What is the configuration of fire extinguishers in the cabinet room?
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Hello, experts. I would like to ask what type of fire extinguishers should be installed in a cabinet room? Please state the reason or basis, thank you.
Generally, in electrical-related applications such as distribution cabinets and DCS cabinets, carbon dioxide fire extinguishers with rubber nozzles are required; dry powder fire extinguishers can also be used to put out fires involving cables. The main purpose of using carbon dioxide fire extinguishers is to minimize damage to the components inside the distribution cabinets. If dry powder is used, even if there is no fire, those components can no longer be used, while carbon dioxide fire extinguishers help to reduce losses as much as possible
GB 50160-2018 Code for Fire Protection Design of Petrochemical Enterprises: CO2 fire extinguishers (portable or cart-mounted) are generally installed in instrument cabinets. Under pressure, liquid carbon dioxide is compressed into a small steel cylinder, and it is then sprayed out to extinguish fires; it serves to lower the temperature and isolate air. Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers are primarily used to extinguish incipient fires involving valuable equipment, archival materials, instruments, electrical equipment below 600 volts, and oils.
For the cabinet room, carbon dioxide is used; for the operation room, both carbon dioxide and dry powder are used. Generally, two units of each type are installed, with the exact number depending on the size of the area. The cabinet room requires gas fire suppression for electrical equipment, while the operation room may face other types of fires in addition to those caused by equipment, which is why two types of extinguishing agents are used there
So, GB 50140 states that several types of fire extinguishers can be used for Class E fires. How should this be understood?
Use carbon dioxide for initial fires, and dry powder for large fires (when the equipment has no protective value). Can it be understood this way?
Could using this carbon dioxide fire extinguisher in a small space cause suffocation?
Choose the fire extinguisher size based on the space size: L. Do you really not understand at all, buddy?!
Electrical equipment should use CO2 fire extinguishers
It can also be understood in this way: by extinguishing the fire at an early stage, it is possible to save the equipment as well, ensuring that it can still be used. If everything catches fire and the fire is extinguished but the equipment can no longer be used, there’s no need to worry about powder sticking to the electronic components and rendering them unusable. In principle, although dry powder can extinguish fires, when it is sprayed on circuit boards, the equipment becomes unusable. On the other hand, carbon dioxide not only extinguishes fires but also causes no damage to electronic components after being sprayed, allowing the equipment to remain functional
What I’m not clear about is regarding fires of Category E under GB 50140 (related to distribution rooms): dry powder and carbon dioxide fire extinguishers can both be used. However, GB 50160 states that gas fire extinguishers (carbon dioxide) are preferred for distribution rooms. Are there no conflicts between these two regulations? For example, in a 5-square-meter power distribution room (cabinet room), what type of fire extinguisher should I use?