Continuous Grease Fire Suppression System

Abstract

A continuous fire suppression system includes a spiral oven including a cooking chamber and a spiral conveyor; a fat drippage in the cooking chamber which falls downwardly through the spiral conveyor; a fire suppressing vapor cooking medium circulating within the spiral cooking chamber which suppresses combustion of the fat drippage; an analyzer arranged to monitor a targeted condition in the cooking chamber wherein, in the targeted condition, the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of at least 90% vol. and air is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of from 0% to 10% vol., the remainder volume being the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A continuous fire suppression system comprising:
 a spiral oven including a cooking chamber and a spiral conveyor;   a fat drippage in the cooking chamber which falls downwardly through the spiral conveyor;   a fire suppressing vapor cooking medium circulating within the spiral cooking chamber which suppresses combustion of the fat drippage;   an analyzer arranged to monitor a targeted condition in the cooking chamber wherein, in the targeted condition, the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of at least 90% vol. and air is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of from 0% to 10% vol., the remainder volume being the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium.   
     
     
         2 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a temperature controller arranged to monitor and control a temperature of the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium in the cooking chamber.   
     
     
         3 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 2 , wherein the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is at an average contacting temperature in a range of 325° F. to 650° F. 
     
     
         4 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 2 , wherein the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is at an average contacting temperature in a range of 325° F. to 385° F. 
     
     
         5 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 2 , wherein the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is at an average contacting temperature in a range of 325° F. to about 350° F. 
     
     
         6 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one heating element arranged to heat the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium.   
     
     
         7 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 6 , the at least one heating element being selected from the group consisting of electric, thermal oil, and steam. 
     
     
         8 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one heating element is a finned heating element. 
     
     
         9 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a fire suppressing vapor cooking medium injector system for the spiral oven in communication with the analyzer.   
     
     
         10 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a fire suppressing vapor cooking medium injector system configured to inject an additional amount of the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium into the cooking chamber as needed to maintain the targeted condition.   
     
     
         11 . The continuous fire suppression system according to  claim 1 , further comprising, the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium including superheated steam. 
     
     
         12 . The continuous fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fat drippage includes bacon fat. 
     
     
         13 . The continuous fire suppression of  claim 1 , further comprising,
 the spiral oven including a preheater located toward an inlet end of the spiral conveyor.   
     
     
         14 . A method of continuous fire suppression within a spiral oven, the spiral oven including a cooking chamber containing a spiral conveyor and a fat drippage in the cooking chamber which falls downwardly through the spiral conveyor, the method comprising:
 suppressing combustion of the fat drippage by circulating a fire suppressing vapor cooking medium within the spiral cooking chamber;   monitoring a targeted condition in the cooking chamber wherein, in the targeted condition, the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of at least 90% vol. and air is present in the cooking chamber in an amount of from 0% to 10% vol., the remainder volume being the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium; and   injecting an additional amount of the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium into the cooking chamber as needed to maintain the targeted condition.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the targeted condition is at least one of a relative humidity and a dew point of the cooking chamber. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the targeted condition is an amount of oxygen in the cooking chamber. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the targeted condition is a temperature of the cooking chamber. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 monitoring and controlling a temperature of the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium in the cooking chamber   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is at an average contacting temperature in a range of 325° F. to 385° F. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium is at an average contacting temperature in a range of 325° F. to about 350° F. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the spiral oven includes at least one heating element arranged to heat the fire suppressing vapor cooking medium. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , the fat drippage including bacon fat. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the spiral oven includes a preheater located toward in inlet end of the spiral conveyor.