Since its introduction by Tyco Fire Suppression and Building Products in 2004, SAPPHIRE® has been widely adopted as the fire suppression system for marine engine rooms and compartments.
SAPPHIRE utilises the 3M™ Novec™ 1230 fluid, and the fluid is stored in containers as a low vapour pressure fluid that transmutes into a colourless and odourless gas when discharged. It can be used to suppress fires involving electronic, computing or communications equipment. Typical total flooding applications use between just four and six per cent by volume of the fluid, which is well below the agent's saturation or condensation level. When discharged, the agent is dispersed through natural ventilation, leaving no residue to damage sensitive equipment; it is also non-conductive and non-corrosive.
SAPPHIRE has a negligible impact on the environment and an insignificant global warming potential, lower than any of the halocarbon agents acceptable for use in occupied spaces, such as ships’ engine rooms. Installations have a footprint similar to that of chemically-based clean agent systems and, most significantly, the Novec 1230 fluid has the lowest level of design concentration and the highest safety margin of any viable Halon 1301 or chemical alternative. While certain HFCs and inert gases are used at design concentrations that are below the NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level), with safety margins that range from seven per cent to 20 per cent, Tyco says that no other Halon alternative comes anywhere close to the SAPPHIRE 92 percent safety margin.
