environment

Halon Fire Extinguishers

Halon fire extinguisher are a specialty type of fire extinguisher that contain a gas that interrupts the chemical reaction that takes place when fuels burn. This type of fire extinguisher is often used to protect valuable electrical equipment since they leave no residue.

Halons are fire extinguishing agents which are gaseous when discharged and are extremely popular in the aircraft industry, as well as in certain technology marketplaces because Halons are electrically non-conducting. Halons are in almost universal use in aircraft fire extinguishers.. They exist in two forms:

• Halon 1211 is used only in portable extinguishers and is a streaming agent.  A halon fire extinguisher has a limited range, usually 4 to 6 feet

• Halon 1301 is used only in fixed extinguisher installations and is a total flooding agent.This type of extinguisher is commonly found in computer server rooms and clean rooms.

According to SkyBrary, a wiki focused on aviation safety:

Both Halon variants work by a combination of chemical and physical effects. The chemical effects, which are dominant in their overall effect, are achieved by the atoms in the gas directly inhibiting combustion in two different ways:

• Bromine, Iodine and Chlorine atoms act catalytically so that each atom participates repeatedly in the scavenging of important free radicals from the combustion gases.
• Fluorine atoms react with free radicals and form strong chemical bonds which neutralise combustion but can only do so once and are then “consumed.” The physical effects are both temperature reduction and dilution.

Temperature reduction occurs, whenever a non-reactive gas is added to a flammable gas, because the heat liberated by the reaction of oxygen molecules with a fuel source must be distributed into the overall environment. The rate of the combustive chemical reaction decreases rapidly with reductions in temperature and, if the concentration of added inert gas is high enough, the flame chemistry fails altogether.

Halon gas mixtures are not only inert but of low temperature when released from their pressurised state. Dilution is a simple matter of reducing the collision frequency of the oxygen and fuel source so that there is a reduction in chemical reaction rates. The magnitude of this effect, however, is relatively small compared to chemical inhibition and thermal effects, the former of these being the predominant one.

The chemical consituents in Halon gases, and the products of the reactions they produce when used to fight fires, have been identified as causing damage to the Ozone layer.  Halon is still in use today, but is falling out of favor for many uses due to its environmental impact. Europe, and Australia have severely restricted its use, since the Montreal Protocol of 1987. It is however still in use in the United States, the Middle East, and Asia in limited ways.  Since the Montreal Protocol Halon is one of the only ozone depleting chemicals with concentrations still rising, due to the release of fire extinguishing equipment already deployed.

A few 'clean agent' alternatives have been appearing on the market as an alternative to Halon extinguishers, including:

• Halotron I extinguishers, like carbon dioxide units, are "clean agents" that leave no residue after discharge. Halotron I is less damaging to the Earth's ozone layer than Halon 1211 (which was banned by international agreements starting in 1994). This "clean agent" discharges as a liquid, has high visibility during dischage, does not cause thermal or static shock, leaves no residue and is non-conducting. These properties make it ideal for computer rooms, clean rooms, telecommunications equipment, and electronics. These superior properties of Halotron I come at a higher cost relative to carbon dioxide.
• FE-36^TM (Hydrofluorocarbon-236fa or HFC-236fa) is another "clean agent" replacement for Halon 1211. This DuPont-manufactured substance is available commercially in Cleanguard® extinguishers. The FE-36 agent is less toxic than both Halon 1211 and Halotron I. In addition, FE-36 has zero ozone-depleting potential; FE-36 is not scheduled for phase-out wheras Halotron I production is slated to cease in 2015. A 100% non-magnetic CleanGuard model is now available.

en-Gauge is great proponent of Fire Extinguisher Training and believes it is a vital aspect of every organization's life safety program.  With that said, we love how Bullex Digital Safety is using innovative technology to improve fire extinguisher training for thousands of people (major bonus, they do so while lowering live training's cost and impact on the environment).

Their Interactive Training System (I.T.S) uses a portable fire system that runs on propane to simulate a fire in its early stages.  The program takes advantage of a Type A water extinguisher for the exercises (cutting down on expense and environmental impact, while allowing for quick and easy refills), even though the fire unit can simulate a class A, B or C fire.  The system reacts to the technique that the student utilizes when trying to put out the fire and ensures that the student fight the fire effectively.  With multiple levels of difficulty, the system can provide a challenge for all students going through fire extinguisher training.

Check out this video for details on how it works:

They also offer a purely digital fire solution (called HotShot) in which students utilize real extinguishers to put out 'digital' fires, while still using real extinguishers.  This provides a great solution for situations in which live fire is not an option.

Understanding fire and how to effectively fight it requires fire extinguisher training. With companies like BullEx leading the way, ensuring building occupants are ready in an emergency just got easier.

Reading the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment is a positive experience.  As one colleague said to me, “I felt hopeful after reading it that so many smart people are throwing the weight of their institutions behind finding the answers to climate change.”  I couldn’t agree more. 

In their commitment, they lay out their mission:

We believe colleges and universities must exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to minimize global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society. These colleges and universities will be providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the critical, systemic challenges faced by the world in this new century and enable them to benefit from the economic opportunities that will arise as a result of solutions they develop.

They also commit their institutions to taking key steps and reaching targeted milestones in pursuit of achieving climate neutrality “as quickly as possible”.  One of the most effective ways for the schools to reduce emissions is by committing to ‘green’ building programs, like LEED, for new construction projects and retrofits.

While we vigorously applaud these efforts, the fact is that the carbon emissions generated by just one major fire event can eliminate all of the carbon mitigation benefits accrued via those green building projects.  FM Global calculates that fire and risk of fire increases the carbon emissions of buildings by 3% over their lifetime.  With this in mind, it is vital to take aggressive steps to minimize fire risk when implementing any carbon reduction plan.

I encourage you to read The Environmental Impact of Electronically Monitored Fire Extinguishers.  This White Paper reviews the greenhouse gas impacts of fire as well as the critical carbon mitigating effects of fire extinguishers and in particular electronically monitored extinguishers.  Some of the key findings from the report include:

• Fast and early fire suppression with fire extinguishers is the most environmentally-friendly way (carbon emitted, water use, water pollution, additional pollution) to extinguish fire


• Empty and missing fire extinguishers have been a contributing factor to large conflagrations likely contributing thousands of tons of CO2 to the atmosphere annually


• Manual inspections of fire extinguishers are a contributing  factor in greenhouse gas emissions


• Electronic monitoring of fire extinguishers can be highly beneficial in reducing carbon emissions, lowering water consumption and minimizing toxic material release 

Download this free white paper and learn about the most effective way to ensure your Climate Commitement isn’t put at risk by unneccesary fires.