C02 Fire Suppression Systems put out fires while causing less damage to electronics, servers and machinery.
If you’ve invested in expensive servers, electronics, manufacturing equipment and large machinery for your business, you’ll want to protect it from fire. You also want to protect it from fire sprinkler water or foam if possible. There are times this cannot be avoided. There are situations where you can opt for a Carbon Dioxide (C02) fire suppression system to protect your equipment and electronics from fire and water.
Here’s why it works, a fire needs oxygen, fuel, and heat to continue to burn. By eliminating one of these three, a fire can be controlled, suppressed or extinguished. While some suppression systems reduce the heat of the fire with water, a CO2 fire suppression system eliminates the oxygen to suppress and put out the fire. The C02 fire suppression system releases the CO2 agent into the space it is protecting. The CO2 level in the space quickly increases as the oxygen level quickly drops causing the fire to be suppressed or extinguished. It’s a great concept as long as no people or animals are in the room. Consult a fire safety professional to determine if certain spaces in your business qualify for a Carbon Dioxide fire suppression system.
Common areas where you will find C02 fire suppression systems include server rooms, engine rooms, flammable storage areas, museums, and data centers.
In server rooms and environments where you have personnel working in the area, you will sometimes find inert gas suppression systems. In environments where there are few personnel or none at all, you will typically find CO2 fire suppression systems. The areas that you’ll find CO2 fire suppression systems include engine rooms, generator rooms, power stations, flammable liquid storage rooms, and around large industrial machines.
While CO2 fire suppression systems are highly effective at suppressing fires, the CO2 agent also poses a health risk if employees, customers or any other animals are present when the system is forcing the Carbon Dioxide into a room and onto a fire. A life safety device is required to be present in the same room as a C02 fire suppressions system such as a pneumatic siren that warns people around the area that the CO2 will be discharging from the suppression system. It is important to properly train all personnel on the dangers of the CO2 fire suppression system and how to evacuate safely if the system is preparing to dump the CO2 to suppress the fire. For this reason, you’ll find CO2 fire suppression systems most often in non-occupied rooms or lightly occupied rooms where it is easy to communicate with a small group of employees the fire suppression situation. This is part of the reason we offer safety classes, to ensure the information is dispersed to save lives first.
CO2 is a colorless, odorless, and electrically non-conductive gas that leaves no residue behind. Carbon dioxide gas has a high rate of expansion. This means any sensitive equipment that is in the protected space is not damaged by the CO2, which reduces downtime, clean up and various costs. Once the CO2 has dispersed to safe levels from the protected space, personnel can access any damage from the fire or smoke and quickly get back to work with no cleanup needed.
If you have moved your business into a structure that has an existing fire suppression system, you’ll want to determine what type of suppression system it is. Having an inspection performed by a fire professional before purchasing or renting the structure could save you money in the long run. You’ll want to avoid setting up machinery in a room with Fire Water Sprinkler Systems and instead locate that machinery in a room with the C02 fire suppression system. If this isn’t possible, at least you’ll know the cost of reworking and retrifitting the fire suppression system before jumping in.
For any questions about any type of Fire Suppression system, just give us a call or email us.
(832) 653-2598
Chris@maverickpros.com
