Dear Nicholas
Either your engineering manager knows something that no-one else does, or
he is not familiar with the inert gas extinguishing systems. I am assuming
that your system is not an old one, especially since you quote your system
manual.
Under the aegis of the Halon Alternatives Group, the Loss Prevention
Council carried research and tests on all the major systems in 1998,
including a number of argon-based inert gas systems and this formed the
basis of HAG recognition for replacements for Halon. The LPC's criteria
included the fundamental requirement that oxygen levels should not reduce
below 12% so that the atmosphere remains intrinsically safe for supporting
human life. The oxygen level must of course drop to below 15% in order to
cease supporting the fire. If my memory serves me correctly, the Argonite
system performed appropriately in the tests.
It may be helpful for you to arrange a meeting with your engineering
manager and an informed third party, to go through the concerns the manager
has and compare them with the technical specifications.
The principal of switching a system to manual during the day when people
are in the office is a slightly separate matter. Since the system is
supposed to be covering the area 24 hours a day (I imagine) and since there
is a (probably measurable) risk of people not switching the system back to
automatic at the end of the day, I would suggest that the fire-damage risks
arising from his proposal are too high. Indeed, it may be questionable
whether Barclays' insurance managers would be happy with his proposal. I
have yet to hear any logical reason for not having a system on automatic
24hrs a day. Watch out for service engineers forgetfully leaving it on
manual after their service visits! It happens...
I hope that this is helpful.
Chris Woods
Senior Archive Conservator
Dorset Archives Service
|