Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems with breathable fire extinguishing compositions for human occupied environments

A fire extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere in enclosed human-occupied areas, said system comprising:

• a gas storage container (97, 104, 108, 112, 122, 153, 202, 214, 265, 284, 302) holding a hypoxic fire suppression agent containing oxygen in a range below 16% and nitrogen;
• said agent may contain carbon dioxide and other atmospheric gases;
• said container installed in or communicating with an enclosing structure having internal environment (91, 101, 110, 140, 151, 201, 211, 275, 281, 301) therein containing internal atmosphere ambient for its location and purpose, and an entry communicating with said internal environment;
• the amount of said agent detained in or released from said container being calculated so that when the agent is released into said enclosed space, it provides a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere having an oxygen concentration in a range from 10% to 16% and an optional content of carbon dioxide under 10%.

An automatic fire extinguishing system for providing breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere for transportation and communication tunnels, industrial and non-industrial buildings and structures, said system comprising:

• an oxygen-extraction device (20, 50, 111, 157) having an intake and first and second outlets, said device taking in ambient air through said intake and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture, having a lower concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gas mixture, having a greater concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said second outlet;
• said device communicating with an interior space (110, 151) restricted by a wall structure having an entry and exit, and multiple isolating partitions (115, 155) defining selected segments (A, B, C, D) of the interior space;
• said isolating partitions being selectively closable in case of fire so that when closed, the segments are substantially isolated from each other and the outside environment;
• a gas storage container (112, 153) having receiving conduit and distribution conduit (113, 152) and containing said reduced-oxygen gas mixture under higher than ambient barometric pressure, said receiving conduit being operatively associated with said first outlet and receiving said reduced-oxygen gas mixture after intermediate compression therefrom;
• said distribution conduit communicating with said interior space so that the reduced-oxygen gas mixture is emitted in case of fire from said container into one or multiple segments inside said interior space;
• said second outlet communicating with the outside atmosphere and releasing said enriched oxygen mixture into the outside environment;
• said reduced oxygen gas mixture having oxygen concentration below 16%;
• said reduced oxygen gas mixture, being released inside selected segments of said interior space in case of fire and providing a breathable fire-suppressive composition with oxygen content ranging from 12% to 16%;
• said composition emitting from said interior space in amounts necessary to equalize atmospheric pressure inside said interior space with the outside atmospheric pressure.

An automatic fire extinguishing system for providing a constant breathable fire-preventive hypoxic atmosphere for transportation and communication tunnels, industrial and non-industrial buildings and structures, said system comprising:

• a gas processing device (20, 50, 92, 102, 132, 143, 173, 193, 262) having an intake and first and second outlets, said device taking in ambient air through said intake and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture, having a lower concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gas mixture, having a greater concentration of oxygen than ambient air, through said second outlet;
• said gas processing device communicating with an enclosed space (91, 101, 130, 171, 191, 272) comprising an entry, exit and a wall structure defining said enclosed space;
• said entry and exit having doors (131, 148, 172, 192) being selectively closable so that when closed, the enclosed space is substantially isolated from the outside environment;
• said first outlet communicating with a gas distribution piping (94, 105, 145, 174, 194, 263, 271) having multiple discharge nozzles (95, 106, 146, 175, 195, 264) inside the enclosed space so that reduced oxygen gas mixture is transmitted into said enclosed space;
• said reduced oxygen gas mixture having oxygen content below 17% and above 12%;
• said gas processing device comprising an air pump (24), receiving ambient air through the intake (21, 51) from the outside atmosphere, and an oxygen-extraction module (20, 50) receiving compressed air from the pump, said oxygen-extraction module having a reduced oxygen mixture conduit (23, 52) and an enriched oxygen mixture conduit (22, 53);
• said first outlet being operatively associated with said reduced oxygen mixture conduit and receiving said reduced oxygen gas mixture therefrom, said second outlet being operatively associated with said enriched oxygen mixture conduit and receiving said enriched oxygen gas mixture therefrom and releasing said mixture into the outside environment;
• said reduced oxygen gas mixture emitting from said enclosed space in amounts necessary to equalize atmospheric pressure inside said space with the outside atmospheric pressure.

A fire-extinguishing system for a human-occupied hermetic object, said system, designed for automatically maintaining a breathable fire-preventive composition onboard, comprising:

• an initial introduction of said composition containing oxygen and nitrogen into said hermetic object (221, 241, 251), said introduction provided by an oxygen-extraction apparatus (222) directly or via an intermediate gas storage container, so when said composition completely replaces air inside said object and an internal atmosphere is created, the object being sealed and further air regeneration being provided by an on-board life-support system (223, 232, 242, 252);
• said composition and internal atmosphere containing an inert gaseous ballast, preventing oxygen content from rising above 16.8%;
• said ballast being inert gas, preferably nitrogen, that is constantly present in said internal atmosphere in a concentration of minimum 83.2%;
• said composition and internal atmosphere having oxygen concentration in a range below 16.8% and preferably above 14%;
• said life-support system maintaining constant barometric pressure on board and regenerating said internal atmosphere by removing excessive carbon dioxide and providing desired level of oxygen and humidity without affecting the inert ballast content in any way.

An automatic fire-extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere on board of an aircraft, said system comprising:

• a storage and release system for a hypoxic fire suppression agent;
• said storage and release system having a storage container (214, 284, 302) that contains said fire suppression agent under pressure and communicates with the aircraft interior or pressure cabin (211, 281, 301) through a gas distribution piping (212, 288, 308) restricted by discharge valves (286, 311) and gas release nozzles (213, 286, 306);
• said fire suppression agent being a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide having an oxygen concentration below 16% and carbon dioxide content above 5%;
• said mixture may contain other atmospheric gases;
• said fire-suppression agent, being released inside said interior in case of fire, providing said breathable fire-suppressive atmosphere with oxygen content ranging from 12% to 16% and carbon dioxide content of approximately 4% to 5%, whereby an aircraft fresh air supply system is automatically shut down;
• an onboard fire and smoke detection system (285, 305) that initiates the system by opening said discharge valve(s) and shutting down the aircraft's ventilation system.

An automatic fire-extinguishing system for providing a breathable fire-preventive atmosphere on board of an aircraft or other human occupied vehicle, said system comprising

• an air separation device supplying vehicle's engine(s) with oxygen extracted during flight or motion from the atmospheric air;
• said device preferably using cryogenic technology for liquefying air and extracting part of oxygen in a centrifuge;
• the remaining after separation nitrogen-enriched fraction having oxygen content of approximately 16% is provided for ventilation of the vehicle's interior, previously being warmed up to a comfortable temperature in a cooling system of the engine;
• said nitrogen-enriched fraction being constantly supplied into a vehicle's interior, creating there a breathable fire retarding atmosphere that excludes a possibility of an ignition and combustion.