JP7785387B2 - sprinkler system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sprinkler system, and more particularly to a sprinkler system that extinguishes fires by spraying fire-extinguishing water stored in a fire-extinguishing water tank from sprinkler heads during fires.

A sprinkler system consists of a primary piping that rises vertically from the fire water tank to spray fire water stored in the fire water tank from the sprinkler head, and secondary piping that runs from this primary piping to the sprinkler heads on each floor. Sprinkler systems are divided into wet sprinkler systems and dry sprinkler systems depending on whether the secondary piping is normally filled with water. Sprinkler systems are also divided into vacuum sprinkler systems and pressure sprinkler systems depending on whether the secondary piping is normally under negative or pressurized pressure.

Therefore, a sprinkler system in which the secondary piping is normally filled with water and the secondary piping is under negative pressure is called a vacuum wet sprinkler system.

As such, there are many different types of sprinkler systems, but in order to extinguish a fire that has occurred, it is necessary to use a water pump to spray fire water stored in a fire water tank from sprinkler heads whose tips have been melted by the heat of the fire.

Fire water tanks are often installed, for example, in the basement of a building, and the fire water is exposed to the air. As a result, oxygen from the air is dissolved in the fire water stored in the fire water tank. Specifically, at a temperature of 25°C and 1 atmosphere, the dissolved oxygen concentration (saturated dissolved oxygen amount) is 8.26 mg/L. The saturated dissolved oxygen amount increases as the temperature decreases and the air pressure increases.

The presence of oxygen dissolved in fire-fighting water tanks causes a variety of problems. For example, in a typical sprinkler system, pressurized water is filled into the secondary piping in preparation for discharge in the event of a fire. Furthermore, piping installation within the ceiling can sometimes result in sloped or arched piping, and air pockets in these areas are compressed by the pressurized water and dissolve into the water, further increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen. This results in pinholes and corrosion in the piping walls due to the formation of rust caused by oxygen.

It is also undeniable that the presence of dissolved oxygen in fire-fighting water reduces its fire-fighting effectiveness.

In Patent Document 1, in order to increase fire extinguishing effectiveness without increasing equipment costs, a microbubble generator is installed in a fire extinguishing water tank, and a nitrogen cylinder is connected to this microbubble generator, generating microbubbles containing nitrogen gas in the fire extinguishing water tank.

With this configuration, in the event of a fire, fire-extinguishing water containing microbubbles filled with nitrogen gas, an inert gas, is sprayed, thereby improving the fire-extinguishing effect.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-268186

In the fire extinguishing equipment of Patent Document 1, fire extinguishing water containing microbubbles filled with nitrogen gas is released when a fire breaks out, which is thought to be highly effective at extinguishing fires. However, because a microbubble generator is used to seal in the nitrogen gas, the overall structure of the equipment becomes more complex due to the need for a microbubble generator.

Furthermore, because a nitrogen cylinder is used, if the nitrogen gas runs out, the nitrogen cylinder must be replaced. Furthermore, generating microbubbles requires hydrodynamic shearing of the gas-liquid two-phase flow, and rapid or intense mixing of the gas and liquid using a special method, so the equipment required to generate microbubbles efficiently is inevitably large-scale.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a sprinkler system with a simple configuration that dissolves an inert gas in the fire extinguishing water in the fire extinguishing water tank of the sprinkler system, thereby improving the fire extinguishing effect in the event of a fire, and also expelling dissolved oxygen to prevent the formation of rust in the piping.

In order to achieve the above object, a sprinkler system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises :
a fire water tank for storing water for fire extinguishing;
a piping structure installed between the fire extinguishing water tank and each sprinkler head;
a fire pump that supplies fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank through the piping structure to the sprinkler head so that the water can be discharged,
The fire extinguishing water tank is characterized by the provision of an inert gas generating and supplying device that generates an inert gas and supplies the generated inert gas to the fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank to dissolve the inert gas.

With this configuration, inert gas is dissolved in the sprinkler system's fire extinguishing water tank, and fire extinguishing water with dissolved inert gas can be released in the event of a fire, thereby improving the fire extinguishing effect and preventing pinholes and rust from forming in the piping.

Moreover, a sprinkler system according to one embodiment of the present invention is the sprinkler system,
The inert gas generating and supplying device includes:
The nitrogen gas generator generates nitrogen gas as the inert gas, and is characterized in that it separates and extracts nitrogen gas from the air and supplies it to the fire extinguishing water in the fire extinguishing water tank.

This configuration allows for the construction of a sprinkler system at low cost by using a nitrogen gas generator that can separate and extract nitrogen gas, which is abundant in the air. In other words, because nitrogen gas present in the air is used, there is no need to replace nitrogen cylinders as in Patent Document 1, nor is there any need to generate microbubbles. The extracted nitrogen gas can be easily dissolved by supplying it to a fire-extinguishing water tank. Furthermore, by supplying nitrogen gas to the fire-extinguishing water tank, the oxygen gas that was previously dissolved there is replaced by nitrogen gas and expelled into the atmosphere.

Moreover, a sprinkler system according to one embodiment of the present invention is the sprinkler system,
The fire-fighting water tank is characterized in that it is equipped with a cooling device for cooling the stored fire-fighting water.

With this configuration, the amount of inert gas dissolved in the fire extinguishing water tank increases the lower the temperature, so the amount of inert gas dissolved in the fire extinguishing water tank can be increased, improving the fire extinguishing effect and more effectively preventing the formation of pinholes and rust in the piping.

Moreover, a sprinkler system according to one embodiment of the present invention is the sprinkler system,
The nitrogen gas generator is
The nitrogen gas generator is installed on a different floor from the fire-extinguishing water tank, and an oxygen concentration meter is also installed on the floor where the nitrogen gas generator is installed.

This configuration prevents problems caused by an increase in oxygen concentration in the space where the nitrogen gas generator is installed. In other words, by measuring the increase in oxygen concentration with an oxygen concentration meter, the outbreak of a fire can be prevented before it happens.

The sprinkler system of the present invention has a simple configuration that allows inert gas to be easily dissolved in the fire-extinguishing water tank, thereby improving fire-extinguishing effectiveness and preventing the formation of rust and pinholes in the piping. This makes it possible to provide a sprinkler system that is highly reliable over the long term.

1 is a partial schematic configuration diagram of a sprinkler system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a partial schematic configuration diagram of a sprinkler system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a sprinkler system 10 of the present invention. In Figure 1, secondary piping 22, sprinkler heads 28, etc. are only shown up to the second floor, but they are actually installed on each floor.

In the sprinkler system 10, fire extinguishing water 13 stored in the fire extinguishing water tank 12 is discharged via the water pump 14, primary piping 20, flow detection device 24, secondary piping 22, drop-down piping 30, and sprinkler head 28. In other words, the piping structure between the fire extinguishing water tank 12 and the sprinkler head 28 is primarily composed of the primary piping 20, secondary piping 22, and drop-down piping 30.

The primary piping 20 rises from the fire water tank 12 via a water pump 14 to the upper floors, and the secondary piping 22 branches off from the primary piping 20 on each floor and runs via downflow piping 30 to sprinkler heads 28 for spraying water. A terminal test valve 26 is attached to the end of the secondary piping 22 on each floor.

The terminal test valve 26 is provided to open the secondary piping 26 after a test flow of fire extinguishing water 13 into the secondary piping 22, or after the sprinkler system 10 malfunctions and fire extinguishing water 13 flows into the secondary piping 22. It is also used to close the flow detection device 24 and open the terminal test valve 26 to drain the fire extinguishing water 13 from the secondary piping 22 when repairing or replacing the sprinkler head 28.

The flow detection devices 24 are installed at the base ends of the secondary piping 26 on each floor that branches off from the primary piping 20, and are configured to sound an alarm when a certain amount of flowing water is detected. This alarm allows users to recognize that a fire has occurred and that firefighting efforts are underway.

When a fire breaks out, the sprinkler heads 28 near the fire site melt due to heat, causing the sprinkler heads 28 to release fire-fighting water 13 from the secondary piping 22, reducing the pressure in the secondary piping 22. When this pressure drop is detected by a pressure switch (not shown), the water pump 14 is activated, enabling continuous water supply.

In this embodiment, the fire water tank 12 is installed in the basement (B) of the building, and a characteristic feature of the present invention is that a nitrogen gas generator 18 is installed in the fire water tank 12 in the basement (B) of the building. This nitrogen gas generator 18, for example, sends compressed air into a gas separation membrane (hollow fiber membrane), allowing moisture, oxygen, and other substances that easily permeate the hollow fiber membrane to pass through the hollow fiber membrane and be purged to the outside, and nitrogen that did not permeate the hollow fiber membrane can be extracted.

The extracted nitrogen gas is supplied to the fire extinguishing water tank 12 using a compressor or similar device. The supplied nitrogen gas is dissolved until saturated according to the temperature and pressure of the fire extinguishing water 13 in the fire extinguishing water tank 12.

With this configuration, nitrogen gas is dissolved in the fire extinguishing water 13 in the fire extinguishing water tank 12 of the sprinkler system 10, and when a fire breaks out, the fire extinguishing water 13 with dissolved nitrogen gas is discharged, enhancing the fire extinguishing effect due to the inactivation effect of the nitrogen. This helps prevent pinholes and rust from forming in the secondary piping 22.

In this embodiment, the nitrogen gas generator 18 uses a membrane separation system that takes advantage of the difference in permeability between oxygen and nitrogen through hollow fiber membranes. The extracted nitrogen gas can be easily dissolved by supplying it to the fire water 13 in the fire water tank 12. By supplying nitrogen gas to the fire water 13, the oxygen gas that was previously dissolved therein is replaced by nitrogen gas and expelled from the fire water 13.

The nitrogen gas generator 18 can also be a PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) system. The PAS (Pressure Swing Adsorption) system uses the difference in adsorption speed between oxygen and nitrogen in CMS (Carbon Molecular Sieving) to separate nitrogen gas from air.

Therefore, by using a nitrogen gas generator 18 that can separate and extract nitrogen, which is abundant in the air, the sprinkler system 10 according to this embodiment can be constructed inexpensively. In other words, because nitrogen present in the air is used, there is no need to replace nitrogen cylinders as in Patent Document 1, and there is also no need to generate microbubbles.

In addition, in this embodiment, a cold water generator 16 is installed near the fire water tank 12 to cool the fire water 13 in the fire water tank 12. This cools the fire water 13 in the fire water tank 12, lowering the temperature of the fire water and increasing the amount of saturated nitrogen gas dissolved therein. This increases the amount of dissolved nitrogen gas, thereby improving fire extinguishing efficiency.

Figure 2 is a partial schematic diagram of a sprinkler system 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the above-described embodiment in that the nitrogen gas generator 18 is installed on a different floor (B1) from the floor on which the fire-extinguishing water tank 12 is installed, and an oxygen concentration meter 32 is installed on the floor (B1) on which the nitrogen gas generator 18 is installed.

In other words, when nitrogen gas is generated from air by the nitrogen gas generator 18, the oxygen gas concentration rises on the floor where the nitrogen gas generator 18 is installed. Naturally, an increase in the oxygen concentration on the floor increases the risk of fire. To detect this risk, an oxygen concentration meter 32 is installed on the floor.

This configuration allows for rapid detection of any increase in the oxygen concentration within the space on the floor where the nitrogen gas generator 18 is installed, preventing problems caused by increased oxygen concentration. Specifically, since nitrogen gas is generated using hollow fiber membranes, the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere will increase. However, by constantly detecting this and taking action, such as sounding an alarm, if an increase occurs, fires and other hazards can be accurately prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, while the sprinkler system 10 has been described as a conventional wet sprinkler system, it can of course also be applied to various sprinkler systems, such as vacuum wet sprinkler systems and vacuum dry sprinkler systems.

10 sprinkler system 12 fire extinguishing water tank 13 fire extinguishing water 14 water pump 16 cold water generator 18 nitrogen gas generator 20 primary side piping 22 secondary side piping 24 water flow detection device 26 terminal test valve 28 sprinkler head 30 down pipe 32 oxygen concentration meter

Claims (2)

a fire water tank for storing water for fire extinguishing;
a piping structure installed between the fire extinguishing water tank and each sprinkler head;
a fire pump that supplies fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank through the piping structure to the sprinkler head so that the water can be discharged,
an inert gas generating and supplying device is provided which generates an inert gas and supplies the generated inert gas to the fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank to dissolve the inert gas;
The inert gas generating and supplying device is a nitrogen gas generating device that generates nitrogen gas as the inert gas, separates and extracts nitrogen gas from the air, and supplies the nitrogen gas to the fire extinguishing water in the fire extinguishing water tank,
A sprinkler system characterized in that the fire extinguishing water tank is equipped with a cooling device for cooling the stored fire extinguishing water . a fire water tank for storing water for fire extinguishing;
a piping structure installed between the fire extinguishing water tank and each sprinkler head;
a fire pump that supplies fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank through the piping structure to the sprinkler head so that the water can be discharged,
an inert gas generating and supplying device is provided which generates an inert gas and supplies the generated inert gas to the fire extinguishing water stored in the fire extinguishing water tank to dissolve the inert gas;
The inert gas generating and supplying device is a nitrogen gas generating device that generates nitrogen gas as the inert gas, separates and extracts nitrogen gas from the air, and supplies the nitrogen gas to the fire extinguishing water in the fire extinguishing water tank,
A sprinkler system characterized in that the nitrogen gas generator is installed on a different floor from the fire extinguishing water tank, and an oxygen concentration meter is installed on the floor on which the nitrogen gas generator is installed .