User's Manual

General Information
September 2013 1-5 September 2013
1-6.1.5 POST-RELEASE WARNINGS AND PROCEDURES
After a release of carbon dioxide, provisions shall be made to prohibit entry of unprotected
personnel to spaces made unsafe by a carbon dioxide discharge until the space is ventilated
and appropriate tests of the atmosphere have verified that it is safe for unprotected persons
to enter. Persons who are not properly trained in the use of and equipped with self-contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA) shall not remain in spaces where the CO
2
concentration exceeds
4 percent. Such provisions shall include one or more of the following:
• Addition of a distinctive odor to the discharging carbon dioxide, the detection of which
serves as an indication to persons that carbon dioxide gas is present. Personnel shall be
trained to recognize the odor and evacuate spaces wherein the odor is detected.
• Provision of automatic alarms activated by carbon dioxide detectors or oxygen detectors
and located at the entry to and within such spaces. The pre-discharge alarms may be used
to serve this purpose if they operate until the space is ventilated and the safety of the
atmosphere has been verified.
• Establishment and enforcement of confined space entry procedures for such areas.
A means for prompt ventilation of affected areas shall be provided. Forced ventilation will often
be necessary. Care should be taken to properly dissipate hazardous atmospheres and not
merely move them to another location. Careful consideration should be given to low-lying
areas, as carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will settle in such spaces.
Prompt discovery and rescue of persons rendered unconscious in protected areas can be
accomplished by having such areas searched by trained personnel equipped with proper
breathing equipment. Those persons rendered unconscious by carbon dioxide may be restored
without permanent injury by artificial respiration, if removed quickly from the hazardous
atmosphere. Self-contained breathing equipment and personnel trained in its use, and in
rescue practices including artificial respiration, should be readily available.
1-6.2 Storage
The Kidde Fire Systems high pressure carbon dioxide system uses seamless steel cylinders to
store the carbon dioxide at ambient temperature. Each cylinder is equipped with a discharge
valve fitted with a siphon tube to discharge liquid carbon dioxide through the distribution
piping.
The number of cylinders required for a given application is determined by the size and nature
of the hazard being protected. When multiple cylinders are employed, the cylinders are
connected to a common piping system through a manifold.
Cylinders with attached releasing devices are defined as pilot cylinders. The system uses pilot
cylinders to initiate the suppression system discharge. Actuation of the pilot cylinders creates
sufficient pressure in the manifold to actuate the remaining cylinders in the system (called
“slave” cylinders). If the suppression system consists of one or two cylinders, one pilot cylinder
is used to initiate the carbon dioxide discharge. When the suppression system has three or
more storage cylinders, multiple pilot cylinders, actuated simultaneously, are used to initiate
the carbon dioxide discharge.
If permitted by the authority having jurisdiction, a group of carbon dioxide cylinders can be
used to protect one or more areas by means of directional valves. The system designer must
use careful judgment in the design of a directional valve system. The multiple areas protected
by the suppression system must be sufficiently isolated from each other so that two or more
protected areas cannot simultaneously be involved in a fire.
1-6.3 Discharge Characteristics
The Kidde Fire Systems carbon-dioxide suppression system employs siphon tubes fitted to the
valves within the cylinders in conjunction with a variety of discharge nozzles for agent
distribution into a protected space or onto a piece of equipment. The liquid carbon dioxide is