From NFPA 13, 2013 note section 8.15.11.3. If he still wants protection then go with FM 200 it is less of a life hazard then CO 2. Did you contact the insurance carrier to see what they want?
8.15.11 Electrical Equipment.
8.15.11.1 Unless the requirements of 8.15.11.3 are met, sprinkler
protection shall be required in electrical equipment rooms.
8.15.11.2 Hoods or shields installed to protect important electrical equipment from sprinkler discharge shall be non- combustible.
8.15.11.3 Sprinklers shall not be required in electrical equipment rooms where all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The room is dedicated to electrical equipment only.
(2) Only dry-type electrical equipment is used.
(3) Equipment is installed in a 2-hour fire-rated enclosure
including protection for penetrations.
(4) No combustible storage is permitted to be stored in the
room.
cdafd - yes we have water sprinkler system for other factory zones .
the factory comes in 4 floors - in each floor we have electrical room . for lighting - machines --etc
Either agent is acceptable. CO2 will be less expensive as the cost of this fire extinguishing agent is far less than FM-200 (technically defined as HFC-227ea by NFPA 2001). Both agents will exclude oxygen from the space when they activate (FM-200 also interrupts combustion free radicals) so the room egress systems needs to provide for the design occupant loads and have well engineered pre-discharge alarms. Employee training on the required actions to take when a pre-discharge alarm is activated is equally important.
Under NFPA 2001 the integrity of the enclosure (e.g., Room) requires a "tightness" test as a condition of acceptance and annual tests upon system acceptance. This is required to ensure that the room or space has very limited penetrations or no penetrations. This is done because of the agent cost. FM200 systems are not required to be discharge tested because of the room integrity test.
For CO2 systems, a full discharge test is required. A room integrity test is not required because NFPA 12 establishes minimum leakage rates. However, minimum clearances from energized electrical equipment must be satisfied due because a discharge of liquid CO2 can create a static discharge. See Annex A of NFPA 12.
Depending on the volume of the enclosure, a CO2 system can consume a large amount of space, especially if high-pressure CO2 cylinders are used. FM-200 system will require less space since the agent is more effective at controlling an incipient fire.
You haven't asked anything about the detection systems so I am assuming you have resolved the method for activation of the fire protection system.
both of them are acceptable but do not use CO2 if you don't have a perfect maintenance team. It is toxic and can really suffocate people. I have CO2 installed in my building just to save a little money on the installation budget but now I cannot operate it as if something goes wrong, I could kill my staff.
well of course under good HSE practices, you can prevent that but why put something toxic in your building if you can put a safe unit in the beginning and sleep well at nights.
