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GB2535694A - Safety device - Google Patents

Safety device Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2535694A
GB2535694A GB1501351.9A GB201501351A GB2535694A GB 2535694 A GB2535694 A GB 2535694A GB 201501351 A GB201501351 A GB 201501351A GB 2535694 A GB2535694 A GB 2535694A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
fuel
chemical
facility
container
vehicle
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB1501351.9A
Other versions
GB201501351D0 (en
Inventor
Joshua Preston-Powers Jullian
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB1501351.9A priority Critical patent/GB2535694A/en
Publication of GB201501351D0 publication Critical patent/GB201501351D0/en
Publication of GB2535694A publication Critical patent/GB2535694A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A62LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
    • A62CFIRE-FIGHTING
    • A62C3/00Fire prevention, containment or extinguishing specially adapted for particular objects or places
    • A62C3/06Fire prevention, containment or extinguishing specially adapted for particular objects or places of highly inflammable material, e.g. light metals, petroleum products
    • A62C3/065Fire prevention, containment or extinguishing specially adapted for particular objects or places of highly inflammable material, e.g. light metals, petroleum products for containers filled with inflammable liquids
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A62LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
    • A62CFIRE-FIGHTING
    • A62C3/00Fire prevention, containment or extinguishing specially adapted for particular objects or places
    • A62C3/07Fire prevention, containment or extinguishing specially adapted for particular objects or places in vehicles, e.g. in road vehicles
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60KARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
    • B60K15/00Arrangement in connection with fuel supply of combustion engines or other fuel consuming energy converters, e.g. fuel cells; Mounting or construction of fuel tanks
    • B60K15/03Fuel tanks
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60KARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
    • B60K15/00Arrangement in connection with fuel supply of combustion engines or other fuel consuming energy converters, e.g. fuel cells; Mounting or construction of fuel tanks
    • B60K15/03Fuel tanks
    • B60K2015/03328Arrangements or special measures related to fuel tanks or fuel handling
    • B60K2015/03381Arrangements or special measures related to fuel tanks or fuel handling for preventing explosions
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60YINDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
    • B60Y2200/00Type of vehicle
    • B60Y2200/50Aeroplanes, Helicopters
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60YINDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
    • B60Y2306/00Other features of vehicle sub-units
    • B60Y2306/01Reducing damages in case of crash, e.g. by improving battery protection

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Emergency Management (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Sustainable Energy (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Cooling, Air Intake And Gas Exhaust, And Fuel Tank Arrangements In Propulsion Units (AREA)

Abstract

A device is provided for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility. Means such as a frangible seal are activated when a predetermined force is applied such as when a vehicle airbag is released. An inertial switch may be provided. This releases a chemical from a container in the facility. When the chemical is mixed with the fuel, it reduces the risk of explosion of the fuel which is for example petrol in a fuel tank of a car. The chemical may comprise one or more of polyurethane resin with toluene diisocyanate, maleic anhydride and ethylene glycol, AFFF, water, a Halon and monoammonium phosphate powder. The chemical may alter the state of the fuel to a more solid or gel like form or, alternatively, foam with the action of a polymerising agent or emulsifier/ detergent respectively.

Description

SAFETY DEVICE
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to safety devices and in particular to devices which reduce the likelihood of a fire or explosion caused by ignition of vehicle fuel following an accident.
Background to the Invention
Fire and/or explosion of vehicle fuel is a frequent occurrence after the vehicle has been involved in an accident. The vehicle may be a vehicle which travels on a road or on water or is an airborne vehicle. The fuel may be located in a fuel tank of the vehicle, a storage tank separate from the vehicle or in a fuel processing facility.
Statements of the Invention
According to the present invention there is provided a device for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility, the device comprising a container located within the facility, said container holding a chemical which, when mixed with fuel contained within the facility, renders the fuel inert, means for releasing the chemical from the container and into contact with the fuel, and means for activating the chemical releasing means, and sealing means separating the contents of the container from fuel held within the facility, the sealing means permitting the chemical to contact the fuel when the fuel holding facility is subject to at least a predetermined force.
Preferably, the fuel holding facility is a fuel tank located on a vehicle. The activation means may then be means responsive to a sudden deceleration of the vehicle.
The container may be located above the fuel tank, for instance, over the top-dead-centre of 30 the tank.
The sealing means may be a frangible seal designed to break at a specific threshold magnitude force which equates to a G-force experienced in an accident. Alternatively, the vehicle's own crash detection system causes a pulse of air from a small cartridge to increase the pressure within the container to a level sufficient to break the frangible seal.
The chemical may be a composition containing, for instance, a plurality of ingredients, for example, three ingredients.
Preferably, the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less than 1150th, more preferably 11100th, of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.
The means for activating the chemical releasing means may be, for instance, an inertial switch. A further possibility is that the activating means includes means responsive to the release of an ancillary device within the vehicle, such as an airbag.
The fuel disabling system may be combined with a vehicle's cooling system, evacuating an adapted antifreeze into the fuel tank to reduce the flash point. Most common antifreeze chemicals possess intrinsically lower flash points than petroleum. Such an arrangement would not add significant weight to the vehicle. Where the fuel is not miscible with the coolant's solvent (e.g. petroleum rather than kerosene with water) the antifreeze compound may have a high partition coefficient and migrate preferentially into the organic fraction.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a device which includes a packet of one or more chemicals which is installed in a fuel tank, for instance, a petrol tank of a vehicle and, upon impact of the vehicle, such that a predetermined deceleration takes place, the packet bursts within the fuel tank and renders the fuel inert.
The vehicle may be, for instance, a car, a bus, a utility vehicle, a motorcycle or an aeroplane. The vehicle may also be a marine vessel and the invention is applicable to military vehicles as well as civilian. In the case where the vehicle is an aeroplane, a device of the invention could include a tube of chemicals installed along the leading edge (the vertically highest point) in an aircraft and prevent a fire or explosion as a result of, for example, an accident during take-off of the aircraft.
The chemical may also be used in a non-vehicular situation, for example to chemically alter fuel which is in storage or processing in such locations as a fuel depot or drilling locale. In this situation the contained chemical may be manually released or initiated automatically in the event of a fire outbreak in another area of the plant or premises.
Similarly the invention may be used to render fuel inert and without value in the event of a 5 security breach. The initiating mechanism may therefore be connected to an alarm, whether on a car or industrial premises. This may act to deter thieves in a climate of rising fuel prices.
The device of the invention may also be manually initiated to immobilise a vehicle which has already been stolen via a GSM signal or other in coordination with a GPS vehicle tracking 10 system.
Many fuel stations operate multiple underground tanks to cater for the range of fuels and octane ratings required by modem vehicles. A device of the invention may be used to rapidly disable neighbouring tanks in the event of an explosion or breach of another. The device could be activated by an attendant, by authorisation from a central office or fire station or by remote control.
The fuel is preferably petrol but may be another fuel which can be rendered inert by a suitable chemical or combination of chemicals.
The chemical may be one which reacts with metal ion deactivators or corrosion inhibitors already present in modem fuels to produce a product chemical which then goes on to react with the fuel itself with the aim of reducing combustibility.
The chemical reaction may increase the flash point by reducing volatility or increasing the octane rating (RON), thereby altering the fuels tendency to auto-ignite towards a higher pressure and temperature threshold.
This may occur by increasing hydrocarbon chain length, increasing the presence of tertiary 30 and quaternary structures or relocating these to more central portions of the molecule.
The chemical may be such that it targets and physically alters the presence of a specific chemical entity responsible for reducing the natural flash point or octane rating of the fuel.
The chemical reaction should not be sufficiently exothermic to initiate combustion of any unreacted fuel in the initiation step. The reaction should also not cause any build up in pressure in the containment vessel which could breach the walls and cause fuel, whether reacted or not, to escape.
The fuel might be reengineered to increase its flash resistance to safer levels. An activating agent may then be introduced at the point of injection to bring the flash point more in line with its pm-engineered level. An example of this has already been developed by the addition of tri-ethylene borane (TEB) to Jet Propellant 7 (JP7) which is included to help ignite the otherwise poorly flammable fuel. The separation is provided with the intention of reducing the explosion hazard in fuel exposed to more extreme temperatures and pressures. The activating agent should not be as flammable as the fuel in itself.
The chemical may alter the state of the fuel to a more solid or gel like form or, alternatively, 15 foam with the action of a polymerising agent or emulsifier/detergent respectively.
The present invention also provides a method for rendering inert fuel located within a fuel holding facility, the method comprising locating within a container a chemical which renders the fuel inert, the container being separated from the fuel by sealing means, permitting the container to contact the fuel and subjecting the fuel holding facility to at least a predetermined force sufficient to cause the sealing means to allow the chemical to contact the fuel.
Where retro fitting to older models is prohibitively expensive or technically impossible it is imagined that the fire service could adopt chemical packs of the same. These could either be manually inserted into a damaged or hazardous vehicle or sprayed/emptied over an area of spilled fuel. Thus the immediate risk from explosion would be reduced. The packet could also be introduced from a distance by pole or robotic vehicle, further reducing the risk to servicemen.
The method could also be used to dispose of a petrol bomb or 1ED adopting petrol as the accelerant where disposal through deactivating the detonator is not an option for whatever reason.
Chemicals which may be used in the present invention include one or more of the following: polyurethane resin in combination with toluene diisocyanate to form a foam; maleic anhydride and ethylene glycol (antifreeze); aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and water solution; water, AFFF, and Halon 130 I; water and monoammonium phosphate powder; 30% calcium chloride and water solution; 50% ethylene glycol and water solution; 70% ethyl alcohol and water solution; Halon 130 I and water mixture; monoanimonium phosphate powder mixed with Halon 301; and chemicals having the codenames FC-218, HFC-227ea, HFC-125 and CF3I.

Claims (11)

  1. CLAIMS1. A device for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility, the device comprising a container located within the fuel facility, said container holding a chemical which, when mixed with fuel contained within the fuel facility, renders the fuel inert, means for releasing the chemical from the container and into contact with the fuel, and sealing means separating the contents of the container from fuel held within the facility, the sealing means permitting the chemical to contact the fuel when the fuel holding facility is subject to a sudden impact of at least a predetermined force.
  2. 2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the fuel holding facility is located on a vehicle and the sealing means is responsive to a sudden deceleration of the vehicle.
  3. 3. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the chemical is a composition.
  4. 4. A device according to Claim 2, wherein the composition comprises three ingredients.
  5. 5. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less that 1150th of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.
  6. 6. A device according to Claim 4, wherein the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less that 11100th of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.
  7. 7. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the activating means includes an inertial switch.
  8. 8. A device according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the activating means includes means responsive to the release of an airbag within the vehicle.
  9. 9. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the fuel is petrol.
  10. 10. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle is a motor car.
  11. 11. A method for rendering inert fuel located within a fuel holding facility, the method comprising locating within a container a chemical which renders the fuel inert, the container being separated from the fuel by sealing means, and subjecting the fuel holding facility to at least a predetermined force sufficient to cause the sealing means to allow the chemical to contact the fuel.
GB1501351.9A 2015-01-27 2015-01-27 Safety device Withdrawn GB2535694A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1501351.9A GB2535694A (en) 2015-01-27 2015-01-27 Safety device

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1501351.9A GB2535694A (en) 2015-01-27 2015-01-27 Safety device

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB201501351D0 GB201501351D0 (en) 2015-03-11
GB2535694A true GB2535694A (en) 2016-08-31

Family

ID=52674007

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB1501351.9A Withdrawn GB2535694A (en) 2015-01-27 2015-01-27 Safety device

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2535694A (en)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4274491A (en) * 1978-09-26 1981-06-23 Energy And Minerals Research, Co. Process and apparatus for continuous discharge of material at localized damage point
JP2005299865A (en) * 2004-04-15 2005-10-27 Mitsubishi Motors Corp Method and apparatus for protecting hydrogen storage tank
US20080164262A1 (en) * 2007-01-10 2008-07-10 Ford Global Technologies, Llc Automotive fuel storage system with in-tank fuel encapsulation system
US20090018382A1 (en) * 2007-07-13 2009-01-15 Firetrace Usa, Llc Methods and apparatus for containing hazardous material
WO2013038138A2 (en) * 2011-09-15 2013-03-21 Preston Powers Jullian Joshua Safety device

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4274491A (en) * 1978-09-26 1981-06-23 Energy And Minerals Research, Co. Process and apparatus for continuous discharge of material at localized damage point
JP2005299865A (en) * 2004-04-15 2005-10-27 Mitsubishi Motors Corp Method and apparatus for protecting hydrogen storage tank
US20080164262A1 (en) * 2007-01-10 2008-07-10 Ford Global Technologies, Llc Automotive fuel storage system with in-tank fuel encapsulation system
US20090018382A1 (en) * 2007-07-13 2009-01-15 Firetrace Usa, Llc Methods and apparatus for containing hazardous material
WO2013038138A2 (en) * 2011-09-15 2013-03-21 Preston Powers Jullian Joshua Safety device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB201501351D0 (en) 2015-03-11

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Legal Events

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)