Apparatus and process for extinguishing fires with a noncombustible fluid in liquid and gaseous states
US5275244A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 28, 1992 |
| Grant date | Jan 4, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 28, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC E)Fixed Constructions
- CPC primaryE21B35/00
- WIPO fieldEnvironmental technology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and process to extinguish fires in oil wells by encircling the nucleus of the fire by creating a barrier of isolation of the fuel. The apparatus expands gases in the gaseous and liquid states and directs such gases upon, under and around the nucleus of fire, encircling it at 360 degrees and isolating it completely from the atmospheric air, while at the same time causing the convenient cooling of the nucleus of fire, thereby avoiding any possibility of auto-ignition. The process and apparatus of extinguishing fires in oil wells either in land or at sea, is also disclosed which uses a derrick type hoist, to place the apparatus around the fire, and to apply simultaneously a non-combustible gas in the liquid state (for example, carbon dioxide CO.sub.2, or bromochlorine-difluormetane, or nitrogen or any other commercially known gas like HALON 1211), and the same gas in the gaseous state.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.