GR20180100376A - Fire-extinguishing system via 4-dimensional air compensation - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to one or more anemometers 1 installed on air, sea or land vehicles, transmitting their data to a processing system (pc, tablet, mobile phone etc) where, via a software program, the suitable air compensation is calculated. The air compensation data are used for the selection of the fire extinguishing approach. The software program monitors the fans of the system 2 which are powered by a suitable energy source 3. The system is articulated and, thereby, extendable in size (addition of fans at option); it can be adapted to a plurality of vehicles (ordinary fire extinguishing vehicles, small-sized drones with small energy-supplying sources, urban vehicles etc). The invention allows for new fire-extinguishing methods and tactics.

Description

DESCRIPTION

"FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM THROUGH FOUR-DIMENSIONAL COMPENSATION OF

AIR"

THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The invention refers to the field of fire extinguishing systems. The fire extinguishing system presented here can be used both as a stand-alone system and as a vehicle-borne system on land, at sea and in the air.

THE HISTORY OF THE INVENTION

The fire extinguishing system disclosed in the present invention, with its alternative applications, has not been disclosed in the prior art.

Today's firefighting systems rely on a vehicle (which can be either on land, in the air, or at sea) that moves autonomously with its own power and drive unit. These vehicles have a tank of the extinguishing agent and a system that operates under high pressure, so that said extinguishing agent can be aimed up to several meters away from the vehicle. There is also auxiliary equipment that adds weight to the already heavy vehicle.

The disadvantages presented by the specific means and which have not been able to be addressed and resolved in an effective way are the following:

The most important disadvantage is the inability to extinguish large forest or non-forest fires, that is, in essence, these are devices that are unable to do what they were designed for, as this has been proven over time in many countries, where we have reached the phenomenon of mega- fires (USA, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Greece, Israel, Australia, etc.). When a fire escapes the control of firefighters, then these vehicles are unable to control it. Contributing to this are their heavy weight, low flexibility due to size, low fire extinguishing agent load especially where there is no resupply nearby, high cost per vehicle (which does not allow governments to buy many), high maintenance cost due to complexity (which requires specialized personnel) and finally the personnel required to operate a single vehicle, which can be up to 3-4 firefighters.

Another disadvantage is that when a fire gets out of control, these fire extinguishers have no way to effectively contain it especially when the winds are over 5-6 Beaufort. From then on, they can only do very little, usually regrouping backwards.

This phenomenon also applies to aerial vehicles which, after a certain wind speed, simply stop flying due to the risk of crashing.

Another disadvantage arising from the inability to deal with large fires is the tremendous stress, fatigue and horrors which the firemen are obliged to experience for as long as they last. For countries with many forests, this applies throughout the summer season. Also, the contribution of fires to the phenomenon of global warming, the destruction of valuable ecosystems and the resulting material damage as well as the destruction of the lives of residents who lost their properties in the fire, clearly shows the (in)efficiency which all present systems have.

Another drawback that should not escape our attention is that in the last 100 years fire engines have not changed/evolved in substance, only in the details of the individual systems, which evolved separately anyway . Thus, a fire engine always uses a material fire extinguishing agent to extinguish the fire as its primary means of combating it. This has the consequence that the weights of the vehicles become large and consequently all their other disadvantages.

Another disadvantage is that in aerial means there is the additional risk of falling with the loss of people, property and several million euros for each firefighting aircraft.

Finally, the large environmental footprint needed to build and maintain a fleet of land, air and sea vehicles should not be ignored, especially when combined with their particularly low energy efficiency, but also the performance in their field of application, i.e. the inability to quickly and effectively extinguish fires.

It is thus an object of the present invention to advantageously address the above-mentioned disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art by proposing a fire extinguishing system that operates both at a fixed point, as well as installed on manned or unmanned vehicles or portable for use by firefighters.

A further object of the present invention is to present a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system that does not use any fire extinguishing material (water, foam, etc.) but only air itself, while maintaining the ability to cooperate with existing or future fire extinguishing systems that use fire extinguishing material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can compensate for the air leading the fire to new fuel in 4 dimensions. In the 3 spatial dimensions but also in the field of time. That is, to be able to change its behavior in real time, depending on the changes in the air.

It is a further object of the present invention to present a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can reduce the weight of a land vehicle by at least 70% and an aircraft by at least 25%.

A further object of the present invention is to present a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can be manufactured at least 50% more economically and with minimal materials (ecological in construction) than a correspondingly efficient vehicle with a material extinguishing agent, while it will also have minimal maintenance needs.

A further object of the present invention is to present a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can independently or with a human operator deal with a fire even with gusts of air at 11 Beaufort, using air as a fire extinguishing medium and a duration of autonomy of fire extinguishing up to and 100 times more time than a conventional fire engine.

It is a further object of the present invention to present a system

fire extinguishing/fire arresting system which can be easily and economically installed in all kinds of vehicles, including conventional civil vehicles, agricultural vehicles, crawler vehicles but also in conventional houses, warehouses, industrial or other facilities, multiplying the safety of the premises and thus reducing the loss of property.

A further object of the present invention is to present a fire extinguishing/fire prevention system which can be expanded as long as such a need arises at the will of the user and within the framework of the capabilities of each installation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can transmit and combine the air data it receives in real time to facilitate the work of Fire Service management and to obtain more correct decisions, fully specialized in the individual points of the fire.

It is a further object of the present invention to present a fire extinguishing/fire suppression system which can confine an entire fire front to a specific area at the will of the fire brigade.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be apparent to

skilled in the art, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is illustrated in an indicative, non-limiting manner.

Drawing 1 shows a perspective sketch of a wheeled ground firefighting vehicle (1) with two anemometers installed on the vehicle (2), at the front and rear of the vehicle.

The power of the fans (3) can come from any energy source; in this case from an oil generator (4).

Drawing 2 shows a perspective sketch of the fire extinguishing system on a ground vehicle (1), with the modular system extended as long as necessary (relative to Drawing 1), to cover a greater length of the fire front. Here again, we have two anemometers (2), the fans (3) and the power source (4).

Drawing 3 shows in perspective sketch a ground fire fighting vehicle with crawlers (5) for covering particularly uneven terrain with the anemometers (2) installed at the ends of the vehicle and the fans (3) installed at the side of the vehicle.

Figure 4 shows in perspective sketch a small-sized unmanned aerial firefighting vehicle (6) for covering the first critical moments of a fire. It can get into places that no other fire engine can.

Illustrated illustratively (but not limitingly) with an anemometer (2) and a fan (3).

Figure 5 shows a perspective sketch of a large size unmanned aerial firefighting vehicle (7) for area coverage in areas without dense tall vegetation. There are two anemometers (2) and many fans (3) here.

Drawing 6 shows a perspective sketch of the fire extinguishing system installed in a civilian passenger vehicle (8). The lengths of the platform can vary depending on the needs and capabilities of the vehicle. An anemometer (2), two fans (3) and a power source (4) are depicted on the platform.

Drawing 7 shows a perspective sketch of the fire extinguishing system installed around a domestic space (9) for its protection. In this case there are many fans (3) to protect the entire space.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION PREFERRED

APPLICATION

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, we will describe indicative applications of the new type of fire extinguishing system, so as to make evident both its mode of operation and the important advantages it presents.

Each conventional fire extinguishing system consists of the means of transport of the fire extinguishing material, a storage of the fire extinguishing material as well as the fire extinguishing material itself. In addition, due to the weight of the materials, powerful vehicles with large engines and very powerful hydraulics operating on a high pressure supply are needed to hurl the material far enough to reach the fire. This has the consequence that additional equipment is also necessary, such as large power generators, batteries, support equipment (long cannulas), etc. Special mention should be made of 2 categories of means of transport of the firefighting equipment: The foot firefighter and the flying firefighting vehicles.

The firefighter on foot carries a small amount of material with him and is essentially unprotected from a change in the wind. At the same time it is slow and has limited endurance. Manned aerial vehicles (airplanes, helicopters) are forced to operate from very low altitudes, making maneuvers particularly dangerous. Helicopters, due to their nature, cannot carry a large load. The dangerousness of the aforementioned restrictions can be seen from the human losses at the global level of personnel, injuries and the loss of particularly expensive equipment (a new firefighting aircraft costs from $60-120m).

The main role of all firefighting vehicles and firefighters is to use the material to extinguish the fire.

Instead, firefighting in the present system (four-dimensional air compensation) is done by balancing and over-exaggerating (they say) the wind which gives the fire new material to burn (thereby stopping its destructive work) by directing the fire back to the existing one. burnt material, so that it extinguishes itself, Thus, with minimal means of cost and energy, we achieve a multiple result.

Another important advantage of compensation is the duration of operation (a vehicle with a small diesel generator can extinguish fires for more than 50 hours while a conventional ground fire truck has dropped all its firefighting material in a few minutes) which can still be and 100 times that of a conventional vehicle.

Therefore a vehicle has multiple depreciation value compared to a conventional one.

In contrast to the current way of using fire-fighting equipment (with visual assessment by the operator), the compensation - due to the development of technology - can be done by a processor located on a tablet or mobile phone through a special application, making it easier for firefighters and reducing cost to a significant extent. For example, if the fans blow against the wind with a force of 2 Beaufort above, the gusts are also covered, with the consequence that the course of the fire is permanently reversed, while in the gusts it will act as if there was complete apnea (Wind speed 0 km) The fans have the ability to operate both on the vertical and on the horizontal axis. They derive their energy from a small current generator [indicatively see figure 1 (3)], or from alternative energy systems (batteries, etc.).

It should be noted that the separation of this system from the material throwing system, enables the existing material throwing vehicles to direct the material where there is a greater need, resulting in the maximization of the result. It is also possible to additionally install here a secondary material throwing system in mainly small quantities (since the main part of the fire fighting is now assigned to the air compensation fans) so as not to burden the vehicle.

It becomes clear that scaling up the system is an easy, simple, energy-efficient and low-cost process, in contrast to conventional systems that use fire extinguishing material where it is simply impossible with current technology to carry twice as much fire extinguishing material as a ground fire engine or other aerial vehicle.

A related example can be found in Figure 2.

Another advantage that arises is greater flexibility in the way of use than a conventional system with material due to the volume, weight and pressure system of the previous one. The air compensation system can be mounted not only on a platform, but also on the side of a ground vehicle (Figure 3) or suspended (Figures 4,5).

Another advantage of the system is that the ease and efficiency of the way of use paves the way for a new class of vehicles (see indicative Figures 4,5). The firefighting drones. The reason is simple. In a classic firefighting system with hardware, the drone would have to carry its own weight, the weight of the flight batteries to go to the fire and turn around, the weight of the firefighting hardware, the weight of the launch system, and finally the weight of the system which will energize the launch system. With the current technological capabilities this is simply impossible for a small drone, with the result that such systems do not exist on the market or are very expensive and can only be operated for short periods. With 4D air compensation, we have the ability for the drone to only carry the weight (other than its own) of the fan (which is negligible) and the larger battery (also very small). Therefore something becomes possible where previously it was impossible due to technological limitations.

Another important advantage of the new class of vehicles is that such a small air-compensated firefighting drone has the ability to enter extremely confined spaces, opening up new firefighting capabilities and techniques. From building interiors to dense forests, the small air-compensated drone is a revolution in firefighting. Especially in windless indoor spaces, it can keep the fire confined within certain frames, which is very important so that there are no injuries or deaths of people.

So according to Scheme 1, a conventional vehicle (a medium-sized truck (1) in this case with a chassis and a flat platform at the rear), carries one or more anemometers (2) (which can be of any technology), so that the firefighters know the intensity, the gusts and the direction of the wind at the exact spot where the fire is burning. Fans (3) are installed in the vehicle (in any arrangement, parallel or vertical. The figure shows an indicative row of fans in height and three in length) which receive the data from the anemometers in real time and the mechanical system that drives them it receives movement commands from a computer that has calculated the compensation, so that they (the fans) blow in the opposite direction of the wind, with a force set either by the firefighters at will, or through programming.

The fans have the ability to operate both on the vertical and horizontal axis. They derive their energy from a small current generator (4), or from alternative energy supply systems (batteries, etc.).

In Figure 2, we see the same system installed on a larger platform (1) with more fans (3). This shows the scalability of the system. Although in this figure the chassis is larger, it could be smaller (as in figure 1), since the additional weight of the fans is very small. This shows the great scalability of the system but also its low cost for every doubling of firefighting performance.

In Figure 3, we see the same system (the generator is not visible due to perspective) on a tracked vehicle (5). The fans (3) are mounted on the sides of the vehicle instead of the platform that the previous vehicles had and the anemometers (2) on the two ends. The tracked vehicle can be either civilian or military.

In Figure 4, we see the system mounted on a small-sized drone (6). With the compensation system, a simple drone turns into a firefighting drone (since it does not need to carry a fire extinguisher), thus enabling new firefighting tactics. Small, flexible, with low energy consumption. In the figure we have a quadcopter as an example, but it can be any aerial remote controlled vehicle, either with propellers or with fixed wings. Their difference lies only in the control program. For reasons of weight (and indicative) a single anemometer (2) and fan (3) are shown.

In Figure 5, we see a new kind of drone that can now be built with the new invention. It is an "area firefighting drone with four-dimensional air compensation" (7). This means that this drone can cover many tens of meters with a vehicle. So in the figure, we see different drones joined together. Their software is programmed to act like a drone to avoid strain on the skeleton. Appropriately adjusted fans (3) and anemometers (2) form the compensation system.

In Figure 6, we see the system mounted on a platform and transported by a civilian vehicle (8). The simplicity of the compensation system, the low cost and weight of the materials (materials that are already on the market) but also the ease of its parameterization, make it particularly easy to install in any vehicle that has a menu towing arm or a coupling device (the so-called "hitch" ). In the Drawing, a simple civilian vehicle (I.X.E.) is illustratively depicted, but it could also be any agricultural vehicle, etc. An anemometer (2), two fans (3) and an energy supply (4) are also depicted.

In Figure 7, we see the system placed on part of a house fence (9) to protect said house. A plurality of fans (3) are also depicted. The same applies to any kind of building, industrial facilities, warehouses, etc.

It should be noted at this point that the description of the invention was carried out with reference to indicative application examples, to which it is not limited. It is made clear that any change or modification regarding the shape, dimensions, materials used, vehicle carriers and construction and assembly components, as long as they do not constitute a new inventive step and do not contribute to the technical development of what is already known, are considered included in the purposes and aims of the present invention

Claims (2)

1. New type fire extinguishing system through four-dimensional air compensation. It has the ability to extinguish/stop a fire without water, foam or other extinguishing material and without explosion or other method of oxygen deprivation, except with air, since it does not allow the fire to burn new material, thus depriving it of the possibility of expansion. It consists of one or more anemometers (2) installed on a vehicle (1,5, 6, 7, 8) or at a fixed point (9) to control the direction and intensity of the wind at the point where the vehicle is operating. The data is transferred wired or wirelessly to a laptop (or tablet, mobile phone, or any other device with the necessary processing power to handle the job) application. The compensation (through the software) of the air is automatically transferred to the fans (3) of the system and they produce the volume and direction of the air requested by the operator. 2. A new type of fire extinguishing system according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a modular (and therefore expandable) functionality of the invention and due to the absence of a fire extinguishing medium it becomes particularly light and energy efficient. These two features together, enable the system to be used by all firefighting or civilian means (air, sea and land).