CO2 flooding systems

When most people think about fire protection in a building,fire sprinkler systemsimmediately come to mind. Sprinkler systems have long been used to protect buildings and the people that use them. However, sprinkler systems are designed to protect the building, not its contents. And, in many settings, they can be a very costly form of fire protection because of the damage that water can do and the clean-up required after they are used.Clean agent fire suppression systemsare an ideal supplement to sprinkler systems to protect any type of assets that could be damaged by water.

Clean agent fire suppression systems disperse an inert gas or halocarbon gases to suppress a fire in its incipient stage before reaching the flame/heat stage that would activate the fire sprinkler system. The clean agent systems do not create a health risk for people, they are highly effective, electrically non conducting and leave no residue upon evaporation.

While clean agent systems are rarely required by building or fire codes, businesses and other institutions and organizations are increasingly turning to clean agent fire suppression as a more effective way to protect assets such as:

• Computer systems includingservers, and other electrical components
• Telecommunications systems
• Record/file repositories and libraries – anything with paper that must be protected
• Digital data repositories
• Cultural assets such as historical buildings, museums, and artwork
• Flammable liquid storage for which sprinkler systems may not provide proper protection
• Subfloors with critical building infrastructure that can be damaged with exposure to water
• Laboratory and medical equipment

The three most common clean agents on the market today are Inert gas (Inergen, Nitrogen, Argonite),3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid, and FM-200, which has been a mainstay of fire suppression systems for more than 20 years. This article provides a comparison of these three popular clean agents to help you decide which might be best for your needs.