Viscous Fire Extinguishing Mist for Confined Fuel Fires
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fire extinguishing methods are ineffective for fires involving confined fuels, such as cooking oils and fats, as they can spread the fire or lead to secondary ignitions, causing extensive damage and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained portable apparatus that sprays a liquid fire extinguishing composition, comprising potassium or aluminum salts and a wetting agent, forming a stationary mist over a confined area to effectively extinguish fires without releasing propellant, allowing for safe and prolonged application to prevent re-ignition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If water or conventional extinguishants are applied to cooking oil fires, then the fire may be initially suppressed, but the fire spreads and causes secondary ignitions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the extinguishing agent by using a viscous liquid composition (20-80% viscosity) containing potassium or aluminum salts of organic acids. This viscous composition allows the extinguishant to adhere to the fuel surface and form a stationary mist that prevents fire spread, unlike conventional water-based extinguishants that disperse too quickly and can cause splashing and fire spread.
Solution Approach 2:
The extinguishing composition is a composite material combining water, viscous agents (20-80% viscosity), and specific chemical compounds (potassium or aluminum salts of organic acids). This composite structure provides both the adhesion necessary to prevent fire spread and the chemical properties to suppress combustion effectively, resolving the contradiction between initial suppression and preventing secondary ignition.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a portable apparatus is designed to spray extinguishant from a distance of two to two and one-half feet, then safety is improved, but the apparatus complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The portable apparatus uses pneumatic principles to spray the viscous extinguishing composition from a distance of two to two and one-half feet. The pressurized spray system delivers the thick composition through hoses and nozzles designed to handle high-viscosity fluids, enabling safe distant application while maintaining the composition's adhesive properties for effective fire suppression.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the extinguishing composition has high viscosity (20-80%), then the mist forms stationary distribution and prevents fire spread, but the difficulty of pumping and spraying increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention specifically formulates the extinguishing composition with a viscosity range of 20-80%, which is high enough to adhere to fuel surfaces and form stable stationary mist distributions, yet manageable for pumping and spraying through specially designed systems. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction between mist stability and pumpability.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus incorporates pneumatic spraying mechanisms designed to handle high-viscosity compositions. The pressurized delivery system overcomes the resistance of the thick composition, enabling effective spraying despite the 20-80% viscosity range, thus resolving the contradiction between mist stability and ease of application.
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 apparatus efficiently extinguishes fires by forming a stationary mist that settles over the fuel area, reducing the risk of secondary ignitions and ensuring the fuel and surrounding materials are cooled below re-ignition temperature, providing effective and safe fire suppression for confined fuel fires.
Implementation Method 1
spraying droplets of a liquid fire extinguishing composition on an area exceeding the area in which fuel is confined
Implementation Method 2
forming a distribution of droplets of said liquid fire extinguishing composition which is substantially stationary in a horizontal direction
Implementation Method 3
an efficacious amount of IXF to enhance fire extinction or function as a wetting agent
Implementation Method 4
ensuring the fuel and surrounding materials are cooled below re-ignition temperature
Data Source
AI summary
A combination of a liquid fire extinguishing composition including potassium salts or aluminum salts of an organic acid, resulting in a viscous liquid, is finely divided by a nozzle into droplets which may be applied to a fire or fuel therefor or form a cloud of droplets which settle onto such fire and/or fuel which is particularly effective for fighting fires where fuel is at least initially contained such as oil and grease fires in cooling utensils being heated on stoves. Propellant is contained and not entrained in the dispensed fire fighting composition to avoid at least spreading of the fuel beyond the containment.