• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2007

This study aims to investigate, review, and summarize the definition, development, and applications of "percent agent in pipe", "percent of agent in pipe" which is used as a key factor in testing and evaluating the performance of gaseous fire extinguishing agents, including Halon 1301 and $CO_2$. This study also analyzes and compares the local and international standards on testing and evaluating the performance of gaseous fire extinguishing systems, as well as the results of system performance tests conducted as a part of performance evaluation and approval programs for gaseous fire extinguishing systems, especially, Korean Gaseous Fire Extinguishing System Performance Approval Program called KFI Approval. Percent agent in pipe was defined first in NFPA 12A, Standard on Halon 1301 Fire Extinguishing Systems, dating back to the 1970's. After the phaseout of Halon 1301 systems in 1994 in the developed countries, the percent agent in pipe has been widely used in Halon 1301 alternative clean agent fire extinguishing systems, both halocarbon clean agent systems and inert gas clean agent systems, as an essential criterion to assure the system design accuracy, determine the limitations and performance of a system, and to predict the system performance results accurately, especially, in association with their system flow calculations. Underwriters Laboratories has their own standards such as UL 2127 and 2166 applying percent agent in pipe in testing and evaluating the performance of clean agent fire extinguishing systems. As a part of a system performance test and approval program called KFI Approval System, Korea also has started to apply the percent agent in pipe as a key factor to test, evaluate, and approve the performance of gaseous fire extinguishing systems, including both high and low pressure $CO_2$ systems, from the early 2000's. This study outlines and summarizes the relevant UL and KFI standards and also describes the actual test resultant data, including the maximum percents of agent in pipe for gaseous fire extinguishing systems. As evidenced in lots of tests conducted as a part of the system performance test and approval programs like KFI Approval System, it has been proven that the percent agent in pipe may work as a key factor in testing, evaluating, and determining the limitations and performance of gaseous fire extinguishing systems, especially compared with the hydraulic flow calculations of computer design programs of gaseous fire extinguishing systems, and will remain as such in the future. As one thing to note, however, there are some difficulties in using the unified percent agent in pipe to determine the maximum lengths of pipe networks for gaseous fire extinguishing systems, because the varying definitions used by some of the flow calculations (not in accordance with NFPA 12A definition) make it impossible to do any direct comparison of pipe lengths based on percent agent in pipe.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.95-99
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• 2008

Halon was known as a cause of the ozone layer destruction. In 1987, it was designated as one of the ozone-layer-destroying materials in the Montreal Protocol. Therefore substitutes of Halon agent has been developed including inert gas extinguish system, which is one of the most widely used fire extinguishing system. This study intended to increase the efficiency of inert gas extinguishing agent by using inert gas additives. As IG-541 shows high extinguishing power, the experiment was performed to measure the effects of gaseous additives to it. Cup-burner fire extinguishing apparatus was used with n-Heptane fuel. Among many of pure inert gaseous agents, Helium showed the most excellent extinguishing power. When Helium was added to IG-541, fire extinguishing power was increased and the concentration of oxygen in chimney also risen. By adding Helium to IG-541, the effectiveness of inert gas fire extinguishing system is able to be increased.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2001

Fire extinguishing efficiency of mixed gaseous agents were investigated by the cup-burner test and predicting by the model of flame extinguishing concentration. The binary mixed agents that tested were carbon dioxide/HFC-23, carbon dioxide/HCFC-22, carbon dioxide/HFC-227ea, carbon dioxide/HFC-125, carbon dioxide/FIC-13I1, Hexafluoropropylene/HFC-23 and ternary mixed agents were carbon dioxide/HFC-23/HFC-l34a, carbon dioxide/HFC-23/HFC-227ea, carbon dioxide/HFC-23/HFC-125. A model which contains the flame extinguishing concentration and composition of pure components predicted the flame extinguishing concentration of mixture well. This model was superior when each component of the mixture exhibit physical fire extinguishing performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.76-83
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• 2008

In the course of increasing in human and material damage caused by fire, it is an important research field to develop clean extinguishing agent which does no harm to global environment as well as has a good extinguishing efficiency. This research is a basic step to develop a new clean extinguishing agent. In order to get a satisfactory result, we tested fire extinguishing ability using nitrogen and Novec mixtures gas which are inert gas and new clean extinguishing agent. We used Cup Burner Test made by international standard ISO-14520 regulations of gaseous extinguishing agent ability test, and the fuels used in the test are n-heptane, methanol, ethanol, iso-propanol and 1-butanol. The experimental results of flame extinguishing concentration are n-heptane 6.54%, methanol 8.47%, ethanol 6.98%, isopropanol 6.10% and butanol 6.54% by pure Novec agent. So the finding is that a new clean agent, Novec has an efficient extinguishing ability in a state of gas. Also, in a test as to mixtures gas of nitrogen and Novec, it has a good result for minimum oxygen concentration is under 16%.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.456-460
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• 2008

This study was on basic step to develop a good clean extinguishing agent. In order to get a satisfactory result, we tested fire extinguishing ability using Novec which is inert gas. In study used to Cup Burner Test its made by international standard ISO-14520 regulations of gaseous extinguishing agent ability test. The finding is that a new clean agent, Novec has a very efficient extinguishing ability in a state of gas.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.77-82
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• 2019

Fire extinguishing systems are essential equipment in all indoor facilities to address unexpected fire scenarios, and appropriate fire extinguishing agent should be used depending on the place and object to protect. Among these, gaseous fire-extinguishing systems are used to protect electronic equipment. Therefore, inert gases that do not undergo chemical reactions are used mainly in those systems. On the other hand, recently, owing to the high integration of electronic equipment, there are some cases, in which large noise generated from gaseous systems damage the electronic equipment. In this study, numerical analysis of the discharge noise with various nozzle contraction angles was carried out to improve the gas fire extinguishing system. Numerical analysis was carried out using ANSYS FLUENT ver 18.1. The causes of the noise were elucidated using the swirl distribution. The noise level of the modified model was reduced by approximately 6 dB compared to the reference model, which is similar to the result of a previous study, confirming the validity of the method.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.148-150
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• 2008

Halon gas agent has been widely used as the extinguishing agent for B class and C class fires because of its excellent extinguishing power. But Halon was found to contribute to the ozone layer destruction, eventually Halon designated as one of ozone-layer-destroying materials in the Montreal Protocol in 1987, In this study, in the context of such researches, we measured the characteristics of flame concentrations of inert gaseous agents by Cup-burner method.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

There are specific indications about additional gas for the unencloseable openings of the carbon dioxide extinguishing systems. But there are no indications for other gas extinguishing systems including clean agent extinguishing systems only have the principle when it need, apply it. Therefore, this study suggested applying the equation of additional gas for the unencloseable openings of the carbon dioxide to all of the other fire suppression gas that we are use.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2 s.58
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• pp.29-36
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• 2005

We carried out discharge and fire extinguishing tests of new inert gas clean agent, which consists of $92\%$ nitrogen and $8\%$ carbon dioxide, as an alternative of Halon that is banned by Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer of the earth. Discharge and fire extinguishing tests were performed in $27m^3$ and $190m^3$ rooms with piping which allows gaseous agent to transport from storage to test rooms. We confirmed that it took less than regulation time, 60 seconds for the discharge of over $95\%$ initial charged amounts. Discharge test variables were piping length and orifice size. Fire extinguishing tests verified that this new inert gas clean agent is suitable for both n-Heptane fire and deep seated fire of wood crib.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.51-56
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• 2015

In this study, optimal design methods were applied to the agent discharge flow of clean agent fire extinguishing systems. The methods combined optimal design theory and engineering theory for engineering analysis in a design program or coast savings in value engineering. Optimal design parameters were determined to optimize the agent discharge flow based on the design theory of the clean agent fire extinguishing systems and the theory of optimal design. The design factors were verified in regard to suitability for the performance of fire extinguishing systems. The results provide a foundation for optimal design method methods in other fire extinguishing systems. Optimization of the agent discharge flow of the discharge nozzle was confirmed by the constraints on the inner diameter of the discharge nozzle and the pipe, agent arrival time, flow, and pressure variation of the agent. The deviation of discharge pressure and agent time of the agent discharge nozzle were found to correlate with the pressure variation.