Flexible Flame Arrestor Sock for Volatile Liquid Containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable gasoline containers are prone to explosion due to flame propagation through the pour spout, posing health and safety hazards, and existing flame arrestors are often bulky, expensive, and interfere with fluid flow, making them unsuitable for home use.
Innovation Solution
A flexible, fire-resistant sock or tube made of fibers is coupled to the filling orifice of the container, providing a permeable medium that allows fluid passage while preventing flame flashback, ensuring safety without hindering filling or emptying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional in-line flame arrestors are used, then flame propagation is prevented, but the device becomes bulky and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous plug made of ceramic foam or sintered metal as the flame arrestor element. The porous structure provides numerous narrow passages that quench flame propagation through heat dissipation and flow restriction, while maintaining a compact size and low cost suitable for portable gasoline containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the flame arrestor by using a porous medium with specific pore sizes and distributions. The pore diameter is optimized to be small enough to quench flames but large enough to allow gasoline flow, resolving the contradiction between flame prevention and device simplicity.
2Reliability
If conventional in-line flame arrestors are used, then flame propagation is prevented, but fluid flow resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The porous plug provides a balanced structure where the pore size and distribution are optimized to quench flames while minimizing flow resistance. The interconnected pore network allows gasoline to flow through with minimal pressure drop while still providing effective flame arrestment.
Solution Approach 2:
The flame arrestor system combines the porous ceramic foam or sintered metal plug with the container's existing pour spout and cap assembly. This composite approach integrates flame protection into the existing fluid flow path without adding significant flow resistance.
3Reliability
If void-reducing products like bladders are inserted into the container, then flame propagation is prevented, but additional weight is added and usable fuel volume is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The porous ceramic foam or sintered metal plug provides flame arrestment without requiring a large void-reducing bladder. The plug itself occupies minimal volume and adds negligible weight while providing effective flame propagation prevention through its porous structure.
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
The solution effectively prevents explosive ignition by quenching flames at the permeable medium, reducing the risk of accidents and making the container safer and more user-friendly for home and industrial applications.
Implementation Method 1
The permeable medium is adapted to quench a flame from passage through the medium
Implementation Method 2
A continuous, elongated permeable medium is installed in a sealing engagement to the orifice for directing fluids passing through the orifice to the permeable medium for passage there through
Data Source
AI summary
A volatile liquid storage container has combustion resistance properties from a flexible sock or tube constructed of fire resistant fibers coupled to a neck of the storage container to prevent flame flash-back into the storage container. The storage container defines an enclosed volume having an orifice in the container material leading to a neck for pouring and filling the enclosed volume for exchanging the contents therein. The tube is elongated and surrounds a circumference of the orifice for engaging any ignition source entering through the orifice. The flexible nature of the tube or sock allows it to extend to an opposed interior surface of the enclosed volume, and ensures that the tube or sock is immersed in the fluid for encircling any ignition path to the volatile liquid without interfering with an ability to pour or refill the container.