Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems with breathable fire extinguishing compositions for human occupied environments
First Claim
1. A fire-extinguishing system utilizing breathable fire-extinguishing compositions in enclosed human-occupied spaces, said system comprising:
- a device for releasing a gas mixture containing oxygen and nitrogen;
said gas mixture containing less than 18% of oxygen for permanent use as a fire-preventive atmosphere;
said gas mixture containing less than 16.8% of oxygen for episodic use as a fire suppression agent;
said device having means for communicating with an enclosed human-occupied space and admitting said gas mixture therein in order to create a breathable hypoxic atmosphere that does not support combustion or ignition, but is suitable for human respiration.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fire prevention and suppression systems and breathable fire-extinguishing compositions are provided for rooms, houses and buildings, transportation tunnels and vehicles, underground and underwater facilities, marine vessels, submarines, passenger and military aircraft, space stations and vehicles, military installations and vehicles, and all other human occupied objects and facilities. The system provides a breathable hypoxic fire-preventative atmosphere at standard atmospheric or local ambient pressure. The system employs an oxygen-extraction apparatus supplying oxygen-depleted air inside a human-occupied area or storing it in a high-pressure container for use in case of fire. A breathable fire-extinguishing composition is introduced for constant fire-preventive environments, being mostly a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen and having oxygen content ranging from 12% to 17%. A fire-suppression system is provided employing a fire-extinguishing composition with oxygen concentration under 16%, so when released it creates a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere having oxygen concentration of approximately 16% (or lower if needed) with possible addition of carbon dioxide. A technology for automatically maintaining a breathable fire-preventive composition on board a human-occupied hermetic object is provided by introducing inert ballast that automatically maintains oxygen content under the Hypoxic Threshold. An aircraft fire prevention and suppression systems are provided utilizing hypoxic fire extinguishing compositions for producing breathable atmosphere onboard having fire-retarding properties.
99 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A fire-extinguishing system utilizing breathable fire-extinguishing compositions in enclosed human-occupied spaces, said system comprising:
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a device for releasing a gas mixture containing oxygen and nitrogen;
said gas mixture containing less than 18% of oxygen for permanent use as a fire-preventive atmosphere;
said gas mixture containing less than 16.8% of oxygen for episodic use as a fire suppression agent;
said device having means for communicating with an enclosed human-occupied space and admitting said gas mixture therein in order to create a breathable hypoxic atmosphere that does not support combustion or ignition, but is suitable for human respiration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
said breathable atmosphere containing water vapors, carbon dioxide and other atmospheric gases in quantities acceptable for breathing;
said device supplying said gas mixture constantly in amounts sufficient for ventilation of said human-occupied space in order to maintain breathing quality of the atmosphere;
said device being employed for fire prevention applications in human-occupied enclosed spaces, including but not limited to;
an aircraft, space station or space vehicle, marine vessels, underwater or underground facilities and vehicles, transportation tunnels and other isolated or enclosed human-occupied objects for living, working, transportation, sport, entertainment and further human activities.
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3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said fire suppression agent having nitrogen content below 99.9%;
- the exact content and volume are calculated in such a way that when the fire agent is released, it mixes with internal atmosphere in said enclosed human-occupied space providing breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere with an oxygen content in a range from 10% to 16% or lower, if needed;
said device being employed for fire suppression applications in human-occupied enclosed spaces, including but not limited to;
an aircraft, space station or space vehicle, marine vessels, underwater or underground facilities and vehicles, transportation tunnels and other isolated or enclosed human-occupied objects for living, working, transportation, sport, entertainment and further human activities.
- the exact content and volume are calculated in such a way that when the fire agent is released, it mixes with internal atmosphere in said enclosed human-occupied space providing breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere with an oxygen content in a range from 10% to 16% or lower, if needed;
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4. The system according to claim 3 wherein said fire suppression agent containing sufficient amount of carbon dioxide for counterbalancing hypoxia in human body, so when the fire suppression agent is released, it will provide a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere with oxygen content in a range from 10% to 16% and carbon dioxide content achieving up to 5%-10%.
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5. The system according to claim 1 wherein said device being an apparatus (132) for extinguishing or preventing fires in a surface-mounted receptacle or in a storage receptacle tank (130) which may contain a supply of inflammable fluid;
- said apparatus being movable and structurally independent of the receptacle;
said apparatus constantly supplying a breathable fire-extinguishing composition inside said receptacle allowing user to perform welding and other repair work inside.
- said apparatus being movable and structurally independent of the receptacle;
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6. A fire-extinguishing system for providing breathable fire-preventive atmosphere in enclosed human-occupied spaces, said system comprising:
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a gas release apparatus for providing a breathable fire-extinguishing composition with oxygen content below 18%, communicating with an enclosing structure having an internal environment (11, 91, 101, 110, 130, 140, 171, 191, 221, 241, 251, 272) therein and an entry (12, 131, 172, 192);
said apparatus constantly ventilating said enclosing structure with said composition, newly generated by an oxygen-extraction device (20, 50, 92, 102, 111, 132, 143, 173, 193, 262) or regenerated by a life-support system (223, 232, 242, 252). - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17)
said second outlet communicating with said internal environment and transmitting said second mixture into said internal environment so that said second mixture mixes with the atmosphere in said internal environment;
said first outlet transmitting said first mixture to a location where it does not mix with said atmosphere in said internal environment;
said internal environment selectively communicating with the outside atmosphere and emitting excessive internal gas mixture into the outside atmosphere;
said intake gas mixture being ambient air taken in from the external atmosphere outside said internal environment.
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8. The system according to claim 7 and
said oxygen-extraction device employing molecular-sieve adsorption technology (20) in order to extract part of oxygen from said intake gas mixture. -
9. The system according to claim 7 and
said oxygen-extraction device employing oxygen-enrichment membrane (50), cryogenic or other air separation technology in order to extract part of oxygen from said intake gas mixture. -
10. The system according to claim 7 and
said second outlet additionally communicating with a high-pressure storage container (97, 104, 112, 153, 265) for providing sufficient supply of said second gas mixture that can be released into said internal environment in order to suppress possible fire when said internal environment does not initially contain said second gas mixture. -
11. The system according to claim 6, wherein said life-support system having an air-regeneration module that removes excessive moisture, carbon dioxide, dust and other gaseous products of human activity from said breathable fire-extinguishing composition;
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said regeneration module constantly receiving said breathable fire-preventive atmosphere from said internal environment, replacing excessive carbon dioxide with oxygen and providing said breathable fire-extinguishing composition in amounts necessary to maintain breathing quality of said atmosphere;
said breathable atmosphere and composition containing a permanent ballast of nitrogen or other inert gas in a range from 83% to 88% being introduced therein initially in necessary amount that can not be affected by said regeneration module;
said ballast automatically preventing oxygen content from rising above 17%.
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12. The system according to claim 6 wherein said breathable fire-preventive atmosphere being recycled by a split air-conditioning system (14) in order to control its temperature and humidity inside said human-occupied space.
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17. The system according to claim 11
said enclosing structure with said internal environment therein being an area selected from the group consisting of, but not limited to: - rooms and enclosures for data processing and process control equipment, telecommunication switches and Internet servers;
banks and financial institutions, museums, archives, libraries and art collections;
dwellings and office buildings;
military and marine facilities;
aircraft, space vehicles and space stations, marine and cargo vessels;
industrial processing and storage facilities operating with inflammable and explosive materials and compositions and other industrial and non-industrial facilities and other objects that require fire safety in human-occupied environments.
- rooms and enclosures for data processing and process control equipment, telecommunication switches and Internet servers;
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13. A fire extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere in enclosed human-occupied areas, said system comprising:
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a gas storage container (97, 104, 108, 112, 122, 153, 202, 214, 265, 284, 302) holding a hypoxic fire suppression agent containing oxygen in a range below 16% and nitrogen;
said agent may contain carbon dioxide and other atmospheric gases;
said container installed in or communicating with an enclosing structure having internal environment (91, 101, 110, 140, 151, 201, 211, 275, 281, 301) therein containing internal atmosphere ambient for its location and purpose, and an entry communicating with said internal environment;
the amount of said agent detained in or released from said container being calculated so that when the agent is released into said enclosed space, it provides a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere having an oxygen concentration in a range from 10% to 16% and an optional content of carbon dioxide under 10%. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
said gas container containing said agent at a high barometric pressure, preferably above 10 bar, and releasing it when a signal from a fire and smoke detecting equipment (98, 125, 159, 285, 305) is received; said container having a release valve (107, 123, 274, 286, 311) actuated by an initiator activated by said signal;
said container having gas release nozzles (95, 106, 114, 146, 154, 175, 195, 204, 213, 268, 306) connected directly or through optional gas distribution piping (94, 105, 109, 113, 145, 152, 174, 194, 203, 212, 267, 288, 308);
said nozzles having an optional noise-reducing device in order to reduce a level of the sound from the agent release.
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15. The system according to claim 13 and
said container (97, 104, 112, 153, 265) being installed in combination with an oxygen-extraction device (92, 102, 111, 157, 262) and receiving said gas agent from it, the agent being constantly maintained under selected barometric pressure by said device and/or intermediate high-pressure compressor (103, 158, 266). -
16. The system according to claim 13 and
said container being an autonomous freestanding container (121, 202, 214) having an individual fire and/or smoke detection system that initiates release of said gas agent from said container in case of fire.
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18. An automatic fire extinguishing system for providing breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere for transportation and communication tunnels, industrial and non-industrial buildings and structures, said system comprising:
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an oxygen-extraction device (20, 50, 111, 157) having an intake and first and second outlets, said device taking in ambient air through said intake and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture, having a lower concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gas mixture, having a greater concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said second outlet;
said device communicating with an interior space (110, 151) restricted by a wall structure having an entry and exit, and multiple isolating partitions (115, 155) defining selected segments (A, B, C, D) of the interior space;
said isolating partitions being selectively closable in case of fire so that when closed, the segments are substantially isolated from each other and the outside environment;
a gas storage container (112, 153) having receiving conduit and distribution conduit (113, 152) and containing said reduced-oxygen gas mixture under higher than ambient barometric pressure, said receiving conduit being operatively associated with said first outlet and receiving said reduced-oxygen gas mixture after intermediate compression therefrom;
said distribution conduit communicating with said interior space so that the reduced-oxygen gas mixture is emitted in case of fire from said container into one or multiple segments inside said interior space;
said second outlet communicating with the outside atmosphere and releasing said enriched oxygen mixture into the outside environment;
said reduced oxygen gas mixture having oxygen concentration below 16%;
said reduced oxygen gas mixture, being released inside selected segments of said interior space in case of fire and providing a breathable fire-suppressive composition with oxygen content ranging from 12% to 16%;
said composition emitting from said interior space in amounts necessary to equalize atmospheric pressure inside said interior space with the outside atmospheric pressure. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
said multiple isolating partitions being inflatable drop curtains normally kept deflated and folded in curtain holders (116, 156) installed under ceiling throughout the interior space; said drop curtains being made of a clear and soft synthetic material in form of inflatable flaps so when inflated, they provide a sufficient obstruction for the draft or any substantial air movements into selected segments;
said curtains being inflated by a gas from a pyrotechnical device or container initiated by a signal from the fire-detecting equipment.
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20. The system according to claim 18 and
said interior space being selected from the group comprising of rooms, houses and buildings, transportation tunnels and vehicles, underground and underwater facilities, marine vessels, aircraft, military installations and vehicles, nuclear power plants, and other industrial and non-industrial human occupied objects.
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21. An automatic fire extinguishing system for providing a constant breathable fire-preventive hypoxic atmosphere for transportation and communication tunnels, industrial and non-industrial buildings and structures, said system comprising:
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a gas processing device (20, 50, 92, 102, 132, 143, 173, 193, 262) having an intake and first and second outlets, said device taking in ambient air through said intake and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture, having a lower concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gas mixture, having a greater concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said second outlet;
said gas processing device communicating with an enclosed space (91, 101, 130, 171, 191, 272) comprising an entry, exit and a wall structure defining said enclosed space;
said entry and exit having doors (131, 148, 172, 192) being selectively closable so that when closed, the enclosed space is substantially isolated from the outside environment;
said first outlet communicating with a gas distribution piping (94, 105, 145, 174, 194, 263, 271) having multiple discharge nozzles (95, 106, 146, 175, 195, 264) inside the enclosed space so that reduced oxygen gas mixture is transmitted into said enclosed space;
said reduced oxygen gas mixture having oxygen content below 17% and above 12%;
said gas processing device comprising an air pump (24), receiving ambient air through the intake (21, 51) from the outside atmosphere, and an oxygen-extraction module (20, 50) receiving compressed air from the pump, said oxygen-extraction module having a reduced oxygen mixture conduit (23, 52) and an enriched oxygen mixture conduit (22, 53);
said first outlet being operatively associated with said reduced oxygen mixture conduit and receiving said reduced oxygen gas mixture therefrom, said second outlet being operatively associated with said enriched oxygen mixture conduit and receiving said enriched oxygen gas mixture therefrom and releasing said mixture into the outside environment;
said reduced oxygen gas mixture emitting from said enclosed space in amounts necessary to equalize atmospheric pressure inside said space with the outside atmospheric pressure. - View Dependent Claims (22)
said enclosed space being selected from the group comprising of computer rooms, houses and buildings, transportation and communication tunnels, nuclear power plants, underground and underwater facilities, marine vessels, and other non-hermetic human occupied objects; said oxygen extraction module may employ gas adsorption, membrane separation or cryogenic separation technologies.
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23. A fire extinguishing apparatus for providing a breathable fire-extinguishing composition for human occupied environments, said apparatus comprising:
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a compressor (24) and an air separation device (20, 50) having an intake (21, 51) and first (23, 52) and second outlets (22, 53), said device taking in compressed air provided by said compressor through said intake and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lower concentration of oxygen than said gas mixture through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gas mixture having a greater concentration of oxygen than said gas mixture through said second outlet;
said intake being connected to a distribution valve (27, 47) providing distribution of compressed air to multiple inlets (28, 48) communicating each with an individual separation container (29) filled with a molecular sieve material that under pressure adsorbs nitrogen and water vapors, allowing enriched-oxygen gas mixture to pass through into a gas collecting tank (31) communicating with said second outlet and being operatively associated with all said separation containers and receiving said enriched-oxygen gas mixture therefrom;
each said separation container being pressurized and depressurized in cycling manner and releasing during each depressurization cycle said reduced-oxygen gas mixture being delivered into said first outlet. - View Dependent Claims (24)
said second outlet having release valve (32) allowing to keep said enriched-oxygen gas mixture being collected in said gas collecting tank (31 ) under increased atmospheric pressure, so when any of said separation containers depressurizes, a portion of said enriched-oxygen gas mixture is released from said tank back into said container purging said molecular sieve material from remaining nitrogen and water; said distribution valve (27, 47) being air distribution device selected from the group consisting of electrical, mechanical, air piloted and solenoid valves, both linear and rotary configuration, with actuators controlled by pressure, mechanical spring, motor and timer;
said distribution valve being mounted on a manifold (28, 48) that is selectively communicating with said multiple separation containers (29) and said first outlet, and selectively allowing periodic access of pressurized air inside said containers and exit of said reduced-oxygen gas mixture therefrom.
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25. A fire-extinguishing system for a human-occupied hermetic object, said system, designed for automatically maintaining a breathable fire-preventive composition onboard, comprising:
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an initial introduction of said composition containing oxygen and nitrogen into said hermetic object (221, 241, 251), said introduction provided by an oxygen-extraction apparatus (222) directly or via an intermediate gas storage container, so when said composition completely replaces air inside said object and an internal atmosphere is created, the object being sealed and further air regeneration being provided by an on-board life-support system (223, 232, 242, 252);
said composition and internal atmosphere containing an inert gaseous ballast, preventing oxygen content from rising above 16.8%;
said ballast being inert gas, preferably nitrogen, that is constantly present in said internal atmosphere in a concentration of minimum 83.2%;
said composition and internal atmosphere having oxygen concentration in a range below 16.8% and preferably above 14%;
said life-support system maintaining constant barometric pressure on board and regenerating said internal atmosphere by removing excessive carbon dioxide and providing desired level of oxygen and humidity without affecting the inert ballast content in any way. - View Dependent Claims (26)
said hermetic object being selected from a group comprising: - an aircraft, space station or space vehicle, submarine, military vehicles and facilities, underwater or underground facilities, and other isolated human-occupied objects for living, working or transport.
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27. An automatic fire-extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere on board of an aircraft, said system comprising:
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a storage and release system for a hypoxic fire suppression agent;
said storage and release system having a storage container (214, 284, 302) that contains said fire suppression agent under pressure and communicates with the aircraft interior or pressure cabin (211, 281, 301) through a gas distribution piping (212, 288, 308) restricted by discharge valves (286, 311) and gas release nozzles (213, 286, 306);
said fire suppression agent being a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide having an oxygen concentration below 16% and carbon dioxide content above 5%;
said mixture may contain other atmospheric gases;
said fire-suppression agent, being released inside said interior in case of fire, providing said breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere with oxygen content ranging from 12% to 16% and carbon dioxide content of approximately 4% to 5%, whereby an aircraft fresh air supply system is automatically shut down;
an onboard fire and smoke detection system (285, 305) that initiates the system by opening said discharge valve(s) and shutting down the aircraft'"'"'s ventilation system. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
a signal from the onboard fire detection system (285) opens the discharge valve(s) (286), releasing the fire suppression agent from the storage container into the aircraft interior while the air pumping means start pumping air contaminated with smoke from the aircraft interior into said rigid container, creating this way a positive pressure outside the storage container and forcing the entire amount of the fire agent out of it;
the excessive amount of said fire-suppressive atmosphere being released, if needed, into outside atmosphere through a pressure relief valve (290).
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29. The system according to claim 27 wherein said storage and release system having a flexible storage container (302) inflated with said fire agent up to desired pressure and located in a non-airtight rigid container (304) having additional flexible container (303) inside that is deflated and communicates with the aircraft interior (301) through said air pumping means (307);
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when smoke or fire being detected, the discharge valve(s) (311) open releasing the fire suppression agent from the storage container (302) into the aircraft interior and the air pumping means (307) start pumping contaminated air from the aircraft interior into said additional deflated container (303) that while being inflated, applies positive pressure on the storage container (302) and forcing the entire amount of the fire agent out of it;
the excessive amount of said fire-suppressive atmosphere being released, if needed, into outside atmosphere through pressure relief valve (310).
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30. The system according to claim 27 wherein said storage and release system having a high-pressure storage container (214) filled with said fire agent and communicating with the aircraft interior (211) through the gas distribution piping (212) restricted by the discharge valve(s) that can be opened by an initiator actuated by a signal from the fire and smoke detection system;
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when smoke or fire being detected, the initiator opens the discharge valve(s) releasing the fire suppression agent into the aircraft interior;
the excessive amount of said fire-suppressive atmosphere being released into outside atmosphere by pressure relief valve (215).
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31. An automatic fire-extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-preventive atmosphere on board of an aircraft or other human occupied vehicle, said system comprising
an air separation device supplying vehicle'"'"'s engine(s) with oxygen extracted during flight or motion from the atmospheric air; - said device preferably using cryogenic technology for liquefying air and extracting part of oxygen in a centrifuge;
the remaining after separation nitrogen-enriched fraction having oxygen content of approximately 16% is provided for ventilation of the vehicle'"'"'s interior, previously being warmed up to a comfortable temperature in a cooling system of the engine;
said nitrogen-enriched fraction being constantly supplied into a vehicle'"'"'s interior, creating there a breathable fire retarding atmosphere that excludes a possibility of an ignition and combustion.- View Dependent Claims (32)
the same principle being applied to an industrial and non-industrial building or facility that can use similar cryogenic oxygen-extraction system for both, producing artificial fire retarding atmosphere and generating oxygen for its own energy system; - other oxygen-extraction systems having pressure or temperature-swing absorbers, membrane separators, electric current or electric field separators and various oxygen-extractors can be employed for extracting oxygen from the atmospheric air and utilizing it by a building'"'"'s power plant, fuel cells, etc., allowing a cleaner combustion and higher efficiency of the power generating systems, and for producing breathable fire-extinguishing compositions.
- said device preferably using cryogenic technology for liquefying air and extracting part of oxygen in a centrifuge;
Specification