x 9 x 3
= 648 x 3
= 1944 litre
Nozzle Discharge
The function of a nozzle at the end of a hose line is to convert pressure energy into velocity or
kinetic energy. This is done by reducing the area of the cross-section through which the water
must pass. The velocity of the water issuing from the nozzle varies inversely with the size of the
nozzle. That is to say for the same rate of flow, if we reduce the size of the nozzle, the velocity
is increased or if we increase the nozzle size then the velocity is reduced.

Issue 2 Mar 05

NOTE Doubling the size of the nozzle does not allow double the quantity. It allows four times
the quantity to pass through if the same pressure is maintained. Remember Law No 3 in
frictional loss.
Calculating Nozzle Discharge
It is useful for firefighters to know the discharge of a nozzle particularly at protracted pumping
incidents.
The formula for nozzle discharge is:
L
= 2/3 d2 P
In this formula, what do the symbols L, P, d2 P stand for?
L

= discharge in litres per minute

= diameter of nozzle in millimetres

= pressure at the nozzle in bars

= square root, therefore P is the square root of the pressure

Example

What is the discharge of a 20 mm nozzle operating at a branch pressure of 4 bars.

formula

= L = 2/3 d2 P
= 2/3 x 20 x 20 x 4
= 2/3 x 20 x 20 x2
= 1600
3
533 litres per minute

SUMMARY
As firefighters we need to appreciate and fully understand where and how calculations fit into
our role. Therefore we need to recognise and be able to interpret this in a way that ensures safe
but effective firefighting conditions apply.