Risknowlogy / Knowledge / News / By category / Publications / Can your fire s...
News
Can your fire suppressant explode?
Halogenated suppressants such as FM-200, FE-25, FE-36 and FE-13 are used to protect high value occupancies against fires and explosions.
A recent LPSTI technical paper (published in March 2003 issue of the Process Safety Progress) shows that certain halogenated suppressants can become flammable and actually explode during certain normal or abnormal operations. Although this dangerous property has been suspected for some suppressants, some Material Safety Data Sheets are silent on this issue.
The paper reviews the data available in the open literature, presents a screening method to evaluate the explosibility potential of fire suppressants and refrigerants, and discusses the common pitfalls and proper techniques for testing. A pre-print of this paper is available from www.lpsti.com. Please check the Process Safety Progress for the final edition.
Industry News