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EMFIDS Increases Employee Safety at Con Edison




THE CHALLENGE


Con Edison owns and operates one of the world’s largest energy delivery systems, providing energy for the combined 10 million residents of New York City and Westchester County. Manholes distributed throughout both New York City and Westchester county hold invaluable electrical equipment and are occasionally prone to combusting due to inclement weather. Not only is most of the electrical machinery destroyed when these subsurface events occur, but Con Edison employees were also being put into serious danger while attempting to repair and salvage the electrical equipment held inside.

Con Edison held a thorough and comprehensive two year evaluation of fire suppressant products in search of a cost effective solution to efficiently combat manhole fires across the city while also aiming to increase employee safety.

THE APPROACH








Working in conjunction with Con Edison, Kinectrics Lab, and Amped I LLC., GelTech Solutions developed the Emergency Manhole FireIce Delivery System (EMFIDS), capable of delivering FireIce gel into a manhole via spray nozzles upon the occurrence of an emergency subsurface electrical event. EMFIDS was designed to be triggered automatically at the start of an arc or fire, coating the lineman, worker, ladder, and bucket with FireIce, providing the opportunity for the worker to escape without harm.

THE OUTCOME





FireIce and the Emergency Manhole FireIce Delivery System (EMFIDS) proved to be the most effective and efficient products at quickly extinguishing subsurface events. Con Edison and GelTech Solutions still work closely together in maintaining a safe underground environment for their employees and New York City.