Redundant Nitrogen Generation Control for Fire Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nitrogen generation plants for low-oxygen environments face challenges in safely and economically sizing and controlling the oxygen levels to prevent fires while ensuring redundancy and safety, avoiding health risks from oxygen fluctuations due to system failures.
Innovation Solution
A fire prevention apparatus with at least two independent central control units and a redundant nitrogen generation system, comprising three nitrogen generators, operates using 'OR' and 'AND' logic to maintain oxygen levels safely even in the event of failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a single nitrogen generation plant is used to reduce oxygen levels for fire prevention, then fire safety is improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to potential failures
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is divided into multiple independent control units, each capable of independently controlling nitrogen generation. This distribution of control functions ensures that if one control unit fails, others can maintain oxygen level control, thus improving reliability while maintaining fire safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates redundant nitrogen generators and control units that stand by ready to take over if the primary system fails. This beforehand cushioning ensures continuous oxygen level control and fire prevention capability even during component failures.
2Reliability
If redundant nitrogen generators are added to ensure safety, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The redundant nitrogen generation system is segmented into multiple independent modules, each with its own control unit. This modular segmentation allows the system to achieve redundancy while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized, independent units that can be controlled individually.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If oxygen levels are reduced below 14% for fire prevention, then fire safety is improved, but health risks increase for users
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors oxygen levels and uses feedback control to maintain oxygen concentration within the safe range (above 14%). This feedback mechanism ensures fire prevention while preventing oxygen levels from dropping to harmful levels that would affect user health.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts nitrogen generation rates based on real-time oxygen level measurements, changing operational parameters to maintain oxygen concentration within the optimal safety window that prevents both fire and health issues.
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
Ensures safe and reliable operation of low-oxygen environments by maintaining target oxygen levels, preventing fires and minimizing health risks, even with control system or generator failures.
Implementation Method 1
The nitrogen generators can be of the most disparate technologies (for example PSA, VSA, hollow fiber membranes, and others) and, connected to the environment in which the oxygen level is to be reduced, are capable of dispensing and introducing into the environment a quantity of nitrogen that is equal to or greater than the losses of the room to be compensated.
Data Source
AI summary
A fire prevention apparatus for controlled atmosphere environments, including at least two independent central control units (2,3) which control the oxygen level in one or more environments (20) to be controlled by means of a plurality of oxygen sensors (41,42,43); the sensors are connected to the central control units (2,3), which control the oxygen level in the environment (20) to be controlled and give clearance, independently of each other, for the switching on and off of a plurality of nitrogen generators (5, 6, 7); the nitrogen generators (5, 6, 7) are divided into two subsets: a first subset (10), including generators (5, 6) that are necessary and sufficient to cover 100% of the losses of the environment (20) or environments to be controlled, and a second subset (11), constituted by one or more generators (7) adapted to ensure a safety margin on the sizing of the plant.