Alternative Chemical Agent to NOVEC 1230?

2/9/2023

3M recently announced they will no longer manufacture NOVEC 1230 by end of 2025 due to the presence of PFAS (https://news.3m.com/2022-12-20-3M-to-Exit-PFAS-Manufacturing-by-the-End-of-2025).

Other similar agents, such as FM-200, have similar environmental concerns due to having HCFCs.

Does anyone know a chemical fire suppression agent that doesn't have CFC or PFAS issues?

I know there is a new NFPA standard (770) on hybrid systems and that the Victualic Vortex is one such system, but not sure what other alternatives are out on the market. Thanks in advance.

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11 Comments

Glenn Berger

2/9/2023 08:08:52 am

On the clean agent side - The Inert Gas options are still available.

In addition to NFPA 770, Water Mist Systems in accordance with NFPA 750 can be used.

Dan Wilder

2/9/2023 08:12:12 am

While the marketing departments are scrambling to get their new items featured, probably a good idea to bookmark this site for options:

https://www.epa.gov/snap/substitutes-total-flooding-agents

Alex

2/9/2023 08:58:10 am

- Inert gasses
- water mist
- hybrid systems (water & Nitrogen)
- CO2 for unoccupied spaces

Franck

2/9/2023 09:22:53 am

As indicated above, the most suitable situation would be inert gas (such as nitrogen, argon...). But concentrations are higher and quantity of gas bottles as well... Normally not possible to retrofit an existing system without major modifications.

CO2 is an alternative, as indicated by Alex, but only at locations unattended. At expected concentrations (generally 34-50%), it is lethal. And people died because of activation of such systems!

Water mist is a tricky one. Many call it as the future of fire protection. I personnaly don't like it. But this is a personnal opinion. And I try to discourage its use whenever there is a relioable alternative with gas or sprinkler.
I always say it has all the downside of gas system (in ventilated areas, water mist is removed from the fire place) and the downside of water based systems (when horizontal obstructions are present, such as inside an electrical cabinet, water mist condensate on the surface and do not spread to the entire volume as a gas system does).
In addition, all installation normally need to be validated on a bench test with the exact same conditions. And it is normally not done by contractors. It is not like sprinklers or gas protection systems where you can provide devices at some locations and you know it will work, as long as you have a sufficient water supply or quantity of gas. With watermist, the exact location of each nozzle need to be validated by a test. And beware of hidden places, as the fire may stay there, incipient, and restart after a while.

Dave

2/9/2023 10:46:42 am

I am in the middle of a project where I was scrambling with what to spec for some small server rooms. In consulting with my go-to Suppression Systems contractor, with the factors of my particular sutuation, we are going with the Kidde "Natura" aystem which offers a choice of four pure concentrations or mixtiures of inert gases including argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. I am told this will also be somewhat forgiving for my less than ideal room integrity,

Dave

2/9/2023 10:52:45 am

I did also consider Vortex and mist systems, but this did not seem to be the best applcation for my project. I'm looking forward to learning from our European partners in the industry regarding this ever-changing topic..

Mark Harris

2/9/2023 06:36:46 pm

Novec 1230 is the 3M brand name. The 3M patent has expired and there is generic FK-5-1-12 (NFPA 2001 chemical name for Novec 1230) that is UL listed and FM approved. At least in the states manufacturers do need to modify their listings for the generic FK-5-1-12 product but for now 3M continues to ship product and that gives time to transition to generic as 3M exits the market by the end of 2025..

Inergen (IG-541 in NFPA 2001) clean agent systems were commercialized in Europe in 1991 and by Ansul in the United States around 1995. For all inert gas stems the agent, single gas or blended, consists of natural atmospheric elements (nitrogen, argon or CO2) so a "green" clean agent. Typical inert gas initial installs are more expensive than halocarbon but less expensive to recharge if there is a discharge. With 38.5% typical design verses 4.5% for Novec 1230 room venting is part of the inert design. Do need more floor space for the inert cylinders but location is more flexible.

FSSA (Fire Suppression Systems Association) had a virtual town hall meeting last week and they said list of chemicals that Novec 1230 (and FM200) are grouped in is over 9,000 including pharma items like flonase, lipitor and prozak. All in the group have CF3 or carbon with flourine (general notes from the town hall and I could be a little off) but not all are classified PBT (persistent biocumulative toxic). FSSA plans to work on a fact sheet but the 3M announcement came as a surprise so work in progress.

Don't see halocarbon systems going away but may see some increased interest in inergen or other inerts. Off the top of my head Tyco, Marioff and Fike all have FM approved watermist systems for data centers. Not sure but Victaulic Vortex may have the FM approval as well.

Daniel

2/10/2023 03:57:52 pm

Thanks Mark! That was a very comprehensive and useful answer.

Leopoldo

3/29/2023 02:03:57 pm

Total Agree with Mark

Thanks Mark

Andrew Gonzales

3/21/2023 03:13:52 pm

Thank you everyone for all the feedback, this was very informative as I am working with our power generation plants to find alternatives to the FM200 and NOVEC 1230 systems. CO2 seems to be the option but due to control room occupancy we are looking for other alternatives.

Peter Sørensen

5/10/2023 07:11:06 am

As I understand it Novec 1230/649 is in theory a PFAS compound. However it does not suffer from the environmental and health issues that some other PFAS compounds do because it is a Ketone it breaks down easily into harmless compounds in the atmosphere and also do not accumulate in body of people. Stopping Novec 1230 is most of all a political decission with a failure to look at the individual compounds in the PFAS group of chemicals.

Alternative Chemical Agent to NOVEC 1230?

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