# US 11,298,573 B2 · Extended discharge fire suppression systems and methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,298,573 B2 - Document ID: US11298573B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/942,879 - Filed: 2020-07-30 - Published: 2021-02-04 - Granted: 2022-04-12 - Earliest claimed: 2019-08-02 - Assignees: ETG Fire, Inc. - Applicants: ETG FIRE, Inc. - Inventors: Chris van der Stokker - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11298573B2 ## CPC - A62C 35/023: {the extinguishing material being expelled by compressed gas, taken from storage tanks, or by generating a pressure gas (for foam generation A62C5/02)} - A62C 3/06: of highly inflammable material, e.g. light metals, petroleum products - A62C 3/08: in aircraft {(A62C3/0207 takes precedence)} - A62C 31/02: Nozzles specially adapted for fire-extinguishing - A62C 35/68: Details, e.g. of pipes or valve systems (valves in general F16K) - A62D 1/0028: {Liquid extinguishing substances (A62D1/0092 takes precedence)} - A62D 1/0057: {Polyhaloalkanes (A62D1/005 takes precedence)} - A62C: FIRE-FIGHTING (fire-extinguishing compositions, use of chemical substances in extinguishing fires A62D1/00; spraying, applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces in general B05; alarm arrangements G08B, e.g. fire alarms actuated by smoke or gases G08B17/10) - A62D: CHEMICAL MEANS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES OR FOR COMBATING OR PROTECTING AGAINST HARMFUL CHEMICAL AGENTS; CHEMICAL MATERIALS FOR USE IN BREATHING APPARATUS ## Abstract The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for extinguishing and/or suppressing fire in a structure. Particularly, the present systems and methods discharge clean agents over an extended period of time at an occupiable level to protect life, reduce personnel training time and expense, and preserve valuable items. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An extended discharge fire suppression system for a structure, comprising: an agent tank containing a fire suppressant in a liquefied state, wherein the fire suppressant comprises a clean agent; a propellant tank connected in series with the agent tank, the propellant tank storing a propellant gas separate from the fire suppressant; a regulator between the agent tank and the propellant tank for delivering a predetermined pressure of the propellant gas to the agent tank to create a mixture of the fire suppressant and the propellant gas; at least one nozzle located in the structure; a pipe network for fluidly communicating the mixture of the fire suppressant and the propellant gas to the at least one nozzle; an orifice plate, inline with the pipe network between the agent tank and the at least one nozzle, for controlling a flow rate of the mixture to the at least one nozzle; and a valve having an open state allowing flow through the pipe network and a closed state preventing the flow through the pipe network; wherein the extended discharge fire suppression system is configured to deliver the mixture to the structure for between 10 minutes and 3 hours without exceeding an occupiable concentration. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the fire suppressant passes through the orifice plate as a liquid. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the occupiable concentration of the fire suppressant in the structure is maintained between 5 mole percent and 10 mole percent for between 10 minutes and 3 hours. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the clean agent is a halogenated ketone. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 4, wherein the halogenated ketone is a fluorinate ketone selected from the group consisting of CF3CF2C(O)CF(CF3)2, (CF3)2CFC(O)CF(CF3)2, CF3(CF2)2C(O)CF(CF3)2, CF3(CF2)3C(O)CF(CF3)2, CF3(CF2)5C(O)CF3, CF3CF2C(O)CF2CF2CF3, CF3C(O)CF(CF3)2, Perfluorocyclohexanone, and mixtures thereof. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the at least one nozzle is an aspirating nozzle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein a ratio of open area within the nozzle to open area within the orifice plate is between 2 and 10. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the structure has a leakage rate greater than or equal to 5% of the volume of the structure per minute. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the structure is a power generation facility, a data center, an airplane, a museum or a chemical facility. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) A fire suppression system comprising: the extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1; and a rapid discharge fire suppression system comprising a second agent tank containing an additional fire suppressant. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The fire suppression system of claim 10, wherein the rapid discharge fire suppression system further comprises a second propellant tank in series with the second agent tank, the second propellant tank storing an additional propellant gas separate from the additional fire suppressant. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The fire suppression system of claim 10, wherein the rapid discharge fire suppression system further comprises at least one second nozzle located in the structure and a second pipe network for communicating the additional fire suppressant to the at least one second nozzle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The fire suppression system of claim 10, wherein the additional fire suppressant is the same compound as the fire suppressant of the extended discharge fire suppression system. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The fire suppression system of claim 10, wherein the additional fire suppressant is delivered to the structure in 10 seconds or less to achieve a predetermined concentration of the additional fire suppressant sufficient to extinguish a fire in the structure. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The extended discharge fire suppression system of claim 1, wherein the at least one nozzle is a non-aspirating nozzle.