US2274784A - Fire protection system for large airports - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1942. E. GEERTZ 2,274,784

FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR LARGE AIRPORTS Filed Dec. 28, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 3, 1942.

E. GEERTZ FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR LARGE AIRPORTS Filed Dec. 28, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR LARGE AIRPORTS Eric Geertz, Glen Ellyn, 111., assignor to Cardox Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of 11- linois Application December 28, 1939, Serial No. 311,430

21 Claims. (Cl. 169-11) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in methods and apparatus for providing fire protection for large commercial airports, or the like, including their hangars, ships in and around the hangars, and activities on the runways and adjacent portions of the flying field.

Commercial airports, and other flying fields, present a particularly difiicult fire hazard for any fire department to take care of. The hazard usually involves two or more large hangars; a considerable investment in idle airplanes either being repaired or reserviced for their next run and valuable testing instruments and tools; gasoline and oil stored in the tanks of the idle airplanes; the location of the airport or field at the outskirts of a city where an adequatesupply of water is not always available; possibilities of crashes in the landing and taking oif of airplanes on the runways, etc. The hangars are recognized as the most troublesome items of this type of hazard because of the concentration of so much highly inflammable material always to be found in and around each one of the same. A plane may crash on a runway and be completely consumed by fire without involving any other object at the airport or flying field. However, when a fire gains real headway in a hangar, the chances have been that the fire would spread throughout the remaining buildings, etc., of the airport or At most modern flying fields, the hangars are positioned a reasonable distance from each other to prevent as much as. possible the spreading of fire from one hangar to the other. This precaution would be effective if a major fire involving one hangar were extinguished in a reasonably short length of time. Previous attempts to combat such fires, where water has been used as the extinguishing medium, have not been very successful in confining the fire to one hangar because of:

(l) The ineffectiveness of water in combating fires involving gasoline and oil.

(2) The intensity of the fire.

(3) The concentration of the hottest portions of the fire at numerous scattered locations througout the large interior of the hangar. v

(4) The way in which airplanes housed within a hangar obstructor interfere with attempts to reach all portions of the interior of the hangar with streams of water which are manipulated from the comparatively few available entrances.

(5) The need for firemen to enter the hangar to lay hoselines to more strategic points of attack if th fire cannot be extinguished from the available entrances.

(6) The great danger to which firemen entering the hangar must expose themselves because of the likelihood of gas tank explosions and of the roof'falling due to buckling of the necessarily long roof rafters or trusses which can only be supported on the side walls.

Airport and flying field operators have for a long time recognized the great value of liquid carbon dioxide as an extinguishing medium for fires involving airplanes, etc. They have been greatly handicapped in its use, however, because it has never been made available to them in any amounts greater than 50 pounds to a unit. This is due to the fact that liquid carbon dioxide has always been stored in cylinders which are left exposed to changes in temperature of the surrounding air and the vapor pressure of the liquid in such cylinders is practically always in excess of 1000 pounds per square inch. As a result, these operators have only been able to rely on this type of extinguishing medium for combating small localized fires, and a few small cylinders, not exceeding 50 poundsinqcapacity, usually are found scattered around the hangars, etc.

It has been determined that the most effective way of extinguishing a sizeable fire raging in an enclosed space is to totally flood the space with carbon dioxide vapors, i. e., discharge sufiicient carbon dioxide vapors into the space to provide a concentration of the same in all portions of the space which will put out the fire and cool all heat absorbing objects below the kindling point of the combustible materials. This carbon dioxide concentration will vary with difierent combustible materials and different amounts of materials or masses to be cooled. A 65% concentration will be sufiicient for all conditions and a 30% concentration will be ample for a large percentage of cases.

Large quantities of liquid carbon dioxide maintained in readiness for instant use at a controlled subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding low vapor pressure constitutes a part of the disclosure of my Patent No. 2,143,311, issued January 10, 1939. This low temperature carbon dioxide is an extremely effective fire extinguishing medium for large fires and appears to be the only available extinguishing medium which, when handled in accordance with the aforesaid patented method, can be discharged in sufiiciently large quantities andat a sufficiently rapid rate to successfully combat fires inyolving substantial amounts of gasoline. and oil As all airplane hangars are designed to provide as large a single unobstructed enclosed space, with ample overhead clearance, as is possible, it requires a considerable amount of carbon dioxide to flood one o; the same. Every modern flying field of any size has at least two hangars and there are several commercial airports in this country which have three, four, five, or more. The total amount of carbon dioxide required to flood all of the hangars of an airport, when several hangars are involved, reaches somewhat staggering proportions.

For example, one commercial airport now in operation in an eastern state has four hangars, each of which would require 80 tons of carbon dioxide to flood the same. This amount of liquid carbon dioxide is rather difiicult to comprehend or visualize, but it is rendered less difiicult when one considers that railway tank cars have been employed for transporting the low temperature and pressure liquid carbon dioxide of my aforementioned patent and that each one of these tank cars has a load capacity of 24 tons. Eighty tons of liquid carbon dioxide, therefore, would require a storage spacewhich would be the equivalent of three and a thirdrailway tank cars. If one were to provide 80 tons of liquid carbon dioxide for each one of the four hangars of the above referred to commercial airport, a total storage space of 320 ton capacity would be needed and thirteen and a third railway tank cars would be the equivalent of such a storage space.

Of course, high pressure carbon dioxide has been employed to a limited extent to protect hazards requiring up to from A9. ton to 1 ton. This high pressure liquid carbon dioxide, however, has always been stored in banks of interconnected cylinders with each cylinder having a maximum storage capacity of 50 pounds. Naturally, a separate control valve must be provided for each one of such interconnected cylinders. Therefore, to make available sufiicient high pressure liquid carbon dioxide to flood one of the aforesaid hangars would require the use of a bank of 3200 cylinders and 3200 separate control valves. To simultaneously fiood all four hangars would require 12,800 cylinders and the same number of separate control valves.

A sufficient amount of high pressure liquid carbon dioxide cannot be discharged from 50 pound cylinders to flood a space as large as an average airplane hangar in a sufiiciently short length of time to be effectively employed as a fire extinguishing medium because of the tremendous array of valves and manifold piping required to connect this large a numbe r of cylinders in a bank. It has been' determined, however, that low temperature, low pressure liquid carbon dioxide stored in a single tank of 4 tons capacity can be discharged at a rate of 100 pounds a second through a single four inch pipe. Of course, much more rapid rates of discharge may be provided from'a single tank of larger capacity, if desired, by employing either more or larger discharge pipes.

gasoline and oil fires and reduces the oxygen concentration to such a value that explosive mixtures of gasoline vapors and oxygen will not exist. It cools and extinguishes the hottest of fires. Its application to the interior of a hangar may be accomplished by means of a fixed piping system which makes it unnecessary for firemen to enter the hangar until after the fire is completely extinguished. The most effective point or zone of application of carbon dioxide vapors is adjacent the roof, because the vapors are more dense than air and will settle downwardly. As the vapors have subzero temperature, the release of the same adjacent the roof will keep the rafters and trusses cool, and there will be no danger of the roof falling.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a system, or methods and apparatus, which will make it possible and entirely practical for commercial airports, or other flying fields, to be fully protected with carbon dioxide from fires occurring either in or around any of the hangars and on or around the runways.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a single system which will make it possible for all of the hangars, the runways, and the areas adjacent them at any airport or fiying field to be adequately protected from fire with a total amount of liquid carbon dioxide which need not materially exceed the amount required to totally flood the largest one of the hangars.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fire protection system of the above mentioned type which will maintain at each one of the several involved hangars a quantity of liquid carbon dioxide that will be available for immediate discharge into the hangar to start the desired flooding operation and which will be adequate to carry on the said operation until the remainder of the liquid carbon dioxide stored at the other hangars can be made available.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a series of hangars and an associated runway with the fire protection system embodying this invention suitably installed with respect thereto, and

Figure 2 is a detail, elevational view, partly broken away, illustrating the installation ofthe envelope every object in the hangar. It smothers fire protection system embodying this invention in one of the hangars of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of this invention, and particularly referring to Fig. 1, the reference character 5 designates each one of a series of four hangars which may be considered as representative of the hangar equipment of a large commercial airport or a flying field. It is to be understood that these hangars are, as is the conventional practice, suitably spaced from each other to provide protection against the spread of fire from one hangar to the other. The reference character 6 designates a runway which may be considered as representative of the system of runways provided at all upto-date flying fields. The runways usually are spaced or located a sufi'icient distance from all rangars, or other buildings, so that the buildings will in no way interfere with the maneuvering of planes while landing or taking olf. It will be understood that Fig. 1 is a condensed illustration of a flying field and does not accurately depict the relative position of airport hangars and runways.

As is illustrated in Fig. 2, modern hangars are usually constructed'with side walls 7 which are formed of any suitable fireproof material, such as reinforced concrete, hollow tile, or the like. The opposite ends of the hangar are usually closed ,by sectional doors 8. The various sections of these doors may be either slidably mounted on runways so that they may be moved into their open and closed positions or the various sections may be hingedly connected so that they may be folded back or to the side, as is illustrated at 9 in Fig. 1. Regardless of what type of door structure is employed, the design will be such that the entire width of the hangar will be left unobstructed when the doors are arranged in their fully open position. A suitable fireproof roof covering 10 is supported by steel trusses or rafters ll which are supported at their opposite ends on the side walls 1. No intermediate support is provided for the roof rafters because it is essential that the entire interior of the hangar be left 1mobstructed to allow for handling the planes housed therein.

As it is the primary purpose of the fire extinguishing system embodying this invention to provide maximum protection for the several hangars, the system is intended to provide ample liquid carbon dioxide to totally flood at one time any one of the several hangars. Of course, all of the hangars at any airport or other flying field or the several hangars to be found at different flying fields cannot each be expected to require the same amount of liquid carbon dioxide to provide total flooding. Any figures given herein, therefore, should only be considered as exemplary and should not be treated as critical or as in any way limiting the invention. As an aid in explaining the fire extinguishing system embodying this invention, it will be considered that the airport represented by the disclosure of Fig. l is the commercial airport referred to above. Therefore, each one of the four hangars designated by the reference character may be considered as requiring 80 tons of liquid carbon dioxide, maintained at a subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, to totally flood the same with carbon dioxide vapors at a concentration of at least 30%. With the hangars 5 spaced from each other a reasonable distance and with a major fire to be extinguished by the flooding of the involved hangar with carbon dioxide vapors, full protection for all of the hangars can be provided by maintaining in the entire system suflicient liquid carbon dioxide to totally flood only one hangar. For this particular example, therefore, the minimum storage capacity of the entire fire extinguishing system will be 80 tons of liquid. However, as the carbon dioxide is to be expelled or discharged from the system under its own vapor pressure, a certain amount of vapor will always remain in the storage tanks and piping and an allowance should be made to provide the required 80 tons in excess of the vapors which will remain after the system is theoretically exhausted. As the entire system, when filled, will contain a very high percentage of liquid, there being only small vapor spaces provided in each one of the storage tanks, the total capacity of the piping of the system will provide enough liquid to produce the residual vapor charge after the system is exhausted of its available liquid. It can be considered, therefore, that the total storage capacity of the tanks should at least equal the minimum requirements of the system. Therefore, the total storage capacity of the insulated tanks l2 should be tons, or enough liquid carbon dioxide to totally flood any one of the hangars 5. With this requirement for the total storage space, each tank l2 may have a minimum capacity of 20 tons. Of course, each one of these storage tanks I 2 may have a greater capacity than 20 tons if it is desired to provide the system with a greater amount of liquid carbon dioxide than is actually necessary to flood a single hangar. For example, each one of the tanks l2'might be the equivalent of one of the railway tank car tanks referred to above and have a capacity of 24 tons. It will be appreciated, also, that the 20 ton storage capacity of each one of the tanks l2 may be split up into smaller units by th provision of two or more tanks for each hangar. Each tank, and the entire system, may be charged with liquid carbon dioxide by means of the filling connections l3,

To apply the fire extinguishing method of my aforesaid patent to this system, the tanks, etc., should be charged with liquid carbon dioxide at a desired subatmospheric temperature and pressure The expression subatmospheric temperature is intendedto cover any desired, selected temperature below a normal atmospheric temperature of 70 F. After the entire system is charged with liquid carbon dioxide, the temperature of the liquid is to be maintained at a desired low value. This value will usually fall between 0 F. and 40 F. This subatmospheric temperature is maintained by means of a conventional, commercial refrigerating unit which is diagrammatically illustrated at It. One of these units will be provided for each storage tank l2. The refrigerating machine i4 is connected by the necessary piping IE to a cooling coil located in the associated tank I2. As has been disclosed in my aforementioned patent, the most economical arrangement is to provide a cooling coil within the vapor space of the tank l2. As a precaution against the failure of a refrigerating machine It, each tank may be provided with a slow bleed-off valve which is diagrammatically illustrated at Hi. This valve will function to bleed off carbon dioxide vapors if the refrigerator machine It fails and the vapor pressure rises above a given value within the storage tank l2. As the bleeding of carbon dioxide vapors from a tank will result in self-cooling of the remaining liquid in the tank, the various valves 5 will function by themselves to maintain the liquid in the system at a desired subatmospheric temperature, and its corresponding vapor pressure, in the absence of the operation of any of the refrigerating machines I i. As is illustrated in the figures, the various storage tanks l2 are interconnected by pipe lines ll. These pipe lines are connected at their ends to the liquid spaces of the tanks I2 and are located at a lower level than the tanks, These pipe lines H are to be maintained in open communication with the tanks at all times with the result that the pipes I! will always be filled with liquid carbon dioxide. Any vapors which may be formed in these pipes as a result of absorption of heat will pass through the liquid in the pipes and will percolate through the liquid in the storage tanks 12 to reach the vapor spaces of said tanks. The pipes therefore, can be considered as "wet pipes and as containing columns of liquid carbon dioxide which interconnect the several tanks. With this type of connection between the several tanks I2, it will be possible to start drawing otf the liquid from any one of the tanks and to continue the discharge of liquid, without any interruption, until all of the tanks are exhausted of their available liquid, leaving only a residual charge of vapor in the entire system. The object of dividing the total storage into separate units with one unit closely associated with each hangar is to make it possible to start the discharge of the extinguishing medium into any one of the hangars immediately upon the discovery of a serious fire or the actuation of any suitable, automatic control mechanism which will be responsive to a sudden rise in temperature within a hangar. No attempt has been made to illustrate either a manual or an automatic type of control system for the illustrated extinguishing system asany conventional controls may be employed as desired.

The discharge of the carbon dioxide vapor into the hangar is accomplished by means of a pipe line I9 which extends to and up one side wall I to enter the hanger in the vicinity of the roof ID. This pipe line I9 then branches out into two interconnected manifold pipes 20. These manifold pipes may be provided with any desired number of branches 2I. A suitable discharge nozzle 22 will be attached to each branch 2|. Fig. 2 discloses these discharge nozzles 22 as being arranged to direct the liberated carbon dioxide, which will take the form of a mixture of vapor and snow, through the area occupied by the roof rafters or trusses I I. As this discharging cloud of vapor and snow has a subzero temperature, the rafters will be maintained at a low temperature and there will be no danger of them buckling or warping and permitting the roof I to collapse into the hangar.

To dispense with any need for portable fire extinguishers to take care of small, localized fires in and around the hangars and fires resulting from crashes on the runways, this system includes any desired number of hose lines which may be located at suitable strategic points. As an example of a suitable arrangement of such hose lines, Fig. 1 illustrates three hose reels 23, 24, and 25 for each hangar. These hose reels are provided with any suitable length of hose 26 which may be run off of the reels. A suitable nozzle 2'! is provided at the discharge end of each hose. It will be noted that the reels 24 are located in a pit 28 beneath the floor of their respective hangars. provided for covering these pits when the hose lines are not needed. The reels 25 are located in pits 39 formed in the runway 6. These pits, also, will be suitably covered so that they will not interfere in any way with planes using the runway. Branch lines 3| connect the sections of hose 26 on the reels 23 to the associated storage tanks I2. The hose 26 on the reels 24 are connected to the pipe lines I9 by branch lines 32. Of course, suitable valve mechanism will be provided for permitting the extinguishing medium to be discharged through the hose lines 26 without being discharged through the nozzles 22. The hose lines 26 mounted, on reels 25 are supplied with carbon dioxide from their respective tanks I2 by means of branch lines 33. It will be appreciated that a small fire starting in the rear portion of any one of the hangars may be extinguished by use of a hose line 26 and that Suitable cover plates may be any small fire starting in the front portion of a hangar may be extinguished by using the hose line 26 on the reel 23. If an attempt is made to extinguish a small fire in a hangar by means of a hose line and the fire gets beyond control, the carbon dioxide discharged through the hose line will not be wasted and will help to flood the hangar if it becomes necessary to discharge all of the carbon dioxide stored in the system to effect complete flooding of the hangar.

It will be understood that any suitable number of valves may be employed and located at any desired points for controlling the discharge of carbon dioxide through the several hose lines. Also, the branch lines 3|, 32, and 33 either may be kept dry or wet as desired. In other words, these branch lines may either be kept filled with liquid carbon dioxide up to suitable control valves located adjacent the hose reels,

or the supply of liquid carbon dioxide may be shut oif from these branch lines back at the respective storage tanks I2. No attempt has been made to illustrate suitable locations for the control valves.

Although the drawings disclose the storage tanks I2 and the refrigerating machines I4 as being located outside of the hangars and above the surface of the ground, it will be understood that these devices, also, may be located inside the hangars or they may be located below the surface of the ground either outside the hangars or beneath the floors of the same. Therefore, such terms as the immediate vicinity" of the hangars and located adjacent each hangar are not to be construed as limiting the location to that which is actually illustrated but are to be construed as covering such additonal locations as those mentioned above.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a fractional portion of the entire quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning a sufiicient amount of the entire quantity of stored carbon dioxide to effect total flooding of the interior of the hangar with carbon dioxide vapor.

2. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commerc al a rport, or other flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a quantity of liquid carbon dioxide, at a substantially constant subatmospheric temperature and its correspond ng vapor pressure, which is only a fractional portion of the entire amount of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of the liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning a sufiicient quantity of the stored carbon dioxide to effect total flooding of the interior of the hangar with carbon dioxide vapors.

3. A method of extinguishing a fire-in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport,

or other flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a, fractional portion of the entire quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of the fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of stored liquid willbe available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning all of the entire quantity of carbon dioxide stored at the several hangars which can be dischargedunder its own vapor pressure.

4. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or other flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a fractional portion of the entire quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of stored liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning a sufiicient amount of the entire quantity of stored carbon dioxide to provide a carbon dioxide vapor concentration in the hangar of at least 30%.

5. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or other flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a quantity of liquid carbon dioxide, at a substantially constant subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, which is only a fractional portion of the entire amount of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of stored liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning all of the entire quantity of carbon dioxide stored at the several hangars which can be discharged under its own vapor pressure so as to provide a carbon dioxide vapor concentration of at least 30% in said hangar.

6. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars, comprising an insulated storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, means operatively connected to each container for maintaining liquid carbon dioxide stored therein at a selected subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being arranged at a lower level than the same so as to be maintained filled with liquid carbon dioxide and to allow any vapors which may form therein to rise into one or more of the containers, and means connected to each container for discharging into its adjacent hangar any desired portion oihthe total amount of liquid stored in that container and all of the other containers.

7. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a. plurality of hangars, comprising a storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being in open communication therewith for maintaining the piping filled with liquid carbon dioxide and for allowing any vapors which may form therein to rise into said containers, and means connected to each container for discharging into its adjacent hangar any desired portion of the total amount of liquid stored in that container and all of the other containers.

8. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars, and a runway common to all of said hangars, comprising an insulated storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, means operatively connected to each container for maintaining the liquid carbon dioxide stored therein at a selected subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, piping "interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being in open communication therewith for maintaining the piping filled with liquid carbon dioxide and for allowing any vapors which may form therein to rise into the said containers, means connected to each container for discharging into its adjacent hangar any desired portion of the total amount of liquid stored in that container and all of the other containers, a plurality of covered pits formed at suitably spaced points along said runway, a hose line having a discharge nozzle positioned in each of said pits, and piping for connecting each one of said hose lines to an adjacent storage container.

9. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars and a runway common to 1 all of said hangars, comprising a storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being arranged at such a level relative to said containers as to be maintained filled with liquid carbon dioxide and to allow any vapors which may form therein to rise into one or more of the containers, means connected to each container for discharging into its adjacent hangar any desired portion of the total amount of liquid stored in that container and all of the other containers, a plurality of covered pits formed at suitably spaced points along said runway, a hose line having a discharge nozzle positioned in each one of said pits, and piping for connecting each one of said hose lines to an adjacent storage container.

10. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars, comprising an insulated storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, means operatively connected to each container for maintaining liquid carbon dioxide stored therein at a selected subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being in open communication therewith so as to be maintained filled with liquid carbon dioxide and to allow any vapors which may form therein to rise into the containers, a piping system extending from each container into the adjacent hangar and terminating in a pluralityof outlets adjacent its roof, and a discharge nozzle for each outlet arranged to direct the extinguishing medium discharged therefrom in the direction of the roof rafters of the hangar.

11. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars, comprising a storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being arranged at such a level relative to said containers as to be maintained filled with liquid carbon dioxide and to allow any vapors which may form therein to rise into the containers, a piping system extending from each container into the adjacent hangar and terminating in a plurality of outlets adjacent its roof, and a nozzle for each outlet arranged to direct the extinguishing medium discharged therefrom in the direction of the roof rafters of the hangar.

12. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, having a hangar, comprising an insulated storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located outside of but adjacent said hangar, means operatively connected to said container for maintaining liquid carbon dioxide stored therein at a selected subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, a piping system extending from the container into the hangar and terminating in a plurality of outlets adjacent its roof, and a nozzle for each outlet arranged to direct the extinguishing medium discharged therefrom in the direction of the roof rafters of the hangar.

13. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, having a hangar, comprising a storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located outside of but adjacent to said hangar, a piping system extending from said container and entering the hangar adjacent its roof, said piping system terminating within the hangar in a plurality of outlets adjacent the roof, and a nozzle for each outlet arranged to direct the extinguishing medium discharged therefrom in the direction of the roof rafters of the hangar.

14. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, having a runway for the landing and taking ofi of planes, comprising a plurality of bulk storage containers spaced along the runway, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being in open communication therewith for maintaining the piping filled with liquid carbon dioxide and for allowing any vapors which may form therein to rise into said containers, a plurality of covered pits formed at suitably spaced points along said runway, a hose line having a discharge nozzle positioned in each one of said pits, and piping for connecting each hose line to the closest bulk storage container and through said interconnecting piping toall of the other containers.

15. A fire extinguishing system for an airplane hangar, or the like, comprising a carbon dioxide storage system of sufficient capacity to effect total flooding of the hangar and including an insulated storage container holding a part of the entire charge and being located adjacent the hangar so that its contents will be available for immediate delivery to the hangar, a piping system extending from the container into the adjacent hangar and terminating in a plurality of outlets adjacent its roof, and a discharge nozzle for each outlet arranged to direct the carbon dioxide discharged therefrom in' the direction of the roof rafters of the hangar.

16. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a fractional portion of the entire quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of the fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of the liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning, and adjacent the roof thereof so as to maintain the roof rafters at a low temperature to prevent failure of the same, a suflicient amount of the entire quantity of stored carbon dioxide to eflect total flooding of the interior of the hangar with carbon dioxide vapors.

17. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or other flying field, comprising maintaining in bulk storage in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a quantity of liquid carbon dioxide,. at a substantially constant subatmospheric temperature and its corresponding vapor pressure, which is only a fractional portion of the entire amount of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of the liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning, and adjacent the roof thereof so as to maintain the roof rafters at a low temperature to prevent failure of the same, a sufficient quantity of the stored carbon dioxide to effect total flooding of the interior of the hangar with carbon dioxide vapors.

18. A method of extinguishing a fire in an airplane hangar, or the like, comprising maintaining in bulk storage a suflicient quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to effect total flooding of the interior of the hangar with carbon dioxide vapors, a fractional portion of said quantity being stored in the immediate vicinity of said hangar while the remainder is remotely located with respect to said hangar, maintaining the separately stored portions of the entire quantity of liquid in open communcation with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into the hangar, and discharging into the hangar, when a fire occurs, a suflicient amount of the entire quantity of stored carbon dioxide to effect extinguishment of the fire by vapor flooding.

19. A method of extinguishing a fire in any one of a plurality of hangars at a commercial airport, or flying field, comprising maintaining available for immediate use in the immediate vicinity of each one of the involved hangars a fractional portion of the entire quantity of liquid carbon dioxide to be used in the extinguishment of a fire in any hangar, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of the liquid in open communication with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for continuous discharge into any one of the hangars, and discharging into the hangar in which the fire is burning a sufficient extinguishing a, fire, maintaining all of the stored fractional portions of liquid in open communica-- tion with each other so that the entire quantity of liquid will be available for immediate and continuous discharge in each one of the areas served by said several stored fractions, and eflecting discharge onto the fire consuming an airplane on o the field a sumcient amount of the entire quantity of stored carbon dioxide to efiect the desired extinguishment.

21. A fire extinguishing system for commercial airports, or other flying fields, each of which has a plurality of hangars, comprising a storage container of several hundred pounds capacity located adjacent each hangar, piping interconnecting the liquid spaces of all of the containers and being in open communication'therewlth for maintaining the piping filled with liquid carbon dioxide and for allowing any vapors which may form therein to rise into said containers, and a plurality of devices capable of effecting a fire extinguishing discharge of carbon dioxide in and around each hangar and connected to their particular hangar container, and all of the other containers through said interconnecting piping, for discharging any desired portion of the total amount of liquid stored in all of the containers. ERIC qEER'rz.

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