Laboratory Fire Protection With Clean Agents
Helen Lowerey, DuPont Fluoroproducts
Clean agent fire suppression systems are employed in applications where the potential for asset damage due to the fire suppression agent itself is a concern. Examples include the protection of expensive and sensitive assets such as laboratory and electronic equipment, where secondary damage due to the use of a suppression agent such as water, foam, or dry powder could result in more damage to the assets being protected than from the fire itself.
The clean fire suppression agents included in NFPA 2001 are widely employed, and currently protect billions of dollars worth of assets worldwide. This presentation outlines the history of laboratory fire protection with an emphasis on the use and application of clean agents for the protection of laboratory equipment and assets. U.S. Army-sponsored research in the late 1940s led to the development of the original “clean agents,” the halon agents Halon 1301 (total flooding applications), Halon 1211 (streaming applications), and Halon 2402 (streaming applications). These agents saw widespread use in laboratory and other applications for more than 30 years and are still employed today in critical applications; however, because of their implication in the destruction of stratospheric ozone, these agents are subject to the restrictions of the Montreal Protocol, which stipulates production bans and phaseout of their use in noncritical applications. In response to the demise of the halon agents, intensive research has been conducted over the past 20 years with the goal of developing viable alternatives for the halon agents.
This presentation first outlines the development of the halon agents, detailing the unique properties of these agents that led to their use in laboratory fire protection applications. The properties of the ideal halon replacement and the history of the development of the modern clean agents are then detailed, including discussion of the design and performance of clean agent suppression systems for laboratory fire protection, including the protection of Class A, B, and C laboratory hazards. The presentation also discusses the chemical and physical properties, toxicological properties, and environmental impact and sustainability of the clean agents.