Kitchen Suppression Systems

[jakespop]

We are being asked to replace existing suppression system by maintenance company due to age of system. I cannot find anything in Firecode to require such a system. Anyone know any diffferent or have opinions?

[David Rooney]

I don't think there is anything to say you have to have a suppression system. It's normally the requirement of an Insurance agent or risk assessment.

I think the two front runners in the industry are Ansul and Amerex (we do Amerex ) Amerex generally being a bit cheaper.

[Colin Newman]

If the kitchen you refer to was considered to be a "Hospital Main Kitchen", the Firecode guidance in Fire Practice Note 4 may have been applied which recommended:

"automatically-operated, fixed fire-fighting systems... for all new installations of deep fat-fryers havng oil or fat capacities exceeding 10 litres"

[jakespop]

Thanks CN. That could well be the case. I cannot see that this note has been superseded, is it still current?

[nearlythere]

If the kitchen you refer to was considered to be a "Hospital Main Kitchen", the Firecode guidance in Fire Practice Note 4 may have been applied which recommended:

"automatically-operated, fixed fire-fighting systems... for all new installations of deep fat-fryers havng oil or fat capacities exceeding 10 litres"

Is that per appliance?

[jakespop]

" This recommendation applies whether the quoted capacity is contained within a single appliance or is the aggregate figure represented by a number of adjacent appliances."

[Psuedonym]

We are being asked to replace existing suppression system by maintenance company due to age of system. I cannot find anything in Firecode to require such a system. Anyone know any diffferent or have opinions?

Age?!?
Which compiance regulation are your maintenance company referring to with the replacement advice? Unless kit cannot be maintained due to lack of (eg Ansul R101 - powder) spares or parts required follwing a discharge or to comply with manufacturer maintenance schedule requirements, then as long as a system complies with the manufactures' requirements when serviced there should not be an issue with age.
Are they advising a new system be installed as upgrading a current system would not be cost effective?
Are they an authorised dealer in suppression systems?

I would get a second opinon. The manfacturer will be able to provide authorised dealers (and advice) who will provide a survey and fault report.

Let me know if you need any contact details for your manufacturer and I will forward you their details.
 

[Colin Newman]

Fire Practice Note 4 was published in 1994, it was never superseded but it was withdrawn when the Firecode suite of documents was updated as the HTM 05 series.  

It was decided at the time that very few hospitals still retained a main kitchen in the form that used to provide meals for patients, visitors and staff alike, and that general guidance that was available at the time was sufficient to deal with the risks associated with modern catering facilities.

N.T. the 10 L capacity figure applies to either the capacity of a single appliance or the aggregate capacity represented by a number of adjacent appliances.

[nearlythere]

Fire Practice Note 4 was published in 1994, it was never superseded but it was withdrawn when the Firecode suite of documents was updated as the HTM 05 series.  

It was decided at the time that very few hospitals still retained a main kitchen in the form that used to provide meals for patients, visitors and staff alike, and that general guidance that was available at the time was sufficient to deal with the risks associated with modern catering facilities.

N.T. the 10 L capacity figure applies to either the capacity of a single appliance or the aggregate capacity represented by a number of adjacent appliances.

Sorry to be pedantic but is "adjacent"  an relevant word here?

[Colin Newman]

Yes "adjacent" is relevant in so far as calculating the aggregate 10 litre capacity. 

If the kitchen is fitted with two 5 littre fryers which are at opposite ends of the kitchen, then they are not aggregated to 10 litres which would require a fixed extinguishing system.

I believe that the authors of FPN4 were of the opinion that if the capacity of one fryer, or a number of fryers that would potentially be involved in the early stages of the same fire, was greater than 10 litres the risk was significant enough to warrant fixed extinguishing, if the capacity was less than 10 litres, the risk was considerably smaller.

I don't think that the 10 litres criteria is much more than an arbitary figure, I am not aware of any research carried out by DH which demonstrates that anything significant in fire terms occurs at the transition between 9 litres of oil or fat, and 11 litres of oil or fat.