Fire Suppression Systems the hidden Truth and facts you may not have known about the NFPA

Friday, 17 October 2008 13:10

Written by Bill Costello

I would like to educate everyone on the truth about FM-200 and Novec 1230 fire suppression systems and their byproducts when they come in contact with a flame or electrical arc, that are protecting your critical facilities.

FM0-200 HFC-227ea  Byproduct is Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) which is a chemical warfare agent and is highly corrosive and damages electronic components.

Novec - 1230(Sapphire) Byproducts are HF and Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)

NOTE: Hydrolysis is not expected to be a significant degradation pathway. Product is Highly insoluble in water and volatile, and use as a clean extinguishing agent would not typically result in releases to aquatic environments.

Both of these suppression systems create a very toxic byproduct HF and in the case of Novec 1230 you better hope that your sprinkler system does not go off and carry the TFA in the water system and get into the drain because you will have a potential environmental disaster on your hands.

Now these companies who sell and manufacture the chemicals and these systems make up almost half of the members who are in The NFPA 2001 Clean Agent Standard Technical Committee and they have voted negatively not to include my pure, hypoxic (oxygen reduced) air agent and stated that is not a clean agent but their toxic and deadly chemical mixtures are, I will let you be the judge.  Many of you in the Datacenter community that I have spoken to have had no idea of the deadly byproducts of these fire systems and the companies selling you the systems never made aware of the deadly byproducts.  You have been told you better get out of the environment before the system goes off, that it.  What if you can’t?   Now the production of HF produced depends on the fire and the concentration of the fire suppression systems.  It is not a matter of if HF is present it is a matter of how much!  Please search for Corrosion of Electronic component by Hydrogen Fluoride done by the NRC Institute of Research in Construction.  If you can’t find it feel free to contact me and I will send it to you.

Now something even scarier is the structure of the NFPA and it processes and rules.  Through my process and my to get my Hypoxic Agent listed on the NFPA 2001 Clean Agent Standard  I have learned that the NFPA 2001 Technical Committee makes law here in the United  States!   I have been told by the NFPA that it is not the Standard 

Council position to overturn the Technical Committee decision and it is not the Board of the Directors position to over turn of even get involved with committees and the standards process and it is not the NFPA Staff to investigate anything.   So when you peel back the layers 

and see it for what it is, the NFPA 2001 Clean Agent Standard Technical Committee members make law here in the United States and that is very scary!

I think everyone needs to truly wake up and see what is going on here, because it is your life and your job and your company’s bloodline (datacenters) that are in jeopardy.   These companies sitting on the NFPA 2001 Clean Agent Technical Committee are blocking our system from being utilized and there is no one policing the NFPA which is a privately held non-profit 20 million dollar a year company that has to answer to no one!