Water mist fire suppression systems

Ellen Carrlee <ellen.carrlee [at] alaska__gov> writes

>The Alaska State Museum is considering alternatives to our Halon
>fire suppression system in collections storage.  I am eager to hear
>from institutions who have recently considered or installed a mist
>fire suppression system.  The space in question has some abandoned
>wet pipes that we are looking into re-using for a wet pipe system,
>but they have been unused for many years and may no longer be
>functional. Unfortunately, the area above-ceiling where the pipes
>are located contains asbestos, and pipe replacement would be
>difficult.  We might be able to install pipes below the ceiling
>instead.  Juneau, Alaska (population roughly 30,000) is not on the
>road system and we're concerned about installing something that
>isn't yet well established in the museum world.

A number of years ago, an early morning news program, showed a
report about a fire suppressant called Sapphire. I did not know
about it and contacted a few fellow conservators who also had no
idea of the product. Following is an excerpt from the information
supplied by the company.

   "The reality is, the product known as FM-200 (an HFC) has been
    around for quite some time protecting irreplaceable assets, and
    has captured the market leadership position 'after halon'.
    FM-200 truly is waterless fire protection providing rapid
    extinguishment, safety for the occupied space, and 0 ozone
    depletion potential. There are near 150,000 systems installed,
    worldwide, magnitudes greater than any other halon alternative
    system."

The Ansul Sapphire Suppression System uses 3M Novec 1230 Fire
Protection Fluid. More information can be found at

    <URL:https://www.ansul.com/
        en/Products/clean_agent_systems/sapphire.asp>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

Bill Minter
William Minter Bookbinding and Conservation, Inc.
4364 Woodbury Pike
Woodbury, PA  16695
814-793-4020
Fax: 814-793-4045


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:37
                 Distributed: Friday, December 19, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-22-37-005
                                  ***