Gas Suppression

Fire Systems Products is a wholesaler of Gaseous Fire Suppression solutions which offers complete, customised solutions and services to assist incumbent or incoming fire companies in providing their customers with the best solutions. We have provided tailored services to many unique and complex facilities.

FSP provides many services to Fire Companies that don’t have the in-house resources yet or can do without the hassle or expense of training and certification. With decades of combined experience in Gas Suppression, FSP can scale our products and services to meet the most demanding of requirements.

Gas suppression systems are typically used in computer rooms or critical environments where water damage to assets by fire sprinklers will result in extensive financial loss and/or downtime to a business.

Fire Suppression Gas types

As the name suggests, the Fire Suppression Gas suppresses the fire’s ability to combust in one of two ways, either by lowering the temperature or by lowering the oxygen content. Both of these will typically ensure that fire will not take hold in the protected area. There are several gases on the market that use the above two methods to achieve the same result of suppressing fire, all of which fall into two main gas types:

Inert Gas Suppression systems:

Require between 1 and 2 minutes to reach design concentrations depending on the design standard used.
Storage can be remote to the risk area, and cylinder storage distance from this risk is less of a concern than Synthetic gas systems making inert systems preferable for protecting large risk volumes.
The weight of inert gas agents corresponds closely to normal air and will evacuate a protected area slower than halocarbon agents after a discharge.
Requires substantially more gas cylinder storage area than Synthetic gas suppression systems.

Synthetic Gas Suppression systems:

Have a very fast ~7-10 seconds before design concentrations are reached.
Typically requires a storage area immediately adjacent to or within the risk area due to the short discharge time required.
Bi-directional pressure relief vent systems are required.
Design concentrations vary between 6% and 16%, or 62kg to 85kg per 100m3, dependent on the agent and design standard used.

Detailed information on the different Gas Suppression Types & Systems

Gas Suppression Design

Fire Suppression Designs are typically complex to provide thorough coverage of critical systems and amenities. Many factors influence design considerations, but our design and consultation services allow companies to leverage FSP’s decades of combined experience to their benefit.

In Australia, several Fire Suppression Design Standards are available for use:

AS 4214:2018 Amd 1:2019 is the Australian Standard that covers the requirements for Gaseous fire extinguishing systems.
ISO 14520-5:2019 is the International Standard that covers the requirements for Gaseous fire-extinguishing systems - Physical properties and system design

If a new Gas Suppression system is required for an existing room or space, sprinklers should be removed from the protected area. In order to remove the sprinklers, the room construction is required to conform to a “2-hour fire rating”.

It’s essential to provide pressure-relieving vents to the room to allow excess gas to escape from the space. Failure to provide adequate pressure relief can result in damage to the room or sensitive equipment. Typically this forms part of the overall fire suppression design.

The Suppression System Designer will also require information about the items to be used and stored in the room, the dimensions and materials used in perimeter construction and much more. We recommend a comprehensive article on Fire Suppression System Design if further information is required.