Hyperbaric hypoxic fire escape and suppression systems for multilevel buildings, transportation tunnels and other human-occupied environments

• US 6,560,991 B1
• Filed: 12/17/2001
• Issued: 05/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Firepass Corporation
• Original Assignee: Igor K Kotliar
• Inventors: Kotliar, Igor K.
• Primary Examiner(s): CAPOSSELA, RONALD C
• Application Number:
  US10/024,079
• Publication Number:
  US 20030074917A1
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• Field of Search: 626/40, 62/78, 169/45, 169/61
• US Class Current: 62/640
• CPC Class Codes: A62B 7/14 for high-altitude aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 3/0221 for tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 3/07 in vehicles, e.g. in road vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 99/0018 using gases or vapours that do not support combustion, e.g. steam, carbon dioxide
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/102 Nitrogen
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/104 Oxygen
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/22 by diffusion manufacturing semi-permeable membranes B01D67/00; form, structure or properties of semi-permeable membranes B01D69/00; material for semi-permeable membranes B01D71/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/12 with vaporisation of a liquid disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air A61L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/502 Vehicle-mounted mixing devices
• CPC Class Codes: F17C 7/04 with change of state, e.g. vaporisation

Abstract

Hyperbaric Hypoxic Fire Escape and Suppression System is provided for multilevel buildings, transportation tunnels and other human-occupied environments. The system produces and maintains a hypoxic hyperbaric environment in a separate part of a building (staircase shaft) or a tunnel (service tunnel) in order to provide an entirely secure escape area in case of a fire emergency and instantly extinguish an ongoing fire in a building or a tunnel by releasing a breathable hyperbaric hypoxic fire-extinguishing composition into location affected by fire. Additionally, the system provides continuing adequate protection against biological and chemical warfare and contaminants by filtering ambient air before processing it by the system and by establishing breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere at a positive atmospheric pressure inside a building or tunnel.

Claims

1. A hyperbaric hypoxic fire safety system for buildings, transportation tunnels and other human-occupied environments, said system comprising:

a pressurized compartment having a hypoxic atmosphere inside at a pressure higher than standard atmospheric pressure at the installation altitude;

said hypoxic atmosphere being a breathable hyperbaric hypoxic fire-extinguishing composition having an oxygen content in the range from 7% to 14%;

an apparatus supplying said compartment with the hypoxic composition and constantly maintaining a hyperbaric pressure inside;

said composition being filtered from dust particles, biological and chemical contaminants;

said compartment having multiple entries, each with an airlock or a door, and selectively communicating trough said entries with an adjacent normobaric environment and providing an access in both directions;

said hyperbaric hypoxic composition being released from the compartment into said adjacent environment in case of a fire in order to extinguish it by replacing an ambient air in said adjacent environment with a breathable fire-extinguishing atmosphere being created as a result of the air mixing and replacing process.

2. The system according to claim 1 and

said apparatus being a hypoxic generator station consisting of an air compressor and an oxygen-extraction device; said hypoxic generator station processing ambient atmospheric air by filtering it from contaminants and extracting a part of oxygen from it and providing an oxygen-reduced gas mixture into said compartment at an increased pressure;

said oxygen-reduced gas mixture having comfortable temperature and humidity provided by an air-conditioning unit.

3. The system according to claim 2 and

said oxygen-extraction device employing an oxygen-enrichment membrane, molecular-sieve adsorber or cryogenic air separator in order to extract a part of oxygen from ambient air.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said airlock having at least two pressurized hermetic doors, one on each side;

normally said doors open selectively allowing entry via standard airlock operation;

said airlock doors open simultaneously in a fire affected floor or a part of a tunnel by a signal from a fire detector or a control station and releasing the hyperbaric hypoxic composition from said compartment into the floor affected by fire;

after the hypoxic composition being released into a floor affected by fire and a barometric pressure inside said pressurized compartment drops to near standard level, all external airlock doors open in the whole building allowing easier entry through an internal door that can be opened by a signal from an optical sensor or a motion detector initiated by an approaching person.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said hypoxic fire-extinguishing composition being released in case of a fire directly into a unit or room affected by fire, said release is provided via an emergency ventilation conduit connecting said pressurized compartment with a unit or room affected by fire;

said conduit being normally closed on one or both ends by a closing device that can be opened by a signal from a fire detector or control station;

the release of the hypoxic composition can be provided into several units simultaneously in order to extinguish possible multiple fires.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein

in order to provide continuing adequate protection for a whole building or tunnel in case of a biological or chemical warfare, said hypoxic composition being released into multiple parts of the building or tunnel and establishing a positive pressure inside that is maintained further by said apparatus that continuously supplies sufficient flow of said composition;

said composition being produced from an ambient atmospheric air cleaned from chemical and biological contaminants by special intake filters and being additionally sterilized by a high-efficiency outlet filter.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein

a normal operation pressure inside said compartment is maintained at a level from 1 to 6 atmospheres of absolute atmospheric pressure or up to 5 atmospheres of relative gauge pressure;

said pressure can be increased in some applications.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said compartment being a staircase shaft of a building and said adjacent normobaric environment being the remaining part of the building;

said staircase having multiple entries leading to each floor or section of the building.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said compartment being an external staircase shaft of a building and said adjacent normobaric environment being a floor or a floor unit of the building;

said staircase shaft having pressurized doors communicating with each floor or section of the building through multiple escape bridges;

said pressurized door open automatically when pressure inside said compartment drops to near standard atmospheric pressure.

10. The system according to claim 1 wherein

after said hyperbaric composition being released from said compartment, said hypoxic atmosphere becomes near normobaric and is kept hypoxic further at a minor positive pressure by said apparatus.

11. The system according to claim 1 wherein

after said hyperbaric composition being released from said compartment, its internal atmosphere becomes normobaric and normoxic and said apparatus supplying said hypoxic composition into said adjacent environment.

12. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said compartment being an escape tunnel selectively communicating with said adjacent normobaric environment being a main-use tunnel or a tunnel network.

13. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said compartment being a part of a human-occupied environment having said adjacent normobaric environment as a main-use area.

14. The system according to claim 1 wherein

said compartment being a human-occupied environment inside an underwater structure, submarine, military vehicle or other hyperbaric structure.

15. A fire escape and suppression system for buildings, said system comprising:

a pressurized staircase compartment having an internal hyperbaric atmosphere therein at an absolute pressure in the range from 1 to 2 atmospheres;

said internal atmosphere consisting of a hypoxic air having oxygen content below 14%;

said hyperbaric compartment selectively communicating through airlock means with multiple normobaric human-occupied compartments containing an ambient air at standard atmospheric pressure and, when needed, releasing said hypoxic air into selected normobaric compartment(s) in order to create a fire-extinguishing atmosphere inside by mixing with and replacing said ambient air;

a hypoxic air generation device supplying said hyperbaric compartment with the hypoxic air and constantly maintaining a hyperbaric pressure inside;

said hypoxic air generation device producing the hypoxic air from ambient atmospheric air by means of extracting from it a part of oxygen;

said hyperbaric atmosphere being a breathable fire-extinguishing composition having an oxygen partial pressure at a safe human-respiration level;

said staircase compartment being accessible at any time for normal staircase operation or for maintenance work;

an emergency ventilation conduit for transmitting said fire-extinguishing composition into a normobaric compartment affected by a fire;

said ventilation conduit being closed during normal operation by a closing means that can be released by a signal from a fire detection system;

said fire detection system comprising multiple fire and smoke detectors installed in each room of the building and a main control panel communicating with the detectors, said closing means, airlock doors locking devices, said hypoxic air generation device and a back-up power supply unit.

16. The system according to claim 15 wherein

said emergency ventilation conduit being an aperture in a wall of said human-occupied compartment, normally closed with a lid having a locking device that can be unlocked by a signal from said fire detection system.

17. The system according to claim 15 wherein

said emergency ventilation conduit being a ventilation duct leading from said staircase into said human-occupied compartment, said duct being normally closed with at least one lid having a locking device that can be unlocked by a signal from said fire detection system.

18. The system according to claim 15 wherein

said hyperbaric atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure at a safe for human respiration level of over 142 millibar.

19. A hyperbaric hypoxic fire escape and suppression system for buildings, said system comprising:

a building and an external hyperbaric hypoxic fire escape staircase shaft;

said staircase shaft having an internal atmosphere of a breathable fire-extinguishing composition at a hyperbaric pressure and pressurized doors that, when open, communicate with the building'"'"'s floors through escape bridges, each having an entry door on the building'"'"'s side;

said pressurized doors being normally closed and inaccessible due to a hyperbaric pressure applied from inside of said staircase shaft and release automatically by a spring-type device installed in a door frame when said pressure drops to near standard;

said staircase shaft communicating with a building'"'"'s floor and/or floor unit through an emergency ventilation conduit for releasing said fire-extinguishing composition from said shaft in case of a fire;

a device supplying said composition into the staircase shaft under said hyperbaric pressure;

said device having an oxygen-extraction apparatus processing ambient air filtered from biological and chemical contaminants;

said device communicating with said hyperbaric staircase shaft via preinstalled piping;

said device with the oxygen-extraction apparatus reducing oxygen content in the processed ambient air in a range between 8% and 14% and transmitting the oxygen-reduced product, being said breathable fire-extinguishing composition, into said staircase shaft.

20. The system according to claim 19 and

said escape bridges being enclosed structures providing an airlock-type operation;

said internal atmosphere remains hypoxic after said hyperbaric composition being released into a part of the building and continues to be kept at a slightly positive pressure by said device providing a supplementary flow of said composition into said shaft for its further delivery into the building.

21. The system according to claim 19 and

said escape bridges being open-air structures communicating with the external atmosphere;

said staircase shaft becomes normoxic after said hyperbaric composition being released into the building that continues to be kept at a slightly positive pressure by said device providing supplementary flow of said composition into said part of the building.

22. The system according to claim 19 and

said hyperbaric pressure being normally kept inside said staircase shaft is in the range from 1 to 6 atmospheres of absolute pressure or higher, when needed.

23. A hyperbaric hypoxic fire escape and suppression system for transportation and communication tunnels and mines, said system comprising:

a normobaric tunnel or tunnel network having ambient air environment inside and communicating with the outside atmosphere;

a pressurized tunnel having a hyperbaric hypoxic atmosphere inside at an absolute atmospheric pressure above 1 atmosphere or 1.013 bar, said pressurized tunnel selectively communicating during normal operation with the outside atmosphere and said normobaric tunnel by multiple means of an airlock or a depressurization chamber;

said hyperbaric hypoxic atmosphere being an oxygen-reduced air having an oxygen content in the range from 7% and 14% and providing an oxygen partial pressure at a safe level above 142 millibar;

said oxygen-reduced air having a fire-extinguishing property;

an oxygen-extraction device communicating with said pressurized tunnel and providing said oxygen-reduced air at a hyperbaric pressure into said pressurized tunnel;

a fire-detection and control system that detects a fire in said normobaric tunnel and opens the airlock closest to the fire site, allowing said oxygen-reduced air to enter and flood the normobaric tunnel or its portion affected by fire in order to extinguish the ongoing fire rapidly.

24. The system according to claim 23 wherein

said oxygen-extraction device communicating with an emergency gas storage container holding said oxygen-reduced air at a hyperbaric pressure that can be released into said pressurized tunnel when needed.