Emergency Response Lance for Simultaneous Fire Suppression and Decontamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing complex emergencies and contamination sites involving CBRN agents often require separate operations for fire extinction and decontamination, leading to prolonged intervention times and increased risks for operators and the environment.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that combines fire extinction and decontamination by perforating a boundary wall to inject a fire-extinguishing liquid and a decontamination fluid through the same hole, using a single lance and supply line, allowing for simultaneous and rapid management of both processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fire extinction and decontamination are performed separately with different methods and apparatuses, then each operation can be specialized, but the intervention time is prolonged and the risk for operators and environment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines fire extinction and decontamination operations into a single integrated system. A single lance delivers both fire-extinguishing liquid and decontamination/detoxification products through the same hole in the boundary wall, allowing both operations to be performed simultaneously or sequentially without changing equipment or opening additional access points.
Solution Approach 2:
The lance is designed as a multi-functional tool that can deliver both fire-extinguishing liquid and decontamination products. The system provides universal capability to handle multiple emergency response functions through a single apparatus, eliminating the need for separate specialized equipment for each operation.
2Productivity
If multiple operations are performed separately by different operators, then each operation can be executed with specialized expertise, but the complexity of the intervention increases and coordination becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The lance is designed as a multi-functional tool that can deliver both fire-extinguishing liquid and decontamination products. The system provides universal capability to handle multiple emergency response functions through a single apparatus, eliminating the need for separate specialized equipment for each operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines fire extinction and decontamination operations into a single integrated system. A single lance delivers both fire-extinguishing liquid and decontamination/detoxification products through the same hole in the boundary wall, allowing both operations to be performed simultaneously or sequentially without changing equipment or opening additional access points.
3Ease of operation
If the boundary wall is opened by breaking windows or doors, then access to the fire area is gained, but oxygen inflow causes back-drafts and exposure to toxic vapours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hole as an intermediary access point through the boundary wall, which can be created with minimal disruption to the fire compartment. This small opening serves as a mediator that allows insertion of the lance for fire extinction and decontamination while limiting the volume of oxygen entering the space and reducing the risk of back-drafts compared to opening large doors or windows.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables prompt and effective management of both fire and contamination by a single operator, reducing exposure risks and allowing for immediate action in potentially explosive areas, while ensuring a high safety standard for operators and the environment.
Implementation Method 1
Document DE202017102091U1 by the same Applicant discloses a lance for extinguishing a fire in a room. The lance comprises two channels, respectively for a pressurized fluid and an abrasive powder, and mixing means to mix the pressurized fluid and the abrasive powder by the Venturi effect.
Implementation Method 2
The perforation step is carried out by a water-jet cutting operation which comprises applying a flow of a pressurized cutting liquid into the region of the boundary wall to be perforated.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for management of complex emergencies and contamination sites in order to recover a delimited area (1) affected by fire and industrial or pathogenic, chemical and/or biological and/or nuclear and/or radiological toxic agents, which area (1) is delimited by at least one boundary wall (2), the method comprising the following steps: a) perforating (11) said boundary wall (2) by generating at least one hole; b) extinguishing (12) the fire by dispensing a jet of a fire-extinguishing liquid through the hole; c) decontaminating/detoxifying/disinfecting (13) the area (1) by dispensing a jet of a working fluid through the hole, said working fluid being supplemented with a decontamination/detoxification product.