- Author
- Kim, A. K. | Su, J.
- Title
- Thermal Decomposition Products From Fire Suppression with HFC-227ea in an Electronic Facility.
- Coporate
- National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
- Journal
- Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 4, 265-281, November 2004
- Report
- NRCC-46778,
- Keywords
- electronic facility | thermal decomposition | halocarbons | fire suppression | corrosion | electronic environment | hydrogen fluoride | electronic equipment | experiments | ventilation | test facilities | scenarios | FT-IR | cables
- Identifiers
- piping system; instrumentation and gas measurements; cable free burn in ventilated cabinet; cable free burn in open cabinet; suppression of cable fire in open cabinet; suppression of cable fire in closed cabinet; suppression of cable fire in ventilated cabinet; suppression of pool fire in the compartment
- Abstract
- A study was undertaken to address concerns of corrosion in an electronic environment after fire suppression using HFC-227ea (C3F7H). Fire suppression using halocarbon agents, such as HFC-227ea, can produce thermal decomposition products, such as hydrogen fluoride (HF), which may cause potential corrosion problem to electronic equipment. In this study, full-scale experiments were conducted in a simulated electronic equipment room using 6 steel cabinets under various ventilation conditions. An in-cabinet cable fire was used in the tests as a fire source and HFC-227ea was used to suppress the fire. FTIR spectrometers were used to measure the gases in the cabinets and room. The test results showed that the ventilation conditions of the cabinet affected the fire extinguishment times for the fire in the cabinet, and therefore the amount of HF generation. In the open cabinet cable fire test, the concentration of HF was below 100 ppm in the fire cabinet. In the closed cabinet cable fire test, the maximum concentration of the HF reached 800 ppm in the fire cabinet. The migration of gaseous by-products from the fire cabinet to the adjacent non-fire cabinets was minimal. A large heptane pool fire test was also conducted; the maximum HF concentration in the room reached 3900 ppm. The non-fire open cabinet reached a peak HF concentration of 3800 ppm, whereas the ventilated and closed cabinets reached a peak HF concentrations of 1800 ppm and 500 ppm, respectively.