JP2024072380A - Emergency Exhaust System - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve the aesthetic appearance without causing complication of a structure and an increase of troublesome work.SOLUTION: An emergency exhaust system comprises: a gas leakage detection unit 3 for detecting leakage of gas in a detection target space 2; an exhaust fan 4 for performing an exhaust operation to exhaust air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside; a compressed-air supply unit 5 for performing a compressed-air supply operation to supply compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2; and a control unit 7 for controlling operation states of the exhaust fan 4 and the compressed-air supply unit 5. When the gas leakage detection unit 3 detects a leakage of gas, the control unit 7 is configured to make the compressed-air supply unit 5 perform a compressed-air supply operation, to make the exhaust fan 4 perform an exhaust operation, and to perform emergency exhaust processing for exhausting the air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside while supplying the compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an emergency exhaust system that performs emergency exhaust to quickly exhaust air from a detection target space.

Emergency exhaust systems are used, for example, in laboratories, pharmaceutical plants, factories, etc., and when a gas leak occurs in a detection space, emergency exhaust is performed to quickly exhaust the air in the detection space, thereby preventing problems associated with the gas leak.

One such emergency exhaust system is known to be equipped with a gas leak detection unit that detects gas leaks in the detection target space, an exhaust fan that performs an exhaust operation to exhaust air in the detection target space to the outside, and a control unit that controls the operating state of the exhaust fan (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the emergency exhaust system described in Patent Document 1, when the gas leak detection unit detects a gas leak, the control unit supplies compressed air to the exhaust fan, causing the exhaust fan to perform exhaust operation and perform emergency exhaust of the detected space.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-5014

In the emergency exhaust system described in Patent Document 1, the exhaust fan is operated to supply outside air into the detection target space through an emergency exhaust air intake, while exhausting the air in the detection target space to the outside, thereby performing emergency exhaust of the detection target space. For this reason, it is essential to provide an emergency exhaust air intake, but the detection target space is only subjected to emergency exhaust when a gas leak occurs, and it is necessary to provide an emergency exhaust air intake that is rarely used.

Moreover, when installing an air intake for emergency exhaust, it is not enough to simply install an air intake for emergency exhaust; it is necessary to install parts such as a filter and a damper to prevent backflow at the air intake for emergency exhaust to protect against insects and water leakage, and it becomes necessary to perform maintenance work on these parts periodically. As a result, the increase in the number of parts leads to a more complicated configuration and an increase in the time-consuming work of maintenance work, etc.

Emergency exhaust air intakes are used when emergency exhaust is required for the space to be detected, but in order to perform emergency exhaust as quickly as possible, a large exhaust flow rate must be ensured, and a large emergency exhaust air intake is required. This requires the installation of a large emergency exhaust air intake, which reduces the aesthetic appeal of the exterior.

In view of this situation, the main objective of the present invention is to provide an emergency exhaust system that can improve the aesthetic appearance without complicating the configuration or increasing the amount of labor-intensive work.

A first characteristic configuration of the present invention includes a gas leakage detection unit that detects a gas leakage in a detection target space;
an exhaust fan that performs an exhaust operation to exhaust air in the detection target space to the outside;
A compressed air supply unit that performs a compressed air supply operation to supply compressed air to the detection target space;
A control unit for controlling the operation states of the exhaust fan and the compressed air supply unit is provided.
The control unit is configured to be capable of executing emergency exhaust processing in which, when the gas leak detection unit detects a gas leak, it operates the compressed air supply unit to supply compressed air and operates the exhaust fan to exhaust, thereby supplying compressed air to the detection space while exhausting the air in the detection space to the outside.

According to this configuration, when the gas leak detection unit detects a gas leak, the control unit executes emergency exhaust processing, and while supplying compressed air to the detection target space, the air in the detection target space is exhausted to the outside, thereby performing emergency exhaust to quickly exhaust the air in the detection target space. As a result, the detection target space can be emergency exhausted without providing an air intake port for emergency exhaust, simply by providing the compressed air supply unit, so not only can the number of air intake ports for emergency exhaust be reduced, but the number of parts that must be provided for insect countermeasures and water leakage countermeasures can also be reduced, preventing the configuration from becoming complicated due to an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the amount of time-consuming work such as maintenance work. Moreover, since compressed air is supplied to the detection target space, the size of the compressed air supply unit itself does not increase, and a large air intake port for emergency exhaust can be reduced, improving the aesthetic appearance.

A second characteristic configuration of the present invention is such that the compressed air supply unit is provided with a compressed air supply amount adjustment unit that can freely adjust the amount of compressed air supplied to the detection target space,
The control unit adjusts the amount of compressed air supplied by the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit in the emergency exhaust process so that the pressure in the detection target space becomes a set negative pressure.

When the control unit executes emergency exhaust processing, if the pressure within the detection space becomes positive, the positive pressure will cause the air within the detection space to try to be exhausted to the outside from places other than the exhaust fan, causing leaked gas to flow into other rooms, etc., making it difficult to quickly and properly exhaust the air within the detection space using the exhaust fan.
Therefore, according to this configuration, when the control unit executes emergency exhaust processing, the control unit adjusts the amount of compressed air supplied by the compressed air supply amount adjusting unit to maintain the pressure in the detection target space at the set negative pressure. As a result, the exhaust fan can quickly and intensively exhaust the air in the detection target space by exhaust operation of the exhaust fan, so that emergency exhaust of the detection target space can be performed quickly and appropriately while preventing leaking gas from flowing into other rooms.

The third characteristic feature of the present invention is that the compressed air supply unit is provided with a compressed air storage unit capable of storing compressed air, and in the compressed air supply operation, the compressed air stored in the compressed air storage unit is supplied to the detection target space.

Possible causes of gas leakage include, for example, power outages. During a power outage, for example, compressors that generate compressed air cannot be operated with electricity, and compressed air may not be able to be supplied to the space to be detected.

Therefore, according to this configuration, the compressed air supply unit is provided with a compressed air storage unit capable of storing compressed air, and when performing the compressed air supply operation, the compressed air stored in the compressed air storage unit is supplied to the detection target space. This allows compressed air to be properly supplied to the detection target space even during a power outage, which is thought to be the cause of gas leakage, and allows emergency evacuation of the detection target space to be properly performed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of an emergency exhaust system according to a first embodiment; Flowchart showing operation of emergency exhaust system FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of an emergency exhaust system according to a second embodiment; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of an emergency exhaust system according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an emergency exhaust system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This emergency exhaust system 1 is applied to buildings such as laboratories, pharmaceutical plants, factories, etc., and as shown in FIG. 1, when a leak of a target gas occurs in a target space 2 of a building, emergency exhaust is performed to quickly exhaust the air A1 in the target space 2, thereby preventing the occurrence of problems associated with the leakage of the target gas.

First Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, the emergency exhaust system 1 is equipped with a gas leak detection unit 3 that detects leakage of a target gas in the detection space 2, an exhaust fan 4 that performs an exhaust operation to exhaust air A1 in the detection space 2 to the outside, a compressed air supply unit 5 that performs a compressed air supply operation to supply compressed air A2 to the detection space 2, a pressure difference detection unit 6 that detects the pressure difference between the pressure inside the detection space 2 and the pressure outside the detection space 2, and a control unit 7 that controls the operating states of the exhaust fan 4 and the compressed air supply unit 5.

The gas leak detection unit 3 is composed of, for example, a gas detector that detects the concentration of the target gas in the detection space 2. The gas leak detection unit 3 constantly detects the concentration of the target gas in the detection space 2 and outputs the detection information to the control unit 7.

The detection target space 2 is provided with an exhaust path 41 that exhausts the air A1 in the detection target space 2. The control unit 7 operates the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, so that the air A1 in the detection target space 2 can be forcibly exhausted to the outside (outside the building) through the exhaust path 41.

The compressed air supply unit 5 includes a compressed air pipe 51 that supplies compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2, and a compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 that can adjust the amount of compressed air A2 supplied to the detection target space 2 by the compressed air pipe 51. The compressed air pipe 51 is disposed so as to guide the compressed air A2 supplied from a compressed air supply source (not shown, e.g., a compressor) to the detection target space 2. The compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 is configured, for example, with an electric valve that can adjust the flow rate of compressed air A2 flowing through the compressed air pipe 51.

The pressure difference detection unit 6 is composed of, for example, a differential pressure gauge that detects the pressure difference between the pressure inside the detection target space 2 and the pressure outside the detection target space 2, such as in an adjacent room or a hallway. The pressure difference detection unit 6 constantly detects the pressure difference between the pressure inside the detection target space 2 and the pressure outside the detection target space 2, and outputs the detection information to the control unit 7.

The control unit 7 receives detection information from the gas leak detection unit 3 and the pressure difference detection unit 6, and controls the operating state of the exhaust fan 4 and the operating state of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 in the compressed air supply unit 5 based on this detection information.

When the gas leak detection unit 3 detects a leak of the detection target gas, the control unit 7 operates the compressed air supply unit 5 to supply compressed air and operates the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, thereby performing emergency exhaust processing to exhaust air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside while supplying compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2. In this emergency exhaust processing, the control unit 7 opens the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 in the compressed air supply unit 5 to operate the compressed air supply unit 5 to supply compressed air, and operates the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, for example, so as to achieve the maximum exhaust flow rate (maximum capacity).

The gas leak detection unit 3 constantly detects the concentration of the target gas in the detection target space 2, and so when the concentration of the target gas reaches or exceeds a predetermined concentration for gas leakage, it can output a gas leak signal indicating a leak of the target gas to the control unit 7. As a result, when the control unit 7 receives a gas leak signal from the gas leak detection unit 3, it determines that the gas leak detection unit 3 has detected a leak of the target gas, and executes emergency evacuation processing.

Incidentally, the signal output from the gas leak detection unit 3 can also be a concentration signal indicating the concentration of the target gas. In this case, the control unit 7 uses the concentration signal to determine whether the concentration of the target gas is equal to or greater than a predetermined concentration for gas leakage, and if the concentration of the target gas is equal to or greater than the predetermined concentration for gas leakage, it can determine that the gas leak detection unit 3 has detected a leak of the target gas and execute emergency evacuation processing. In this way, the determination of whether the gas leak detection unit 3 has detected a leak of the target gas can be made on the gas leak detection unit 3 side or on the control unit 7 side.

In the emergency exhaust process, compressed air A2 is not simply supplied to the detection target space 2, but the amount of compressed air A2 supplied to the detection target space 2 is adjusted according to the pressure state within the detection target space 2. In the emergency exhaust process, the control unit 7 adjusts the opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 based on the detection information of the pressure difference detection unit 6, thereby adjusting the amount of compressed air A2 supplied to the detection target space 2 so that the pressure within the detection target space 2 becomes the set negative pressure.

Based on the detection information of the pressure difference detection unit 6, the control unit 7 can grasp the pressure in the detection target space 2 relative to the outside of the detection target space 2, such as whether the pressure in the detection target space 2 is negative or positive. If the pressure in the detection target space 2 is on the positive pressure side (high pressure) relative to the set negative pressure, the control unit 7 adjusts the opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 to the small opening side to reduce the supply amount of compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2. Conversely, if the pressure in the detection target space 2 is on the negative pressure side (low pressure) relative to the set negative pressure, the control unit 7 adjusts the opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 to the large opening side to increase the supply amount of compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2. In this way, the control unit 7 adjusts the opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 based on the detection information of the pressure difference detection unit 6 to adjust the supply amount of compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2, thereby maintaining the pressure in the detection target space 2 at the set negative pressure.

Here, regarding the degree of opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 at the beginning of the execution of the emergency exhaust process, for example, the degree of opening of the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 can be set according to the exhaust flow rate when the exhaust fan 4 is operated for exhaust so that the pressure in the detection target space 2 can be maintained at a negative pressure. This makes it possible to maintain the pressure in the detection target space 2 at a negative pressure not only during the execution of the emergency exhaust process but also from the beginning of the execution of the emergency exhaust process, so that emergency exhaust of the detection target space 2 can be performed quickly and appropriately while preventing leaking gas from flowing into rooms, corridors, etc. adjacent to the detection target space 2.

The operation of the emergency exhaust system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Although not shown, this emergency exhaust system 1 is provided with an alarm device for encouraging people present in the detection target space 2 to evacuate by using an alarm sound, voice, or the like. First, an evacuation alarm process is performed by activating this alarm device, thereby evacuating people present in the detection target space 2, and then an emergency exhaust process is performed. This allows people in the detection target space 2 to evacuate as quickly as possible, while performing emergency exhaust that forcibly exhausts the detection target gas leaked into the detection target space 2 to the outside of the building, etc. Therefore, for example, when the evacuated person returns to the detection target space 2, the detection target gas leaked in the detection target space 2 is prevented from remaining therein, ensuring the safety of people present in the detection target space 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, the control unit 7 determines whether the evacuation warning conditions are met, and if the evacuation warning conditions are met, executes evacuation warning processing (if Yes in step #1, step #2).

Regarding the evacuation alarm conditions, for example, when the concentration of the detection target gas detected by the gas leak detection unit 3 becomes equal to or greater than the evacuation alarm concentration, the evacuation alarm conditions can be deemed to be satisfied. By setting the evacuation alarm concentration to a concentration lower than the predetermined gas leak concentration for detecting leakage of the detection target gas, the evacuation alarm conditions can be satisfied and evacuation alarm processing can be executed before a leakage of the detection target gas is detected and emergency exhaust processing is performed.

In the evacuation warning process, the control unit 7 activates an alarm device (not shown) and informs people present in the detection target space 2 of the possibility of a leak of the detection target gas by an alarm sound, voice, etc., and urges them to evacuate outside the detection target space 2.

Next, the control unit 7 determines whether a leak of the detection target gas has been detected, and if a leak of the detection target gas has been detected, executes emergency exhaust processing (if Yes in step #3, step #4). In emergency exhaust processing, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 7 opens the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 in the compressed air supply unit 5 and operates the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, thereby performing emergency exhaust to quickly exhaust the air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside while supplying compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2.

The control unit 7 determines whether the termination condition for the emergency exhaust process is met, and if the termination condition for the emergency exhaust process is met, terminates the emergency exhaust process (if Yes in step #5, step #6).

The conditions for terminating the emergency exhaust process can be considered to be met, for example, when a set time (a period of time sufficient to replace the air A1 in the detection target space 2 and perform sufficient exhaust) has elapsed since the start of the emergency exhaust process, or when the concentration of the detection target gas detected by the gas leak detection unit 3 falls below the termination concentration.

Second Embodiment
Since the second embodiment is a different embodiment of the compressed air supply unit 5, the following description will be centered on the compressed air supply unit 5 with reference to Fig. 3. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are used to denote the same components and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the compressed air supply unit 5 is provided with a compressed air pipe 51 that supplies compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2, and the compressed air pipe 51 guides the compressed air A2 supplied from a compressed air supply source (not shown) to the detection target space 2 via the compressed air pipe 51.

In contrast, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the compressed air supply unit 5 includes a compressed air storage unit 53 (receiver tank) capable of storing compressed air A2 supplied from a compressed air supply source (not shown), and the compressed air storage unit 53 is disposed at a midpoint of the compressed air piping 51. This allows the control unit 7 to open the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52, thereby enabling the compressed air A2 stored in the compressed air storage unit 53 to be supplied to the detection target space 2 through the compressed air piping 51. Incidentally, when the compressed air A2 stored in the compressed air storage unit 53 is supplied to the detection target space 2, the compressed air A2 is replenished from the compressed air supply source (not shown) to the compressed air storage unit 53, and a state in which a predetermined amount of compressed air A2 is stored in the compressed air storage unit 53 is maintained.

In the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, when the gas leak detection unit 3 detects a leak of the detection target gas, the control unit 7 operates the compressed air supply unit 5 to supply compressed air and operates the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, thereby performing emergency exhaust processing to exhaust the air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside while supplying compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2. At this time, the control unit 7 opens the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 52 in the compressed air supply unit 5 to operate the compressed air supply unit 5 to supply compressed air, so that the compressed air A2 stored in the compressed air storage unit 53 is supplied to the detection target space 2 through the compressed air piping 51, as shown in FIG. 3.

As a result, even if the compressed air supply source (not shown) cannot be operated due to a power outage or the like, the compressed air A2 stored in the compressed air storage section 53 can be supplied to the detection target space 2 through the compressed air piping 51, so that emergency exhaust can be properly performed to quickly exhaust the air A1 in the detection target space 2.

Third Embodiment
Since the third embodiment has a different configuration instead of the compressed air supply unit 5, the different configuration will be mainly described with reference to Fig. 4. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a compressed air supply unit 5 is provided to supply compressed air A2 to the detection target space 2. In contrast, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, instead of the compressed air supply unit 5, an oxygen supply unit 8 is provided to supply oxygen A3 to the detection target space 2.

The oxygen supply unit 8 includes an oxygen storage unit 81 that stores oxygen A3, an oxygen pipe 82 that supplies the oxygen A3 stored in the oxygen storage unit 81 to the detection target space 2, and an oxygen supply amount adjustment unit 83 that can adjust the amount of oxygen A3 supplied to the detection target space 2 by the oxygen pipe 82. The oxygen supply amount adjustment unit 83 is configured, for example, with an electric valve that can adjust the flow rate of oxygen A3 flowing through the oxygen pipe 82.

When the gas leak detection unit 3 detects a leak of the detection target gas, the control unit 7 operates the oxygen supply unit 8 to supply oxygen and the exhaust fan 4 to exhaust, thereby performing emergency exhaust processing to exhaust the air A1 in the detection target space 2 to the outside while supplying oxygen A3 to the detection target space 2. In this emergency exhaust processing, the control unit 7 opens the oxygen supply amount adjustment unit 83 in the oxygen supply unit 8 to operate the oxygen supply unit 8 to supply oxygen. As a result, in the emergency exhaust processing, oxygen A3 is supplied to the detection target space 2 instead of compressed air A2, while the air A1 in the detection target space 2 is exhausted to the outside.

In the third embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, in the emergency exhaust process, oxygen A3 is not simply supplied to the detection target space 2, but the supply amount of oxygen A3 to the detection target space 2 is adjusted according to the pressure state within the detection target space 2. In the emergency exhaust process, the control unit 7 adjusts the opening degree of the oxygen supply amount adjustment unit 83 based on the detection information of the pressure difference detection unit 6 so that the pressure within the detection target space 2 becomes the set negative pressure, thereby adjusting the supply amount of oxygen A3 to the detection target space 2.

[Another embodiment]
Other embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Note that the configurations of the embodiments described below are not limited to being applied alone, but may also be applied in combination with the configurations of other embodiments.

(1) In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the emergency exhaust process is performed after the evacuation warning process. However, for example, if the gas leak detection unit 3 detects a leak of the detection target gas, the evacuation warning process and the emergency exhaust process can be performed simultaneously. The timing of each process in relation to the evacuation warning process and the emergency exhaust process can be changed as appropriate.

(2) In the above embodiment, the emergency exhaust system 1 is provided with an alarm device that uses alarm sounds, voice, etc. to encourage people in the detection target space 2 to evacuate, and performs evacuation alarm processing in addition to emergency exhaust processing. However, it is also possible to omit the alarm device that uses alarm sounds, voice, etc. to encourage evacuation and perform only emergency exhaust processing. Incidentally, in this case, an alarm system or the like for evacuating people in the detection target space 2 can be provided separately from the emergency exhaust system 1.

(3) In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which one gas leak detection unit 3 was provided, but multiple gas leak detection units 3 may also be provided. For example, by disposing the gas leak detection units 3 in multiple regions, leakage of the target gas can be detected in each region, making it possible to quickly detect the occurrence of leakage of the target gas within the detection space 2. In this case, when the control unit 7 detects leakage of the target gas in any one of the multiple gas leak detection units 3, it can execute emergency evacuation processing.

1 Emergency exhaust system 2 Detection target space 3 Gas leakage detection unit 4 Exhaust fan 5 Compressed air supply unit 7 Control unit 52 Compressed air supply amount adjustment unit 53 Compressed air storage unit

Claims (3)

a gas leakage detection unit that detects a gas leakage in a detection target space;
an exhaust fan that performs an exhaust operation to exhaust air in the detection target space to the outside;
A compressed air supply unit that performs a compressed air supply operation to supply compressed air to the detection target space;
A control unit for controlling the operation states of the exhaust fan and the compressed air supply unit is provided.
The control unit is configured to be able to execute emergency exhaust processing in which, when the gas leak detection unit detects a gas leak, the control unit operates the compressed air supply unit to supply compressed air and operates the exhaust fan to exhaust, thereby supplying compressed air to the detection target space while exhausting the air in the detection target space to the outside. The compressed air supply unit includes a compressed air supply amount adjustment unit that can adjust the amount of compressed air supplied to the detection target space,
2. The emergency exhaust system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts the amount of compressed air supplied by the compressed air supply amount adjustment unit so that the pressure in the detection target space becomes a set negative pressure during the emergency exhaust process. 3. The emergency exhaust system according to claim 1, wherein the compressed air supply unit is provided with a compressed air storage unit capable of storing compressed air, and during the compressed air supply operation, the compressed air stored in the compressed air storage unit is supplied to the detection target space.

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