FM 200: Fire Suppression

FM-200™ extinguishes fires through a combination of chemical and physical mechanisms. A typical design concentration of 7% v/v provides the required amount of gas to extinguish the flame.

FM-200™ systems are a trusted choice for waterless fire protection. Our customers are businesses, governments, universities, hospitals, and museums around the world with valuable assets to protect against fire. Over 100,000 systems are installed in over 70 countries. Applications range from computer and electronic suites to military vehicles. From the largest Fortune 500 companies to small art museums: all rely on FM-200™ systems for fast, effective, and safe fire protection.

FM-200™ is stored as a liquid in pressurized cylinders. When discharged, the liquid flows through a piping network into the protected area, where it vaporizes. The amount of gas delivered from each nozzle is carefully calculated to deliver the proper amount of FM-200™ to each protected area.

In a word, no. FM-200™ belongs to the class of compounds called HFCs, or hydrofluorocarbons, which were actually introduced to facilitate the phaseout of ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and bromine-containing fluorocarbons (Halons).

The Kyoto Protocol concerns itself solely with emissions reduction. The Kyoto Protocol is an effort by the developed nations of the world to find a way to define a baseline and ultimately reduce emissions of substances that contribute to global climate warming. It makes no reference to a ban on the use of any HFCs, whether in fire protection or other uses.

There is currently no movement to ban FM-200™ or any threat to do so. Remember, FM-200™ was created in response to the need for a clean gaseous fire suppressant to replace ozone-depleting Halon 1301 systems. It is thoroughly tested, meeting rigorous American and international standards. It is also the only HFC product approved for fire protection in Germany, a country known for its tough environmental standards.

There are no overall or outright bans on FM-200™ anywhere. However, there are a few notable exceptions where certain countries have created barriers limiting the ability to sell FM-200™ fire protection systems.

Denmark has a general ban on all chemical extinguishants dating back to 1977, over a decade before FM-200™ was invented. Iceland, which enjoys close ties with Denmark, has adopted a similar position. 

The Swiss government has stated that HFCs such as FM-200™ can be used in cases where the safety of persons in aircraft, special army vehicles, and atomic installations could not otherwise be adequately assured.

Because FM-200™ is a gas, it will flow freely wherever the air goes. This is one feature that makes FM-200™ extremely effective in getting into and around complex structures, finding and extinguishing fires in the deepest recesses. It will, however, also leak out of the space with equal ease. Generally it is recommended that doors and significant openings be closed prior to the discharge of the agent. This includes ventilation dampers, windows, and other normal openings. For the integrity of the space, we recommend performing a room integrity test with a door fan unit. With all of the normal openings closed, the door fan provides a slight positive and negative pressure to the space and calculates the total cumulative volume of openings. Using this data allows us to derive a hold time for the agent concentration. Hold time requirements are usually set by the AHJ and most conventional enclosures look for ten minutes. This ensures thorough extinguishment and minimizes the potential for reflash of the fire.