WO2006122876A1

WO2006122876A1 - Fire blanket

Info

Publication number: WO2006122876A1
Application number: PCT/EP2006/062038
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Goldberg
Original assignee: Goldfire Sprl
Priority date: 2005-05-09
Filing date: 2006-05-04
Publication date: 2006-11-23
Also published as: EP1879669A1; EP1721638A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a fire blanket composed of a fiber fabric made of flameproof mineral material, having a porosity between 50 and 200 liters per square meter and per second, as well as to the use thereof for extinguishing a fire. This blanket is composed of one or two plies. The mineral material can, for example, contain basalt or a sodocalcic glass. This blanket enables different types of fires to be dealt with by covering them.

Description

Fire blanket

Field of the invention

The invention relates to fire blankets comprising at least one layer formed by a fiber fabric of mineral material. These covers are intended to extinguish fires by covering them. Among the fires likely to be treated in this way, mention may be made of domestic fires and industrial fires.

As a domestic fire, it is customary to mention the deep-fat fryer, where a few liters of oil are burned. Although the fire is spectacular, the temperatures reached seldom exceed 500 ⁰ C.

Industrial fires are of another order. The quantities of fuel are generally much larger: they can be for example 50 to 250 liters of gasoline. The volumes envisaged may be those of a vehicle with its equipment and fuel. The temperatures measured during such a fire can reach up to 1000 ^° C.

Industrial fires in the chemical or petroleum industry may involve higher fuel quantities or even higher temperatures.

Regardless of the type of fire being considered, such blankets are used to cover the fireplace to be extinguished.

They act by reducing the air supply at the fireplace. State of the art

In US 2004/0115439, a cover formed by a layer of basalt fiber fabric coated with a polyester polyurethane layer is disclosed. This type of cover has a number of disadvantages that make it very difficult or impossible to use to cover a home:

a) the coated fabric is impermeable or substantially impermeable to air, causing the flames to escape to the edges of the blanket that is placed on the hearth; this presents a major risk for those handling the blanket; moreover, the flames escaping through the edges of the cover tend to propagate the fire to neighboring objects; (b) moreover, this type of impervious cover favors the maintenance of hot spots capable of reigniting the fire, for example if the cover is removed too early; the use of this type of coverage will therefore require more time to permanently extinguish the outbreak; c) the coating layer is an organic product that degrades and catches fire from certain temperatures; where appropriate, this layer is therefore added to the total heat load; d) the coating layer, in particular polyurethane coating, is capable of producing dangerous compounds from certain temperatures because of their toxicities, in particular cyanates or cyanides; e) after extinguishing, the coating layer is strongly damaged or even destroyed; this type of cover is not reusable.

Summary of the invention

An object of the invention is to provide a mineral fiber fire blanket, which provides a faster fire extinction and reduces the risk of overflowing flames.

To this end, the cover according to the invention is characterized in that it has a porosity of between 50 and 200 liters per square meter per second (ie 50 to 200 l / m ² .s), porosity measured according to the standard. ISO 9237.2 (1995).

Such porosity has been found to both reduce the supply of fresh air to the hearth, while allowing the flue gases to escape through the blanket, but preferably without the flames do not cross the cover.

By reducing the supply of fresh air in the home, we see that it sees its importance decrease. As the hot gases from the flames find a way through the cover, we find that the flames are no longer looking for any other possible outcome. The flames therefore no longer tend to escape towards the edges of the blanket. As a result, the edges of the cover are no longer a danger, neither for the people who handle said cover, nor for any object nearby and likely to catch fire or spread fire.

But, as the hot gases pass through the blanket, heat does not accumulate under this blanket. It is therefore found that the entire area under the cover and surrounding the hearth is thus cooled. This avoids the maintenance of hot spots in this area. These hot spots are likely to reignite the fire, if for example the cover was raised partially (to control the extinction) or removed completely (prematurely). It is therefore possible to obtain the definitive extinction of the fire more quickly.

It is clear that these two effects (brake on the arrival of fresh air and the possibility for hot gases to escape) are simultaneous.

Detailed description of the invention

A first object of the invention is therefore to provide a fire blanket of the type comprising at least one layer of a fiber fabric made of mineral material, which makes it possible to obtain a final fire extinction more definitively and which reduces the risks. overflowing flames.

To this end, the cover according to the invention is characterized in that it has a porosity of between 50 and 200 l / m ² .s.

The fire blanket according to the invention comprises at least one layer formed by a fiber fabric made of mineral material. The mineral fiber material must be incombustible and refractory to the temperatures of the homes it is called to extinguish. Notwithstanding this condition, the nature of the mineral fiber material is not critical to the definition of the invention.

The fibers may be natural fibers or fibers obtained by a chemical synthesis process. Examples of inorganic materials that can be used in the blanket according to the invention include (but are not limited to) silica, ceramics, basalt and aluminosilicates, of which soda-lime glasses are preferred.

In the cover according to the invention, the fibers may all consist of the same mineral material. Alternatively, the cover may comprise fibers of different mineral materials. In the context of the invention, covers comprising basalt fibers and covers comprising soda-lime glass fibers are especially recommended. Essentially basalt fiber covers and covers essentially made of soda-lime glass fibers are preferred. These glass fibers may be those commonly used for the manufacture of thermal insulation panels in the building industry.

According to the invention, the porosity of the cover, defined by the ISO 9237.2 (1995) standard, is between 50 and 200 l / m ² .s. It has been found that such porosity allows both to reduce the fresh air supply at the fireplace (if the oxygen content falls from about 20% to less than 8% at the hearth, it will be noted that first a slowing down of the combustion, then its stop) while allowing the combustion gases to escape through the cover, but preferably without the flames crossing the cover. As the hot air continues to escape, the area under the blanket cools gradually and has fewer and fewer hot spots that can restart the fire, especially if you lift or remove the blanket. The final extinction of the outbreak is therefore more quickly obtained.

Surprisingly, it has been found that by judiciously choosing the porosity of the cover, it is possible to quickly and safely extinguish various types of fires. It is thus possible to distinguish a solution adapted to a vehicle on fire, the fire of a volume of fuel, a chemical fire without necessary external oxygen supply, etc. It is also possible to choose a fabric having an average porosity likely to be suitable for a majority of fires.

The porosity of the cover must be equal to or greater than a lower limit value (usually 50 l / m ² .s), to achieve the desired result (allow a significant volume of flue gas to escape through the cover) . The porosity of the cover, however, can not exceed an upper limit value (usually 200 l / m ² .s), beyond which it no longer manages to perform its fire extinguishing function.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the porosity of the cover is chosen between 65 and 85 l / m ² .s. It has been found that a cover having this porosity is suitable for extinguishing a vehicle on fire, for example. In this case indeed, the volume of air The heat load is relatively high, but the heat load is average and the heat produced favors only weakly the vaporization of the materials likely to ignite. Tests have then shown that a cover having an average porosity (between 65 and 85 l / m ² .s) is well suited for extinction.

In another particular embodiment of the invention, the porosity of the cover is chosen between

50 and 65 l / m ² .s. It has been found that a cover having this porosity is suitable for extinguishing, for example, an open tank containing, for example, 200 liters of gasoline. In this case indeed, it is better to slow down the air intake as much as possible in order to reduce the supply of oxygen, otherwise you will have to face a violent, uncontrollable, or even explosive combustion. Tests have shown that a cover with a low porosity (between 50 and 65 l / m ² .s) is well suited for extinction.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the porosity of the cover is selected between 85 and 100 l / m ² .s. It has been found that a cover having this porosity is well suited for extinguishing, for example, a chemical fire involving a reactive element such as sodium. Sodium is able to burn in contact with water (by drawing its oxygen from the water), it is not helpful to limit the supply of air and therefore oxygen. It is far more useful to promote heat dissipation: a higher porosity cover (between 85 and 100 l / m ² .s) will be appropriate. In an additional embodiment of the invention, the porosity of the cover is chosen between 100 and 200 l / m ² .s. The covers according to this embodiment according to the invention are still suitable for extinguishing a wide variety of fires, especially wood fires, gasoline fires for internal combustion engines and vegetable oil fires (especially of household oils used in cooking).

The invention also aims to provide a cover that poses no risk of toxicity when subjected to the high temperature of the home.

For this purpose, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover is essentially free of organic matter.

The cover according to this embodiment of the invention being exclusively composed of mineral fiber fabric and essentially free of any additional organic layer, it can not be the cause of a dangerous gas release from the decomposition of an optional additional organic layer. The cover according to the invention is particularly safe from this point of view. However, in some cases, the mineral fiber material is optionally coated with a small amount of a sizing agent. This agent intervenes only to facilitate the weaving of said fiber and no longer plays any role thereafter. If necessary, its residual content in the cover is small enough that its combustion does not cause a substantial amount of toxic gas. The cover according to the preferred embodiment of the invention which has just been described has the additional advantage of not increasing the heat load of the fireplace to be extinguished, because it is substantially free of organic matter.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a cover that is reusable many times.

The choice of a fiber fabric of mineral material is particularly appropriate. Mineral fibers

(especially basalt fibers and soda-lime glass fibers) generally have high mechanical strength. In addition, some resist temperatures up to about 125O ⁰ C. A fiber fabric mineral material further improves mechanical performance. Given that a fire cover (especially for industrial fires) can be large (for example ten meters by seven meters or more), it is important to choose a cover that is strong enough to handle without damage for the cover. In principle, a cover made of mineral fiber fabric is reusable several times.

It is also possible to envisage the automatic or assisted installation of a cover of this type having even larger dimensions (for example ten meters by twenty meters).

Since the cover acts by covering the fireplace, it is essential that the cover adapts to the sometimes irregular shapes that this fireplace presents. The cover according to the invention is therefore flexible enough to fit this shape. In addition, this flexible cover is easy to implement and easy to store. The fiber cover of mineral material may be in a single layer or in several superposed layers, these layers may be identical or different. Thus, by playing on weaving, a monolayer fabric may have the same porosity as another bilayer or multilayer fabric. The assembly of several layers can be done in particular by means of seams.

The weave itself does not matter: it can be a knit, a braided or a fabric. In the latter case, we can mention the use of several techniques such as plain, satin or twill.

Several parameters are therefore available to achieve the desired porosity of between 50 and 200 l / m ² .s, including the number of fabric layers, the fabric weight per square meter, the type of weave, and so on.

Preferably, the fabric constituting the cover according to the invention has a weight of between 200 and 750 g / m ² . Tests have shown that due to the enormous amount of heat generated by industrial fires, the cover should not be lifted by the rising thrust of hot air. This so-called "hot-air balloon" effect has been seen many times during our tests. It has thus been verified that a ten-meter by seven-meter blanket weighing approximately thirty-five kilograms is suitable for many industrial fires, while being handled by a small number of people. Alternatively, one can add a ballast to the cover, to reduce the risk of the appearance of a hot air balloon effect. In this variant of the invention, the ballast must be incombustible and refractory under normal conditions of use of the cover.

The invention also relates to a method for extinguishing a fire, according to which a fire blanket is deployed on the fire, the blanket used being in accordance with the invention, as described above.

The invention also relates to the use of a cover as described above for extinguishing a fire.

In the process according to the invention, the selection of the most suitable coverage (defined in particular by the mineral fiber material, the porosity, the dimensions and the weight) will depend on the type of fire to be extinguished and it must be determined in each particular case by routine research work.

Specific embodiments

These and other aspects of the invention will be clarified in the detailed description of particular embodiments of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the examples described below. The invention comprises each of the novel features as well as their combination. The use of the term "includes" in no way excludes the presence of elements other than those mentioned. The use of the definite article "a" to introduce an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of these elements. The present invention has been described in relation with specific embodiments, which have a purely illustrative value and should not be considered as limiting.

Example 1

A fire blanket is composed of a basalt fiber fabric from "Plant of Insulation Materials" in Kiev (Ukraine). The fabric is type TBP-270, having 270g / m ² and a so-called plain weave. The cover is of dimensions 4m by 4.5m and has a porosity of 58 l / m ² .s. The cover is used to extinguish a standard hydrocarbon fire. This fireplace is composed of a steel tank on feet measuring 1.5m long by 1.5m wide by 0.3m thick.

The tank contains 50% water and 50% of a mixture of gasoline and diesel. On this tray are metal tubes shaped arch used to simulate the shape of a car. The advantage of placing these tubes is on the one hand to increase the volume of air between the fireplace and the cover. The fire lasts longer and the blanket is subjected to higher temperatures for a longer time. On the other hand, the cover must provide a sufficient seal with the ground to prevent overflowing flames. Without the metal tubes, sealing would be too easy at the edge of the tank and the test would end too quickly.

After firing the tank, wait about 20 seconds to reach sufficient temperatures, then cover the fireplace with the cover. At the beginning, there is a lot of smoke passing through the blanket, which is not crossed by flames. The fire is extinguished within approximately 60 seconds of recovery. We remove coverage after about 120 seconds after recovery.

This essay is repeated several times with the same cover. Extinction times are lengthened by the fact that the tank and the fuel it contains become increasingly hot.

A cover made up of more than one layer gives comparable results, as long as the porosity required for the cover is reached.

Example 2

A fire blanket composed of a fabric of basalt fibers of the same origin, same type of fabric, same weight and same weaving as in Example 1 is constituted this time of 2 similar layers. The cover is 10m x 7m and has a porosity of 84 l / m ² .s is used to extinguish the fire of a motor vehicle. It is a compact size vehicle with 5 doors. Although the vehicle is downgraded for on-road driving, it is complete. The windows are lowered. The vehicle is sprayed with approximately 40 liters of petrol and diesel fuel, on the body, inside the cockpit, in the trunk and the engine compartment. There is even a ferry containing several liters of oil in the passenger compartment.

The vehicle is fired, then we wait about 20 seconds for the fire to expand and we cover the car with the cover. The fire is extinguished after about 2 minutes after covering and the cover is removed after about 4 minutes after recovery. This test is repeated several times with the same coverage; the extinction times are lengthened by the fact that the vehicle becomes hotter and heavier. A blanket composed of a different number of layers gives comparable results, provided that the porosity required for the blanket is reached.

Example 3

A fire blanket composed of a fabric of basalt fibers of the same origin as in the previous examples, consists of TBSr-750 type fabric, having 750 g / m ² and a so-called "twill" weave. The cover is at least ¹ μm larger than the diameter of a container and has a porosity of 95 l / m ² .s. It will be used to cover this container. A quantity of several grams of sodium metal is precipitated in this container containing several tens of liters of water. In contact with water, sodium reacts violently, producing heat and hydrogen, which ignites instantly. This situation simulates an accident likely to occur in the chemical industry. The cover is quickly placed on the container, which makes it possible to secure the surroundings of the container. The combustion is not stopped immediately, but the porosity of the cover allows the intense heat of reaction to gradually dissipate into the atmosphere, through the cover. The cover avoids the risks of projections vis-à-vis the staff present or for the neighborhood. Control of the situation is resumed quickly, without the spread of A cover made up of more than one layer gives comparable results, as long as the porosity required for the cover is reached.

Example 4

In this example, a 90 cm square blanket made of Klevers Glasgewebe type 332-1-KK fiberglass fabric was used. The coverage had a uniform porosity of 147 l / m ² .s (according to ISO 9237.2 (1995) and a basis weight of 420 g / m ² (+/- 5%) (according to EN 12127). was used to extinguish a fire of 3 liters of heated domestic oil up to the auto-combustion temperature of the said oil.It is in a circular pan 34.5 cm in diameter.The cover was deployed on 120 seconds after the start of the fire The fire goes out In accordance with EN 1869-1997, the cover is removed 15 minutes after the time of recovery No spontaneous re-ignition of the oil (due to its temperature still too high) is noticeable for at least 3 minutes following the removal of the blanket A blanket of more than one layer gives comparable results, provided that the porosity required for the blanket is reached.

Example 5

A rectangular cover of 8.70m x 4.10m, made of fiberglass fabric of the type 332-1- KK from Klevers Glasgewebe. The coverage had a uniform porosity of 190 l / m ² .s (according to ISO 9237.2 (1995) and a basis weight of 420 g / m ² (+/- 5%) (according to EN 12127). was used to extinguish a fire caused by the ignition of a geometrically well-ordered stack of dry wood rafters, in accordance with standard EN 3-7- 2003, this stack is several cubic meters and is ignited by means of a container containing heptane, placed under the stack.The cover is deployed on the firebox 8 minutes after ignition.The cover is removed 15 minutes later.No flame recovery is observed for at least 3 minutes following cover removal A cover made of more than one layer gives comparable results, as long as the porosity required for coverage is reached.

In summary, the invention can be described as follows. It relates to a fire blanket composed of non-combustible mineral fiber fabric having a porosity of between 50 and 200 liters per square meter per second [defined by ISO 9237.2

(1995)], as well as its use to extinguish a fire.

This cover is composed of one or more layers, and the mineral material may for example include basalt or soda-lime glass. This cover allows to treat various types of fire by recovery.

Claims

A fire blanket comprising at least one layer formed by a fiber fabric of mineral material, characterized in that the blanket has a porosity of between 50 and 200 l / m ² .s.

2. Cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the porosity is between 50 and 65 l / m ² .s.

3. Cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the porosity is between 65 and 85 l / m ² .s.

4. Cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the porosity is between 85 and 100 l / m ² .s.

5. Cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the porosity is between 100 and 200 l / m ² .s.

6. Cover according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that its weight per square meter is between 200 and 750 grams.

7. Cover according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mineral material comprises basalt.

8. Cover according to claim 7, characterized in that the mineral material consists essentially of basalt.

9. Cover according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the inorganic material comprises an aluminosilicate.

10. Cover according to claim 9, characterized in that the mineral material comprises a soda-lime glass.

11. Cover according to claim 10, characterized in that the mineral material consists essentially of a soda-lime glass.

12. Cover according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is composed of a unitary layer of mineral fiber fabric.

13. Cover according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is composed of several superposed layers of mineral fiber fabric.

14. Process for extinguishing a fire, according to which a fire blanket is deployed on a fire, characterized in that a blanket according to any one of Claims 1 to 13 is used.

15. Use of a fire blanket for extinguishing a fire, characterized in that said blanket is in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 13.