Steamexfire
Encyclopedia
The Steamexfire is a high flow inert gas generator
Inert gas generator
Inert gas generator refers to machinery on board marine product tankers. Inert gas generators consist distinctively of a burning and cooling chamber.Atmospheric air is burned so that it contains less than 5% oxygen, thereby creating "inert gas"...

 (IGG)

Principle

The Steamexfire is driven by a jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

, in which air is compressed into a combustion chamber
Combustion chamber
A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...

 where fuel (kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

) is injected. The flammable mixture of fuel and air is ignited by a sparkplug, and the gases expand as a result of the combustion process. The gases are forced into a turbine which drives a compressor.
The exhaust gas
Exhaust gas
Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline/petrol, diesel fuel, fuel oil or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack or propelling nozzle.It often disperses...

ses of a jet engine contains approx. 17% oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 .
In a second stage combustion chamber, more fuel is injected and ignited. As a result of this process, all oxygen is consumed, and what remains is an inert gas
Inert gas
An inert gas is a non-reactive gas used during chemical synthesis, chemical analysis, or preservation of reactive materials. Inert gases are selected for specific settings for which they are functionally inert since the cost of the gas and the cost of purifying the gas are usually a consideration...

.
This process takes place in a 7 meter long combustion tube, which is cooled by water. The heated water is injected at the end of the cooling tube, and consequently the water is turned into water vapor
Water vapor
Water vapor or water vapour , also aqueous vapor, is the gas phase of water. It is one state of water within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation or boiling of liquid water or from the sublimation of ice. Under typical atmospheric conditions, water vapor is continuously...

 and steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

.
As a result, the Steamexfire produces up to 25 cubic meters of inert steam and water vapor per second.
The fore runner of the Steamexfire is called the GAG
Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy
The Górniczy Agregat Gaśniczy is a jet engine inertisation unit developed for use in mines, controlling and suppressing coal seam fires and neutralising firedamp situations. The unit was designed in Poland in the 1970s, its name roughly translates as "Mine Fire Suppression Apparatus"...

 unit.

Underground mine fires

The Steamexfire has been deployed to fight underground mine fire
Mine fire
A coal seam fire or mine fire is the underground smouldering of a coal deposit, often in a coal mine. Such fires have economic, social and ecological impacts...

s at the Goedehoop mine fire in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and at the Svea Nord mine fire on Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...

Island.
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