The latest environmentally friendly fire suppression technology is being introduced to the New Zealand market by Hydraulink Fire Suppression, to protect lives, assets and product.
Fire Suppression is vital to markets such as mining and energy, rail, steel and metals processing, highway and roads, agricultural, forestry, waste management, construction, defence, and anywhere that machinery works could lead to a fire and damage equipment, stock, or worse, put lives in danger.
Hydraulink Fire Suppression, which services all of New Zealand, now specifies Fluorine-free F3 foam on all new pre-engineered fire suppression installations, because it is more environmentally friendly, and safer for workers and machinery operators.
“This is the industry’s new gold standard, which excludes components that may have harmful effects on people and the environment and were found in other firefighting Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) types. F3 is a more sustainable option that performs the required task efficiently and safely,” says Murray Allen, New Zealand industrial manager, Hydraulink.
Hydraulink Fire Suppression is the sole New Zealand distributor for Muster Fire Suppression systems. Hydraulink Fire Suppression teams also perform scheduled inspections and service for most brands of fire suppression systems operating in the NZ market.
“Even though there’s no set standard governing fire suppression in New Zealand, Hydraulink Fire Suppression made the decision to ensure our systems were all AS5062 compliant – the strict standard that Muster follows for installations in Australia,” says Allen.
“AS5062 means that all installations and all products abide by strict quality assurance practices, which means our customers are assured of a quality system, installed by trained staff, and maintained for the lifetime of the product,” he says.
LINEAR HEAT DETECTION
Hydraulink Fire Suppression now also utilises Linear Heat Detection (LHD) to further minimise costs and downtime for customers. The major advantage of using LHD, is that there is no leakage of gas through the system.
“Most heat detection systems use a Nitrogen filled tube, which melts at a set temperature when exposed to fire. We use a MusterWire LHD system with protective cover over the linear wire that actuates at 180oC, which short circuits the wires when fire is detected, thereby activating the system. The LHD system also ensures no leakage of gas through the system,” explains Allen.
REGULAR SERVICE WITH TOTAL TRACEABILITY
All fire suppression systems come with a recommendation to service them annually, with visual inspections at 3 or 6-month intervals.
“The exact servicing schedule can be site-specific, and we work to our customers’ preferred schedule, as long as the major service happens at least once a year. We keep total records and registers of all equipment, so that the customer has full traceability and can see the remaining life of the system,” says Allen.
“Traceability is so important with fire suppression systems, because each will have a finite life. If a fire occurs, you want to know that the system in place will deliver the expected protection for both personnel & asset – the cost, downtime, and risk to life just isn’t worth it.”