Installation for fighting fire

• US 5,992,530 A
• Filed: 04/08/1998
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Marioff Corporation Oy (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Goran Sundholm
• Inventors: Sundholm, Goran
• Primary Examiner(s): Kashnikow, Andres
• Assistant Examiner(s): EVANS, ROBIN OCTAVIA
• Application Number:
  US09/051,352
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• Field of Search: 169/5, 169/9, 169/16, 169/14, 169/15
• US Class Current: 169/16
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 3/004 for freezing warehouses and storages
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 35/023 the extinguishing material being expelled by compressed gas, taken from storage tanks, or by generating a pressure gas for foam generation A62C5/02

Abstract

An installation for fighting fire in a space which includes a spray head (1a'"'"', 2a'"'"') of such a type that it is capable of producing extinguishing medium in the form of a finely divided liquid mist with a great penetrating ability and a simultaneous suction near the spray head. To obtain an installation which as regards its construction is simple and with which a fire in a space can be very efficiently extinguished so that the fumes are purified at the same time as the amount of water can be very small, the spray head (1a'"'"', 2a", 1b'"'"', 2b'"'"') is arranged in a pipe (3a'"'"', 3b'"'"') with a suction opening (67a'"'"', 67b'"'"') at a distance of 1 to 10 m from the floor level (24) of the room and a spray opening (45a'"'"', 45'"'"') near the floor level, whereby the spray head is arranged to spray in the direction from the suction opening to the spray opening to create a suction in the suction opening.

Claims

1. Installation for fighting fire in a space (100), whereby the installation comprises a spray head (1a'"'"', 2a'"'"', 1b'"'"', 2b'"'"';

1";

1'"'"'";

1"";

2"") of such a type that it is capable of producing extinguishing medium in the form of a finely divided liquid mist with a great penetrating ability and a simultaneous suction near the spray head, characterized in that the spray head (1a'"'"', 2a'"'"', 1b'"'"', 2b'"'"';

1";

1'"'"'";

1"";

2"") is arranged in a pipe (3a40 , 3b'"'"';

3";

3'"'"'";

3"") with a suction opening (67a'"'"', 67b'"'"') at a distance of 1 to 10 m from the floor level (24) of the room and a spray opening (45a'"'"', 45b'"'"') near the floor level, whereby the spray head is arranged to spray in the direction from the suction opening to the spray opening to create a suction in the suction opening.

2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe constitutes part of a pipe system (3a'"'"';

3";

3'"'"'";

3"") comprising a plurality of spray openings (45a'"'"';

45";

45'"'"'";

45"") for spraying extinguishing medium in the form of mist out of the pipe system at least essentially along the floor (24) and a plurality of suction openings (67a'"'"';

67";

;

67'"'"'";

67"") for sucking smoke gases into the pipe system, whereby the pipe system has a first elongated pipe section (910a'"'"';

910a";

910a'"'"'";

910a"") and a second elongated pipe section (811a'"'"';

811a";

811a'"'"'";

811a""), and an intermediate pipe section (12a'"'"', 13a'"'"';

13a";

13a'"'"'";

12a"", 13a"") which connects the first elongated pipe section with the second elongated pipe section, whereby the spray openings (45a'"'"';

45";

45'"'"'";

45"") are arranged in the second elongated pipe section (811a'"'"';

811a";

811a'"'"'";

811a"") in the longitudinal direction thereof and the suction openings (67a'"'"';

67";

67'"'"'";

67"") are arranged in the first elongated pipe section (910a'"'"';

910a";

910a'"'"'";

910a"") in the longitudinal direction thereof, whereby the second elongated pipe section (811a'"'"';

811a";

811a'"'"'";

811a"") is arranged near the floor level (24) of the space and the first elongated pipe section (910a'"'"';

910a";

910a'"'"'";

910a"") is arranged at a distance of 1 to 10 m above the floor level (24).

3. Installation according to claim 2, characterized in that the first elongated pipe section (910a'"'"';

910a";

910a'"'"'";

910a"") is directed at least essentially parallel to the second elongated pipe section (811a'"'"';

811a";

811a'"'"'";

811a"").

4. Installation according to claim 2, characterized in that the installation comprises a further pipe system (3b'"'"') comprising a plurality of spray openings (45b'"'"') for spraying extinguishing medium in the form of mist out of the pipe system at least mainly along the floor (24) and a plurality of suction openings (67b'"'"'), whereby the further pipe system has a first elongated pipe section (910b'"'"') and a second elongated pipe section (811b'"'"'), and an intermediate pipe section (12b'"'"', 13b'"'"') which connects the first elongated pipe section with the second elongated pipe section, whereby the spray openings (45b'"'"') are arranged in the second elongated pipe section (811b'"'"') in the longitudinal direction thereof and the suction openings (67b'"'"') are arranged in the first elongated pipe section (910b'"'"') in the longitudinal direction thereof, whereby the second elongated pipe section (811b'"'"') is arranged near the floor level (24) of the room and the first elongated pipe section (910b'"'"') is arranged at a distance of 1 to 10 m above the floor level.

5. Installation according to claim 4, characterized in that the first elongated pipe section (910b'"'"') is directed at least essentially parallel to the second elongated pipe section (811b'"'"').

6. Installation according to claim 4, characterized in that the further pipe system (3b'"'"') is arranged at such a distance from the pipe system (3a'"'"') so that the pipe systems (3a'"'"', 3b'"'"') are placed near the opposite walls of the room (100).

7. Installation according to claim 1 for a room (100) with a subfloor (23), characterized in that the installation further comprises a pipe net (3) arranged in the subfloor (23), whereby at least one spray head (1, 2) has been arranged in the pipe net to spray extinguishing medium in the form of mist into the pipe net, whereby the pipe net comprises spray openings (4, 5) for spraying mist out of the pipe net and suction openings (6, 7) for sucking and smoke gases into the pipe net and for producing a flow of extinguishing medium from the spray openings towards the suction openings, whereby the pipe net has a first elongated pipe part (910) and a second elongated pipe part (811), and an intermediate pipe part (12, 13) connecting the first elongated pipe part with the second elongated pipe part, whereby the first elongated pipe part is directed at least essentially parallel to the second elongated pipe part, and the spray openings and the suction openings are arranged in the elongated pipe parts in the longitudinal direction of the elongated pipe parts.

8. Installation according claim 7, characterized in that the spray head (1, 2) has been arranged in the intermediate pipe part (12, 13).

9. Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the pipe net (3) is rectangular, whereby the intermediate pipe part comprises a first intermediate pipe part (12) and a second intermediate pipe part (13), which pipe parts (12, 13) are essentially parallel and are located at a distance from one another, whereby the spray head (1) has been arranged in the first intermediate pipe part (12), and that the installation comprises a further spray head (2) of such a type that it is capable of producing extinguishing medium in the form of a finely divided liquid mist with a great penetrating ability and a simultaneous suction near the further spray head (2), which further spray head has been arranged in the second intermediate pipe part (13).

10. Installation according to claim 9, characterized in that the first elongated pipe part (910) comprises both spray openings (5) and suction openings (6) so that the spray openings are arranged in a first section (9) of the first elongated pipe part and the suction openings are arranged in a second section (10) of the first elongated pipe part, and that the second elongated pipe part (811) comprises both spray openings (4) and suction openings (7) so that the spray openings are arranged in a first section (8) of the second elongated pipe part and the suction openings are arranged in a second section (11) of the second elongated pipe part, whereby the spray openings of the second elongated pipe part are arranged to spray towards the suction openings of the second elongated pipe part at least essentially in a direction parallel to the intermediate pipe parts (12, 13) and spray openings of the second elongated pipe part are arranged to spray towards the suction openings of the first elongated pipe part at least essentially in a direction parallel to the intermediate pipe parts.

11. Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the first elongated pipe part (910), and the second elongated pipe section (811a'"'"') and the first elongated pipe section (910a'"'"') of the pipe system (3a'"'"') are arranged to be at least essentially in the same plane which is essentially transverse to the plane of the floor (24), and that the second elongated pipe part (810) and the second elongated pipe section (811b'"'"') and the first elongated pipe section (910b'"'"') of the further elongated pipe system (3b'"'"') are arranged to be at least essentially in the same plane which is at least essentially transverse to the plane of the floor (24).

12. Installation according to claim 11, characterized in that the pipe system (3a'"'"') is rectangular, whereby the intermediate pipe section comprises a first intermediate pipe section (13a'"'"') and a second intermediate pipe section (12a'"'"'), which pipe sections (12a'"'"', 13a'"'"') are essentially parallel and are located at a distance from one another, whereby the spray head (1a'"'"') has been arranged in the first intermediate pipe section (13a'"'"'), and that the installation comprises a further spray head (2a'"'"') of such a type that it is capable of generating extinguishing medium in the form of a finely divided liquid mist with a great penetrating ability and a simultaneous suction near the further spray head (2a'"'"'), which further spray head has been arranged in the second intermediate pipe section (12a'"'"').

13. Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the spray head (1a'"'"', 2a'"'"', 1b'"'"', 2b'"'"') of the pipe system (3a'"'"', 3b'"'"') and the spray head (1, 2) of the pipe net (3) are connected to a drive unit (14) comprising a hydraulic accumulator (15, 15'"'"').

14. Installation according to claim 13, characterized in that the hydraulic accumulator (15, 15'"'"') comprises at least one pressure container (16a, 16b, 16'"'"') with a space for extinguishing liquid and a space for propellant gas.

15. Installation according to claim 14, characterized in that a gas source (21, 21'"'"') has been coupled to the pressure container (16a, 16b, 16'"'"') to provide said container with propellant gas.

16. Installation according to claim 15, characterized in that the extinguishing liquid in the pressure container (16a, 16b, 16'"'"') is a water-based liquid and that the gas source is formed by a pressure bottle (21, 21'"'"') with incombustible gas.

17. Installation according to claim 16, characterized in that the gas bottle is a nitrogen bottle (21, 21'"'"') charged to a pressure of 30 to 300 bar.

18. Installation according to claim 17, characterized in that the hydraulic accumulator (15'"'"') for the pipe system (3a'"'"', 3b'"'"') comprises a pressure container (16'"'"') with a rising tube (17'"'"') provided with at least one side opening (18'"'"') and a feed opening (19'"'"') located at the lower part of the pressure container for feeding extinguishing liquid into the rising tube and further to the spray head (1a'"'"', 2a'"'"', 2b'"'"', 2b'"'"') of the pipe system, whereby the rising tube (17'"'"') in the area below said at least one side opening has a throttle (20'"'"').

19. Installation according to claim 18, characterized in that the spray heads (1, 2) of the pipe net (3) are arranged to be operated by a hydraulic accumulator (15) which is separate from the hydraulic accumulator (15) for the pipe system (3a'"'"', 3b'"'"') and which comprises two pressure bottles (16a, 16b) of which one (16a) is arranged to empty its liquid contents entirely into an outfeed pipe (110) which leads to the spray head (1, 2) of the pipe net, after which the other (16b) is arranged to be emptied so that propellant gas from the gas bottle is simultaneously fed to the outfeed pipe to obtain finely divided liquid mist.

20. Installation according to claim 3, characterized in that the pipe system (3a'"'"') is rectangular, whereby the intermediate pipe section comprises a first intermediate pipe section (13a'"'"') and a second intermediate pipe section (12a'"'"'), which pipe sections (12a'"'"', 13a'"'"') are essentially parallel and are located at a distance from one another, whereby the spray head (1a'"'"') has been arranged in the first intermediate pipe section (13a'"'"'), and that the installation comprises a further spray head (2a'"'"') of such a type that it is capable of generating extinguishing medium in the form of a finely divided liquid mist with a great penetrating ability and a simultaneous suction near the further spray head (2a'"'"'), which further spray head has been arranged in the second intermediate pipe section (12a'"'"').