Fire suppression systems are used to extinguish or prevent the spread of fire in a building. Suppression systems use a combination of dry chemicals and/or wet agents to suppress equipment fires.
How does Fire Suppression work?
The ‘fire tetrahedron’ consists of four components; fuel, oxygen, heat, and the combustion chain reaction. All four of these factors are required for a fire to ignite and sustain burning. The fire tetrahedron shows that a fire can be extinguished by eliminating one or more of the links between these components, or by changing the balance between them:
By interrupting the combustion chain reaction- By containing or eliminating the source of fuel
- By cutting off or diluting the source of oxygen
- By removing sufficient heat from the fire
FM200 and Novec 1230 extinguish principally via the fourth mechanism – by removing heat from the fire. When discharged, they create a gaseous mixture with air. This agent/air mixture has a heat capacity much larger than that of air alone, which means it will absorb more heat for each degree of temperature change it experiences.
Novec 1230 Fire Suppression
Novec 1230 is a fast, environmentally clean fire suppression agent and is safe to use in occupied areas. Novec 1230 has a discharge time of under 30 seconds and is discharged through a piping network similar to FM200.
It is stored as a liquid under pressure with nitrogen as the propellant gas.
Benefits of Novec 1230 fire suppression
It works in exactly the same way as FM200 and is also electrically non-conductive and non-corrosive.
One of the most important aspects of Novec 1230 is that it’s environmentally friendly with no Ozone Depleting Potential, meaning it has no impact on climate change.
Novec 1230 Features:
- Colourless and odourless
- Safe to use in occupied areas
- Small area required for storage of cylinders
- No Ozone Depleting Potential
- Virtually no impact on climate change
- Approved for use on class A & B fires
FM200 Fire Suppression
FM200 gas is odourless, colourless and approved for use in normally occupied areas where personnel safety is paramount. It is one of the fastest fire suppressions systems available, extinguishing fires within 10 seconds or less. This ensures minimal damage is caused.
It is stored as a liquid under pressure in cylinders. A benefit to FM200 is the small amount of agent required to suppress a fire. This means fewer gas cylinders are required, taking up less space than alternative systems.
Benefits of FM200 fire suppression
It is electrically non-conductive and non-corrosive and leaves no oily residue. When installed with a post discharge extract system, the clean up time following activation is kept to a minimum.
FM200 Features:
- Colourless and odourless
- Safe to use in occupied areas
- Small area required for storage of cylinders
- Approved for use on class A & B fires
Where can it be installed?
Most commonly found in server rooms, computer suites and communication rooms a Gas Suppression system is responsible for protecting the integral functions of your business. Gas fire suppression is particularly suited to:
Data centres- Control rooms
- Archive rooms
- Museums
- Laboratories
- Telecoms enclosures
Installation Timeline
Because every project is unique, we’re unable to give an exact timeline for the installation of your fire suppression system. However, below are the usual steps taken to ensure you receive a suppression system installed and commissioned to the highest standards.
- Initial discussions – with one of our fire suppression consultants. This will set out your project ideas, the location of the proposed system and your expectations
- Site visit – this is more often than not required for us to fully survey the site and check for anything which may compromise the system. We will also take any further information we need such as site drawings.
- Room integrity test – if this hasn’t already been done, then we will quote and arrange a room integrity test. This must be completed before any system designs are done to ensure the proposed area is suitable for a fire suppression system.
- System design – our in-house expert design team will look at all considerations and design a fire suppression system to exactly fit both your requirements and the area which is to be protected.
- Installation – once the proposal and design are signed off, we will arrange an installation date with you. If necessary, this can be out of usual occupied hours to ensure minimal business disruption.
- Commission and handover – once installed, we will commission the fire suppression system and hand over all relevant documentation. We will also discuss mandatory maintenance schedules for your system, which we will provide quotes for during the initial design process.
What happens next?
The first step would be a free onsite survey by one of our fire suppression consultants. A room integrity test would also need to be done, to ensure the area to be protected is suitable for a suppression application.
If you’re thinking of installing a new gas fire suppression system or are looking for servicing and maintenance of an existing suppression system, then call us on 0330 094 7404 to speak with one of our suppression specialists.
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