The condensed guide to twin-fluid hybrid fire suppression

Industry Expert Cedric Verstrynge, Victaulic Vortex Product Specialist, talks to IFB about fresh, innovative developments in fire suppression systems and the new Victaulic Vortex system

- Cedric Verstrynge

Today, there are a large variety of complex fire suppression systems available on the market. From traditional water-based sprinkler systems the simplest and most widely used to CO2, chemical and inert gas systems. Each technology has unique advantages and disadvantages depending on hazard application.

After an in-depth analysis of existing fire suppression systems, there are a few overall challenges to fire suppression. Some systems require airtight room integrity with little or no ventilation in order to ensure effective fire suppression, but there are circumstances where this is not possible due to the design or nature of the space.

In the course of suppressing a fire, some systems can cause irreversible damage to expensive equipment, electronics, motors or controls because of wetting and chemicals. Many systems also require costly and time consuming clean up after discharge due to the use of chemicals and/or high-volume wetting. Clean up of chemical systems may even be classified as hazardous, which can be expensive and inconvenient. This can also make system re-charge expensive and cause significant downtime in a facility.

Additionally, some systems that use chemicals are toxic to the environment and many systems can be extremely hazardous to occupants, requiring spaces to be evacuated before system discharge, whilst many systems can deplete oxygen levels to a threshold that is harmful to humans.

Atomised development

As a manufacturer of mechanical grooved piping systems well known for fire protection solutions, Victaulic set out to develop an alternative system that would address all these issues. The company researched other fields outside of fire protection that it hoped would lead to some solution paths to the goal of making even finer water particle sizes.