Coming Clean on Fire Suppression
Figure 3: Hygood® Sapphire® Cylinders
Laboratories (UL) listings, along with an impressive number of marine approvals, such as Lloyds Register of Shipping (LRS), Det Norske Veritas (DNV), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Veritas (BV) and Registro Italiano Navale (RINA). The system complies with BS EN 15004 (fixed fire-fighting systems, gas-extinguishing systems), NFPA 2001 (standard on clean-agent fire-extinguishing systems) and ISO 14520 (gaseous fire-extinguishing systems, physical properties and system design). However, Sapphire systems, in addition to meeting today’s legislative requirements, also satisfy all of those in the foreseeable future to the extent that it is backed by a global 20-year replacement warranty against its banning or restriction on environmental grounds by government or regulatory bodies.
Figure 4: Sapphire® Nozzle Discharge
The suppressant is stored as a low-vapour-pressure fluid, which when discharged transmutes into a colourless and odourless gas that rapidly extinguishes, primarily through heat absorption, to the point where combustion ceases (see Figures 3 and 4). Typical total flooding applications use a concentration of the fluid that is well below the agent’s saturation or condensation level, and the fluid has the lowest design concentration of any viable Halon 1301 chemical alternative.
While certain halocarbons and inert gases are used at design concentrations that are below the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL), with safety margins from 7%, no other fire-suppression solution comes close to the Sapphire system’s huge safety margin. NOAEL is an important measure, as it represents the level of exposure at which there is no biologically or statistically significant increase in the frequency or severity of any adverse effects.
This high-performance fire-extinguishing agent has a negligible effect on the environment, with an insignificant global-warming potential, lower than any of the halocarbon agents acceptable for use in occupied spaces. When discharged, Sapphire leaves nothing behind to damage sensitive electronic equipment or documents (see Figure 5). Compared
Figure 5: Sapphire® Discharge Protecting a Data Centre
Fire-fighting is a minor user of HFCs, and the applications causing the most concern are insulation foams, air-conditioning units and refrigeration agents.
with Halon 1301’s ozone-depletion potential of 12.0, the Sapphire‘s agent is zero; its global-warming potential is one against Halon’s 6,900; and the agent’s atmospheric lifetime is between just three and five days compared with halon’s staggering 65 years. It contains neither bromine nor chlorine and, significantly, NOVEC 1230 is not included in the basket of greenhouse gases identified by the Kyoto Protocol.
amassed many international approvals. These include Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB), Factory Mutual (FM) and Underwriters
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However, with so many options on the market, what is clean? The US National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) 2001 (standard on clean agent fire-extinguishing systems) covers both halogenated agents and inert gases. The 2008 update includes the latest toxicity limitations along with complete facts on the different types of halogenated and
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION – VOLUME 8 ISSUE 1
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