Fire Safety · Islamabad & Rawalpindi
FM-200 & Clean-Agent Fire Suppression in Rawalpindi
Water destroys a server room almost as badly as fire does. Clean-agent gas puts the fire out and leaves the equipment dry. We design, install and service FM-200 and similar systems for server rooms, electrical rooms and archives.
Package WL FireSafe Plus
Fire suppression in a server room is a different job from an ordinary alarm. The aim is to stop the fire without ruining the equipment around it.
Why not just sprinklers?
In an office, sprinklers are the right answer. In a room full of servers, switchgear or paper records, they can do almost as much damage as the fire. Clean-agent systems fill the room with a gas that stops the fire from burning and then disappears, leaving no water and no residue. The equipment may need cleaning of smoke, but it is not soaked.
How a system works
Detectors in the room, usually in pairs, watch for smoke. When one sees something, a pre-alarm sounds and a light goes on outside the door. When a second one agrees, a countdown starts, a siren warns anybody inside to leave, and the gas is released from cylinders into the sealed room. A hold button and an abort button give people a way to stop a false discharge in those last seconds, which is a good reason to keep them within reach and clearly marked.
The room itself matters as much as the cylinders. Gas has to stay inside long enough to do its job, so doors, cable gaps and ceiling voids must be sealed properly. We test this with a door-fan test, and where the room leaks we seal it, before we call the job finished.
Which gas
FM-200 is the name most people know, and it is widely used. It is a hydrofluorocarbon, and these are being phased down internationally, so a lot of new projects look at alternatives such as Novec 1230, or at inert gases like argon and nitrogen mixes. They differ in cost, cylinder space, discharge time and what they do to the environment. We explain the options for your room and your budget, and we do not push the most expensive one.
What we do
- Calculate the quantity of gas from the room volume and the hazard,
- install detection, control panel, cylinders, nozzles and pipework,
- seal the room and test it,
- link the system to your building alarm and, if wanted, to the door and ventilation shut-down,
- train your staff, and service the system every year.
After a discharge the cylinders must be refilled and the room checked, and that cost is worth knowing in advance. We tell you the figure up front, and we keep a spare-cylinder plan for sites that cannot wait.
Gas suppression is one layer. Rooms still need ordinary fire detection in the rest of the building, and a new server room is a good moment to plan cooling and power at the same time.
Products for this job: clean-agent fire suppression systems and fire alarm and smoke detection.