FM200 multiple area of protection 2

[ZDR1985]

Dear All,

I would like to ask if I could use only one FM200 container to protect multiple rooms? The size of container will be selected based on largest area protected.

But what if the smallest area has fire? Do all the agent in the container discharge?

Thanks!

 

[LCREP]

Yes once the pin is fired the contents of the container will empty and will need to be refilled. The amount of agent is based on volume and time required to reach the gas concentration needed to extinguish the fire. If the rooms are all connected with open doors where the gas can travel, ALL the tanks will empty regardless of where the fire is.

 

[ZDR1985]

LCREP,

Thank you for the response. So assuming the room is closed and there is no way gas could escape, the discharge will stop after the required time is reached?

 

[cdafd]

Sounds like you either need a fire protection engineer or a clean agent company to help with the design.

Once the system dumps there is no stopping it, the entire cylinder will discharge

 

[DM2]

The system is referred to as a "Selector Valve" system. If the rooms are of different sizes, and you only have one (1) cylinder, check the concentration of smaller rooms and make sure it doesn't exceed the maximum concentration limits as prescribed by the given standard (i.e. NFPA 2001). If the room sizes are drastically different, you may want to find the common denominator. for the agent concentration and use multiple cylinders.

So...if one room takes 400 lbs of agent, and the other room(s) take 200 lbs, use two (2) cylinders with each cylinder filled to 200 lbs.

You'll likely have other issues however. Just because the math works, doesn't mean the hydraulics' will work. Selector valves impose a significant equivalent length in the piping system.

There are two (2) manufactures (in the USA) that have systems with sufficiently high enough pressure to overcome the equivalent lengths of the selector valves. They are:
Kidde with their "ADS" (Advanced Delivery System).
Minimax with their high pressure systems (720 PSI).

If you're specifying a system, I would suggest you contact a company that can run the calc's and verify that it's possible "Hydraulically". At some point the costs can become prohibitive.

Regards,
DM

"Real world Knowledge isn't dropped from a parachute in the sky but rather acquired in tiny increments from a variety of sources including panic and curiosity."