Modern Regulatory Requirements for Gas Fire Extinguishing to Improve the Safety of Facilities


Annotation:

To implement the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union «On the requirements for fire safety and fire extinguishing equipment» (TR EAEU 043/2017), modern regulatory requirements were developed based on the advanced domestic and foreign research in order to increase the efficiency of using automatic gas fire extinguishing installations.
The domestic methodology of experimental determination of the gas extinguishing concentration in the fire chamber has a number of advantages in comparison with the foreign analogues. It is established that it is necessary to take into account the conditions of fire experience for the selection of equipment for a fire extinguishing installation with FK-5-1-12 in the process of its design, in order to ensure more complete evaporation of the liquid phase of FK-5-1-12 after leaving the nozzles.
An assumption was substantiated that allows setting the normative concentration of fire extinguishing gases at the level of heptane without conducting a fire experiment to extinguish fires of flammable liquids with a flash point of more than 61 оC. In this case, the concentration value can be taken 15 % less than according to the requirements of ISO 12854: 2009.
Experimental studies on extinguishing smoldering materials with gases were conducted. It was established that nitrogen, CO2, freons 114B2 and 227ea at a concentration for extinguishing heptane eliminate not only flame combustion, but also smoldering if the free combustion time does not exceed 3 min. With free combustion for more than 6 minutes, reliable suppression of smoldering is achieved when the oxygen content in the volume of the fire chamber is up to 2.5 % vol.  The results of the experiments were taken into account in the draft norms for the design of fire extinguishing installations.
Additional requirements were developed for gas fire extinguishing containers and selector valves, which will make it possible to exclude the use of low-quality or obsolete products as part of gas fire extinguishing installations in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union.
The developed modern requirements are included in the drafts of new regulatory documents, which were publicly discussed, and are at the approval stage.

References:
1.TR EAEU 043/2017. Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union «On the Requirements for Means of Ensuring Fire Safety and Fire Fighting». Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/456080708 (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
2. SP 5.13130.2009. Systems of fire protection. Automatic fire-extinguishing and alarm systems. Designing and regulations rules.
Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200071148 (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
3. GOST R 53280.3—2009. Automatic fire extinguishing systems. Fire extinguishing media. Part 3. Gaseous extinguishing media. Test methods. Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200073276 (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
4. ISO 14520-1:2015. Gaseous fire-extinguishing systems — Physical properties and system design. Available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/55340.html (accessed: July 10, 2020).
5. ISO 6183:2009. Fire protection equipment — Carbon dioxide extinguishing systems for use on premises — Design and installation. Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/431806546 (accessed: July 10, 2020).
6. NFPA 2001:2018. Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems. Available at: https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=2001 (accessed: July 10, 2020).
7. Methodology for assessing the efficiemcy of volumetric fire extinguishing means (Guide). Available at: https://pandia.ru/text/77/309/53150.php (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
8. ISO 12854:2009. Gaseous media fire-extinguishing systems — Physical properties and system design — Scaling factors for Class B fuels other than heptane. Available at: https://standards.iteh.ai/catalog/standards/iso/9541feb3-06fb-47d2-96b4-bae4fd2a722c/iso-ts-12854-2009 (accessed: July 10, 2020).
9. Kopylov S.N., Kazakov A.V., Bukhtoyarov D.V., Smirnov N.V. The Choice of Extinguishing Agent for Automatic Fire Suppression in the Vaults of Cultural Property and Museums. Part 2. Gas Extinguishing Agent. Pozharnaya bezopasnost = Fire Safety. 2017. № 4. pp. 52–58. (In Russ.).
10. GOST R 53281—2009. Automatic gas fire extinguishing systems. Cylinders and cylinder banks. General technical requirements. Test methods. Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200072076 (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
11. ISO 16003:2008. Components for fire-extinguishing systems using gas — Requirements and test methods — Container valve assemblies and their actuators; selector valves and their actuators; nozzles; flexible and rigid connectors; and check valves and non-return valves. Available at: https://infostore.saiglobal.com/preview/iso/updates2013/wk34/iso_16003-2008.pdf?sku=1019575 (accessed: July 10, 2020).
12. DIN EN 12094-4:2004. Fixed firefighting systems — Components for gas extinguishing systems — Part 4. Requirements and test methods for container valves assemblies and their actuators. Available at: http://nd.gostinfo.ru/document/4036134.aspx (accessed: July 10, 2020).
13. GOST R 53283—2009. Automatic gas fire extinguishing systems. Distributing valves. General technical requirements. Test methods. Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200071925 (accessed: July 10, 2020). (In Russ.).
DOI: 10.24000/0409-2961-2020-10-55-60
Year: 2020
Issue num: October
Keywords : methodology selector valve gas fire extinguishing automatic fire extinguishing installation concentration regulatory document container
Authors:
    ;
  • Smirnov N.V.
    Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Lead Researcher, vniipo22@mail.ru FGBU VNIIPO EMERCOM of Russia, Balashikha, Russia
  • Kazakov A.V.
    Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Department Head All-Russian Research Institute of Fire Protection of the EMERCOM of Russia, Balashikha, Russia
  • Bukhtoyarov D.V.
    Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Deputy Head of the Department All-Russian Research Institute of Fire Protection of the EMERCOM of Russia, Balashikha, Russia