SE2130239A1

SE2130239A1 - Fire safe Container

Info

Publication number: SE2130239A1
Application number: SE2130239A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Fabian Hedin
Original assignee: Fabian Hedin
Priority date: 2021-09-06
Filing date: 2021-09-06
Publication date: 2023-03-07

Abstract

Container (100) for cargo storage, comprising five substantially quadrilateral sides (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) wherein each side (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) meets the adjacent side (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 11 Oe) in a substantially right angle, thereby forming a cuboid with one open side (110f); a door (120a, 120b), on the open side (110f) of the cuboid, configured to set the container (100) in either an open condition, or a closed condition; a seal (320), situated between the door (120a, 120b) and the open side (110f) of the container (100), configured to isolate an interior side of the container (100) when closed; and a first valve (140), configured to enable evacuation of air from the container (100) by a vacuum pump, below an air pressure limit, thereby creating a fire-safe interior of the container (100).

Description

FIRE SAFE CONTAINER TECHNICAL FIELD lmplementations described herein generally relate to a fire-safe container for storage and transportation of cargo, which is flammable/ hazardous.

BACKGROUND lt is a well-known problem to transport and to some extent also store flammable and/ or hazardous products in a safe way. Fire onboard a transportation vessel will most likely re- sult in a catastrophic scenario, not the least as assistance of an emergency service such as fire fighters is unlikely during trans-oceanic transportation.

The introduction of automatic fire extinction mechanisms such as sprinkler systems ar- ranged in conjunction with a fire alarm may provide a possible solution. The sprinklers may output water, gas, chemicals, etc. However, these kinds of solutions are inconvenient and impractical, not compatible with standardised transportation solutions. Also, activation of the fire extinction mechanism is likely to affect the cargo.

An example of flammable/ hazardous cargo is lithium batteries intended for usage in vari- ous electronic products such as electronic vehicles, communication devices etc. Other ex- amples are various chemicals, fertilisers, solvents, paints, fuel, explosives, ammunition, etc.

As usage of chargeable lithium batteries are likely to radically increase due to development of electronic vehicle usage, the problems of transporting flammable/ hazardous cargo in a convenient manner may be predicted to increase. lt is therefore desired to further develop and improve fire-safe transportations.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object to obviate at least some of the above mentioned disadvantages and provide a fire-safe container for transportation/ storage of flammable/ hazardous cargo.

This and other objects are achieved by the features of the appended independent claim 1. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures, when studied in conjunction. 2 According to a first aspect, a container for storage of cargo is provided. The container comprises five substantially quadrilateral sides wherein each quadrilateral side meets the adjacent quadrilateral side in a substantially right angle, thereby forming a cuboid with one open side. Also, the container comprises a door, for example in form of a pair of doors, situated on the open side of the cuboid. The door is configured to open and close the open side of the container, thereby setting the container in either an open condition, or a closed condition. The container additionally comprises a seal. The seal is situated between the door and the open side of the container, configured to disable passage of air between an interior side and an exterior side of the container when the container is set into the closed condition. ln addition, the container comprises a first valve, situated in one of the sides or the door of the container. The first valve is configured to enable evacuation of air from the container by a vacuum pump, below an air pressure limit, when the container is set into the closed con- dition, thereby creating a fire-safe interior atmosphere within the container.

By decreasing air pressure in the interior of the container, air and thereby also oxygen is evacuated from the interior atmosphere of the container, which makes an event of fire of cargo inside the container impossible or at least unlikely, as oxygen is a prerequisite for fi re.

Another advantage is that the container becomes possible to handle and transport together with normal/ standardised containers for non- flammable cargo, which enhances feasibility and reduces costs.

Yet an advantage by evacuating the air from the container is that it becomes impossible or at least difficult for a non-authorised person to enter the container for the purpose of steal- ing, smuggling, or manipulation of the cargo, without being noticed. This may be an ad- vantage in particular when explosives and/ or ammunition is stored in the container.

To open the doors of the container, the vacuum pressure in the container must be equal- ised to about atmospheric pressure via a valve configured to enable inlet of environmental air to the interior of the container when the valve is open, which will be a rather noisy pro- cedure.

Thereby, a fire-safe and to some extent theft-safe container for transportation of flamma- ble/ hazardous cargo is provided.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the described aspects will become appar- ent from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings, illustrating examples in which: Figure 1 is an illustration of a fire-safe container according to an embodiment.

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an opening side of a fire-safe container ac- cording to an embodiment.

Figure 3A is a block diagram schematically illustrating a closed fire-safe container ac- cording to an embodiment.

Figure 3B is a block diagram schematically illustrating an open fire-safe container ac- cording to an embodiment.

Figure 4 illustrates corner castings of a fire-safe container according to an embodi- ment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a container, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the exam- ples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed descrip- tion, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless othenNise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration over a container 100 wherein a flammable/ hazardous cargo may be transported/ stored. 4 The container 100 comprises five substantially quadrilateral sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e wherein each quadrilateral side 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e meets the adjacent quadrilateral side 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e in a substantially right angle, thereby form- ing a cuboid with one open side 110f. The container sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e may be made of steel or other similar metal, such as corrugated weathering steel. By cor- rugating the sheet metal used for the container sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e a sig- nificant contribution may be made to the container's rigidity and stacking strength.

The container 100 also comprises a door 120a, 120b, situated on the open side 110f of the cuboid, which door 120a, 120b is configured to open and close, respectively, the open side 110f of the container 100, thereby setting the container 100 in either an open condition, or a closed condition. The door 120a, 120b may comprise a pair of doors in some embodi- ments, such as illustrated in Figure 1. The door 120a, 120b may be hanging on hinges, which may be situated in association with a respective edge of one or more quadrilateral side 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e of the container 100.

The container 100 also comprises a first valve 140 situated in one of the sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e or the door 120a, 120b of the container 100. The first valve 140 may be configured to disallow entrance of air into the container 100 via the first valve 140 while at the same time enable evacuation of air from the container 100 by a vacuum pump, below an air pressure limit, when the container 100 is set into the closed condition, thereby creat- ing a fire-safe interior atmosphere within the container 100.

The air pressure limit may be set to about 40-90 kPa below atmospheric air pressure, or lower.

By evacuating the air and thereby also the oxygen from the container 100, fire in the con- tainer 100 becomes impossibly, or at least most unlikely, as oxygen is a prerequisite for fire.

The container 100 may comprise an air pressure meter 170, configured to measure the air pressure of the interior of the container 100, and to output the measured air pressure on a display. Thereby, the current air pressure inside the container 100 may be monitored.

The display may be situated on the container 100 in some embodiments, for example on one of the sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e or the door 120a, 120b of the container 100. Alternatively, the display may be remote from but communicatively connected with the air pressure meter 170 via a wireless communication interface for example Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or via a ce||u|ar communication network.

An advantage with having a remote display for outputting air pressure measurements is that an operator, for example on a transportation ship or other vessel, may monitor air pressure at several containers 100 simultaneously and without having to check a monitor situated on each respective container 100, which may be stacked onto each other. Another advantage is that a monitor situated on the container 100 may easily be damaged during the transportation, while the operator may keep a remote display safe from impact during the transportation of the container 100.

Possibly, an alert may be generated when the air pressure exceeds the predetermined air pressure limit, for example due to a leakage of the container 100. Thus, appropriate measures may be taken, such as repeating the evacuation of air from the container 100, until the air pressure again is lower than the predetermined air pressure limit, thereby as- suring that the container 100 is maintained fire-safe. ln addition, the container 100 may also comprise a second valve 160 situated in one of the sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e or the door 120a, 120b of the container 100. The sec- ond valve 160 may be configured to enable inlet of environmental air to the interior of the container 100 when the second valve 160 is open.

Hereby, the under-pressure within the container 100 may be regulated to atmospheric pressure in a convenient manner, for enabling opening of the door 120a, 120b of the con- tainer 100. ln some alternative embodiments, nitrogen, carbon dioxide or some other similar gas may be allowed to fill the container 100. Thereby, oxygen is disallowed to enter the container interior.

The container 100 may also comprise an openable hatch 150, for enabling entrance of sand in an emergency case of fire at the container 100. The openable hatch 150 may be situated at the roof 110a of the container 100. ln other embodiments, the openable hatch 150, or a plurality of openable hatches 150 may be comprised in one or several of the sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e of the container 100. Hereby a very straight forward way of efficiently eliminating a fire in the container 100 is provided.

The external part of the floor 110c of the container 100 may comprise a set of cavities 130a, 130b in some embodiments. These sets of cavities 130a, 130b may be arranged and dimensioned for enabling transportation with a fork truck.

Hereby the container 100 may be easily handled and situated by the fork truck. Also, the container 100, in a case of emergency, may be transported away from other containers, buildings, or combustible objects in general.

Figure 2 illustrates an openable side 110f of a container 110, on which a door 120a, 120b is arranged in order to enable opening and closing of the container 110 by means of the door 120a, 120b.

The door 120a, 120b may be arranged as a pair of doors 120a, 120b. These doors 120a, 120b may comprise a locking means 210 for closing the doors 120a, 120b and thereby set the container 100 in a closed state wherein air evacuation of the container interior is ena- bled.

The fire-safe container 100 may in some embodiments be painted in a characteristic col- our, for example orange or yellow, making it easy to recognise the fire-safe container 100 when stored in a harbour, in a storage room or on a ship. lt thereby becomes easy to de- tect the fire-safe container 100 among other containers, for example when a fire alert has been triggered and it is important to exercise fire fighting measures as soon as possible.

Figure 3A schematically illustrates a container 100 in a closed condition while Figure 3B illustrates the container 100 in an open condition.

The container 100, in some embodiments, may comprise at least one horisontal shelf 310 at the container interior, extending between at least two of the container sides 110a, 110b, 110c,110d,110e.

Hereby, cargo such as for example rechargeable lithium batteries etc., may be stored in a convenient way without stacking batteries onto each other which may cause a short circuit of battery poles, which in turn may start a fire.

Another advantage of the interior horisontal shelf 310 or shelves is that the structure of the container 100 is enforced, so that high vacuum pressure applied to the container interior does not affect the form of the container 100, which otherwise may implode.

Other embodiments of the container 100 may in addition comprise a vertical shelf or shelves, extending vertically between floor 110c and roof 110a of the container interior, thereby dividing the interior into compartments.

Thereby, cargo such as rechargeable lithium batteries may be divided also in vertical direc- tion, further reducing the risk of cargo moving around during transportation, which may harm the cargo, or in a worst case scenario may short circuit battery poles of lithium batter- ies. ln addition, the form stability of the container 100 is further enhanced by interior vertical shelves.

The container 100 also comprises a seal 320. The seal 320 may be made of an elastic material such as rubber, silicone or similar material. The seal 320 may be situated between the door 120a, 120b and the open side 110f of the container 100. ln case the container 100 comprises a pair of doors 120a, 120b, the seal 320 may be applied at the meeting edges between the respective doors 120a, 120b. The passage of air between an interior side and an exterior side of the container 100 when the container 100 is set into the closed condi- tion, i.e. when the door 120a, 120b is closed, is thereby disabled or at least obstructed. lt thereby becomes possible to maintain a high under-pressure/ vacuum in the container 100 for a long period of time.

The interior of the container 100 may also comprise a sensor 340 situated in the container 100, configured to detect heat, smoke and/ or fire. The sensor 340 may thus comprise a temperature sensor, a smoke detector detecting particles in the air, a heat detector based on emission of infrared light, i.e. an IR sensor, a visual sensor, etc.

By applying a temperature sensor that continuously (or at predetermined time intervals) monitors the temperature inside the container 100, it may also be verified that the cargo has been kept below a predefined maximum limit temperature during transportation, for example. ln some embodiments, a plurality of sensors 340 may be comprised in the container interi- or, for example of different types, thereby improving the ability to detect a fire in the con- tainer 100 at an early stage. The container 100 may thus comprise for example one heat sensor and one smoke sensor in some embodiments. Alternatively, the container 100 may comprise a plurality of sensors 340 of the same type, for example heat sensors of the same type. Thereby redundancy is achieved, so that a single malfunctioning sensor 340 is not allowed to obstruct fire detection.

The sensor 340 may be configured to trigger an alert via an output device 330, when the sensor 340 detects heat (temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature limit), smoke and/ or fire in the container 100.

The output device 330 may be configured to output an audio signal, a haptic/ tactile signal, a visual signal, and/ or a combination hereof.

The output device 330 may be situated locally on or within the container 100 in some em- bodiments. ln other embodiments, the output device 330 may be communicatively con- nected With the sensor 340 via a Wireless communication interface for example Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or via a cellular communication network. Thus, the output device 330 may comprise a mobile communication device such as a cellular telephone or similar device.

Thereby, one or several operators involved in the transportation/ storage may be alerted when heat/ fire/ smoke is detected by the sensor 340.

Although oxygen is a prerequisite for fire, and the oxygen is evacuated from the container 100 via the valve 140 and the vacuum pump, fire may still occur for example in case of leakage of air into the container 100 due to a malfunction of the seal 320 or the valves 140, 160, or some other damage to the container integrity. ln some embodiments, the container 100 may be thermally insulated on an internal side of at least one container side 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 100f, preferably all one container sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 100f including also the door 120a, 120b.

The thermal insulation may be performed by applying a material having low thermal con- ductivity, i.e. high insulating capability or resistance value. Some examples of possible choice of material may comprise e.g. glass wool, rock wool, vermiculite, perlite, insulative paint, etc.

Heat transfer, i.e. transfers of thermal energy from the heated container to the environ- ment, and vice versa, is thereby restricted. An advantage with applying a thermal insulation to the container sides 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 100f, is that an unfortunate fire in the container 100 is less likely to heat neighbour containers, buildings or other Structures. An unfortunate fire of the container 100 may thereby be restricted and obstructed from spread- ing. ln some optional embodiments, the container 100 may comprise a power outlet, enabling charging of a rechargeable electrical battery or an electrical device comprising a recharge- able electrical battery, stored in the container 100.

A known problematic moment in terms of risks of fire is when rechargeable electrical bat- teries are charged. By enable charging of batteries inside the container 100 while the oxy- gen is evacuated, the risks of fire during the charging of the batteries is eliminated or at least reduced.

The dimensions of the container 100 may be adapted to follow the standard ISO 668 of transportation containers, in some embodiments.

ISO standard 668 defines the exact lengths of all standard container sizes deliberately such that shorter containers, joined horizontally with the also standard size twist-locks, can always form longer, rigid units, that exactly match the length of longer containers, to make them stackable on the four outside, load-bearing corners of another longer container, or same-length unit-combination.

Some examples of common standard lengths according to ISO 668 are 20 ft (6.10 m), 40 ft (12.19 m), 45 ft (13.72 m), 48 ft (14.63 m), and/ or 53 ft (16.15 m).

An advantage therewith is that the container 100 may be transported and stored together with other standardised transportation containers according to ISO 668, using the same equipment and being able to be stacked onto other standardised transportation containers.

The container 100 comprises four external lower corners 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d of a floor 110c of the container 100. Also, the container 100 additionally comprises an external upper corner 190a, 190b, 190c, 190d of a roof110a of the container 100.

The respective external lower corners 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d may each comprise a set of recesses 420a, 420b, 420c, as illustrated in Figure 4. Also, the external upper corner 190a, 190b, 190c, 190d may each comprise a corresponding set of recesses 410a, 410b, 410c, in form of corner castings, welded to the container 100.

An advantage therewith is that stacking of a plurality of containers 100 on each other by means of a connecting device arranged in the respective sets of recesses 410a, 410b, 410c, 420a, 420b, 420c.

The connecting device is sometimes referred to as a twist-lock, which may be fitted to cranes and transportation bases. The connecting device/ twist-lock may form a standard- ised (rotating) connector system, for connecting and securing intermodal, and predomi- nantly ISO-standard international shipping containers.

Thanks to the connecting device/ twist-lock and the sets of recesses 410a, 410b, 410c, 420a, 420b, 420c, secure stacking of containers on top of each other is enabled. Also, con- tainers 100 may be locked into place on a container ship, semi-trailer and/ or rail carriage. The provided solution may also be used for lifting and handling the container 100 by specif- ic container-handling equipment, like straddle carriers, reach stackers, container-handling forklifts, side lifters, and various types of container cranes.

The sets of recesses 410a, 410b, 410c, 420a, 420b, 420c of the container 100 may be designed in accordance with ISO 1161.

The corner castings 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d, 190a, 190b, 190c, 190d may have the di- mension of 180><180><110 mm in some embodiments. The oval recesses 410a, 410b, 410c, 420a, 420b, 420c may have a length of about 124.5 mm in some embodiments.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term "or" as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathe- matical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated othenNise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as "at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. lt will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/ or groups thereof. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a com- 11 bination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Thus, the various features of different embodiments with advantage may be combined, for achieving additional ad- vantages.

Claims

1. A container (100) for storage of cargo, which container (100) comprises: five substantially quadrilateral sides (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) wherein each quadrilateral side (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) meets the adjacent quadrilateral side (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) in a substantially right angle, thereby forming a cuboid with one open side (110f); a door (120a, 120b), situated on the open side (110f) of the cuboid, which door (120a, 120b) is configured to open and close, respectively, the open side (110f) of the con- tainer (100), thereby setting the container (100) in either an open condition, or a closed condition; a sea| (320), situated between the door (120a, 120b) and the open side (110f) of the container (100), configured to disable passage of air between an interior side and an exterior side of the container (100) when the container (100) is set into the closed condi- tion; and a first valve (140) situated in one of the sides (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) or the door (120a, 120b) of the container (100), configured to enable evacuation of air from the container (100) by a vacuum pump, below an air pressure limit, when the container (100) is set into the closed condition, thereby creating a fire-safe interior atmosphere within the container (100).

2. The container (100) according to claim 1, wherein the container (100) comprises: a second valve (160) situated in one of the sides (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e) or the door (120a, 120b) of the container (100), configured to enable inlet of environmental air to the interior of the container (100) when the second valve (160) is open.

3. The container (100) according to any one of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the con- tainer (100) comprises: an air pressure meter (170), configured to measure the air pressure of the interior of the container (100), and to output the measured air pressure on a display (330).

4. The container (100) according to claim 3, wherein the air pressure meter (170) is configured to generate an alert when the measured air pressure of the interior of the con- tainer (100) exceeds the air pressure limit, and the container (100) is set into the closed condition.

5. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-4, comprising at least one horisontal shelf (310), extending between at least two of the container sides (110a, 110b, 110c,110d,110e).

6. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-5, comprising a set of re- cesses (420a, 420b, 420c) situated in each external lower corner (180a, 180b, 180c, 180d) of a floor (110c) of the container (100) and a corresponding set of recesses (410a, 410b, 410c) situated in each external upper corner (190a, 190b, 190c, 190d) of a roof (110a) of the container (100), thereby enabling stacking of a plurality of containers (100) on each other by means of a connecting device arranged in the respective sets of recesses (410a, 410b, 410c, 420a, 420b, 420c).

7. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-6, comprising a sensor (340) situated at the container interior, which sensor (340) is configured to detect heat, smoke and/ or fire, and trigger an alert on the output device (330), when the sensor (340) detects heat, smoke and/ or fire in the container (100).

8. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-7, comprising thermal insula- tion on an internal side of at least one container side (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e).

9. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the roof (110a) of the container (100) comprises an openable hatch (150), for enabling entrance of sand in an emergency case of fire. interior comprises a power outlet, enabling charging of an electrical battery, stored in the

10.The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the container container (100). of the container floor (110c) comprises a set of cavities (130a, 130b) for enabling transpor-

11.The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the external part tation with a fork truck. of the container (100) are adapted to follow the standard ISO 668 of transportation con-

12.The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the dimensions tainers.

13. The container (100) according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein the air pressure limit is set to about 40kPa below atmospheric air pressure, or lower.