Patent ID: 9616262
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: A62C,B08B,F16L,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method of suppressing corrosion in a wet fire protection system including at least one pipe, each pipe including a plurality of automatically activated valves operative to open and discharge water in the event of a fire, the system further including at least gas fill and purge valves located at spaced-apart distances in one or more pipes, the method comprising: purging atmospheric oxygen from the pipes by injecting a first inert gas into at least one gas fill valve, and discharging oxygen displaced by the first inert gas via at least one gas purge valve; and interposing a Gas Transfer Membrane (GTM) deoxygenating device between a building water supply and the wet fire protection system pipes and supplying the first inert gas to the GTM device, wherein the GTM deoxygenating device is operative to intake the water from the building water supply and the first inert gas, remove dissolved oxygen from the water using a membrane array knit from microporous, hydrophobic, hollow fibers, and output deoxygenated water and waste gasses including oxygen removed from the water; and after purging oxygen from the pipes, directing water from the building water supply through the GTM device where it is deoxygenated to an oxygen concentration of 500 ppb (parts per billion) or less; and directing the deoxygenated water from the GTM device into the wet fire protection system pipes.