How to choose a clean agent fire protection system Design consideration clean agent selection types of hazard

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How to choose a clean agent fire protection system?
Choosing a high performance and reliable fire protection system is
extremely important to protect life and asset that are essential to
society, family and country.
This write-out is intended to give some consideration when
choosing a clean agent fire protection system. This paper tries to
give a balanced view of the criteria, so that it can be used to
facilitate users to make a better decision in system selection based
on individual user’s requirements and needs.
First of all, let’s define the meaning of ‘clean agent’. Clean Agent
is defined as a fire extinguishing agent which is able to extinguish
fire effectively and at the same time it will not cause secondary
damage and contamination like what happen to water.
Due to the complexity and higher cost of the clean agent system, it
is not used for all commercials and industrials across the board.
Clean agent is used for protecting people and equipment that are so
important if in the event of losing it, it will result business
interruption, important operation stop or mission fail.
When considering motives for investing in clean fire protection,
people and/or organizations generally fit into three broad groups:
(1) those who do it out of self-interest
(2) those who do it to comply with codes or regulations
(3) those with a combination of the first two reasons

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For example, in telecommunication, military and oil & gas
industries, many of the fire protection practices they employ are
well beyond that required by codes and regulations. In those
instances, these industries are motivated out of self-interest for the
obvious reasons of life safety, asset protection, business and
operation continuity.
System Design Consideration
Total flooding system or fixed system design consideration must
be taken seriously to assure satisfactory system performance. A
highly performed system required a high purity of the clean agent,
at the right agent design concentration, a uniform clean agent
distribution in the enclosure and a reliable detection and control
system. All these requirements will be fulfilled through a well
definition of hazard, discharged nozzle location, type of clean
agent used and proper design concentration. Furthermore, a high
degree of enclosure integrity is required.
Design requirements are provided by international standards such
as NFPA 2001, Underwriter Laboratory, Factory Mutual and ISO
14520.

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Factors to be taken into consideration is given below:
(1) Definition of the Hazard
- Fuel type(s)
- Fuel loading
- Room integrity (openings, ventilation, false ceilings, sub-
floors)
- Dimensions and Net Volume of the room
- Temperature extremes
(2) Clean Agent Selection
- Statutory approvals
- Personnel safety (safe to be used for occupied area, or only
for non-occupied protection)
- Minimum design concentration required (cup burner / full
scale tests)
- Design concentration required with factor of safety
- Quality of the clean agent (in term of purity)
- NOAEL / LOAEL is acceptable by the standard at minimum
volume, maximum temperature and design concentration
- Replenishment availability and support
- Well accepted in the global market
- Zero Ozone Depletion Potential
- Long term availability / supply reliability (who is the
manufacturer)

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(3) Fire Protection System Selection
- System intended for use with the agent selected (pressure,
compatibility, proven and tested performance)
- System has appropriate approval from recognized third party
testing
- A) Strength tests (storage containers, actuator, valve, gauge,
hoses,..etc)
- B) Leakage tests
- C) Cycle testing of all actuating components
- D) Corrosion tests
- E) Cylinder mounting device tests
- F) Ageing test for elastomers
- G) Flow calculation test (software verification, balance
limitations)
- H) Fire test (nozzle area coverage, nozzle height limitations)
- System has documented design, installation and maintenance
procedures and manuals.
- System’s piping and nozzle placement is designed and
verified by approved flow calculation software to ensure a
uniform agent distribution at desired discharge time meeting
standard.

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(4) Fire Protection System Design
- Automatic detection and control
- A) Type of detection (smoke, heat, flame,..etc)
- B) Logic (cross zoned, priority designated)
- C) Control system features
- D) Local and remote annunciation
- E) Start up and shut down of auxiliary systems
- F) Primary and back-up power supply
- G) Manual backup and discharge abort controls
- Central agent storage, distributed or modular
- Electrical, pneumatic or electrical / pneumatic actuation
- Detector location
- Alarm and control devices location
- Electrical signal and power cable specifications
- Nozzle selection and location
- Piping distribution network with control devices
- Piping and other component hangers and supports
- Agent hold time and leakage
- Selection of an appropriate design concentration
- Agent quantity calculations
- Flow calculations
- Pipe size and nozzle orifice determination

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(5) Fire Protection System Installation
- Installed as per design
- System recalculated to confirm “as built” installation
- Correct piping
- A) Size
- B) Routing
- C) Number and placement of fittings
- D) Pipe supports
- E) Nozzle correct type, orifice size in each location
- Fan test to confirm tightness of protected volume
- Acceptance functional test of full system without discharge
- A) Test each detector’s operation
- B) Test system logic with detection operation
- C) Test operation of auxiliary controls
- D) Test local and remote annunciation
- E) Test signal received at system valve actuators
- F) Test system manual operators
- E) Test system abort discharge abilities
(6) Follow Up After System Installation
- Integrity of the protected space does not change
- A) Walls, ceiling and floor intact
- B) Any new openings sealed properly
- Net volume and temperature range of the space does not
change.
- Regular maintenance for detection, control, alarm and
actuation system.
- Regular verification of the agent containers’ charged weight
- Regular cleaning of the detection devices
- Confirmation of back-up battery condition

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(5) Fire Protection System Installation
- Installed as per design
- System recalculated to confirm “as built” installation
- Correct piping
- A) Size
- B) Routing
- C) Number and placement of fittings
- D) Pipe supports
- E) Nozzle correct type, orifice size in each location
- Fan test to confirm tightness of protected volume
- Acceptance functional test of full system without discharge
- A) Test each detector’s operation
- B) Test system logic with detection operation
- C) Test operation of auxiliary controls
- D) Test local and remote annunciation
- E) Test signal received at system valve actuators
- F) Test system manual operators
- E) Test system abort discharge abilities
(6) Follow Up After System Installation
- Integrity of the protected space does not change
- A) Walls, ceiling and floor intact
- B) Any new openings sealed properly
- Net volume and temperature range of the space does not
change.
- Regular maintenance for detection, control, alarm and
actuation system.
- Regular verification of the agent containers’ charged weight
- Regular cleaning of the detection devices
- Confirmation of back-up battery condition