Carbon Dioxide Gas
Under normal atmospheric temperature and pressures, carbon dioxide exists as a colorless, odorless gas which is about 1.5 times heavier than air. Carbon dioxide will not burn or support combustion and will not sustain life. When confined within a suitable pressure vessel and depending on temperature and pressure conditions, carbon dioxide can exist in any of three stages of matter; solid, liquid and gas.
High pressure CO2 system is a specialized fire extinguishing system designed to maintain the carbon dioxide supply at 21º C and 850 psig in strength alloy steel cylinders. The cylinders contain the CO2 required to protect the largest single hazard. On large hazards where several cylinders are required, a manifold is used to connect each cylinder by means of flexible hoses and check valves. Cylinder valves control the CO2 flow to the hazard through properly sized pipe, terminating in nozzles that apply the CO2. Flow rate is controlled by nozzle orifices as well as pipe sizes. The cylinder master valves are electronically operated and the slave valves are pressure actuated. The master valves can be automatically and/or manually operated.
