Component line 03 / Clean agent equipment
Clean agent equipment: cylinders, container valves, nozzles and release panels
Equipment for HFC-227ea, FK-5-1-12 and inert gas suppression. Equipment, not systems. We supply the cylinder assemblies, the valves, the nozzles and the release control. The agent quantity calculation, the nozzle layout, the pipe sizing, the room integrity test and the commissioning belong to your designer of record and your installing contractor.
Standard references only. Listing certificates are issued with their own document numbers, see Certification.
The last figure is the important one. Pipe sizing, agent quantity and nozzle selection are the designer of record's calculation, not ours.
Equipment, not systems
A clean agent system is a calculation before it is a product. The room volume, the leakage area, the hazard class, the agent, the design concentration, the nozzle layout and the pipe network all feed one another, and the result is signed by a designer. We supply the hardware that calculation calls for. We do not perform the calculation, we do not select the nozzle for a hazard, and we do not commission the result. If your enquiry is a room volume and a question mark, the honest answer is that you need a designer before you need a supplier.
The five parts of a clean agent installation that come in a box
Whatever the agent, the equipment list looks the same: a cylinder with a container valve, an actuation device, a manifold and distribution pipework, discharge nozzles, and a release panel that decides when all of it happens.
We supply the first, second, fourth and fifth items on that list, plus the accessories that make them work together: flexible discharge hoses, manifold components, discharge pressure switches, abort switches, manual release stations and the warning signage that the installation standards require at the entry to a protected space.
Engineering note · fill density
The maximum fill density is the figure printed on the container listing, not a general rule. Halocarbon containers are commonly listed at up to 1.15 kg of agent per litre of water capacity, and the correct figure for the container you buy is the one on its certificate. Overfilling is a pressure problem, not an efficiency gain, which is why the fill weight is stencilled on the cylinder and checked at recharge.
01 / Specification
Equipment datasheets
| Water capacity | 40, 70, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180 L |
|---|---|
| Construction | Seamless steel, painted finish |
| Working pressure, halocarbon | 360 psi ≡ 25 bar at 70 °F (21 °C), nitrogen pressurised |
| Working pressure, inert gas | 2 900 psi ≡ 200 bar at 70 °F (21 °C) |
| Fill density | Per the container listing |
| Marking | Fill weight, agent, working pressure and test date stencilled |
| Mounting | Floor frame or wall bracket, with strap |
| Shipped | Charged or empty, stated on the quotation |
| Body | Forged brass or stainless steel |
|---|---|
| Outlets | Discharge, fill, gauge, pressure relief |
| Relief | Burst disc or rupture disc, per the listing |
| Actuation | Electric solenoid 24 V d.c., or pneumatic |
| Manual | Lever, with safety pin |
| Discharge hose | Flexible braided, rated to the container pressure |
| Patterns | 180° and 360°, plus directional |
|---|---|
| Orifice | Drilled to the flow calculation, per the listing |
| Thread | NPT or BSP, per the order |
| Material | Brass or aluminium |
| Coverage | Per the listing and the nozzle layout drawing |
| Selection | By the designer of record, from the flow calculation |
| Zones | 2, 4 or 8 conventional; addressable option |
|---|---|
| Inputs | Detection circuits, manual release, abort, discharge pressure switch, gas detector |
| Outputs | Solenoid release, horn and strobe, shutdown and damper relays |
| Logic | Crossed zoning, adjustable pre-discharge timer, abort, manual release |
| Power | 24 V d.c. with sealed battery standby |
| Enclosure | NEMA 1 or NEMA 4 |
About the trade names
Some clean agents are sold under registered trade names owned by chemical manufacturers. One of them, FM-200, names the agent HFC-227ea; another, Novec 1230, names FK-5-1-12. Those names identify a chemical. They are not standards, they are not approval bodies, and equipment cannot be certified to them. The standards that apply to the equipment on this page are UL 2166 for halocarbon units and UL 2127 for inert gas units, and the systems they go into are designed to NFPA 2001 or ISO 14520.
02 / Agents
What the equipment is built for
The equipment is agent specific: container valves, relief settings, hoses and nozzles are matched to the agent and to the pressure it is stored at. Tell us the agent from the design and the equipment follows.
| Agent | Chemical | Family | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| HFC-227ea | Heptafluoropropane | Halocarbon | Nitrogen pressurised, 360 psi / 25 bar |
| FK-5-1-12 | Fluoroketone | Halocarbon | Nitrogen pressurised, 360 psi / 25 bar |
| IG-01 | Argon | Inert gas | 2 900 psi / 200 bar |
| IG-55 | Argon and nitrogen | Inert gas | 2 900 psi / 200 bar |
| IG-541 | Nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide | Inert gas | 2 900 psi / 200 bar |
Design concentration and agent quantity are calculated by the designer of record to NFPA 2001 or ISO 14520 for the hazard. They are not supplied by us and they are not guessed at quotation stage.
03 / Model list
Model designations
Add what you need and the list is carried into the enquiry form. State the agent with the order, because the valve, the relief and the hose follow from it.
| Model designation | Item | Detail | Agent | Add to model list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMS-CA-CYL-040 | Cylinder assembly | 40 L water capacity | Halocarbon or inert | |
| EMS-CA-CYL-080 | Cylinder assembly | 80 L water capacity | Halocarbon or inert | |
| EMS-CA-CYL-120 | Cylinder assembly | 120 L water capacity | Halocarbon or inert | |
| EMS-CA-CYL-180 | Cylinder assembly | 180 L water capacity | Halocarbon or inert | |
| EMS-CA-VLV-HC | Container valve | With gauge and relief | Halocarbon | |
| EMS-CA-VLV-IG | Container valve | With gauge and relief | Inert gas | |
| EMS-CA-SOL-24 | Solenoid actuator | 24 V d.c., with manual lever | Both | |
| EMS-CA-NOZ-180 | Discharge nozzle | 180° pattern | Both | |
| EMS-CA-NOZ-360 | Discharge nozzle | 360° pattern | Both | |
| EMS-CA-PNL-4Z | Release panel | Four zone conventional, crossed zoning | Both | |
| EMS-CA-PNL-8Z | Release panel | Eight zone conventional, crossed zoning | Both | |
| EMS-CA-DPS-01 | Discharge pressure switch | Confirms agent left the container | Both | |
| EMS-CA-ABORT-01 | Abort switch | Momentary, key or push button | Both | |
| EMS-CA-MANREL-01 | Manual release station | Dual action, with protective cover | Both | |
| EMS-CA-SIGN-KIT | Warning signage kit | Entry signs and cylinder labels | Both |
04 / Scope
The boundary, line by line
This is the table to read before the purchase order, because it is the table that decides who owns each item of cost when the commissioning date moves.
Equipment we supply hardware
- Cylinder assemblies, charged or empty, with the fill weight stencilled
- Container valves with relief, gauge, fill port and actuation
- Solenoid and pneumatic actuators, flexible discharge hoses, manifold components
- Discharge nozzles to the orifice and pattern the calculation calls for
- Release panels, abort switches, manual release stations, discharge pressure switches
- Warning signage and cylinder labels required at the protected space
- Datasheets, model list and the listing certificate with its document number
Not ours design and installation
- Hazard analysis and the choice of a clean agent as the protection concept
- Agent quantity calculation and design concentration
- Nozzle selection, nozzle layout and pipe sizing
- The flow calculation that proves the discharge reaches the space in time
- Room integrity testing, door fan testing and the enclosure leakage survey
- Installation, wiring, pipework, pressure testing and labelling
- Commissioning, acceptance testing and notification to the authority having jurisdiction
- Recharge, hydrostatic testing and maintenance contracts
05 / On site
Three things that decide whether the equipment works
- The enclosure, not the equipment. A clean agent works by holding a concentration in a room for a defined period. A room that leaks will not hold it, and no cylinder specification compensates for that. The room integrity test is the step that tells you whether the design works, and it is not ours to perform.
- The agent and the pressure. Halocarbon and inert gas equipment is not interchangeable. Valves, relief settings, hoses and nozzles are matched to the agent and to the pressure it is stored at. Ordering a nozzle before the agent is fixed is how a project ends up with a second order.
- Charged or empty. Whether a cylinder travels charged depends on the destination and on the transport rules that apply to it. The quotation states which way your order ships, because a cylinder that arrives charged when it should not is a customs problem rather than a technical one.
Caution
Do not accept a document that describes clean agent equipment as certified to a chemical trade name. Names like FM-200 and Novec 1230 belong to manufacturers and identify a chemical. Ask for the standard the unit is listed to, and for the document number on the certificate.
06 / Questions
Clean agent equipment, asked and answered
Is FM-200 a standard or a certification?
Neither. It is a registered trademark of a chemical manufacturer naming one specific clean agent, HFC-227ea. It does not name a standard and there is no approval body of that name. Systems that use the agent are designed to NFPA 2001 or ISO 14520, and the equipment is listed to standards such as UL 2166 or UL 2127.
Does a cylinder assembly include the system design?
No. We supply the cylinder assembly, the container valve, the nozzle and the release panel as equipment. The agent quantity calculation, the nozzle selection, the pipe sizing, the room integrity test and the commissioning belong to the designer of record and the installing contractor. That split is the whole point of buying from a component supplier.
Can you work out how much agent a room needs?
No, and you should be wary of any supplier who offers to. The quantity follows from the room volume, the hazard class, the leakage and the design concentration, and it is signed by a designer. We will supply exactly the cylinders and the fill weight that the calculation asks for.
Do the cylinders ship charged?
It depends on the destination and on the transport rules that apply. The quotation states whether your order ships charged or empty, and the packing list matches. Where cylinders ship empty, charging is done at the destination by an agent supplier.
Which release panel do we need?
The one that matches the detection and the sequence your designer has specified: conventional or addressable, crossed zoning or single zone, and the number of outputs needed for the solenoid, the horn and strobe, and the shutdown relays. Tell us the sequence and we will quote a panel that implements it. The sequence itself is a design decision.
Clean agent equipment
Send the schedule, the agent and the room list
Give us the agent, the cylinder sizes from the design, the nozzle count and the panel sequence. The quotation comes back as equipment, with the boundary of scope written into it.
- Cylinders
- 40, 70, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180 L
- Agents
- HFC-227ea, FK-5-1-12, IG-01, IG-55, IG-541
- Panel
- 2, 4 or 8 zone, 24 V d.c., sealed battery standby
- Scope
- Equipment only. No design, no commissioning.