Replacing halon gas installations  

  Like many things in life there are no absolutes, the choice of a replacement for your halon based system will depend upon many factors. Most of these have been outlined on this site but the final decision can only be taken after consulting all the interested parties.

  This site provides an overview of the available options only. We have available full technical and chemical specifications for the alternatives listed together with information on where to go for industry opinion.

  As a customer focused organisation we will supply what our customers request - this could be a halon refill at this moment in time (January 2001). We would not, however install a new halon based system.

  We have installed many different types of extinguishing systems and the demise of halon has opened up the choice of available solutions. Some of our customers have removed halon extinguishing systems and not replaced them with any gaseous based agents but opted for the very quickest detection of a fire condition by the use of aspirating (VESDA® & HSSD® type products) fire detection equipment. Others have taken the closest alternative gaseous agent and others an inerting agent. Water based systems are now increasing in popularity as organisations start to understand their operation.

  A question often asked of our sales staff is " what is the safest" or "best product", the purpose of the question is obviously to extract from us a simple answer that will give the customer peace of mind that a particular system will provide the same protection as their old halon system, be as safe or safer than the old system and of course last but not least, will the system have any impact on the environment. We have to be honest in our reply and say that all extinguishants have their draw backs - even water based systems. If they are harmless to the environment - they may need significant clean up, if they are fast effective chemicals they may contribute to global warming, if they are naturally occurring substances already contained within the atmosphere, their extended discharge times may allow the fire to produce greater quantities of harmful substances which could injure personnel and cause greater property damage.

  The only answer is to evaluate the risk and select the best available product to reduce that risk to an acceptable level - a compromise, but what's new?