US3548949A - Method for extinguishing fire - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [21] App]. No.

Inventors Leslie Preston Williams Filed Patented Assignee Groves;

Wendell Dale Barrow, Houston, Tex. 753,581

Aug. 19, 1968 Dec. 22, 1970 Jefferson Chemical Company, Inc. Houston, Tex.

a corporation of Delaware METHOD FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE 3 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

169/9 A62c l/00 Field ofSeareh 252/2, Expert were: SOURCE m REGULATOR n STORAGE [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,936,834 5/ 1960 Gomory 169/ 1 OTHER REFERENCES SURFONIC surface-active agents Technical Bulletin of the Jefferson Chemical Co. 1958 Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Attorneys-Carl G. Ries, John R. Kirk, Jr. and H. G. Jackson ABSTRACT: increased protection against fire damage in Class A and Class B fires in water-deluge sprinkler system installations is achieved by introducing into the water stream, when it is being discharged, a quantity of an ethoxylated alkylphenol wetting agent.

SPRINKLER HEAD PATENTEBdEc22l9m 35-48349 SPRINKLER HEAD WATER SOURCE REGULATOR N2 STORAGE INVEN'IORS. LESLIE P. WILLIAMS, BY WENDELL D.BARROW,

ATTORNEY.

. METHOD FOR EXTINGUISI-IING FIRE damage caused by Class'A and Class B. fires, both inside a warehouse and in manufacturing plant installations, is by installing in said installation a water sprinkler and deluge system. In installations where the expected fire would be a Class A fire, that is, from flammable materials like wood, cot

" ton, paper, etc. the purpose of the water deluge would be to extinguish the fire. In installations where Class B material such as gasoline, hexane, benzene and other liquid flammable hydrocarbons may become ignited, the purpose of waterdeluge sprays is to protect equipment from heat generated by the fire while it is being extinguished using other fire-extinguishing methods, since water has little if any effect other than to spread the fire on this type of fire.

In some cases where Class B fires are involved, sprinkler systems are equipped with foam heads to be utilized in the extinguishing of the fire itself. However, in such systems the foam discharged does not have the cooling effect to protect equipment in the event the fire is not extinguished. It has also been found that a combination of water sprinkler heads and foam heads are not generally compatible, since water breaks up the foam and causes it to fail in the extinguishing of fire. Therefore, systems of this sort are generally ineffective for the purposes for which they are installed and the effectiveness of water-deluge systems alone leaves much to be desired in fighting both Class A and Class B fires, resulting in little protection in instances where such a system is operating.

These systems are usually made up of a water source connected by a header to a series of pipes and, ultimately, to deluge sprinkler heads wherein the heat generated from a fire causes the operation of the system to be initiated.

Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to achieve a system using a water-deluge sprinkler system which will effectively provide protection against Class A and Class B fire damage. Other objects and advantages of the foregoing invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are within the scope of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to installing in conventional waterdeluge systems a reservoir containing an ethoxylated alkylphenol wetting agent and a means for introducing the the wetting agent into the water stream when the water sprinkler deluge system is operating to extinguish Class A and Class B fires.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the practice of our invention a reservoir and a measuring device of some type is attached to a conventional waterdeluge spray system, so that when the system operates an ethoxylated alkylphenol wetting agent is introduced into the system to provide a water mixture of wetting agent and water tion to have the'reservoi'r containing the ethoxylated alkylphenol padded with an inert gas and under pressure from the inert gas system, so that the gas forces the wetting agent through a metering device to achieve the desired proportions of the fire-fighting concentrate stored in the reservoir. It is especially preferred that the inert gas be nitrogen due to its relative cost and availability.

The inventionwill be further described with reference to preferred embodiment of our invention. The FIG. is a schematic drawing where obvious components such as valves, etc., have been deleted and is representation of the system described.

The system is connected to a water source through a header 10, which connects the water source to a distribution header 12, further connecting the source to deluge sprinkler heads 14 through a pipe 16. The wetting agent 20 is stored in an appropriate reservoir 22, which is connected to the header 10 by a pipe 24 through a metering device 26.

It is a preferred embodiment that the wetting agent 20 be stored in a reservoir 22, which is padded by nitrogen or some other inert gas under pressure from a gas (nitrogen) storage 28, which is fed to the reservoir 22 through a pipe 30, which conducts the nitrogen gas through a pressure regulator 32.

While any means for introducing the wetting agent into the water deluge system is satisfactory, the above-described method is preferable in the practice of our invention.

The ethoxylated alkylphenol wetting agent is described by the following formula:

where R is a C to C alkyl group and n has an average value of from about 4 to about 30. The wetting agent composition is made up of essentially the above ethoxylated alkylphenol and from (H to about 0.75 part by weight of a mono lower alkyl glycol ether, or lower alkyl carbonate, per part of ethoxylated alkylphenol.

The mono lower alkyl glycol ethers are those which have one to four carbon atoms in the alkyl group and are ethylene glycol ethers such as monomethylethylene glycol ether, monoethylethylene glycol ether, monopropylethylene glycol ether and monobutylethylene glycol ether and the like.

The lower alkyl carbonates are those wherein the alkyl group is also a C, to C alkyl group such as ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate and the butylene carbonates, and the like.

While these two above essential ingredients may be used alone, they may also be used in admixture with certain other special purpose additives. And while it is preferred that the two essential ingredients be stored in the anhydrous state in Since the presence of water over a period of time causes the alkyl carbonate to hydrolyze, it is preferred that the wetting agent composition be maintained in its anhydrous state in thestorage facilities.

The above-described invention will be illustrated by the following example, which is offered for the purpose of illustration only, and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of our invention.

EXAMPLE 1 To illustrate the useful advantages of our invention, a test fire of a volatile flammable liquid polar solvent containing aldehyde and ether having flash point of approximately F. was ignited in a pit contained within dikes. Each dike contained a steel structure approximately 10 feet by 40 feet, which was protected by 20 to 26 gallons per minute standard water sprinkler heads. The fire was allowed approximately a 2 minute free burn. The wetting agent composition used consisted of 80 percent by weight of a 9.5 molethylene oxide adduct of nonylphenol, and 20 wt. percent of ethylene glycol monoethyl ether which was introduced into the water stream the attached drawing which is a schematic diagram of a 75 going intothe sprinkler heads in an amount such thatwater included 2 percent of the wetting agent composition. The fire was extinguished in approximately seconds. A second fire was built using thesame fuel in the same pit. After a 2 minute free burn, water only was introduced into the sprinkler system. The water failed to extinguish the fire and after approximately 2 minutes'the wetting agent composition was introduced at a 2 percent rate. The fire was again extinguished in approximately 30 seconds.

From the above description of our invention, those skilled in the art-would perceive many modifications and changes thereto. It is well within the scope of our invention to make such modifications and changes and they are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a system for providing fire protection against Class A and Class B fire damage, which comprises a water-deluge sprinkler system connected to a water source, the improvement which comprises incorporating into said system a reservoir containing an ethoxylated alkylphenol wetting agent composition, a means for metering the wetting agent composition into the water-deluge sprinkler system and a means for introducing said composition into said system, wherein the wetting agent composition consists essenn'ally of an'ethoxywhere R is a C to C alkyl'group andn has an averagelv alue of from about 4 to about. 30. I

3. The system of claim 'lwherein the wetting agent composition consists essentially of a lower alkyl carbonate and an ethoxylated'alkylphenol of the formula:

@m-cmomm-mr where R is a C to C alkyl group and n has an average value of from about 4 to about 30.

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