Carbon Dioxide is a superb extinguishing agent, which extinguishes fire by reducing the oxygen levels below that which will sustain combustion. Essentially, it suffocates the fire.
Cooling is a secondary action of the agent. This feature is used in local applications where the liquid phase of the discharge is applied directly to the fire and risk materials.
CO2 is stored as liquid, under high pressure. When a system is activated, the liquid CO2 flows through discharge pipework to specially designed nozzles. The agent’s low boiling point means that the liquid vaporises rapidly during the discharge, providing a penetrative three-dimensional action. Carbon dioxide gas has a high rate of expansion. As a result, this allows a CO2 fire suppression system to work fast. In addition, the rapid expansion of the gaseous agent allows fires to be targeted even in the most inaccessible areas of risk.
Benefits of CO2 Fire Extinguishing
- CO2 IS CLEAN
CO2 is a colourless, odourless, dry, inert gas and is one of the most common of all chemicals. After extinguishing a fire it vaporises fully leaving no residue. As a result, there is no mess, nothing to clean up and no water damage. It is non-corrosive and will not contaminate foodstuffs. It is non-conductive and so can be used on energised electrical equipment. Therefore, It can be safely used to protect delicate electronic equipment, antiquities or archive materials.
- CO2 IS LOW COST
Carbon dioxide is a standard commercial product with many other uses and is readily available throughout the world. Because of its universal use it can be obtained inexpensively and this is an important consideration when frequent recharging of storage containers is necessary as in local application systems, where fires may be more frequent.
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