Fire Fighting Systems

Shelters

Telecom centers
Technical Facilities
 Program
Fires origin and damages -1

: Solutions -2
FM-200 Suppression Systems
CO2 suppression systems
Fires origin and damages
Fire Origin- Data from NFPA

Electrical Deliberate
47% 26%

Unknown
19%
Smoking
4%
Natural
4%
Who is involved?

How many businesses work 24 hours per day?

•Banks
•Telephone; fixed and mobile
•Television; terrestrial, cable, satellite
•Internet
•Electronic shopping
•Process plants
•Defence Buildings
 Do we still need Fire Protection?

For For
Protection of
• Centres are densely
•

personnel packed and often

unmanned.
Protection of assets
•

and valuable •They are the

equipment communication centre
for the business.
Protection with
•

clean agent without Replacements need to

•

damage to be obtained, connected

electronics and configured.
Surviving a Fire

:The cost of not doing business 

$17,000/sec

$1,000,000/hr

$40,000/hr

Clean Room Large EDP Oil Production

Facility
Electronics

In today’s
global
business
environmen
t,
the need for

clean agent
fire
suppression
 Halon Phase-out opportunity
Montreal Protocol

EC Regulation 2037/2000 became

effective October 2000 banned the use
of Halons

Banned use from 31st December 2002

Full decommissioning by 31st
December 2003
 Why FM-200

Puts out fires fast and efficiently in less

.than 10 sec
Electrically non conductive
Environmentally friendly ODP=0
People safe - NOAEL and LOAEL
Well specified - NFPA 2001
Available long term
Leaves no residues – clean agent
 ? What is FM-200
Halocarbon agent-
HFC 227ea that contains
hydrogen, fluorine and
carbon
Heptafluoropropane -
CF3CHFCF3
Clean agent substitute to-
Halon 1301
Pressurized at 24 or 42 bars-
in steel cylinders
colorless odorless gas -
Where to use FM-200
- Normally occupied areas of electronic, telecommunications
and technical rooms
- Switching centers for GSM and Telephone operators
- Control Rooms, Data Centers and Network rooms
- Internet Service Providers ISP facilities
- Computer Rooms
- BSC stations used by personnel
- Sensitive equipment and high valued assets
 HOW DOES FM-200 WORK?
• Breaking Chemical Bonds
• Absorbing Temperature - By Transfer of
Thermal Energy (refrigerant effect)

F H F
F C C C F
F F F
 FM-200 System Operation
Fire detectors sense fire conditions in the hazard area-1
( smoke, heat, gas, air sampling…)

Electrical signal is sent through the fire alarm control panel-2

FACP to the control head

Control head releases FM-200 from the cylinders and is-3

delivered through a fixed piping network to discharge
nozzles directed at hazard in less than 10 seconds

Pipe network and sizing designed according -4

to Hydraulic calculation software

: One method of application-5

Total flooding for enclosed spaces
“Fire Out”
 Min. Agent Required
(As revised by NFPA2001 Feb.2000)
Concentrations by Volume

Class A (Wood, Paper, Cloth etc.)

)Based on 5.8% + 20%( 7.5%

Class B (Flammable Liquids)

)Based on 6.7% + 30%( 8.7%

Class C (Electrical) 7.5%

”Class D (Metal)“Not Applicable

 Agent Required
Toxicity information -1
No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) = 9.0%
Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL) = 10.5%

Refer to NFPA 2001 Page 2001-26 Table A-1-5.1.1

Agent quantity -2
For Class A Fires and using approximate formula
Calculation of quantity = 0.55 kg /m3 of space

Example : Room with dimension of 10m x 10m x 3m height

Volume = 10 x 10 x 3 = 300 m3
Quantity of FM-200 agent required = 300 x 0.55 = 165 kg
FM-200 IS ACCEPTED
PROTECTION

 UL Component Recognized
Agent
 UL Listed Systems
 FM Approved
 Included in NFPA 2001 and

ISO 14520
 Why CO2

Electricaly non-conductive gas

Environmentally friendly
Natural occurring gas
Well specified - NFPA 12
Leaves no residue
Available refill at low cost
 ? What is CO2
Carbon Dioxide -
Colorless and odorless gas -
Clean agent substitute to -
Halon 1301
Pressurized at 57 bars in -
high pressure cylinders at
liquid state
Density is 50% greater than -
air
Where to use CO2
- Unoccupied areas of electronic and technical rooms
- Transformer Rooms
- Battery and UPS Rooms
- Remote base stations and shelters
- Archive and storage rooms
- Generator room and Power House
- Flammable liquid materials
- Fuel room
 HOW DOES CO2 WORK?
• Liquid CO2 forms solid dry ice “snow” when
released into the atmosphere – cooling and heat
absorption effect

• CO2 reduces the concentrations of oxygen in the

air to the point where combustion stops – from 21
to below 15%

• Consideration must be given to the fact that if

CO2 is inhaled , it may lead to asphyxia
 CO2 System Operation
Fire detectors sense fire conditions in the hazard area-1
)…smoke, heat, gas, air sampling (

Electrical signal is sent through the fire alarm control panel-2

FACP to the control head

Control head releases CO2 from the cylinders and is-3

delivered through a fixed piping network to discharge
nozzles in 1 min for surface fires and less than 7 min for
deep-seated fires
 Method of Application
: Three methods of application

Total flooding for enclosed spaces -1

Local application for discharge directly into the -2
fire (surface fire in flammable liquid, gases…)
Hand hose line for fixed supply of CO2 -3
 Min. Agent Required
(As NFPA 12 - 2000 Edition)
:Concentrations by Volume for Total Flooding
For Dry Electric Hazard

Type 1 : Surface fire 34%

Subject to prompt extinguishment < 1 minute

Flooding factor is 1.15 to 0.77 kg of CO2 /m3

depending on protected volume

Type 2 : Deep seated fire 50%

subject to smoldering < 7 minutes

Flooding factor is 1.60 kg of CO2 for volume < 57 m3

Flooding factor is 1.33 kg of CO2 for volume > 57 m3
CO2 IS ACCEPTED
PROTECTION

 UL Component Recognized
Agent
 UL Listed Systems
 FM Approved
 Included in NFPA 12
 Limited fire damage from
FM-200
Fire growth and time to achieve the extinguishing
concentration.

Inert gas
FM-200
Fire size

Fire growth

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time seconds