SUPRESSION FIRE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENTS WIND TURBINEIMPULSE-STORM-A TECHNOLOGY

NEW IMPULSE TECHNOLOGIESFIREFIGHTING IMPULSE STORM TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS

www.impulse-storm.com

JANUARY/2016

Problem

Cause

Solution

Summary

AGENDA

PROBLEM

Wind Turbine Developers often claim that their technology is safe, and whenever there has been a wind turbine fire, or other form of serious accident, the developer is often quick to state that this is a rare occurrence. Yet you only have to look at insurers reports to get a better understanding of accident rates and insurance claims made by wind energy developers to get a truer account of the health and safety aspect of turbines.

Caithness Wind Farms have compiled a detailed report on wind farm accidents throughout the UK and internationally, by sourcing news articles, accident reports and insurance documents. They state that: Fire is the second most common accident cause in incidents found. Fire can arise from a number of sources – and some turbine types seem more prone to fire than others.A total more than 300 fire incidents were found.

The biggest problem with wind turbine fires is that, because of the turbine height, the fire brigade can do little but watch it burn itself out. While this may be acceptable in reasonably still conditions, in a storm it means burning debris being scattered over a wide area, with obvious consequences. In dry weather there is obviously a wider-area fire risk, especially for those constructed in or close to forest areas and/or close to housing or work places.

Problem

Cause

Solution

Summary

AGENDA

CAUSE

You need three things to start a fire: fuel, ignition and oxygen. And you can find all three of them in ample quantities within the nacelle of a wind turbine.

A 1.5MW machine, on the small side by today's standards, can still contain up to 900 liters of lubricating and cooling oil. The nacelle itself, probably made with flammable fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP), will house acoustic insulation materials, which are also flammable. Ignition can be provided by faulty electrical and electronic components and connections, or overheating mechanical parts. And high winds, the reason the turbine is there in the first place, can be guaranteed to feed the spark and fan the flames.

Once a fire takes hold there is practically nothing that can be done to prevent the turbine's complete destruction. The remote location of many wind projects means that fire-fighting services are often slow to arrive the scene, while the nacelle's height rules out any meaningful action for fire suppression. The best that can be expected is that burning debris is prevented from starting ground fires.

Problem

Cause

Solution

Summary

AGENDA

SOLUTION

IMPULSE-STORM-AWATER\FOAM FULL AUTONOMOUS FIREFIGHTING SYSTEM WITHOUT PRESUURE, ENGINES AND

OUTHER WATER OR POWER SOURSE.

SOLUTION

Other Firefighting System for Wind Turbine have:

1. Water or foam premix stored under high pressure in the pressurevessel, not less 16 bar.

2. Big size pressure vessel.

3. Difficult design and expensive service.

4. Impossibility of fast recharge.

5. Big time delay between the breakout the fire and the actuation of thesystem.

6. Need of use only of one type of foam.

7. High price full complete equipment and service.

SOLUTION

Parameters systems Impulse Storm-A

• Volume premix foam vessel - 800 liters

• Delay between the breakout the fire and the actuation system - 0,5 – 2 seconds

• After the actuation, the extinguishment time is done - 25 seconds

• Pressure stand-bay mode – zero.

• Time stand-bay mode without service and recharge – not less 5 years.

• External power or water source – not need.

• Opportunity to dispersion firefighting powder or water only - yes

• Type foam use – any.• Time recharge - 30 minutes• Staff for recharge and service - users staff

Problem

Cause

Solution

Summary

AGENDA

SUMMARY

The main advantages over any other system of fire extinguishing and cooling:

1. Very low sluggishness - less than a second.

2. Very little time before complete extinguishing - just a few seconds.During this timeframe fire is unable to warm up the transformer oil and metal structures, which excludes the spread of fire and re-ignition.

3. The lack of any external pressure source, pump stations, externalpiping or external water tanks.

4. Absence of any pressure in the system in a Standby mode.

5. The absence of any external and internal sources of electrical power.The system is fully autonomous for at least 10 years (the term of morethan 10 years has not been tested).

8. Synchronous not less three fire extinguishing agent - neutral gas, water and foam in one system.

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