An Improved Composition for Fire Extinguishing, and applicable to the Manufacture of Soap, and Mineral and Vegetable Oils of all kinds.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1897
TRUVIDIUNATTIVATIO
An Improved Composition for Fire Extinguishing, and applicable to
the Manufacture of Soap, and Mineral and Vegetable Oils of all
kinds.
I. JEAN MARIE RAYMOND, of 77, Avenue de Clichy, Paris, in the Republic
of France, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in extinguishing fires and to a composition
therefor.
It is necessary to go back to the epoch of Gay-Lussac, who in 1821 made known
the results of his studies relating to the inflammability of substances, to find a path
open to researches concerning products which are not inflammable and which act
as fire-extinguishers.
Amongst other observations he recorded the following which is of great
importance, namely, that combustible gases which are set free by the action of
heat must be mixed in sufficiently large proportion with other gases which burn
with difficulty, if they are to be rendered no longer inflammable.
It is this principle which gave rise to the works of the majority of those who
since that epoch have experimented with liquid chemical preparations designed to
be thrown on a fire with the object of extinguishing it.
All these investigators decided to employ volatile non-combustible products
which set free, by vaporization, carbonic acid gas, hydrochloric acid gas and
In certain fire-
sulphurous fumes which act on the flame so as to put it out.
extinguishing mixtures ammoniacal salts are advisedly employed; the said salts,.
under the action of heat, decompose and form volatile products, they being at the
same time themselves non-combustible, and they produce a mixture of steam and
nitrogen as well as gases which have the property of extinguishing ignited.
substances.
Hitherto solutions of ammoniacal salts on the one hand and bi-carbonate of soda
combined with sulphuric acid, tartaric acid, etc. on the other hand are those which
have given the best results; nitrogen and carbonic acid being the gases recognized
as the most efficacious against fire. Without desiring to go too fully into the
various products prepared for the purpose of extinguishing fire, nor desiring to
criticise the same 1 will point out the reasons for, and the results of, my personal
investigations.
Having obtained knowledge of an apparatus by which any liquid could be mixed
in any proportion and projected with water under pressure, the said apparatus
being invented by the engineer E. Lauraus of Paris, and having assured myself of
the efficiency of this apparatus I thought that the preparation of a powerful
substance which could be projected with water would render excellent service in
putting out fires by doubling, trebling or increasing tenfold the power of water as
a fire-extinguisher. Like my predecessors I imagined I could utilize ammoniacal
products but my choice fell more particularly upon two salts of ammonia, the
carbonate and the chloride, which appeared to me to be the most efficacious. To
these products I added anhydrous carbonate of soda and borate of soda. By
mixing these substances in different quantities and by manipulating them in
particular ways, I obtained a solution having great power as a fire-extinguisher;

page_text: my mixture, when employed of ten per cent. strength, that is to say, with the
addition of 90 per cent. of water, gives excellent results and quickly extinguishes
fire.
In practice I find a mixture composed as follows gives good results :-
Water
Borate of soda (anhydrous)
Carbonate of soda (anhydrous) -
Caustic soda
-
Ammonium carbonate
and Chloride of ammonium
1000 grammes.
45 to 65
33
80 to 120
-
150 to 200
"
-
45 to 65
"
200 to 280
"
Whilst occupying myself with methods for obtaining the instantaneous extinction
of burning oils and benzines, which hitherto has only been possible by the not very
practical method of stifling the flame with sand, earth, etc., and desiring to ensure
that the said substances do not re-ignite after their extinction, I have been led to
the conclusion that the best means to employ for obtaining this result is by
adulterating the said oil. After many experiments I found that the instantaneous
Eaponification of these substances extinguishes the flame from burning oils and
consequently ensures their non-combustibility. This result was not easy to obtain
as alkalies do not directly saponify oils. I therefore first decided to employ caustic
soda, then I rendered the oils saponifiable by mixing them with a substance having
this property, oleic acid. The oleic acid is first projected over the burning oil and
penetrates it whereby the said oil assumes a condition ready for immediate
saponification by my composition above described which is then thrown on the
flame. I can also employ for this purpose other substances such as fatty matters
and oils by reason of the oleic acid which they contain.
The following experiment demonstrates the value of my composition:-
4 litres of benzine or 4 litres of mineral oil were poured in equal quantities in two
cement vessels and ignited at the same instant. The combustion of the liquid
contained in one of the vessels continued for ten minutes, giving off smoke and
large flames. The liquid contained in the other vessel was completed extinguished
by my process by means of a Laurans apparatus and my mixture of thirty per
cent. strength in fifteen seconds. It was then found impossible to effect the re-
ignition of the liquid.
My principle of saponification is also applicable to the manufacture of soap, oil
extracts, and mineral and vegetable oils of all kinds.
Dated this 6th day of May 1896.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Composition for Fire Extinguishing, and applicable to
the Manufacture of Soap, and Mineral and Vegetable Oils of all
kinds.
1, JEAN MARIE RAYMOND, of 77 Avenue de Clichy, Paris in the Republic of
France, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates more particularly to an improved composition for ex-
tinguishing fires but it is also applicable to other purposes, as will hereafter be
explained.
The usual methods of extinguishing fires are based on the principle of mixing the

page_text: combustible gases disengaged by the heat, with other gases not easily combustible
so that the former are rendered uninflammable.
It has been customary to use volatile incombustible products generating upon
vaporisation, carbonic acid gas, hydrochloric acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen
gas, which act upon the flame and stifle it. In certain cases ammoniacal salts have
bren effectively used, which when heated are decomposed into volatile wholly
incombustible products forming a mixture of steam and nitrogen, as well as other
gases possessing the property of extinguishing burning substances.
After numerous and repeated experiments I have found that the use of two
ammoniacal salts, ammonium carbonate and ammonium chloride, gives excellent
results when in conjunction with anhydrous sodium carbonate and borate of soda.
By mixing these substances in different proportions and using the mixture say as a
ten per cent, solution in water, I obtain a fire extinguisher of great efficacy.
My invention is also applicable to the immediate extinction of burning oils and
benzines. This has hitherto been impossible in a way other than by the almost
impracticable method of suffocating the flame by sand earth and the like. To
ensure the uninflammability of these oils after their extinction I have concluded
from numerous experiments that the best course to follow is the debasement of
these said oils.
For this purpose I instantaneously saponify these substances, which results in the
extinction of the oils and their subsequent uninflammability. I at first determined
to use caustic soda and afterwards I worked to make the essences saponifiable by
mixing them with a substance possessing this property so that I might to some
degree, obtain their subsequent saponification. The substance which has given me
the best results is oleic acid which is thrown on the enflamed oil, mingles therewith
and renders it capable of immediate saponification by throwing on a mixture of the
above extinguisher with water. I reserve to myself the right, however, to use
other substances such as fatty substances and heavy oils in which oleic acid
predominates.
The following is one of my experiments. Four litres of berziue and four litres
of mineral oil were poured by halves into two cement vessels or containers and lit at
the same moment. The combustion of the liquid in one receptacle lasted fully ten
minutes, giving forth smoky flames of considerable height; the total extinction of
the liquid in the other receptacle was caused by my extinguisher and using the
apparatus for projecting disinfectants and the like, described in Specification of
Letters Patent No. 14067 of 1894, E. J. B. P. Jodelay and M. J. E. Laurans,-
the solution being of a thirty-five per cent. strength,-in fifteen seconds.
I afterwards tried to relight the liquid so extinguished but it was entirely
uninflammable.
This is the formula which I generally use, but the proportions may be varied to
suit special requirements.
Water
°
Borate of soda
Carbonate of soda (anhydrous)
Caustic soda
Ammonium carbonate
Ammonium chloride
1000 parts
40 to 60 parts
80 to 120 parts
150 to 200 parts
75 to 100 parts
200 to 280 parts.
Before projecting the above extinguisher upon the enflamed oils, &c., oleic acid,
in any desired quantity is thrown upon those burning substances which are thereby
rendered capable of saponification by the extinguisher and become uninflammable
after extinction.
It is evident that I can, of course, use any other convenient means or apparatus
in addition to the one above mentioned, to project my extinguisher upon fire.
The above method of saponification may with advantage be utilized in the
manufacture of soaps, and in the refining of petroleum in any convenient way.

page_text: In this latter case the chemical reaction which takes place is as follows:-The
petroleum or essence of petroleum is mixed with oleic acid which imparts to it by
such mixture the property of being saponifiable, a property not possessed by it
before this mixing. When this has been done, the resulting product of the mixture
of the petroleum or petroleum essences with oleic acid, is immediately changed by
the projection thereon of carbonate or borate of soda and the caustic soda contained
in the extinguisher, into oleate of soda or soap and, in this state becomes absolutely
uninflammable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. A fire extinguisher, for use either alone or with the addition of water,
consisting of a mixture in any desired proportion, of ammonium carbonate,
ammonium chloride, anhydrous sodium carbonate and sodium borate, as above
described.
2. The application of saponification in the preparation and use of a liquid
extinguisher of enflamed benzine and burning mineral oils which are thereafter
rendered uninflammable, as above described.
3. The use of the hereindescribed method of saponification in the manufacture of
soaps, and in the refining of petroleum.
4. As a means of rendering oils saponifiable, the use of oleic acid or of other
fatty substances or heavy oils in which oleic acid predominates.
Dated this Sixteenth day of Container 1000
For the Applicant,
GEDGE & FEENY,
60 Queen Victoria Street, E.C., Chartered Patent Agents.