WO2013038138A2

WO2013038138A2 - Safety device

Info

Publication number: WO2013038138A2
Application number: PCT/GB2012/000728
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jullian Joshua PRESTON POWERS
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-09-15
Filing date: 2012-09-17
Publication date: 2013-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2014-03-15
Also published as: GB2511459A; WO2013038138A3; GB201116002D0; GB201410492D0

Abstract

A device for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility comprises a container located within the fuel facility. The container holds a chemical which, when mixed with fuel contained within the fuel facility, renders the fuel inert. Means are provided for releasing the chemical from the container and into contact with the fuel, and means are also provided for activating the chemical releasing means.

Description

SAFETY DEVICE

Field of the Invention This invention relates to safety devices and in particular to devices which reduce the likelihood of a fire or explosion caused by ignition of vehicle fuel following an accident.

Background to the Invention Fire and/or explosion of vehicle fuel is a frequent occurrence after the vehicle has been involved in an accident. The vehicle may be a vehicle which travels on a road or on water or is an airborne vehicle. The fuel may be located in a fuel tank of the vehicle, a storage tank separate from the vehicle or in a fuel processing facility. Statements of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a device for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility, the device comprising a container located within the facility, said container holding a chemical which, when mixed with fuel contained within the facility, renders the fuel inert, means for releasing the chemical from the container and into contact with the fuel, and means for activating the chemical releasing means.

Where the tank is located on the vehicle, the activation means may be means responsive to a sudden deceleration of the vehicle.

The chemical may be a composition containing, for instance, a plurality of ingredients, for example, three ingredients.

Preferably, the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less than l/50^th, more preferably 1/100^th, of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.

The means for activating the chemical releasing means may be, for instance, an inertial switch. A further possibility is that the activating means includes means responsive to the release of an ancillary device within the vehicle, such as an airbag. The fuel disabling system may be combined with a vehicle's cooling system, evacuating an adapted antifreeze into the fuel tank to reduce the flash point. Most common antifreeze chemicals possess intrinsically lower flash points than petroleum. Such an arrangement would not add significant weight to the vehicle. Where the fuel is not miscible with the coolant's solvent (e.g. petroleum rather than kerosene with water) the antifreeze compound may have a high partition coefficient and migrate preferentially into the organic fraction.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a device which includes a packet of one or more chemicals which is installed in a fuel tank, for instance, a petrol tank of a vehicle and, upon impact of the vehicle, such that a predetermined deceleration takes place, the packet bursts within the fuel tank and renders the fuel inert.

The vehicle may be, for instance, a car, a bus, a utility vehicle, a motorcycle or an aeroplane. The vehicle may also be a marine vessel and the invention is applicable to military vehicles as well as civilian. In the case where the vehicle is an aeroplane, a device of the invention could include a tube of chemicals installed along the leading edge (the vertically highest point) in an aircraft and prevent a fire or explosion as a result of, for example, an accident during take-off of the aircraft. The chemical may also be used in a non-vehicular situation, for example to chemically alter fuel which is in storage or processing in such locations as a fuel depot or drilling locale. In this situation the contained chemical may be manually released or initiated automatically in the event of a fire outbreak in another area of the plant or premises. Similarly the invention may be used to render fuel inert and without value in the event of a security breach. The initiating mechanism may therefore be connected to an alarm, whether on a car or industrial premises. This may act to deter thieves in a climate of rising fuel prices.

The device of the invention may also be manually initiated to immobilise a vehicle which has already been stolen via a GSM signal or other in coordination with a GPS vehicle tracking system.

Many fuel stations operate multiple underground tanks to cater for the range of fuels and octane ratings required by modern vehicles. A device of the invention may be used to rapidly disable neighbouring tanks in the event of an explosion or breach of another. The device could be activated by an attendant, by authorisation from a central office or fire station or by remote control. The fuel is preferably petrol but may be another fuel which can be rendered inert by a suitable chemical or combination of chemicals.

The chemical may be one which reacts with metal ion deactivators or corrosion inhibitors already present in modern fuels to produce a product chemical which then goes on to react with the fuel itself with the aim of reducing combustibility.

The chemical reaction may increase the flash point by reducing volatility or increasing the octane rating (RON), thereby altering the fuels tendency to auto-ignite towards a higher pressure and temperature threshold.

This may occur by increasing hydrocarbon chain length, increasing the presence of tertiary and quaternary structures or relocating these to more central portions of the molecule.

The chemical may be such that it targets and physically alters the presence of a specific chemical entity responsible for reducing the natural flash point or octane rating of the fuel.

The chemical reaction should not be sufficiently exothermic to initiate combustion of any unreacted fuel in the initiation step. The reaction should also not cause any build up in pressure in the containment vessel which could breach the walls and cause fuel, whether reacted or not, to escape.

The fuel might be reengineered to increase its flash resistance to safer levels. An activating agent may then be introduced at the point of injection to bring the flash point more in line with its pre-engineered level. An example of this has already been developed by the addition of tri-ethylene borane (TEB) to Jet Propellant 7 (JP7) which is included to help ignite the otherwise poorly flammable fuel. The separation is provided with the intention of reducing the explosion hazard in fuel exposed to more extreme temperatures and pressures. The activating agent should not be as flammable as the fuel in itself. The chemical may alter the state of the fuel to a more solid or gel like form or, alternatively, foam with the action of a polymerising agent or emulsifier/detergent respectively.

The present invention also provides a method for rendering inert fuel located within a fuel holding facility, the method comprising adding to the fuel a chemical which renders the fuel inert.

Where retro fitting to older models is prohibitively expensive or technically impossible it is imagined that the fire service could adopt chemical packs of the same. These could either be manually inserted into a damaged or hazardous vehicle or sprayed/emptied over an area of spilled fuel. Thus the immediate risk from explosion would be reduced. The packet could also be introduced from a distance by pole or robotic vehicle, further reducing the risk to servicemen. The method could also be used to dispose of a petrol bomb or IED adopting petrol as the accelerant where disposal through deactivating the detonator is not an option for whatever reason.

Chemicals which may be used in the present invention include one or more of the following: polyurethane resin in combination with toluene diisocyanate to form a foam; maleic anhydride and ethylene glycol (antifreeze); aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and water solution; water, AFFF, and Halon 130 I; water and monoammonium phosphate powder; 30% calcium chloride and water solution; 50% ethylene glycol and water solution; 70% ethyl alcohol and water solution; Halon 130 I and water mixture; monoanimonium phosphate powder mixed with Halon 301 ; and chemicals having the codenames FC-218, HFC-227ea, HFC-125 and CF3I.

Claims

1. A device for rendering fuel inert in a fuel holding facility, the device comprising a container located within the fuel facility, said container holding a chemical which, when mixed with fuel contained within the fuel facility, renders the fuel inert, means for releasing the chemical from the container and into contact with the fuel, and means for activating the chemical releasing means.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the fuel holding facility is located on a vehicle and the activation means is means responsive to a sudden deceleration of the vehicle.

3. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the chemical is a composition.

4. A device according to Claim 2, wherein the composition comprises three ingredients.

5. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less that l/50^th of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.

6. A device according to Claim 4, wherein the chemical is present in an amount by volume which is less that 1/100^th of the volume capacity of the fuel tank.

7. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the activating means includes an inertial switch.

8. A device according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the activating means includes means responsive to the release of an airbag within the vehicle.

9. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the fuel is petrol.

10. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle is a motor car.

11. A method for rendering inert fuel located within a fuel holding facility, the method comprising adding to the fuel a chemical which renders the fuel inert.