Asphyxiating a Fire with Sulphur 



An apparatus which protects a ship against 

 flames and assures it a clean bill of health 



The fire-extinguishing and fumigating apparatus installed in the Minnesotan. After and forward 

 main discharge-pipes connect with branch pipes which lead to eacli compartment of the vessel 



0\ II of ilic- lessons learned in figiiting 

 -.liip fires is tliat the ideal form of 

 extinguisher in an enclosed space 

 like the hold of a ship is a gas which dis- 

 places the air by its own specific gra\ity, 

 and is itself a non-supporter of combustion. 

 This gas is found in sulphur dioxide, made 

 when needed from ordinary commercial 

 sulphur. Engineers and scientists 

 ha\e recognized it for 

 years as a fire-e.\tingui> 

 On the other iiand, as a 

 efficient gas for fumigat- 

 ting purposes, its \aiue 

 has been admitted for 

 some two tiiousand 

 years. It would seem, 

 therefore, that an ap- 

 paratus devised to 

 utilize the gas.as i)olh 

 a fire-extinguisherand 

 fumigator aboard 

 ships would meet with 

 great success. 



Such an apparatus 

 has been installed on 

 the .Xmeric.in-I iawaii- 

 an steamship Miuiie- 

 sotan. It consists 

 essentially of a fur- 

 nace, a blower and an engine. The furnace 

 is built on the principle of a marine boiler. 

 Sulphur is admitted into the melting pot 

 through the top, and compressed air is 

 |)umped directly into the furnace. The gas 

 fr)rmed from the air an<l suli)hur is convi'scil 

 from the top of the furnace back and forth 

 through tul)es siMTounded by circul.iting 

 water. This cools the gas, after wiiich it is 

 tlisch.irged through a pipe, and carried to 

 its destination utuler pressure. I-'urlher- 

 more, the gas can be Tu.nle nl .1 <|u.ility or 



The furnace is built on the principle of a 

 marine boiler. Sulphur is admitted through the 

 top, and the gas is conveyed through tubes 



density to suit a fire-extinguishing or a 

 fumigating case. 



The gas machine is placed in a steel 

 deckliouse on the upper deck just abaft the 

 smokestack. From this point after and 

 forward main di.scharge-pipes connect with 

 branch pipes which, in turn, extend to 

 w ithin two feet of the floor of each hold in 

 the vessel. All the branch lines are 

 lied by manifold \al\-es, 

 lat the gas ma\- be forced 

 to an\- one of the several 

 ompartments. 



.All of the piping is 

 of gah'anized iron. 

 Fittings are avoided 

 wherever possible, 

 bentis being substitu- 

 It'd. While a separ.ite 

 pipe line lor the gas is 

 usualK- ]iro\ ;ded, a 

 combined gas and 

 steam installation has 

 been worked out on 

 the M ill lie solan . 

 However, all pockets 

 where condensed 

 steam could collect 

 h,i\e been eliminated, 

 and there is alw.i\s a 

 free How of water to the drains pro\ided, so 

 as to keeji the pipes as dr\' as possible for 

 the gas. 



One \;i'r\- im))ort.int fe.iture of the appa- 

 r.itus is .1 |)ro\ision w hicli kei'ps the gas from 

 beini; dr.iwn from the ni.ichine through the 

 pumping .ipp.ir.itus. Onl\' .lir is pumpe<!, 

 and th.it into the furnace where the gas 

 is gi'nerated. The g.is does not come into 

 contact with the blower outfit at any time 

 <!in'ing the oper.ition of the .ipp.ir.itiis, either 

 in tiri'-lighling or fumig.itin;;. 



RP4 



