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:: Water Based
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:: Clean Agent Fire Suppression System
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The focus of fire protection has always been
to limit the damage a fire can cause. Originally, the goal was
to confine a fire to a city block. Todays conventional water
systems can confine a fire to a building, a floor and even a
single room. With todays technical sophistication, however,
containing fire to a single area is not always enough.
Critical facilities require an even higher level of fire
protection. You must protect not only the building, but its
contents as well -- from real assets such as people and
equipment, to virtual assets such as data vital to the
business.
Fortunately, there are fire protection tools
that are up to the task. Clean agent suppression systems not
only protect an enclosure from fire, but its contents as well.
That means people, documents and equipment. Clean agent
systems work on class A, B and C fires, and react quickly to
extinguish fires at their earliest stages. Using early
detection and rapid extinguishments, clean agent systems
eliminate the fire, reduce the damage to equipment and
increase the safety of the people in the fire
area.
Clean agents extinguish fire as a gas, which
allows them to permeate into cabinets and obstructed areas. It
also makes them uniquely suited to protect the electronics
hidden inside a piece of equipment a likely place for a fire
to start. By thoroughly flooding an area with a gaseous fire
fighting agent, even obscured or hard-to-reach fires are
quickly extinguished, usually long before they are seen. After
extinguishments, the agents are readily vented from the room
along with any by-products of the fire. Unlike water, these
fire-fighting agents are non-conductive and non-corrosive,
making them safe to use on and around live electrical
equipment. There is no residue to clean up, no lingering
materials to slowly degrade equipment, and no need for an
expensive disaster recovery process. Operations are back
online and productive in a very short time.
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FM200 ::
Great Lakes Chemical Corporations
answer to the Halon challenge is FM-200. Chemically known as
Heptafluoropropane, FM-200 is a compound of carbon, fluorine
and hydrogen that will completely extinguish Class A, B and C
fires in seconds. FM-200 works by physically cooling the fire
at the molecular level. It belongs to the same class of
compounds used in refrigeration and, as such, is an effective
heat transfer agent. FM-200 literally removes heat from the
fire to the extent that the combustion reaction cannot sustain
itself. FM-200 is colorless, odorless and electrically
non-conductive. Like all clean agents, it leaves no residue,
eliminating costly, after-fire clean up and keeping downtime
to a minimum. It is considered safe for use in total flooding
situations according to NFPA 2001 and the EPA.
FM200
(HFC 227ea) is known chemically as Heptafluoropropane and is
manufactured by Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. Like Halon
1301 it has a low toxicity level and is super-pressurized with
Nitrogen to 24.8bar (360psi). It rapidly extinguishes most
commonly found fires through a combination of chemical and
physical mechanisms.
FM200 contains no bromine or
chlorine and therefore has zero Ozone Depleting Potential
(ODP). The atmospheric lifetime of FM200 is between 31 and 42
years, which along with its zero ODP present a long-term
solution to fire protection requirements.
FM200
has been found to be less toxic than Halon 1301, which makes
it safe for use in the fully automatic mode in occupied areas.
Typically FM200 requires a design concentration of 7%, which
is well below the 9% No Observable Adverse Effect Level
(NOAEL) on cardiac sensitization. The NOAEL for Halon 1301 is
only 5% (the same as its design concentration).
FM200
is immediately available to protect most hazards traditionally
protected using Halon 1301. It is effective in the protection
of data processing, telecommunications and electronic
equipment as well as most flammable liquids and gases.
Compared with Halon 1301, FM200 systems require minimal
additional floor storage space, if any.
The physical
properties of FM200 together with its efficient extinguishing
capabilities allow it to be used in similar types of equipment
to Halon. As the extinguishing abilities of FM200 determine
that only 70% more agent by weight is required, the demands
for additional storage space requirements are
minimal.
*FM-200 is a Registered Trademark of Great
Lakes
Chemical Corporation.
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Inergen ::
One of the first clean agents
approved for use by the EPA is INERGEN, manufactured by Ansul.
INERGEN is composed of three inerting, or oxygen diluting
gases. Its make-up is 52 percent nitrogen, 40 percent argon
and eight percent carbon dioxide. INERGEN extinguishes fire by
lowering the oxygen content below the level that supports
combustion.
INERGEN reduces oxygen content to about
12.5 percent -- safely below the 15 percent level required for
ordinary combustibles to burn, yet above the 10 percent level
required by the EPA for human safety. When INERGEN is
discharged into a room, it introduces the proper mixture of
gases that still allows a person to breathe in a reduced
oxygen atmosphere. The increase in the carbon dioxide content
increases a persons respiraton rate and the bodys ability to
absorb oxygen.
INERGEN is suitable for Class A, B and C
fires. It exhibits no ozone depleting potential and does not
contribute to global warming. INERGEN has been medically
evaluated and approved by leading authorities around the
world. All of them have accepted INERGEN as being safe for use
in normally occupied areas. INERGEN is the first Halon
replacement to have been fully tested on humans. With
thousands of people having been exposed to INERGEN with no ill
effect during test discharges, it has an excellent track
record of safety in operation. Escape routes are not
obscured.
INERGEN is stored in gaseous form. It
therefore does not produce fog when the gas is released into
the room. No toxic decomposition products because INERGEN is a
mixture of naturally occurring gases; it does not form
decomposition products in a fire. Excellent retention time
within the room, one of the greatest failings of Halon systems
is the speed with which the Halon gas escapes from the room
after discharge. The mixture specification of INERGEN
overcomes this problem by bringing the relative density of
INERGEN close to that of air. The result is outstanding hold
time performance for INERGEN. No corrosive decomposition
products. INERGEN does not chemically interfere with the fire
and hence does not form any corrosive decomposition products
in the fire. Proven Fire Fighting performance INERGEN has an
impressive track record of fire fighting around the world with
millions of pounds worth of equipment and production saved by
the fast acting capability of INERGEN three
criteria.
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CarbonDioxide ::
CO2 Fire Fighting Systems have been
used for many years to extinguish fires involving flammable
liquids, gases and electrical equipment. CO2 extinguishes fire
by reducing the amount of oxygen to a point where combustion
will not be sustained.
A space, which has been filled
with a CO2 concentration sufficient to extinguish a fire, does
not have sufficient oxygen to support life; therefore, it is
dangerous to enter or remain in a space where CO2 has been
discharged.
A system comprises of a single container or
a bank of containers connected to a system of pipe work and
nozzles. CO2 is liquefied under pressure and is contained in
steel containers, each of which is fitted with a specially
designed quick opening valve. When the valve opens, liquid CO2
flows into the distribution pipe work that directs the
extinguishant to one or more nozzles in the protected area
where the discharging liquid rapidly expands to a gas.
Discharging CO2 gives the appearance of a fog that temporarily
reduces visibility.
CO2 Fire Fighting Systems are
particularly valuable in extinguishing fires in hazards or
equipment where an inert electrically non-conductive medium is
essential or where the cleaning up of foam, water or powder
would be problematic or where the pungent smell of the
breakdown products of the chemical extinguishants would be
unacceptable.
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