What is the FENWAL PHOENIX FM-200

series?
FENWAL PHOENIX FM-200 series is an FM-200 delivery system that enables mass flow rates greater than those
obtainable using a conventional FM-200 delivery system.
The key to the FENWAL PHOENIX is separate nitrogen storage. The term Piston Flow refers to the fact that in a
system utilizing separate nitrogen storage, nitrogen does not mix with the liquid FM-200. Instead, nitrogen acts as a
gas piston pushing the pure liquid FM-200 through the pipe ahead of it. The
standard FM-200 system is nitrogen saturated super-pressurized, which means
that during production filling, nitrogen is also added to the FM-200 cylinder. Nitro-
gen is soluble in FM-200 and dissolves, creating a saturated liquid. Once the
FM-200 is fully saturated, additional nitrogen is added to super-pressurize it to a
desired level (360 psig for our system).
When the system is discharged and the nitrogen saturated liquid FM-200 flows
through the pipe, nitrogen comes out of the solution as gas creating a two-phase
two component flow. Since the density of pure liquid FM-200 is higher than the
density of the two-phase FM-200/nitrogen mixture, greater mass flow rates are
obtainable for the single-phase liquid FM-200 flow. Based on density consider-
ations only, FENWAL PHOENIX enables an increase in the FM-200 flow rate of
approximately a factor of 2.
Further, there is an additional benefit offered by the FENWAL PHOENIX ap-
proach. During the discharge, nitrogen is continuously supplied to the FM-200
cylinder resulting in a sustained higher average cylinder pressure than obtain-
able in the standard FM-200 system. This sustained additional driving force fur-
ther increases the mass flow rate. With the testing conducted thus far, it has been observed that operating the
FENWAL PHOENIX system to produce average cylinder pressures of 300 to 330 psig results in a total increase in the
FM-200 flow rate by a factor of 2.5 to 3 over those obtainable in the standard FM-200 product offering.
FENWAL PHOENIX System Overview and System Operation
There are three main components to the FENWAL PHOENIX system:
Nitrogen cylinder/valve
Nitrogen transfer hardware
FM-200 cylinder/valve
R
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Nitrogen and FM-200 are stored in separate cylinders, which are connected with a hose and actuation hardware to
control the nitrogen transfer. Each cylinder has its own control head. When the system is actuated, the control head
on the nitrogen cylinder releases, allowing nitrogen to flow into the FM-200 cylinder. The flow of nitrogen also actuates
a pressure operated control head on the FM-200 cylinder, opening the FM-200 valve and enabling the agent to
discharge.
FENWAL PHOENIX Objective
The objective of the FENWAL FM-200 PHOENIX series is to provide an FM-200 product suitable for use as a pseudo
drop-in replacement, capable of retrofitting Halon 1301 systems with little or no modification to the installed system
piping. Thus, installation changes will be limited to the agent cylinder and nozzles only. This imposes a design require-
ment that the PHOENIX system design limits must equal or exceed those for installed Halon 1301 systems. To enable
the PHOENIX system to address the entire installed base of Halon 1301 systems, the PHOENIX system design limits
should exceed any Halon 1301 system manufacturers design limits. Additionally, PHOENIX is envisioned as a next
generation extension of the FM-200 product for new installations that may require performance beyond the capabili-
ties of the standard FM-200 product offering. These capabilities include the ability to flow FM-200 agent through
longer pipe runs, more complicated pipe networks and smaller diameter piping than the current product.
From the mid-sixties to the early nineties, Halon 1301 was the fire protection industrys standard for high value asset
protection requiring a clean, non-toxic, non-conductive suppression agent. In 1987, concerns over depletion of the
ozone layer by chlorine and bromine containing compounds led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol. Under the
terms of this and subsequent agreements, the production, but not the use, of chlorinated and brominated compounds
such as Halon 1301 was banned. While the restrictions of these agreements impacted the installation of new fire
extinguishing systems, they did not preclude the use of Halon 1301 systems already installed. To date, a limited
number of areas in the world, namely Germany, Scandinavia and Australia, have mandated and completed the
removal of Halon 1301 systems.
During the 1990s, three classes of Halon alternative agents have been developed and marketed for use as fire
extinguishing agents. These include inert gasses, halocarbons and perfluorocarbons. While each class has its ad-
vantages and disadvantages, no agent has emerged as a drop in replacement for Halon 1301. From these groups,
halocarbons, specifically, FM-200 (Great Lakes Chemical Corporation trade name heptafluoropropane or HFC227-
ea) has emerged as the market leader.
Halon Retrofit Market
Currently, the majority of the original worldwide installed Halon 1301 base remains in service. Since the ban on
production of new Halon 1301, Fenwal protection systems have established themselves as one of the world market
share leader in providing new installations of clean agent FM-200 systems. The intent of the FENWAL PHOENIX
product is to expand the market for FM-200 system sales into the retrofit of the existing Halon 1301 base.
Since the introduction of Halon alternative clean agent systems, penetration into the retrofit/replacement market has
been limited due to the large costs associated with replacing an existing Halon system. In addition to new hardware
and agent costs, a significant expense is the requirement that the existing Halon installation piping be changed in
order for the performance of the clean agent system to comply with codes and standards such as NFPA 2001.
Generally, for all classes of Halon replacement agents, the need to change piping arises from either higher mass
delivery requirements due to higher extinguishing concentrations, or higher system piping pressures. To remove this
barrier, the FENWAL PHOENIX product will have the requirement that it must be capable of meeting applicable
standard utilizing the existing installed Halon 1301 piping.
On a mass and volume basis, more FM-200 than Halon 1301 is required to protect the same hazard space. Due to
the lower agent requirements and certain flow performance considerations, Halon 1301 systems were installed utiliz-
ing smaller diameter pipe than would be required for an equivalent standard FM-200 system. As a result, when
considering a retrofit, the conventional standard FM-200 product is not capable of satisfying the code requirements
for delivery of the design concentration in the required time using the installed Halon 1301 piping. In order to achieve
retrofit of existing 1301 systems with FM-200 and utilize the installed Halon 1301 piping, the Piston Flow product must
be capable of achieving higher mass flow rates than either the installed 1301 system or standard FM-200 product.
Worldwide, removal of Halon 1301 systems and replacement with clean agent systems has largely been driven by
regulation. As mentioned, only a limited number of areas in the world, have mandated and completed the removal of
Halon 1301 systems. However, indications are present that additional regulation may be forthcoming throughout
Europe. Currently the European Community is moving toward passing legislation (EC regulation 3093/94) requiring
the removal of installed Halon 1301 systems. Legislation passed in 1999 prohibits Halon 1301 systems from being
recharged effective December 31, 2002, and mandate the removal of Halon 1301 systems by December 31, 2003.
Our ability to offer a pseudo drop-in Halon replacement product without the need for piping rework will position
Fenwal Protection Systems as the market leader in Halon system retrofit.
New Installation Market
The majority of the current FM-200 market is in new construction. Fenwal Protection Systems competes worldwide
with many suppliers in sales of FM-200 systems. By meeting the requirements of the Halon 1301 retrofit objective, the
Piston Flow FM-200 system will enable increased installation limits and flow performance that dramatically outper-
forms any of the current FM-200 systems on the market. This increased level of performance will allow longer pipe
runs and installation simplifications, such as the use of vertical tees. The longer pipe runs and increased piping
flexibility also allows us to compete more effectively with inert gas systems, which typically are able to flow longer
distances than FM-200 systems. The increase in pipe flows achievable with the FENWAL PHOENIX design will allow
the use of smaller diameter pipe relative to existing FM-200 system technology.
FM-200 is a registered trademark of Great Lakes Chemical Corporation
FENWAL is a registered trademark and PHOENIX is a trademark of Kidde-Fenwal, Inc.
KIDDE-FENWAL, INC.
400 MAIN STREET
ASHLAND, MA 01721 USA
TEL: (508) 881-2000
FAX: (508) 881-6729