Control method of ascending air current by using inert gas

Abstract

To provide a method for temporarily reducing an ascending air current which is generated on the ground surface and is considered to be a cause of a typhoon and forest fire to reduce their power.SOLUTION: Provided is an ascending air current suppressing method in which, in an initial period of generation of an ascending air current, the speed of the ascending air current is weakened by inputting inert gas having a larger specific gravity than air to an area around a generation source of the ascending air current, oxygen supply to a combustion source of forest fire is controlled, which prevents the current from becoming a strong typhoon or tornado to suppress damage to the country to the minimum, wherein inexpensive inert gas such as argon gas and carbon dioxide which does not give adverse effect to an environment from surroundings is supplied toward the generation source of the ascending air current.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for temporarily lowering an updraft generated on the ground or sea. [Background technology]

[0002] The forest fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui began on August 8, 2023, and burned in the western Lahaina area until August 13. In addition, a large-scale forest fire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, western Canada in May 2016 continued to burn from May 1 to 7. In the former case, the fire reached residential areas and more than 2,000 buildings are estimated to have been burned or damaged.

[0003] It is said that approximately 800 billion yen will be needed to rebuild Maui (announced by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on August 12). The damage caused by the fires in Canada was reported to be approximately 643 billion yen (announced by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on May 7, 2016). In Greece, a forest fire broke out in the northeastern Evros prefecture on August 19, 2023, and according to the Greek government, 18 deaths have been confirmed so far. Forest fires are difficult to extinguish and often last for several days, resulting in the loss of many lives and large economic losses.

[0004] The following are some possible reasons why forest fires last so long: (1) Unlike residential fires, the source of forest fires is open space, such as undergrowth and trees. Therefore, even if water is sprayed, the water falls to the ground before it has a chance to cool the source of the fire, and it is not possible to cool the source of the fire or block the oxygen in the air. (2) The rising air currents that occur around the fire source constantly blow fresh air into the fire source from the surrounding area.

[0005] Disasters caused by rising air currents include typhoons, which occur mainly in the summer, and tornadoes, which are not seasonal. Typhoons occur off the coast of the Philippines and India, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, in the summer when the sea temperature rises, and as they develop, they make landfall in India, China, the United States, and Japan, causing great damage and economic losses. All of these are natural phenomena caused by rising air currents that rise from the Earth's surface into the sky.

[0006] Previously, there was no way to prevent fires or typhoons caused by rising air currents, and even after they occurred, there was no effective treatment and they were left to their own devices until they subsided. In 1969, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sprayed silver iodide from an aircraft near the center of Hurricane Doby. As a result, it was reported that the wind speed of the hurricane immediately after the spraying was reduced by about 30%. (See Reference 1) [Non-Patent Document 1] Fujiwara, M., 1971: Artificial Control of Typhoons: On the Storm Fury Project, Nature, 57-63

[0007] In this context, the Yokohama National University Institute of Advanced Sciences Typhoon Science and Technology Research Center has made a concrete proposal for weakening typhoons (see Reference 2). The contents of the proposal are as follows: (1) A method of equalizing the surface and interior of seawater and lowering its temperature. (2) Spreading ice on the ocean surface to lower the seawater temperature. (3) Spreading dry ice on the ocean surface to lower the seawater temperature. [Non-Patent Document 2] Journal of Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration, August 2022 issue DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, conventional methods for cooling the oceans have the drawback of causing significant adverse effects on the plants and animals that live in the oceans by lowering the seawater temperature. For example, lowering the seawater temperature using method (1) above requires huge equipment and energy to equalize the temperature of the seawater's surface and interior, which may result in further heating of the oceans.

[0009] Furthermore, the methods of cooling the oceans with ice or dry ice (2) and (3) cause a sudden change in the ratio of phytoplankton and zooplankton that live in seawater, which has adverse effects on fish that feed on plankton, mammals such as dolphins that feed on fish, and humans, who are at the top of the food chain.

[0010] The present invention aims to effectively solve the above problems by proposing a method for temporarily lowering the updrafts that are believed to be the cause of typhoons and forest fires that occur on the ground, thereby reducing their power. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a method for appropriately weakening the force of an ascending air current generated on land or sea, and is characterized by supplying an inert gas that is inexpensive and has no adverse effects on the environment, such as argon gas or carbon dioxide, from the surrounding area toward the source of the ascending air current.

[0012] This method of lowering an updraft involves supplying argon gas or carbon dioxide, or a mixture of these gases, from the surrounding area toward the source of the updraft, such as a forest fire, the eye of a typhoon, or a tornado, so as to surround the source, thereby effectively preventing air from flowing from the surrounding area into the source of the updraft.

[0013] The aforementioned mixed gas can be mixed with nitrogen, a non-flammable gas, as long as the density of the mixed gas does not become lower than the density of air.

[0014] The densities of the aforementioned inert gases are listed below. All values ​​are at 0°C and 1013 hPa. Nitrogen: 1.251g / L Argon: 1.784g / L Carbon dioxide: 1.977g / L For comparison, the specific gravity of air is: 1.293 g / L.

[0015] In addition, in the above-mentioned method of lowering an updraft, the reason an updraft occurs from the updraft source is because of a rise in temperature at the source. Air with a rising temperature increases in volume and humidity along with its temperature. The increased volume, together with the weight of air with the same volume as the water vapor, creates buoyancy, generating an updraft. This can be explained scientifically as follows:

[0016] (1) In the case of typhoons: Typhoons occur from August to October, which is the period when seawater temperatures are high. This is why water vapor, a light gas, is thought to be the main cause of the rising air currents. Seawater temperatures are not uniform, but vary from region to region, as in the El Niño phenomenon. Conversely, the La Niña phenomenon refers to the drop in seawater temperatures off the coast of South America. During the La Niña phenomenon, high pressure occurs off the coast of South America without low pressure. Since high pressure is a descending air current from the upper atmosphere, air blows down from the upper atmosphere off the coast of South America onto the sea surface, where it collides with the sea surface and spreads radially, heading eastward toward the South American continent and westward toward Indonesia. The latter easterly wind heading toward Indonesia gathers the warm seawater on the sea surface off the coast of Indonesia, which further increases the seawater temperature off the coast of Indonesia. As a result, the air on the sea surface contains more water vapor, and the specific gravity of the air in that area decreases. Figure 1 shows the seasonal changes in seawater temperature. The seasonal dependence of sea water temperature in Figure 1 can be assumed to show the same trend in the Northern Hemisphere.

[0017] Since the temperature of the surrounding ocean is 2 to 3 degrees Celsius lower than the maximum ocean temperature in August shown in Figure 1, the volume of water vapor contained in one cubic meter of air can be calculated from the water temperature and vapor pressure. (For example, Formula 1: Rissho University Faculty of Earth Environmental Sciences Department of Environmental Systems website) TIFF2025081184000002.tif1184Here, E(t) is the water vapor pressure at sea water temperature t (℃) and atmospheric pressure 1013.25 Pa.

[0018] If we apply the formula 1 above to the calculation, the vapor pressure at t = 30°C is E(30) = 42.44 hPa The mass of water vapour in 1 cubic metre of air is 30.38g / 1 cubic meter It is. If the surrounding seawater temperature is 27°C, the vapor pressure at t=27°C is E(27) = 35.66 hPa The mass of water vapour in 1 cubic metre of air is 25.78g / 1 cubic meter It is. The mass of air per cubic meter at the source of the updraft is 30.38g - 25.78g = 4.60g Decreases.

[0019] The calculation results of the buoyancy due to the lighter air mentioned above are shown below. TIFF2025081184000003.tif11125Here, G is the gravitational acceleration 9.80665m / s 2 It is. The buoyancy force of one cubic meter of air containing the generated water vapor is The result is 0.0451N. This buoyancy of 0.0451 N becomes the driving force of the updraft.

[0020] (2) In the case of forest fires: In the case of (1) above, the buoyancy was due to the release of water vapor from the ocean into the atmosphere as the ocean temperature rises. In this case, the buoyancy is due to the expansion of the atmosphere due to the high temperatures localized at the ignition source. There are reports that the surface temperature of a forest fire can reach 500-700°C (see, for example, Reference 3). [Non-Patent Document 3] Atsuko Obuchi et al., Journal of the Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering, Vol. 77 (2009) No. 2. The mass of 1 cubic meter of air at 600°C is calculated using Equation 2. 404.5g / m³ per cubic meter of air at 30°C. 1165-404.5=760.5g This results in a decrease in mass. The buoyancy force of 1 cubic metre of air at this time is 7452N It is. This results in large updrafts, which are believed to be the source of the tornadoes that are often seen during forest fires.

[0021] In the above-mentioned method for decreasing an ascending air current, there is no limitation on the type of inert gas to be injected, but argon or carbon dioxide alone, or a mixture of argon, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a range exceeding the density of air, can be preferably used.

[0022] The percentage of nitrogen (a wt%) that can be mixed with argon mentioned above can be calculated using the following formula: 1.784(100-a)+1.251a> 129.3 a<92.1% The ratio is the same when the mixture is made up of argon as the main component and carbon dioxide as the secondary component.

[0023] Furthermore, the proportion of nitrogen that can be mixed with carbon dioxide (b wt%) can be calculated using the following formula. 1.977(100-b)+1.251b> 129.3 b<94.2% The ratio is the same when the gas mixture is mainly carbon dioxide and the secondary component is argon.

[0024] The inert gas can be transported to the source of the updraft using methods that are already in use.

[0025] The currently available method is to cool the gas to a low temperature to make it liquid or solid, then fill it into a Dewar flask and transport it by plane, car, or ship such as an LNG carrier. Alternatively, the gas is filled into a cylinder under high pressure, and then transported by plane, car, or ship. Any of these methods can be selected as appropriate for transportation.

[0026] The present invention provides a method for minimizing the spread of damage caused by typhoons, tornadoes, and forest fires by injecting the aforementioned inert gas into the surrounding area of ​​an updraft that occurs over the sea or on the ground, thereby slowing down or stopping the updraft. Since the inert gas injected is a gas that exists in nature, there is no environmental pollution caused by extinguishing agents that are generally used in firefighting activities. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 shows the period when seawater temperatures reach around 30°C, which coincides with the typhoons that are common from July to September. Figure 2 shows a horizontal cross section of the rising air current.

[0027] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described. In this embodiment, the inert gas used in the method for reducing or stopping an updraft generated over the sea or on the ground is contained in the atmosphere. Argon accounts for 0.93% of the total weight of the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide accounts for 0.041% of the total weight of the atmosphere.

[0028] As mentioned above, argon accounts for 0.93% by weight in the atmosphere, and can be obtained by distillation from oxygen when liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen are separated and refined from the air. As the total amount of argon in the atmosphere is about 5,365 trillion tons, there are approximately 49.90 trillion tons of argon in the atmosphere. The industrial use of argon is limited to steel refining, food sealing gas, analytical equipment such as ICP, and arc welding. The annual sales volume in Japan is small, at 375,000 tons. It is expensive, costing about 70,000 yen per 3.0 cubic meters in a cylinder. However, as its uses expand and the amount in circulation increases, the price will fall (the trading price of argon gas alone is 105 yen / m 3 , August 2023).

[0029] As mentioned above, carbon dioxide accounts for 0.041% by weight in the atmosphere. As the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 5,365 trillion tons, the atmosphere contains about 2.250 trillion tons of carbon dioxide. Currently, carbon dioxide is not produced from the atmosphere due to poor cost-effectiveness. The annual amount used worldwide is about 8 million tons. Carbon dioxide is produced by recovering and refining the replica gas generated during the chemical synthesis of hydrogen. If its uses expand and the amount of carbon dioxide in circulation increases, the price will drop dramatically (trading price: 25,135 yen / ton, August 2023).

[0030] As mentioned above, nitrogen accounts for 78% of the atmosphere by weight. The total amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere is about 5,365 trillion tons, so the atmosphere contains about 4,185 trillion tons of nitrogen. The trading price of liquid nitrogen is 30 yen / m 3 Therefore, it can be mixed with expensive argon gas to reduce the unit price of liquefied argon.

[0031] According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, if a typhoon becomes large, the height of the strong wind area can reach 15 km and the radius can reach 500 km. According to the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, a tornado is 15 km high and has a radius of 25 to 50 m. The scale of the updraft of a forest fire can be considered to be the same radius as a tornado.

[0032] As mentioned above, rising air currents are caused by the buoyancy caused by the water vapor contained in one cubic meter of air, or by the buoyancy caused by the expansion of one cubic meter of air. During a typhoon or tornado, the mass that becomes lighter is 4.60g / m 3 During a forest fire, the mass that becomes lighter is 760.5g / m 3 It is. The volume of a typhoon's storm area is TIFF2025081184000004.tif1144The volume of the updraft of a tornado or forest fire is TIFF2025081184000005.tif1042, the amount of inert gas required is In the case of a typhoon storm 5.43 x 10 to the power of 16 g Tornado and forest fire updrafts 1.60x10 to the power of 10 g It is necessary to supply an appropriate amount of inert gas to each updraft source.

[0033] The object of the present invention can be achieved so long as the amount of inert gas supplied to the updraft generating source is equal to or greater than the mass of the lightened air.

[0034] Regarding the amount of inert gas supplied to the updraft source as described above, In the case of typhoons and tornadoes, it is not necessary to replace the entire volume of the typhoon's storm area with inert gas, and the amount of inert gas injected can be reduced by injecting the gas appropriately while measuring the air pressure of the typhoon or tornado. Also, if there are signs of it becoming large, or if the inert gas is injected at the stage when a tropical depression or cumulonimbus clouds are formed, the object of the present invention can be achieved with a smaller amount of inert gas.

[0035] Regarding the amount of inert gas supplied to the updraft source as described above, It is known that in the case of forest fires, combustion does not occur when the oxygen concentration falls below 15% (for example, Reference 4). Based on this fact, if an inert gas is injected to reduce the oxygen concentration by 6% or more from the usual 21%, the amount of the gas injected can be reduced, and the object of the present invention can be achieved. [Non-Patent Document 4] Torii Uchiro et al., Fire and Disaster Prevention Research Institute Report No. 22, p. 19 (1985) Effects of the Invention

[0036] The present invention provides a method for injecting an inert gas having a density greater than that of air around the source of an updraft in the early stage of its generation, thereby weakening the speed of the updraft, preventing it from becoming a strong typhoon or tornado, and minimizing damage to the national land.

[0037] In addition, in the case of forest fires, a method is provided in which an inert gas with a density greater than that of air is injected around the source of the updraft to weaken the speed of the updraft and adjust the concentration of oxygen, which is essential for combustion, supplied from the surrounding area to less than 15% of the lower limit of combustion, thereby slowing down or stopping the combustion. [Brief description of the drawings] [Figure 1] This is the monthly change in seawater temperature in a marine area for calculating the amount of inert gas having a density greater than that of air to be injected around the source of an updraft when carrying out the method of the present invention. [Diagram 2] In carrying out the method of the present invention, a peripheral area into which an inert gas having a density greater than that of air is preferably introduced around the source of the rising air current is shown by a broken line. [Explanation of symbols] 1: Cumulonimbus clouds formed in the sky 2: An updraft occurs 3: Range of updrafts 4: Suitable investment areas

Claims

1. The present invention is a method for appropriately weakening the power of updrafts generated on land or at sea. The method is to supply an inexpensive and environmentally non-harmful inert gas such as argon gas or carbon dioxide from the surroundings towards the source of the updraft, thereby suppressing the updraft.

2. The updraft suppression method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the inert gas supplied from the surroundings towards the source of the updraft is a single substance of argon gas or carbon dioxide, or a mixed gas thereof.

3. The updraft suppression method according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the inert gas supplied from the surroundings towards the source of the updraft is a single substance of argon gas or carbon dioxide, or a mixed gas thereof, and nitrogen gas is further added thereto.

4. The updraft suppression method according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the inert gas supplied from the surroundings towards the source of the updraft is a single substance of argon gas or carbon dioxide, or a mixed gas thereof, and the nitrogen gas content is less than 92.1% by weight. ​ ​

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