Fire Protection Design with FM 200

August 25, 2000

FM 200 is a halocarbon agent accepted as an alternative to halon for total ooding re suppression
systems. After receiving the re signal, FM 200 is discharged totally from the cylinders within 10 seconds
to ll up the space uniformly at the design concentration to extinguish the re. The agent is retained at its
design concentration in the space for a period-called 'Hold Time'-to extinguish the re. After Hold time,
when the re is extinguished, the agent is exhausted from the space by exhaust fans before any inspection
is performed.
For the design of the system, NFPA Code 2001, "Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems" is
followed. The Code recommends that the system be designed by a quali ed clean agent extinguishing
system designer. This sometimes indirectly means the agent supplier's authorized system designer.

The Scope of the Design

FM 200 design includes determination of the agent quantity, piping layout, pressure drop through the
piping and accessories, as well as xing the location and quantities of discharge nozzles for uniform
distribution of the agent throughout the space. This also includes determining the lling density in the
agent cylinders to take care of the pressure drop through the system, for determining the number of
cylinders.

From above, the agent quantity required for total ooding of the space is determined independently based
on the design concentration of the agent necessary for the type of re to be extinguished, Hold Time for
extinguishing the re, additional quantity required to take care of the leakage, etc.
Tentative pipe sizing and pipe routing with nozzle location are done by the owner or the engineer in
harmony with the other facilities in the space. This is, however, nalized by the agent supplier's authorized
system designer based on the pressure drop software program for two-phase ow of the agent. To take care
of the system pressure drop and to establish the required pressure at the nozzles, the authorized agent
determines the agent ll density in the cylinder. They also nalize the number of cylinders based on the
ll density and their standard cylinder size.

Protected Areas
The areas to be protected are identi ed from the re risk analysis of the plant and the various codes (like
NFPA, etc). The requirements are guided by the functional criticality of the system protected, amount of
loss involved, re insurance premium, etc.

Design Philosophy

A typical case of protecting a power station using the FM 200 total suppression system is the basis for the
following design information. Design Code: NFPA 2001, "Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing System," is the
governing code for designing the system, and NFPA 72, "National Fire Alarm Code," is followed for xing
the re alarm system, an important part of the clean agent total suppression system. Agent Concentration:
Since FM 200 is the most expensive item of the total system, a careful analysis is required before xing the
required concentration and the total quantity of the agent.
Regarding design concentration of the agent, there are various guidelines available, such as:
* 120% of cup burner value veri ed by listing/approval tests, minimum design concentration (%V/V) of FM
200 is 7%, (refer to Table 4-7.5 Weight and Storage Volume Equivalent data for New Technology
Halocarbon Gaseous alternatives' SFPE Handbook on Fire Protection Engineering).
The same agent concentration of 7% is accepted by Factory Mutual (FM) as the design agent
concentration.
Underwriters' Laboratories (UL), however, recommends the agent design concentration as 7.44%.
To satisfy both FM and UL, it seems prudent to consider the design concentration as 7.44% by volume. The
FM 200 supplier's authorized agent normally recommends 7% as the design concentration, based on their
experience with the type of re anticipated in the areas protected. Increase of the agent concentration
from 7% to 7.44% has the repercussion on the cost of the agent. If possible, the recommendation of the
AHJ (Authority of Jurisdiction) should be solicited before xing the agent design concentration.
The maximum limit of the FM 200 concentration is restricted by NFPA 2001 due to the safety
considerations of the toxicological and physical effects on human life.
NFPA 2001 Clause a-1-5.1.2 recommends the following concentration level of FM 200 in the protected
compartment:
No Observable Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL)-Concentration of 9% and below (%V/V)
Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL)-Concentration above 10.5% (%V/V).
Agent Quantity: The formula mentioned in Clause 3.5.1 of NFPA 2001 is used for preliminary quantity
calculation of the agent requirement. The formula is as follows:
Where:
W = Weight of Clean Agent, lb./ft.
T = Minimum anticipated temperature of the protected volume, degrees F.
k1 and k2 = constants speci c to the clean agent being used (FM 200), the values of which are to be taken
from Table 3-5.1 (a) of NFPA 2001.
C = FM 200 design concentration, % by volume. As we've already discovered, C = 7.44%.
V = Volume of the hazard.

S = k1 and k2 (T) is a linear equation determined by least squares curve t techniques from data supplied
by the clean agent manufacturers. The zero concepts are k1 and the slope is k2.
Hazard volume ("V") in the above formula is the volume of the room protected. Sometimes the volume
occupied by the hvac ducting inside the room up to the rst isolation damper is added to the room volume,
when the room is provided with a suspended ceiling and the duct is running in the space above the
suspended ceiling.
Regarding the selection of the temperature inside the protected area, the NFPA recommends the minimum
anticipated temperature. The authorized system designer normally takes into consideration the prevalent
temperature inside the rooms, which are air-conditioned. The agent quantity requirement increases with
the lower temperature of the protected volume. However, during an abnormal condition, such as the plant
being under maintenance, when the hvac system is not running, the room's indoor temperature may attain
the minimum outdoor temperature. It is therefore prudent to consider the minimum outdoor temperature
prevalent from the climatological data and not the minimum design temperature speci ed for other
equipment selection as the minimum anticipated temperature for agent calculation.
To extinguish the re effectively, the design agent concentration is to be retained inside the room for a
period called "Hold Time." During the Hold Time, the air-agent mixture is expected to leak in case the
enclosure is not made perfectly leak-tight. So, to maintain the design concentration up to the end of Hold
Time, the agent quantity derived per Formula 1 is jacked up by the expected leakage quantity to initially
discharge the higher quantity of agent than required for the design concentration. This will effectively
increase the initial agent concentration more than the design concentration (7% or 7.44%). The initial
agent concentration, however, will come down to the design concentration due to the leakage of the agent
throughout the period of Hold Time.
Agent Leakage and Effect of Altitude: Leakage of the agent from the enclosure is an important issue for
maintaining the desired agent concentration inside the enclosure during the Hold Time required for
extinguishing the re.
Total FM 200 ooding within a short period of 10 seconds will suddenly raise the pressure inside the room
due to the agent's expansion. The sudden rise in pressure will, however, die down to normal room pressure
within a short period at the quiescent state. Therefore, there is the possibility of leakage at the time of
discharge and also during the quiescent state due to the heavier air-agent mixture in the room compared
to the air outside.
Leakage due to expansion at the time of discharge is included in Formula 1 in calculating the initial agent
quantity per NFPA 2001. (The calculation includes an allowance for the normal leakage from a "tight"
enclosure due to agent expansion.) Thus, any leakage from the sudden expansion of FM 200 at initial
discharge is not considered further for a tight enclosure, which does not have any large opening that is
dif cult to seal.

During the quiescent state, due to the difference in density between the FM 200 air mixture inside the
room and the air outside the room, the FM 200 and air mixture will leak out of the room through the
leakage area. Per NFPA recommendations, room height is considered as the static head for the leakage.
To be more precise, the leakage rate is determined by the Door Fan Pressurization Test, as recommended
by NFPA 2001. Like during the design stage, such leakage value cannot be arrived at by the Door Fan test;
the leakage rate is estimated based on the probable leakage areas, such as leakage through the door gaps,
damper gaps, tiles of the raised oor, etc.
Leakage Through Door Gaps: It is prudent to calculate the leakage rate through the door gaps from the
ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers) formula, as follows:
Where:
Pc = g x H0 x (rm - ra), per Equation 1 Clause B-2.6.1.3 of NFPA 2001.
g = Acceleration due to gravity
rm = FM 200 and air mixture density, kg/m3. Refer to NFPA 2001 Clause B-2.7.1.4.
ra = Air density, kg/m3.
H0=Height of ceiling, m.
Leakage Through Raised Floor Tiles: The leakage by diffusion through the tiles of the raised roof oor is
considered only when the raised oor of the room in isolation is protected by FM 200. When both the room
and the raised oor are protected by FM 200, such leakage through the raised oor is not to be considered,
as the agent is discharged simultaneously to both the room and its raised oor from the re signal from
either of the spaces.
Leakage Through Wall Penetration: Penetration for cable raceways and piping through the rewall is
sealed to achieve the most perfect leak tightness as possible and restrict any leakage through the
penetration sealing.
Leakage Through Damper Gaps: Dampers are placed in the hvac ducts, which are routed near the ceiling of
the enclosed volume. As such, during the quiescent state, the static height responsible for leakage due to
difference in density between the air-agent mixture and the air outside should be the diameter for the
round duct or height for the rectangular duct. To simplify, for practical purposes, the same static head, i.e.
the height of the room, is considered for leakage quantity determination through the damper. For
estimation purposes, a crack width of 0.0016 mm (same as door) can be considered around the perimeter
of the duct to get the leakage area for the damper. Leakage to Suspended Ceiling: It depends upon the type
of xtures used on the suspended ceiling. Normally, the suspended ceiling is made from a number of
panels connected together by clips through which the leakage is not expected. With the ceiling on the top,
there is no static height of the air-agent mixture for leakage at the quiescent state.

Effect of Altitude: At elevations above sea level, FM 200 expands to a greater speci c vapor. A system
designed for sea level will develop a greater concentration level at higher altitude. To correct for the effects
of a higher elevation, the quantity of the agent is reduced by a factor available in the catalog cuts of the
authorized system designer.
Agent Hold Time: This is the time required to hold the agent inside the enclosure at its desired
concentration until the re is extinguished. The Hold Time, which is contingent to the type of re, items
under re, extent of re, etc., is generally dictated by the AHJ, probably based on the statistical data or
experiments.
For practical purposes, such values are not usually available when the design of the system is prepared.
NFPA 2001 Clause B-2.7 for Retention Time can be followed to estimate the Hold Time.
In Clause B-2.7.1.7, NFPA 2001 gives a formula for calculating the time required to maintain the
descending interface level of air agent mixture at or above the height required for minimum agent
concentration in the room. The interface level of the air agent mixture descends due to the leakage of the
agent from the enclosure. Per Clause B-2.7.2 of NFPA 200a, this time can be considered as the Hold Time
when no de nite value of the same is available.
The NFPA formula for calculating Hold Time is as follows:
Where:
t = Time, sec. The enclosure is expected to maintain the descending interface above H for the time t. This
is the maximum Hold Time expected for the hazard.
C3 = Constant for equation simpli cation.
C4 = Constant for equation simpli cation.
AR = Room oor area, m2.
AT = Total leakage area, m2.
g = Acceleration due to gravity, 9.81 m/sec2.
PSH = Static Pressure during discharge, Pa.
PSH = 0.25 PC, max. Refer to NFPA 2001 Clause B-2.5.2.3.
PC = Pressure due to the agent column (density difference), Pa.
PC = g H0 (rm - ra). Refer to NFPA 200a Clause B-2.6.1.3.
rm = FM 200 and Air mixture density, kg/m3. Refer to NFPA 2001 Clause B-2.7.1.4.
ra = Air density, kg/m3.
H0 = Height of ceiling, m.

H = Height of interface from oor, m.

H = H0 (CF/C). Refer to Clause B-2.7.1.6 of NFPA 2001.
CF = Final agent concentration, 7.44 % (assumed, as mentioned previously, to maintain the design
concentration for extinguishing the re).
C = Initial agent concentration, as derived from the total quantity of FM 200 discharged in the volume
protected.
In any case, the Hold Time should not be less than ten (10) minutes, which is a traditional generic value to
extinguish the re.

Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing