Patent ID: 7293478

Claim:
A method for an environmentally safe testing of a foam delivery system on a fire fighting vehicle, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a mobile platform adapted for movement to a location having said fire fighting vehicle, said mobile platform including a surrogate fluid storage tank and a ball valve connected to said surrogate fluid storage, said surrogate fluid storage tank containing an environmentally safe surrogate fluid; (b) transporting said mobile platform to the location of said fire fighting vehicle to conduct a test of the foam delivery system on said fire fighting vehicle; (c) connecting one end of a flexible hose to the ball valve of said mobile platform; (d) connecting an opposite end of said flexible hose to a first ball valve located on said fire fighting vehicle, said first ball valve operating as a bi-directional flow valve for testing the foam delivery system on said fire fighting vehicle; (e) closing a second ball valve located on said fire fighting vehicle to prevent Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) from a foam tank on said fire fighting vehicle from passing through said second ball valve into the foam delivery system on said fire fighting vehicle; (f) opening the ball valve of said mobile platform and the first ball valve on said fire fighting vehicle allowing said surrogate fluid to flow from said surrogate fluid storage tank into the foam delivery system on said fire fighting vehicle; (g) controlling a flow rate of said surrogate fluid through said foam delivery system, the flow rate of said surrogate fluid through said foam delivery being controlled by a multi-metering manifold valve connected to the first ball valve on said fire fighting vehicle; (h) providing an environmentally safe pressurized liquid to the foam delivery system on said fire fighting vehicle; (i) mixing said surrogate fluid with said pressurized liquid to form a surrogate fluid mixture under pressure, said surrogate fluid mixture being formed by an educator located on said fire fighting vehicle and connected to said multi-metering manifold valve; (j) providing said surrogate fluid mixture to a plurality of nozzles located on said fire fighting vehicle under pressure testing each of said plurality of nozzles with said surrogate fluid mixture; and (k) measuring the flow rate of said surrogate fluid from said surrogate fluid storage tank with a flow sensor located on said mobile platform.