FR2960532A1 - ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY DEVICE FOR A BAC OR POT OF RETENTION OF HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS SUCH AS FLAMMABLE AND / OR TOXIC PRODUCTS, IN PARTICULAR FOR OIL RETAINING PANS OR BINS FOR ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMERS - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an environmental safety device for a tank or pit for detecting dangerous products such as flammable and / or toxic products which is remarkable in that it consists of at least one sealed tank (1) comprising at least one partition wall (2) substantially vertical defining two chambers (3,7), a first so-called supply chamber (3) provided with at least one opening (4) adapted to receive a supply line (5) ) in a mixture of water and hazardous products, said supply line (5) being connected to at least one tank or a holding tank of dangerous products, or the like, and a second so-called evacuation chamber (7) provided with at least one opening (8) adapted to receive an evacuation pipe (9) connected to the wastewater network or to a spreading drain, or the like, said partition wall (2) being provided with at least one pipe (10) porting the feeding chamber on (3) and the discharge chamber (7) and adapted to receive at least one removable filter cartridge (11) allowing water to pass into the evacuation chamber (7) and retaining the dangerous products, said filter cartridge ( 11) forming a plug when saturated.

Description

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY DEVICE FOR A BAC OR POT OF RETENTION OF HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS SUCH AS FLAMMABLE AND / OR TOXIC PRODUCTS, IN PARTICULAR FOR OIL RETAINING PANS OR BINS FOR ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMERS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an environmental safety device for a pit or tank for holding hazardous products such as flammable and / or toxic products. The device according to the invention will find many applications in particular in the field of equipment for electricity distribution networks and in particular to pits or oil retention tank for electrical transformers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that electrical transformers, essentially used to change the voltage of a current, produce a large amount of heat that must be dissipated. The cooling of these transformers is ensured by immersing the cores and the windings of the transformers in a coolant and electrical insulator. This fluid consists of a dielectric such as mineral oils or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). Given the highly toxic nature of PCBs, PCBs being ubiquitous, bioaccumulative and persistent pollutants whose toxicity varies with their molecular weight (depending on the number of chlorine atoms) and the spatial configuration of their molecules, the power transformers used In the electrical networks are usually installed above a retention pit intended to collect the oil contained in these devices when a leak occurs. Usually, the pits arranged under the electrical transformers are filled with pebbles. In addition, it is recommended not to install a transformer in a place exposed to conditions such as road traffic, corrosive atmosphere or high heat. In addition, on the floor around the transformer there should be no drain to prevent any leakage of fluid is transformed, through the sewer system, into the natural environment. Such pits filled with pebbles do not provide sufficient safety in case of ignition of the oils, the fire can then spread and cause significant damage. In order to remedy this drawback, it has already been proposed that a tank or a pit be placed under the transformer to collect the typical liquid leaks, based on hydrocarbons that can flow from the transformer, the protective cover which covers it comprising as for him, typically slats close together, steep, reserving between them a space ensuring the flow product access to tank. Such a fire extinguishing system for polluting oil collection tank or pit has been developed and marketed by the plaintiff company, the company GMT, since 1996, under the reference BAF or IC. This type of system consists of a hood comprising slats close together, steep reserving between them a space ensuring said flowable products access to the tank or the pit while avoiding a sufficient supply of oxygen to allow to maintain a combustion of oils if they were to catch fire. Each slat is made of sheet metal folded so as to form a profile comprising an upper portion bordered on its longitudinal sides of two substantially vertical elements of different heights to create the inclination of the slat. Said vertical elements are folded in their lower part in the same direction to form generally horizontal bearing lugs, the support lug of the uppermost vertical element bearing on the support lug of the vertical element the lower. To improve safety, it has also been proposed an extinguishing device for 25 tank or polluting oil retention pit whose oil flow is faster. This is the case, for example, of the international patent application WO2009 / 016203 filed by the Applicant. The device comprises a cap covering a tank or a pit and having close slats, each slat having multiple flow slopes, reserving between them a space ensuring said flowable products access to the tank or pit. All these devices, although significantly improving the safety around electric transformers by avoiding any spread of fire by stifling the latter in case of ignition of the oils and allowing a recovery of the oils at the bottom of the tank or pit at pump or the like do not provide maximum safety. Indeed, in case of severe weather water can enter the tank or pit and cause oil leakage outside the latter and thus pollute the environment.

In order to remedy this drawback, the French patent application FR 09 55356 filed by the applicant describes an environmental safety device for a polluting oil collection tank or pit, intended for equipment for electricity distribution networks and in particular bins or oil retention pits for electrical transformers. Said device comprises at least one tray or a receiving pit, in particular flammable flowing chemicals placed under a device containing such products, such as an electrical transformer, extinguishing means capping said tank or said pit, evacuation means an overflow of products in the receiving tank or pit and means for filtering flammable chemicals and / or means for separating water and flammable chemicals contained in the receiving tank or pit, said separating means and / or the filtering means being connected to a water discharge pipe. These filtration means consist of a filtration tank obtained in sealed reinforced concrete and having a bottom located substantially at the same level as the bottom of the tank or the receiving pit. Said tank is supplied with water / oil mixture by a siphon whose free ends open respectively to the bottom of the tank or the receiving pit and in the upper part of the filtration tank. At the bottom of the filtration tank are filtering means consisting of one or more filter cartridges. Said filter cartridges retain the oil and allow water to flow out which is evacuated by a discharge pipe connected to a spreading drain and / or the sewage network. This type of filtration tank although effective has the disadvantage of requiring particularly difficult maintenance. Indeed, it is necessary to regularly change the filter cartridges that are difficult to access.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One of the aims of the invention is thus to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a safety device, for a tank or polluting oil retention pit for example, intended for equipment for electricity distribution networks and in particular bins or oil retention tanks for electrical transformers in particular, simple and inexpensive design, providing high filtration efficiency regardless of weather conditions and quick and easy maintenance.

For this purpose and in accordance with the invention, there is provided an environmental safety device for a tank or pit for holding dangerous products such as flammable and / or toxic products; said device is remarkable in that it consists of at least one sealed tank having at least one substantially vertical separation wall defining two chambers, a first so-called supply chamber provided with at least one opening adapted to receive a pipe supplying water / hazardous products, said supply line being connected to at least one tank or a holding tank of hazardous products, or the like, and a second evacuation chamber provided with at least one suitable opening receiving an evacuation line connected to the wastewater network or a spreading drain, or the like, said partition wall being provided with at least one pipe connecting the supply chamber and the chamber of discharge and adapted to receive at least one removable filter cartridge allowing the water to pass into the evacuation chamber and retaining the dangerous products, said filter forming a plug when is saturated.

Preferably, the partition wall forms an angle of between 15 and 35 ° to the vertical and the pipe connecting the feed chamber and the discharge chamber forms an angle of between 15 and 35 ° with the horizontal. More specifically, the dividing wall forms an angle of 25 ° with the vertical and the pipe connecting the feed chamber and the discharge chamber 25 forms an angle of 25 ° with the horizontal. Furthermore, the filter cartridge consists of at least one tube filled with at least one gelling agent. Said gelling agent consists of water-insoluble polymer particles capable of adsorbing the particles of hazardous products. Preferably, the gelling agent consists of styrene-substituent styrene-polymer particles and / or fibers, copolymers of vinyl chloride including a vinyl chloride copolymer and co-monomers such as vinyl, dichloroethylene, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, acrylates, methacrylates and the like, acrylic polymers such as methyl methacrylate polymers, ethyl acrylate and the like, styrene polymers such as polystyrene and copolymers styrene and divinylbenzene, polymers and copolymers of alkyl styrene or a combination thereof.

Advantageously, the evacuation chamber comprises in its upper part a horizontal wall delimiting with the upper part of the tank a so-called overflow chamber, said horizontal wall comprising on its one side on its upper face compartments adapted to receive absorbent pads and on the other hand through-holes positioned under the filter bags so that the overflow chamber communicates with the evacuation chamber under the overflow chamber, and in that it comprises at least one overflow pipe extending substantially from the bottom of the feed chamber and opening into the overflow chamber. Incidentally, the upper end of the sealed tank is closed by a metal grating or by an anti-fire system as described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description of several alternative embodiments, given as non-limiting examples, of the environmental safety device according to the invention, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety device according to the invention equipping an oil retention pit for an electrical transformer; FIG. 2 is a torn perspective view of the safety device conforming to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sagittal sectional view of the safety device according to the invention shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the safety device according to the invention shown on FIG. Figure 2 is a top view of the safety device according to the invention shown in Figure 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following will be described by way of non-limiting example, a safety device for tank or polluting oil retention pit, for equipment for electricity distribution networks and in particular to the bins or retention pits d oil for electrical transformers; However, it is quite obvious that the safety device according to the invention can easily be adapted to any device comprising dangerous products, to all the tanks of dangerous products such as toxic or flammable chemicals, or the like without however depart from the scope of the invention. With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the safety device according to the invention consists of a substantially parallelepipedal sealed tank 1, obtained in sealed reinforced concrete for example, comprising a substantially vertical separation wall 2 delimiting two chambers, a first said supply chamber 3 provided with an opening 4 adapted to receive a feed pipe 5 in a mixture of water and hazardous products, said supply pipe 5 being connected to at least one tank or a holding pit 6 of products dangerous, such as a receiving pit placed under an electric transformer, for example, and a second so-called evacuation chamber 7 provided with an opening 8 able to receive an evacuation pipe 9 connected to the wastewater network, to a spreading network or the like. The opening 4 receiving the supply line 5 extends on the opposite side to the opening 8 receiving the discharge pipe 9. It is obvious that the sealed tank 1 could be obtained in any waterproof material resistant to the products. dangerous, well known to those skilled in the art and could have any shape, such as a cylindrical shape for example, without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the device may comprise a plurality of openings 4 receiving a plurality of supply lines 5 and a plurality of openings 8 receiving a plurality of evacuation lines 9 depending on the configuration and the needs of the installation to be secured. Advantageously, the watertight tank 1 comprises several pre-openings 5 and 8, said pre-openings being in circular zones where the wall of the watertight tank 1 is thinner.

Said partition wall 2 is inclined upwards from the wall of the sealed tank 1 having the opening 4 receiving the supply line 5 to the opposite wall of the sealed tank 1 having the opening 8 receiving the pipe of evacuation and bottom up at an angle α between 15 and 35 ° relative to the vertical, and preferably an angle of 25 ° relative to the vertical. Said separating wall comprises a first lower part inclined up to two thirds of the height of the tank and a second vertical part up to the upper end of the watertight tank 1. Furthermore, the device comprises three pipes 10 communicating the supply chamber 3 and the evacuation chamber 7. These pipes 10 pass through the inclined lower part of the partition wall 2 at a right angle with the latter. Thus, the lines 10 putting the supply chamber 3 into communication with the evacuation chamber 7 form an angle θ of between 15 and 35 ° with respect to the horizontal and preferably an angle θ of 25 ° with respect to the horizontal. Said pipes 10 are capable of a removable filter cartridge 11 allowing water to pass into the evacuation chamber 7 and holding the hazardous products, said filter cartridge forming a plug when it is saturated. In this particular embodiment, the device comprises three ducts 10 placing the supply chamber 3 in communication with the evacuation chamber, each duct 10 being positioned at a different height; however, it goes without saying that the device may include any number of lines 10 without departing from the scope of the invention. Said filter cartridges 11 consist of filter cartridges as described in US Pat. No. 6,485,639, US Pat. No. 6,503,390 or US Pat. No. 6,841,077, incorporated by reference, for example. Each cartridge consists of at least one tube filled with at least one gelling agent and / or a powdery material such as sand, activated charcoal, infusorial earth granules or clay granules, for example . The gelling agent consists of particles and / or polymer fibers insoluble in water and capable of adsorbing the oil particles. For example, the gelling agent consists of styrene and styrene-substituted polymer particles, vinyl chloride copolymers including a vinyl chloride copolymer, and co-monomers such as vinyl acetate, dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and the like. acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, acrylates, methacrylates and the like, acrylic polymers such as methyl methacrylate polymers, ethyl acrylate and the like, styrene polymers such as polystyrene and styrene copolymers and divinylbenzene, styrene alkyl polymers and copolymers or a combination thereof. Preferably, the filter cartridges consist of Petro-Pipe (trademark) filter cartridges marketed by Solidification Products International (SPI) under the reference PIFH-616. When the flammable oils from a defective transformer, mixed with water or not, pass through the filter cartridges 11, the gelling agent gradually solidifies to form a plug thus preventing any flow of oils in the chamber evacuation and ultimately in the wastewater network. It is then sufficient to replace the used filter cartridges 11 regularly, the latter being also recycled. Particularly advantageously, the evacuation chamber 7 comprises in its upper part a horizontal wall 12 delimiting with the upper part of the sealed tank a so-called overflow chamber 13. This horizontal wall 12 extends from the base of the part vertical upper part of the partition wall 2 to the wall of the sealed tank 1. Said horizontal wall 12 has on its one side on the upper side compartments 14 able to receive absorbent pads 15 and on the other hand through holes 16 positioned under the absorbent pads 15 so that the overflow chamber 13 is in communication with the discharge chamber 7 located under said overflow chamber 13. In addition, the device comprises at least one overflow pipe 17 extending substantially from the bottom of the feed chamber 3 and opening into the overflow chamber 13 to the right of the absorbent pads 15. Note that the filter bags comprise a gelling agent similar to the filtering agent of the filter cartridges 11 previously described.

Incidentally, the upper end of the sealed tank 1 is closed by a removable metal grating 18 and the device comprises in the feed chamber a descent ladder 19 integral with the wall having the opening 4 and extending substantially from the bottom of the feed chamber to the upper end of the sealed tank, to allow quick and secure access to an operator during filter cartridge replacement operations including. It will be observed that the composition of the gelling agent of the filter cartridges 11 and the absorbent cushions 15 will depend in particular on the composition of the dangerous products likely to penetrate into the safety device according to the invention. Those skilled in the art will have no difficulty in adapting the composition of this gelling agent according to the composition of the hazardous products. Similarly, the skilled person will have no difficulty in adapting the dimensions, the number of pipes, the number of filter cartridges, etc. depending on the flow of fluid likely to pass through the safety device. according to the invention. Furthermore, in this particular embodiment, the supply pipe 5 is connected to the outlet of a tank or a holding tank 6, with reference to FIG. 1, as described in the patent application FR 09 55356 filed by the plaintiff. Said retention pit 6 is for example obtained in sealed reinforced concrete, said pit being substantially parallelepiped, and having two partition walls projecting from the upper end of said pit, an electrical transformer resting on its partition walls. Said partition walls thus form three communicating chambers in the receiving tank or pit, each of the chambers being closed at its upper end by extinguishing means such as those described in the patent application FR 09 55356 for example. Finally, it is obvious that the examples which have just been given are only particular illustrations, in no way limiting as to the fields of application of the invention.

Claims (10)

REVENDICATIONS1. Environmental safety device for a tank or pit for detecting dangerous products such as flammable and / or toxic products, characterized in that it consists of at least one sealed tank (1) comprising at least one separation wall (2) substantially vertical delimiting two chambers (3,7), a first so-called supply chamber (3) provided with at least one opening (4) adapted to receive a feed pipe (5) in a mixture of water and hazardous products, said supply line (5) being connected to at least one tank or a holding tank of hazardous products, or the like, and a second evacuation chamber (7) provided with at least one opening (8) adapted to receive an evacuation pipe (9) connected to the wastewater network or to a spreading drain, or the like, said separating wall (2) being provided with at least one pipe (10) putting into communication the chamber of supply (3) and the evacuation chamber (7) and to receive at least one removable filter cartridge (11) allowing water to pass into the discharge chamber (7) and retaining the hazardous products, said filter cartridge (11) forming a plug when it is saturated. 2. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the partition wall (2) forms an angle between 15 and 35 ° with the vertical. 3. Device according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the pipe (10) communicating the supply chamber (3) and the discharge chamber (7) forms an angle 0 between 15 and 35 ° with the horizontal. 25 4. Device according to any one of claims 2 or 3 characterized the partition wall forms an angle of 25 ° with the vertical. 5. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 4 characterized in that the pipe (10) putting in communication the supply chamber (3) and the discharge chamber (7) forms an angle 0 of 25 ° with the horizontal.20 6. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that the filter cartridge (11) consists of at least one tube filled with at least one gelling agent. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the gelling agent consists of particles and / or polymer fibers insoluble in water and capable of adsorbing the particles of hazardous products. 8. Device according to Claim 7, characterized in that the gelling agent consists of styrene-substituted and styrene-substituent particles, copolymers of vinyl chloride including a copolymer of vinyl chloride and comonomers such as acetate vinyl, dichloroethylene, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, acrylates, methacrylates and the like, acrylic polymers such as methyl methacrylate polymers, ethyl acrylate and the like, styrene polymers such as polystyrene and the like. copolymers of styrene and divinylbenzene, polymers and copolymers of alkyl styrene or a combination thereof. 9. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 characterized in that the discharge chamber (7) comprises in its upper part a horizontal wall (12) defining with the upper part of the sealed tank (1) a chamber said overflow wall (13), said horizontal wall (12) having on one side on its upper face compartments (14) able to receive absorbent cushions (15) and secondly through holes (16) positioned under the absorbent cushions (15) so that the overflow chamber (13) is in communication with the discharge chamber (7) located under the overflow chamber (13), and in that it comprises at least an overflow pipe (17) extending substantially from the bottom of the feed chamber (3) and opening into the overflow chamber (13). 10. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the upper end of the sealed tank (1) is closed by a metal grating (18) or by an anti-fire system.