George P. Crampton

Fire Suppression with Inert Gas Agents

Total flooding fire suppression tests of pure argon (IG-01) and an inert gas mixture (IG-541) were conducted in a 121 m 3 compartment with simulated electronic- cabinet fires, wood-crib fires, liquid-pool fires and spray fires. Both agents extinguished the test fires by reducing the oxygen concentration in the compartment. Small fires were challenging to extinguish while large fires were easier to extinguish. The oxygen concentration in the compartment fell t o below 10% in some of the tests with large test fires. IG-541 was uniformly distributed throughout the compartment during the tests. The distribution o f argon became stratified during the tests.

Corrosion of Electronic Components by Hydrogen Fluoride

Generation of hydrogen fluoride (HF) from fire suppression by some gaseous agents is a major concern, because HF causes corrosion. Without proper precautions, the HF corrosion damage to some electronic facilities can be significant. A study has been carried out to evaluate the corrosion effect of HF on electronic equipment. This article describes details of the corrosion study in terms of test results from corrosion damage assessments. Test results show that surface corrosion on the electronic boards is visible when the test specimen is exposed to HF concentrations above 1000 ppm for 1 h. Test results also show that a video card with many attached components is much more vulnerable to HF corrosion damage than other test boards. The functionality of the video card is affected even at a relatively low HF concentration of 500 ppm.