Clean agent fire suppression designed for the future
3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid is a clean agent fire extinguishant which was developed as a halon replacement and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) alternative. It belongs to a family of chemicals called halocarbons, a group which includes HFCs and fluoroketones. Novec 1230 fluid is a fluoroketone, while chemical clean agents like FM-200™ and ECARO-25® are HFCs (HFC-227ea, HFC-125). Novec 1230 fluid has a global warming potential (GWP) of less than one while these HFCs have a GWP of more than 3000. Novec 1230 fluid has the highest margin of safety for human occupancy among clean agents, including inert gas.
When you specify a fire protection system, your choices can determine whether a person, valuable asset or even an entire business survives a fire. When that system uses Novec 1230 fluid, you may confidently offer your client a solution that:
- Extinguishes a fire in seconds, before it even starts and long before water-based systems discharge.
- Helps protect irreplaceable paper documents and electronics. Because Novec 1230 fluid is a waterless fire suppression solution, it leaves no residue and is electrically non-conductive.
- Provides the highest margin of safety for human occupancy of any clean agent solution.
- Is not subject to the Halon 1301 phaseout or HFC phasedown under any global regulatory body, including the Montreal Protocol.
- Comes with a global environmental warranty — the 3M™ Blue Sky℠ Warranty, designed to provide additional peace of mind.
- Is stored as a liquid and discharged as a gas.
- Is appropriate for Class A, B and C fire hazards.
How does Novec 1230 fluid work?
Novec 1230 fluid extinguishes a fire before it starts by rapidly removing heat. In a typical total flooding system, the fluid is stored as a liquid in cylinders pressurized with nitrogen. Automatic detection sensors trigger release when the fire is at the incipient stage, extinguishing it in mere seconds.
Novec 1230 fluid evaporates 50 times faster than water. In fact, you could soak a paperback book in a bath of Novec 1230 fluid and within a minute, pick it up and read where you left off.