FIRE SUPPRESSION APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

A fire suppression apparatus (10) including a pneumoacoustic atomizer (40) for delivering a mist of water in the form of droplets having a size range between 50-90 microns suspended in a fire suppressing gas such as nitrogen. The supply (12) of fire suppressing gas may be provided by a bottle (16) or a nitrogen generator (14). For airborne applications, the nitrogen generator (14) may be supplied with compressed air bled from a turbine engine (26) of the aircraft. To minimize the consumption of fire suppressing materials, the apparatus (10) may be operated in a pulsed mode, wherein the delivery of fire suppressing materials is interrupted unless a fire sensor (66) detects a fire reflash. Furthermore, only those atomizers (40) proximate the location of a fire are activated in response to the detection of a fire. To ensure the proper atomization of the water, the opening of a water control valve (44) connected to the atomizer (40) is delayed until a predetermined interval after the opening of the gas control vale (42) for that atomizer (40).