Fire extinguishers – Apparatus which isolates flames from non-burning area
Patent
1996-11-12
1998-10-06
Pike, Andrew C.
Fire extinguishers
Apparatus which isolates flames from non-burning area
22218901, A62C 400
Patent
active
058163336
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a flame-barrier device that is intended to prevent flames propagating or to prevent an explosion front propagating at a determined location.
1. Field of the Invention
More precisely, the invention relates more particularly to such a device suitable for being installed in pipes that serve to convey a gaseous substance or a mixture of such substances that are flammable or explosive.
2. Background of the Invention
In systems for recovering hydrocarbon vapor, e.g., those relating to dispensing gasoline, there is a requirement that flame barriers shall be inserted in ducts that convey an explosive mixture of air and gaseous hydrocarbons in order to prevent propagation of flames or of an explosion front. Flames, and worse, an explosion can be created in such a gasoline pump by other apparatuses requiring mechanical or electrical power for their operation. This applies in particular to the pumps proper where parts in relative motion can give off sparks by shock. Similarly, a source of heat can give rise to deflagration of said explosive gaseous mixture which it is important to confine in space and prevent from propagating.
In such flame barriers, it is desired to produce a flame-throttling effect by causing the incandescent gases to pass through a plurality of small-diameter ducts that are long relative to their diameter and that are made of materials having high thermal conductivity, high specific heat, and a large heat exchange area. That leads immediately to a drop in the temperature of the gas and stops propagation. In all cases it is desirable to make holes that are long and small in diameter, which is very difficult to do using conventional techniques.
Such flame barriers are already known constituting some quantity of small-diameter metal tubes stacked together in a bundle and held together by welding or by adhesive. The set of individual tubes may be fixed inside a ring, with the assembled flame barrier being essentially round and symmetrical in shape, e.g., having the shape of a disk. Nevertheless such devices are expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,690 discloses a flame-barrier device constituted by an assembly of several disks pierced by holes and spaced apart by spacers, with the openings through the disks being disposed in a staggered configuration.
United Kingdom patent No. 723 936 describes a flame-barrier device provided with a plurality of openings that are essentially parallel relative to a flow of substance passing therethrough, the device being constituted by an assembly comprising a plurality of pierced disks whose openings are in alignment. In that known device, the pierced disks are separated by disks or sheets of fine gauze.
Another known type of such a flame barrier consists in winding a previously corrugated tape onto a cylindrical central part. The turns of the winding are kept apart by winding them simultaneously with a flat tape. The spiral-wound corrugated tape whose turns are held apart by the flat tape forms a disk which is fixed inside a ring. The corrugations may be parallel to the central axis of the flame barrier, thereby providing passages parallel to the flow direction of the substance passing therethrough, or they may be at an inclination relative to the central axis.
As described, that method of obtaining such a flame barrier remains quite expensive and suffers from the severe drawback of giving rise to a device that can itself be deformed by the pressure wave of a deflagration or an explosion, tending to extrude the individual turns relative to one another by sliding.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is thus to provide a flame-barrier device which is guaranteed to operate also under explosion conditions because of its stability and resistance to deformation, and which is nevertheless easy to manufacture and therefore cheaper.
To achieve this object, the invention provides a flame-barrier device provided with a plurality of openings that are essentially parallel relative to a flow of a substance passing through the
REFERENCES:
patent: 5415233 (1995-05-01), Roussakis et al.
Audic Bernard
Marcy Gerald
Pike Andrew C.
Schlumberger Industries S.A.
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