Non Water Based Fire Suppression Gas Refilling
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Clean Agents Inert Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Water Mist Gas System Refilling
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We provide and fully support our clients with refilling of all types of Clean Agent Inert Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Water Mist Gas Cylinders. Annually, we refill between 500 to 1000 cylinders of varying sizes and capacity for a wide range of client profile, industry and location. We serve Commercial, Industrial, Residential, Oil & Gas and Marine client to help ensure Fire Suppression Systems protecting their critical spaces are always full charged and ready for discharge during fire with the following gasses :
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FM200
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Novec 1230
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IG55
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IG541
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SR200
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Inergen
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Argonite
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Inertec
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Co2
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Water Mist
Protection For Sensitive Environment​
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Every year, thousands of fires involve electrical equipment, and hundreds of these take place in computer rooms*. For environments like these, as well as those that contain manufacturing equipment or irreplaceable valuables like paintings, wet sprinklers aren’t the best answer for fire suppression. Clean agent systems are faster and safer than water, and they limit damage and downtime.
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Although smoke is the biggest enemy of sensitive equipment, heat can do a lot of damage before a room gets hot enough for a sprinkler head to discharge water. Effective fire protection needs to be extremely responsive, cause little damage, and be safe for people as well as the environment.
Our fire suppression systems are installed and inspected by a team of designers and technicians certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET). They bring the best in environmentally friendly, minimal-damage protection to areas such as:
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Computer rooms
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CT scan or MRI rooms
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Telecommunications centers
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Manufacturing processes
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Storage vaults
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Museums and libraries
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Gas stations
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Heavy industrial facilities
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How Clean Agents Inert Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Water Mist System Work
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There are two types of clean agent systems – inert gas systems and halocarbon systems. These inert gases suppress fire by lowering the oxygen in the space to below that required for combustion. In contrast, halocarbon systems suppress or extinguish fires through heat absorption.
Clean agents are stored in cylinders and are discharged through a fixed piping system at concentrations calculated based on the area they are intended to protect. There are several clean agent fire suppression systems on the market today. You can find our comparison of the three most popular methods here.
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Clean agent systems do have some limitations in terms of where they can be used. For example, the NFPA 2001 prohibits their use in enclosures containing the following:
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Chemicals or mixtures of chemicals that rapidly oxidize in the absence of air.
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Reactive metals such as lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, titanium, zirconium, uranium, and plutonium.
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Metal hydrides.
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Chemicals capable of undergoing autothermic decomposition, such as some organic peroxides, pyrophoric materials, and hydrazine.
Both types of clean agents are safe for occupied spaces. Inert gas systems use many of the same gases found in the Earth’s atmosphere. The air we breathe is usually about 21 per cent oxygen, but most people can live with as little as 12 per cent oxygen. So, while inert gas systems will reduce the oxygen in space to about 15 per cent, which is below the level a fire needs to burn, there is still enough oxygen in the air for people to breathe. In contrast, halocarbon gases are artificial and could present a risk to humans at very high concentrations. However, those used in clean agent fire suppression systems have been rigorously tested to determine safe concentrations for human exposure. The codes require that halocarbon clean agent systems be installed with the proper design concentration.
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​Costs associated with refilling of Clean Agents Inert Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Water Mist Gas Systems
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Skilled technical labour is required to disconnect discharge hoses from the manifold, pilot cylinder pneumatic hoses and cylinder framing assemblies that support the cylinders.
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Labour is required to transport the cylinders from the storage area to the transport vehicle.
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The cylinder hydro test cost as and when required and approved by the client.
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Filled cylinders must be transported to the site by a DOT-approved vehicle/driver (with a limited capacity of cylinders per load).
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Labour is required to move the refilled cylinders from the transport vehicle to the cylinder storage area.
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Finally, skilled labour must secure each cylinder to the framing and bracketing, attach each discharge hose back on the cylinder valve, and install all pneumatic pilot lines back in place.
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Clean Agents Inert Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Water Mist System Gas Cylinder Testing
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All clean agent containers that have been in continuous service without having been discharged must undergo a complete external visual inspection every five years, or more frequently if required by local regulations.
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Suppose the visual inspection indicates the container might be damaged. In that case, the container must be subjected to additional strength tests to hold sufficient pressure to function correctly in the event of a fire.
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These inspections should be made only by trained technicians well-versed in both the requirements of the NFPA 2001 and those contained in the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) Standard for Visual Inspection of Steel Compressed Gas Cylinders.
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With each inspection, the technician must record the results on a tag permanently attached to the cylinder and on a container inspection report and furnish a copy of the information to the system’s owner (or authorized representative). The system owner is required to retain all container inspection reports for the life of the system.
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Hose and Coupling Testing
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Hoses must be inspected more frequently than containers. At least once a year, all hoses should be examined to ensure no visible damage that could compromise their ability to function. If the visual inspection indicates any damage, the hose must either be immediately replaced or tested.
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In addition to annual inspections, all hoses must be subjected to hydrostatic testing tested once every five years at a minimum. The NFPA 2001 provides step-by-step instructions for hydrostatic testing, a rigorous process that must be conducted in a protective enclosure to allow the technician performing the test to observe the test from the outside safely.
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During the hydrostatic testing, the hose is disconnected from the system, entirely filled with water, and then subjected to 1.5 times the container pressure for one full minute to observe any distortion or leakage and determine if the hose assembly, including the couplings, can maintain adequate pressure without damage.
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Hoses must be thoroughly dried before their reconnection. If heat is used for this purpose, care must be taken not to exceed the manufacturer’s recommended temperature to avoid damaging the hoses.
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Hoses cannot be reconditioned or repaired – if one or more hoses fail a hydrostatic test, they must be destroyed and replaced with entirely new assemblies. Hoses can fail for any of the following reasons:
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It loses pressure during the test
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There is the movement of the couplings while under pressure
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The hose becomes permanently distorted as a result of the test
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While hydrostatic testing is necessary to ensure the integrity of your system’s hoses, it can represent a rather costly maintenance requirement. As a cost-effect alternative, PSB Fire Engineers recommends simply replacing your systems hoses instead. This saves the cost of conducting hydrostatic testing, which often results in one or more hoses needing to be replaced anyway. In addition, this approach provides for more cost-effective compliance and greater peace of mind – with new hose assemblies every five years, you can be confident that they will work when you need them.
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