OxyReduct® Fire Prevention System Overview

Up until recently premises fires were either extinguished manually using water, various types of hand extinguishers and blankets or automatically by the by the use of water sprinklers or various types of foams and gasses.

These extinguishing systems are capable of extinguishing a fire, saving lives and reducing damage to the affected premises.

There are a number of serious issues that need considering when using existing conventional types of fire extinguishing systems:-

Conventional Systems Issues

• The fire has already started, damage will have occurred to the premises, equipment or documents etc;
• The Fire Alarm system will activate, all personnel will have to leave the building, losing working time;
• A small fire or even a false alarm can mean disruption and cost, with today's need for 24/7 operation this is unacceptable;
• Even one hour's business interruption without any damage can mean huge lost revenues;
• Further fire damage will occur until the fire is extinguished;
• There may be people trapped in the building, with potential loss of life consequences;
• With gas extinguishing systems you will not know if it will function correctly until it is actually activated;
• Using these extinguishing systems will render the area of the fire unusable until it has been either cleaned, dried or repaired, this may take days or weeks;
• Gas extinguishing systems are one time use, once used the bottles require replacing, if another fire occurs in the meantime there is no protection available;
• Gas extinguishing system storage bottles take up a considerable amount of building space.

Vulnerability

Important areas such as computer centres, IT rooms, telecommunication centres and server rooms are all extremely vulnerable from the consequences of both a fire and conventional extinguishing systems.

It is of the utmost importance that business operations are maintained, a closer look at the IT sector makes this importance even more obvious, not only is there material damage but also supporting business and customer data may be lost.

In telecommunication it is about maintaining communication channels, protecting nodal network points as well as constant availability and fast access.

Prevent the fire occurring in the first place

This could not be considered until the advent of OxyReduct ®

In order for a fire to start, heat and oxygen from the atmosphere are needed. If the oxygen is reduced, the flammability levels also decline. Below a certain level of oxygen concentration a fire simply can not start.

This is the principle of OxyReduct ®.

OxyReduct ® = Oxygen reduction.

OxyReduct ®

OxyReduct ®, is an innovative system of active fire prevention, it facilitates a controlled reduction of oxygen levels in enclosed areas. By introducing nitrogen the oxygen content can be reduced and held at a precise level. In such an atmosphere, the outbreak of a fire can be prevented.

Normal Use by Personnel

Rooms protected by OxyReduct® can remain in normal use for personnel, so that there is no reduction in functionality of the protected space.

Fire Prevention

The nitrogen required to reduce the oxygen concentration is generated in a cost-effective manner on-site using an air processing system;
Installing OxyReduct ® means the area is protected by the most effective fire prevention system available because a fire simply cannot occur;
OxyReduct is used where reliable fire protection is essential for an organisation's safety;
OxyReduct completely removes one of the possible risks of business interruption allowing you to focus on other issues - forget the danger of fire!

Installation of OxyReduct ® Advantages

• Certainty of avoiding outbreak and spread of fire;
• Permanent and preventative fire protection to secure business processes and valuable goods;
• Avoidance of further damage from smoke, spread of fire or from extinguishing agents;
• Problem-free adaptability to changes in fire risk;
• Wide-ranging design freedom;
• Cost savings at the construction stage of fire detection measures;
• Personnel retain access to protected areas;
• Working space not encroached by fire extinguishing equipment;
• Preventative security of dangerous goods whilst retaining access;
• Cost-efficient total solution through optimisation of building regulations under guidance of the relevant authorities.

Archives

• Protection of irreplaceable documents with reduced oxygen levels;
• Maximum fire protection whilst maintaining access to the protected area;
• An innovative solution for areas with greater fire risk or with difficult access;
• No damage to archived documents through smoke and extinguishing agents

Automatic Parking Systems

• Avoidance of the start or spread of fire facilitated by securing an atmosphere of reduced oxygen content;
• Protection from fire where assistance from fire service is difficult or impossible;
• Simple servicing without shutting down the automated parking system;
• Accessibility during maintenance work remains possible.

Automatic Picking Systems

• Continuous prevention of outbreak of fire despite flammable nature of system's components and use of plastic crates;
• Avoidance of damage to stored goods from smoke, spread of fire or from extinguishing agents;
• System can be easily adapted to change in use of the warehouse or change in flammability levels of stored goods;
• Certainty of delivery times in areas where even the smallest amount of smoke can result in extensive down-time;
• Protected area remains accessible.

Frozen / Cool Storage

• Continuous protection of stored items even at low temperatures;
• Avoidance of damage to stored goods from smoke, spread of fire and extinguishing agents;
• Simple adaptation of the OxyReduct ® system to changes in flammability levels ensures flexibility of use of the facility;
• Reduction of environmental risk due to active fire avoidance;
• Protected area remains accessible.

Libraries

• Continuous protection of irreplaceable works through creation of an atmosphere with reduced levels of oxygen;
• Maximum fire protection for library rooms whilst retaining access to the protected area;
• Valuable documents suffer no additional damage from effects of smoke and extinguishing agents;
• Additional advantage that documents will deteriorate more slowly due to reduced oxygen levels in the atmosphere.

Typical OxyReduct ® System Schematic

Operation

One of the reasons the system is cost effective is that Nitrogen is only produced when required and not stored in pressurized containers.

Fresh air is compressed and then filtered, extracting the Nitrogen; this produces air with a 95% Nitrogen content, which is then piped at low pressure into the protected area.

Room sensors report back to the control system and allow the Oxygen level to be maintained at the desired level, by regulating the Nitrogen supply.

OxyReduct® is automatically monitored for faults and constructed to be failsafe.

In the event of a fault, protection to the area is not immediately lost - it can take days for the oxygen level to rise to an level where combustion can again occur, allowing time for repairs to be made.

The area is therefore constantly protected and a fire cannot occur.

Facts

Air is made up of approximately 78.09% Nitrogen and 20.95% Oxygen and 0.96% Argon Co2; this is the same at sea level as it is at the top of Mount Everest.

The natural ratio of oxygen to nitrogen remains the same at high level as it does at sea level; the amount of oxygen at high level is less because the overall air pressure is lower.

The amount of oxygen we would be breathing in an OxyReduct ® environment is similar to the amount of oxygen we would breathe in an aircraft cabin or up a mountain. But the air pressure remains the same as the ambient level.

Symptoms of Oxygen reduction on humans

Q. What is the main advantage of the system?
A. It is impossible for a fire to start in the protected area.

Q. Can people enter the area?
A. At Oxygen levels of 15.0% people may work in the protected the area for up to 6 hours after which they should take a 30-minute break.

Q. H & S procedures?
A. The United Kingdom HSE has deemed that an area with reduced oxygen content would be classed as a confined working space. This means that there should be a safe system of work and effective management procedure in place that monitors the movement of people through the area.

Q. How big is the equipment?
A. The equipment size is not only dependant on the volume of the room but on the actual leakage rate of the room.

Q. How well does the room need to be sealed?
A. As well as possible, a better-sealed room means smaller equipment and lower running costs. An N50 value of less than 1.0 is ideal.

Q. How does HVAC effect system?
A. Re-circulation systems have no effect on OxyReduct®.

Q. Do I still need fire detection?
A. A fire detection system should be installed in the protected area.

Q. What happens if power fails?
Nothing immediately, the control unit is battery backed up, continued room protection depends on the leakage rate.

Q. What type of piping is required?
A. The nitrogen supply is made of steel until it enters the risk area. From then on the pipe may be plastic. The pressure at the outlet in the room is negligible.

Q. Does the system carry any approvals?
A. The system has VdS Approval-No: S6040001; many pan-European insurance companies have evaluated the fire prevention performance and are writing risks only if protected by OxyReduct®.

For more information about this product, please download the Westminster Datasheet.