Field of the Invention

The present invention, in general, relates to fire extinguishing systems and more particularly, relates to a fire extinguishing system for oil wells.

Background of the Invention

Fires in oil well are caused mainly as a result of natural events such as lightning or might even be accidental. Fires in oil well cause loss of huge amount of crude oil and several ecological problems such as air pollution due to smoke and other chemicals released from burnt oil and these fires are harmful for aquatic animals as well. Oil well fires are controlled manually which is quite a difficult task as these fires are almost impossible to handle due to the availability of fuel for fire.

Various approaches have been disclosed in the prior arts in relation to develop fire extinguishing system by using different kind of devices or system.

US3887011A titled Fire Extinguisher discloses a fire extinguisher for oil wells, and the like, has a first pipe connected to a well pipe and a second pipe branched from the first pipe. First and second valves are arranged in the first pipe, while a third valve is arranged in the second pipe. These valves are connected together and restrained from movement so that the first and second valves are normally-open and the third valve is normally-closed. When an element constructed from lead, and the like, is melted due to an increase in temperature caused by a, for example, fire in the first pipe, the first and second valves are released and permitted to move to closed positions, and the third valve is permitted to open, thus smothering the fire contained in the first pipe between the first and second valves while bypassing the communication with the oil well through the second pipe and into the atmosphere.

US6286604B1 titled Powerless automatic and/or manual fire-extinguishing device, discloses a powerless fire-extinguishing device provided with steel ropes to actuate a fire-extinguisher automatically or manually so that fire-extinguishing material can extinguish fire through fireextinguishing tubes. The powerless fire-extinguishing device includes an automatic sensor and/or manual device, a fire extinguisher steel barrel actuating device and a gas isolating device. In the automatic sensor or manual device, a fuse sensor or a manual switch is used so that the tightness of the steel rope is varied for actuating the actuating device of a fire- extinguisher steel barrel and the gas isolating device can be driven synchronously for isolating the supply of gas. Therefore, fire is extinguished, and gas flow is closed. GB586291 A titled Fire extinguishing system discloses an automatic fire-extinguishing system employing liquid carbon dioxide from a container at sub-atmospheric temperature and provided with a master control valve and selector valves for the hazards. The master valve is spring pressed against its seat so that rise in vapour pressure of liquid trapped in the pipes will open the valve to allow the liquid to return to the container. The opening and closing of the master and selector valves are determined by an electrical timing device which are set in operation by fire detecting devices or hand switches. The master valve is provided with master valve disc carried by a bell-crank lever pivoted on the valve casing, is urged against its seat by a spring acting on a piston pivoted to a lever, the pressure above and below the piston is normally equal due to the pipe connections. To open the master valve disc, a solenoid is energized to rock another lever which moves a pilot valve to close one of the pipes and vent to atmosphere from the space above the piston. The lever which moves a pilot valve may also be manually operable. The selector valves are of similar construction as the master valve but are modified to prevent premature opening. The automatic fire-extinguishing system also provides a shut-off valve which is normally locked open, is closed when work is necessary on the system. The shut-off valve disc is spring- pressed against its seat and is carried by a support attached to a rotatable stem which is manually operable by worm wheel and toothed sector.

US20210260425A1 titled Water extinguishing system and associated method for controlling the water extinguishing system provided with a fluid supply, a pump and a test line with an opening element which is configured to open the test line during a test run of the pump. According to the invention, the test line further comprises a closing element which is configured to close the test line if the water extinguishing system is triggered in order to reduce the effort required to inspect the water extinguishing system, to improve the reliability and efficiency of water extinguishing system and to reduce the risk of an undersupply of extinguishing fluid to water extinguishing system.

GB246736A titled Improvements in devices for use in connection with the automatic extinguishing of fires discloses a device for cutting off a fuel-feed, operated by the expansion of a metal tube which is fixed at its upper end to a rod having a lower coefficient of expansion. When the tube expands, a stirrup on the rod lifts a bar to disengage a knob thereon from a shoulder on a plunger. When this occurs, the plunger is moved by a spring so that its coned extension engages a valve seat to close the fuel passage. At the same time a needle on the plunger enters a recess in the control cock. When the tube has cooled rotation of the cock forces the extension back from the seating so that the knob again engages the shoulder. In a modification, for bringing a fire-extinguishing apparatus into operation, the valve arrangement is omitted, and a rope is attached to the rear of the plunger, this rope passing to the apparatus to be operated.

However, currently available solutions as disclosed above have their own restrictions in developing a fully automatic fire extinguishing system for enabling and disenabling the flow of fuel and the current solutions fail to meet the most important requirement of developing a simple and cost-effective system. It was noticed that providing rapid control over the fire was difficult using current device and system. Also, an effective solution to minimize or avoid the usage of fire extinguishing material was lacking in the current solutions.

In one of the prior arts, there is a provision of deviating the path of oil from the main path to a secondary path in case of fire by simultaneously closing valve of the main path and opening valve of the secondary path. Even in this case, there is a possibility of induced fire in the secondary path as oil may be accompanied with fire through the secondary path and spread fire all over the system. In such cases, the entire equipment of the fire extinguisher is destroyed, either all parts are required to be repaired or replaced after the fire.

Various prior arts are disclosing different solutions by employing the fire extinguisher to provide effective solutions. However, still there is need to provide an effective solution for controlling the fire through a system which is simple, requires low maintenance and effectively controls the wastage of fuel during fire.

Summary of the Invention

Below are the various objectives and embodiments of present invention as presented herein are understood to be illustrative and not restrictive and are non-limiting with respect to the scope of the invention.

It is an objective of the invention to provide an automatic fire extinguishing system which is capable of providing effective and rapid control over fire in oil wells.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a fire extinguishing system which is easy to maintain, cost-effective, simple, automatic and eco-friendly.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide an automatic fire extinguishing system wherein the system automatically controls the fire by employing negligible amount of fire extinguishing materials and manpower. It is another objective of the present invention to provide an automatic fire extinguishing system which is simpler in design and functioning so that no training is required to understand the mechanism of the system.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide an automatic fire extinguishing system with a design and mechanism such that the maintenance cost is minimised.

The following is a description of embodiments that are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an automatic fire-extinguishing system for oil well, comprising a lower inlet pipe, an upper outlet pipe provided with a plurality of ring-like structure on its outer surface, a shell bolted with and between the lower inlet and the upper outlet pipe for establishing a connection for oil flow, an oil control unit operably connected to the shell at its first end for controlling the oil flow from the upper outlet pipe and the lower inlet pipe, and fastened to the upper outlet pipe via a pulley at its second end, wherein said oil control unit comprising a spring-loaded mechanism enabling full control over the flow of oil corresponding to one or more activities at the upper outlet pipe.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an automatic fire-extinguishing system for oil well, comprising a lower inlet pipe, an upper outlet pipe provided with a plurality of ring-like structure on its outer surface, a shell bolted with and between the lower inlet and the upper outlet pipe for establishing a connection for oil flow, an oil control unit operably connected to the shell at its first end for controlling the oil flow from the upper outlet pipe and the lower inlet pipe, and fastened to the upper outlet pipe via a pulley at its second end, wherein said oil control unit comprising a spring-loaded mechanism enabling full control over the flow of oil corresponding to one or more activities at the upper outlet pipe, wherein said shell is provided with a disc hingedly secured on the interior of the shell and configured to be connected to the spring-loaded mechanism for controlling its movement.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said shell is internally provided with a spring-based holder for holding the disc in case of disc’s open position.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said upper outlet pipe is provided with a substance having low melting point for causing immediate action for extinguishing fire within and outside the pipe, wherein said activity at the upper outlet pipe is but not limited to the occurrence of fire. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an automatic fire-extinguishing system for oil well, comprising a lower inlet pipe, an upper outlet pipe provided with a plurality of ring-like structure on its outer surface, a shell bolted with and between the lower inlet and the upper outlet pipe for establishing a connection for oil flow, an oil control unit operably connected to the shell at its first end for controlling the oil flow from the upper outlet pipe and the lower inlet pipe, and fastened to the upper outlet pipe via a pulley at its second end, wherein said oil control unit comprising a spring-loaded mechanism enabling full control over the flow of oil corresponding to one or more activities at the upper outlet pipe, wherein said shell is provided with a disc hingedly secured on the interior of the shell and configured to be connected to the spring-loaded mechanism for controlling its movement, wherein said disc is conically designed to fully block the passage of oil from the lower inlet pipe to the upper outlet pipe through the shell corresponding to the spring action within the oil control unit, wherein said oil control unit is provided with a tube circumscribing the spring and the pulley, wherein said tube is provided with a sealing bush and guard to block the upward flow of oil in the oil control unit.

According to the present invention, the automatic fire-extinguishing system for oil well is partially submerged as a portion of the upper outlet pipe is configured to stay above the ground and remaining parts such as lower inlet pipe and oil control unit are all submerged below the ground.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of extinguishing fire in an oilwell employing a fire extinguishing system comprising a lower inlet pipe, an upper outlet pipe provided with a substance having low melting point, a shell bolted with and between the lower inlet and the upper outlet pipe for establishing a connection for oil flow and provided with a disc, an oil control unit having a spring-loaded mechanism, wherein the method comprises of melting of the substance upon occurrence of the fire at the upper outlet pipe and extinguishing the fire by blocking passage of the oil flow from the lower inlet pipe to the upper outlet pipe through the shell employing the movement of disc corresponding to the spring action executed by the spring-loaded mechanism.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a two-dimensional structural arrangement and various mechanisms of the fire extinguishing system.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawing. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Various terms as used herein are shown below. To the extent a term used in a disclosure is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in the pertinent art have given that term as reflected in printed publications and issued patents at the time of filing.

In many embodiments and at various other places in this specification, phrases such as “lower inlet pipe” and “upper outlet pipe” are used, wherein the “lower inlet pipe” refers to the part of the oil well which is underground and act as oil collecting portion from the underground and the “upper outlet pipe” refers to the part of the oil well which is closer to the ground to surface and serve as oil discharge portion of the oil well for further supply and distribution.

Referring to Figure 1 , an automatic fire-extinguishing system is illustrated, which is having a lower inlet pipe (1) for extracting oil from the underground reservoir, a shell (2) is bolted with the lower inlet pipe (1) and upper outlet pipe (3) with the help of nut and bolts for providing a passage to the flow of oil in the upward direction, wherein a portion of the upper outlet pipe (3) is made to stay above the ground and remaining part of the upper outlet pipe (3), shell (2) and lower inlet pipe (1) stay below the ground. The upper outlet pipe (3) is surrounded by a plurality of ring-like structure (25) which is made up of high melting point substance, wherein the number of such ring like structure depends on the length of the upper outlet pipe (3). The ring like structure (25) surrounding the upper outlet shell (3) helps to maintain the temperature of the upper outlet pipe (3) in case of fire and allows fire extinguishing materials to flow or spread along the length of the upper outlet pipe (3) in the pattern as provided by the ring like structure (25) so as to make complete utilization of the fire extinguishing materials for smothering fire, hence serving the purpose by involvement of no or minimum fire extinguishing materials and also preventing its wastage. The shell (2) is provided with a movable disc (4) which is hinged inside the shell and configured to close and open the passages towards the upper outlet pipe (3) by moving around the hinge (24). Normally, in case of no fire, the disc is engaged to an attachment (19) in its open position but in case of occurrence of fire, the disc closes the upper outlet pipe (3) from the bottom as the attachment (19) repels the disc to disengaging with the attachment (19) and therefore, the flow of oil is stopped in the upward direction by bringing the disc in closed position (‘B’).

An oil control unit (7) is attached to the shell (2), which comprises of a spring-loaded mechanism (8 and 9) having the tube (8) sleeved by the spring (9), wherein the tube (8) is connected to the disc with the help of a rope (6) for controlling the movement of the disc around the hinge under the influence of the spring-loaded mechanism (9). The disc is provided with a hook fastener (5) to which the rope (6) is hooked for enabling the movement of the disc (4) in accordance with the force exerted through spring loaded mechanism (9), wherein the disc (4) is designed to have various geometries for fully blocking the flow of oil upward and preferably has a cone shape, wherein hook fastener (5) mounted over the disc (4) secures the rope (6) which is also hooked to the spring loaded mechanism (8 and 9) employing another hook fastener (10) at the end of the spring for enabling the movement of disc (4).

The upper outlet pipe (3) is provided with a substance preferably made of a plastic material (18) having low melting point, wherein the substance is hooked by another rope (16) with the upper outlet pipe (3) by passing through a pulley (22) and connected to one of the sides of a tube (8), wherein another side of the tube (8) is connected to the spring (9) and provided with bush (11), guard (12) and seal (14) to ensure that no oil flows upward in the oil control unit (7). The structural arrangement of oil control unit (7) is held firmly with the help of supports (23) for attaching and de-attaching the entire structure in place.

In case of occurrence of fire in the upper outlet pipe (3), a hook made up of a plastic material is hooked on to the upper outlet pipe (3) above the valve (17) melts which in return de-stresses the spring-loaded mechanism by getting unhooked with the upper outlet pipe (3) and the rope (16) moves from the point D to D1 . The rope (6) extended from the spring to the disc is moved forward under the influence of spring action so as to enable closing of the disc around the hinge (24) on the interior part of the shell (2). The oil flowing from the reservoir to the upper outlet pipe is stopped for completely smothering fire by avoiding reach of oil in the fire region. The oil coming from the reservoir may deviate to flow in the oil control unit but then the bush (11), guard (12) and seal (14) provided in the tube stops the upward flow of oil in oil control unit (7) and eliminates the possibility of fire.

When the fire is smothered completely, the fire extinguishing system can be brought back into operation by simply changing the plastic material at the top of the upper outlet pipe (3) and hooking the rope (16) with the same.

However, the advantages of the disclosed fire extinguishing system are not limited to the above-mentioned applications and are customised and extended to various applications on the need basis. The disclosed detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure are depicted in the accompanying labelled drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments. While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, some embodiments have been illustrated by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail above. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner and focus of description in each embodiment is the difference from other embodiments. For same or similar parts of each embodiment, reference may be made to each other.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above description was in respect of preferred embodiments and that various alterations and modifications are possible within the broad scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention with the necessary modifications.

Based on the description of disclosed embodiments, persons skilled in the art can implement or apply the present disclosure. Various modifications of the embodiments are apparent to persons skilled in the art, and general principles defined in the specification can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments in the specification but intends to cover the most extensive scope consistent with the principle and the novel features disclosed in the specification.

Referring the accompanying drawings are provided herein illustrating the further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this complete specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, however, the same will be further expanded within the scope of the disclosure and serve to explain the principles of the present invention.