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Actuators that help fireboats keep the Big Apple safe

New York City fireboats have been equipped with Rotork’s electric actuators.

The boats, Firefighter 2 and Firefighter 343, from the Marine Division of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) are using its IQ range of part-turn devices which will help keep the city safe.

The actuators have the important duty of controlling the flow of water to the fire nozzles on deck, meaning that they are vital in the event of an emergency.

The city is one of the busiest ports in the world and has 560 miles of waterfront. The FDNY has long employed the use of fireboats in order to combat fire-related incidents both on land and on the water. These two ships are the largest ones in their fleet.

Water is extracted from the river upon which the fireboats operate and the actuators then control the flow from the river to the fire nozzle.

This ensures the fireboats have access to an endless supply of water in the event of an emergency. It is critical that the flow of water to the fire nozzles is maintained at all times. Additionally, the fire nozzles are sometimes used to spray water at festival displays such as Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Fleet Week.

The IQ actuators were installed as a retrofit, after the existing electric actuators installed previously failed due to water ingress.

The IQT actuators are capable of up to 1,200 starts per hour, making them ideal for a fire-fighting application where duty cycles can be very demanding in emergencies.




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