Refrigeration – Cryogenic treatment of gas or gas mixture – Separation of gas mixture
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-11
2002-06-11
Capossela, Ronald (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Cryogenic treatment of gas or gas mixture
Separation of gas mixture
C062S078000, C169S045000, C169S061000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401487
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention introduces the method, equipment, and composition of fire prevention and suppression systems that utilize a low-oxygen (hypoxic) environment to:
Instantly extinguish an ongoing fire
Prevent a fire from getting started.
With its mode of action based on the controlled release of breathable fire-suppressive gases, this human-friendly system is completely non-toxic, fully automated, and entirely self-sustaining. Consequently, it is ideally suited to provide complete fire protection to houses, industrial complexes, transportation tunnels, vehicles, archives, computer rooms and other enclosed environments.
With the majority of fires (both industrial, and non-industrial) occurring at locations with a substantial amount of electronic equipment, this Fire Prevention and Suppression System (FirePASS™) has the added benefit of requiring absolutely no water, foam or other damaging agent. It can therefore be fully deployed without causing harm to the complex electrical equipment (and its stored data) that is destroyed by traditional fire suppression systems.
While this is extremely important to technology-intensive businesses such as banks, insurance companies, communication companies, manufacturers, medical providers, and military installations; it takes on even greater significance when one considers the direct relationship between the presence of electronic equipment and the increased risk of fire.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Current fire suppression systems employ either water, chemicals agents, gaseous agents (such as Halon 1301, carbon dioxide, and heptafluoropropane) or a combination thereof. Virtually all of them are ozone depleting, toxic and environmentally unfriendly. Moreover, these systems can only be deployed post-combustion. Even the recent advent of the Fire Master 200 (FM 200) suppression system (available from Kidde-Fenwal Inc. in the U.S.A.) is still chemically dependant and only retards the progression of fire by several minutes. Once this fire-retarding gas is exhausted, a sprinkler system ensues that results in the permanent destruction of electronic equipment and other valuables.
Exposure to FM-200 and other fire-suppression agents is of less concern than exposure to the products of their decomposition, which for the most part are highly toxic and life threatening. Consequently, there is no fire suppression/extinguishing composition currently available that is both safe and effective.
In terms of train, ship, or airplane fires, the inability to quickly evacuate passengers creates an especially hazardous situation. The majority of the passengers who died in France's Mont Blanc tunnel fire suffocated within minutes. In this case the problem was further compounded by the presence of ventilations shafts. Originally designed to provide breathable air to trapped people, these shafts had the unfortunate side effect of dramatically accelerating the fire's propagation. Especially devastating is the “chimney effect” that occurs in sloped tunnels. An example of this was the fire that broke out in Kaprun's ski tunnel in Austrian Alps.
In addition, ventilation shafts (which are present in virtually all multilevel buildings and industrial facilities) significantly increase the risk of toxic inhalation. This problem is further compounded by the frequent presence of combustible materials that can dramatically accelerate a fire's propagation.
While the proliferation of remote sensors has led to significant breakthroughs in early fire-detection, improvements in the prevention/suppression of fires has been incremental at best. For example, the most advanced suppression system to combat tunnel fires is offered by Domenico Piatti (PCT IT 00/00125) at robogat@tin.it. Based on the rapid deployment of an automated vehicle (ROBOGAT), the Robogat travels to the fire site through the affected tunnel. Upon arrival it releases a limited supply of water and foam to initiate fire suppression. If necessary, the Robogat can insert a probe into the tunnel's internal water supply for continued fire-suppression. This system is severely limited for the following reasons:
The time that lapses between the outbreak of fire and the arrival of the Robogat is unacceptable.
The high temperatures that are characteristic of tunnel fires will cause deformation and destruction of the monorail, water and telecommunication lines.
The fire-resistance of the Robogat construction is highly suspected.
The use of water and foam in high-temperature tunnel fires is only partially effective and will lead to the development of highly toxic vapors that increase the mortality of entrapped people.
One of the main safety deficiencies in modern passenger airplanes that still remains unresolved is a lack of proper firefighting and fire preventing equipment.
In fact, it is not the flames associated with onboard fire that kills most flight crews and passengers, but rather the smoke saturated with toxins such as benzene, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide. Although these and other chemicals are lethal, most victims die from carbon monoxide. This color- and odorless gas produced in abundance during fires, especially in enclosed compartments with insufficient ventilation, is extremely lethal even in small concentrations of less than one percent.
Toxic combustion products released in an enclosed compartment such as an aircraft cabin with no readily available escape means are of major concern in the air transport industry. This concern is of particular importance for passenger aircraft, because of constantly growing airplane capacity and increasing number of passengers that may be exposed.
The proliferation of toxic chemicals in modern advanced materials results in a cabin design completely made of plastics, fabrics, wiring and linings that can be extremely dangerous when they are heated sufficiently to produce gases. Survival in a toxic environment like this is limited to only a few minutes. Statistical analysis for the last decades shows that about 70-80 percent of fire fatalities result from toxic smoke inhalation.
A modern passenger aircraft is fully saturated with electric and electronic equipment, interconnected by many miles of wires and cables. Emergencies of various origins can lead to electric short-circuits with consequent inflammation of the insulating coat and surrounding flammable materials. This is followed by a massive production of toxic aerosols, which pose the main hazard, according to human fire fatality experience.
While the most important survival systems for aircraft, such as gas turbines and fuel tanks are sufficiently equipped with automatic fire-fighting systems, the passenger cabin and cockpit critically lack fire-preventive means. The use of standard fire-extinguishing substances, like Halon 2000 or the like, cannot resolve the problem, because of the high toxicity of the products of their pyrolysis. U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,426 (Miller) teaches such methods of fire extinguishing in an aircraft cabin as using ventilation ducts from the cargo fire extinguishing system, which would expose passengers to potentially lethal combinations of smoke, fire suppressants and highly toxic products of their pyrolysis.
In case of fire on board, pilots must complete an emergency checklist in order to localize the fire's origin. A pilot's emergency checklist is too long to let the crew control fires in the air. For the crew of the Swissair 111 that crashed near Nova Scotia in 1998, killing 299 people, it took 20 minutes after the first report of smoke untill the crash, while the standard checklist requires 30 minutes to complete.
It is supposed that oxygen masks would save passengers and flight crews from toxic inhalations. In reality airline pilots are instructed not to release the masks when the risk of an oxygen-fed fire would exacerbate the situation. Moreover, these masks are practically useless against combustions poisonous gases. Standard oxygen masks for flight crews and passengers have openings in
Capossela Ronald
Fire PASS Corp.
LandOfFree
Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems with... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems with..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems with... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2949872