I have been looking into Aerosol systems lately so that we can advise clients if these are suitable for their use.
As mentioned below NFPA 2010 does cover the 'system' and multiple aerosol units can cover reasonable size rooms. I still have concerns about the dust/particles and it is my opinion that this is not a replacement for gaseous systems. Suppliers advise the particles are not of concern but there is also advice that it is not suitable for applications such as tape storage arrays. I have come to a conclusion of sorts that this is a cheaper option for those wanting to protect information rather than equipment. A full system with alarms and warning would be preferred (as per NFPA 2010), but even cheaper still is just the aerosol unit with no alarms which is obviously a significantly cheaper option. But with no monitoring and alarms, if no one knows the units have discharged in an unmanned room - what is being achieved? Air handling remains on and the extinguishing capacity reduced .... If I was recommending to a client, it would be gaseous system, aerosol system, aerosol units. In that order - decreasing cost gives decreasing protection and benefits. Not to say that aerosol is less effective in fire suppression as I have not been able to find that type of information. Regarding the comment about large companies not producing this type of product, it also made me more wary of the product. However I do note that Ansul/Tyco used to produce an Aerosol known as Micro-K. Not sure what happened to it. Maybe someone else on the forum could comment on this? Kind regards Nicky Marshall Branch Manager (Blenheim) Protech Design Specialist Fire Protection Consultants 03 579 5577 021 433 488 skype: nicky-marshall 105A Alabama Rd, Redwoodtown, Blenheim 7201, New Zealand PO Box 4022, Redwood Village, Blenheim 7242, New Zealand -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, 13 April 2012 1:10 a.m. To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Aerosol vs Halocarbon/Inert extinguishing agents Reza my friend haven't heard from you in a long while, E-mail me off the forum. NFPA 2010 addresses aerosol fire extinguishing systems. It would seem however that the NFPA 2010 systems are a bit different than what Firepro and the others you mentioned are offering. Firepro is actually UL Listed for use in the US and approved for use by other international governing agencies. The technology has actually been around for more than 30 years so it's not new. The market for aerosol may be small so if there are not substantial sales the big companies who are already invested in other means of extinguishment probably will leave it for someone else. It's not a matter of them not "approving" aerosol since they can't approve of an item, they can only choose to offer a similar item or not. I would agree that the aerosol extinguishing has its place in small enclosures and such. But cost and practicality for larger volumes would have to be analyzed. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Reza Esmaeili Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 8:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Aerosol vs Halocarbon/Inert extinguishing agents Hi all, Some companies are persuading the end users to use condensed aerosol fire suppression systems instead of Halocarbon/Inert extinguishing agents for local application or total flooding protection. I have seen many end users buying aerosol systems for server rooms/archive rooms and don't use any other kind of protections. The big companies like Tyco, Kidde, Fike & Chemetron are not offering aerosol systems and usually say it is not a good and even toxic! they say halocarbon/Inert extinguishing agents are the only choice. Aerosol manufactures are usually Asian companies like www.pyrogen.com.my (Malaysia)or www.firepro.info (Cyprus) www.granit-salamandra.ru (Russia) with even UL listed products. Aerosol manufactures say this a new technology and much better than others, they say the big companies like Tyco, Kidde, Fike & Chemetron have already invested too much on halocarbon/Inert extinguishing agents and that's why they are not approving aerosol systems. I personally think aerosol fire extinguishing generators are good for some small spaces like electrical cabinets, but they can't be used as a total flooding solution instead of FM-200 system in a server room as they can't penetrate everywhere like FM-200 and also they are not clean that much. Thanks for sharing your valuable experience & professional comments. Reza -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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