FirePro Systems (Europe)

FirePro Systems

Type	Private, LLC
Industry	Fire protection
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Cyprus EU
Number of locations	110 countries (as of 2016)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Evelthon Avgousti (Chairman) Dr Avgoustinos Avgousti (Managing Director) Dr Ghigo De Parenti (Executive Director)
Products	Fire Suppression Systems Fire Suppression Units First Responder Units
Services	Risk analysis (engineering) System Design
Subsidiaries	FireBan
Website	www.firepro.com

FirePro Systems or simply FirePro, is a European automatic fire suppression engineering company specializing in the design, production and distribution of environmentally friendly active fire protection systems. It is considered the leading brand of the condensed aerosol technology with official representation in 75 countries and operations in more than 110.^[1] The company and its R&D division are headquartered in Limassol along with its Manufacturing facilities.^[2]

History

FirePro Systems technology came to prominence following the Montreal Protocol treaty in the 1990s. The treaty was designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of various substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. In 1993, a cluster of environment, health and safety experts investigating fire suppression alternatives concluded that a particular potassium based technology, previously used in the aerospace industry, could be developed as a green alternative to the existing Halon 1301 and other chlorofluorocarbon based systems.^[3][4] In 1994, Charis Economides, an ecopreneur, recognising the potential for a viable environmentally friendly fire suppression system set out to establish the technology across Europe.^[5] He sought the help of Industrial Chemical Engineer, Dr Gian Guido Gianfilippi De Parenti, who instrumentally expanded the Research and Development of the potassium based technology.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]} In 1997, a group of green investors led by Evelthon Avgousti together with Economides and De Parenti formed the FirePro group and commercialized the FirePro Systems technology worldwide. Further research and testing was carried out across Europe with the Hellenic Organization for Standardization the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, the Italian Ministry of Interior, the UK Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB), the Cyprus Fire Service and the Italian Experimental Electrotechnical Center. By 1998, the technology and all related Intellectual Property rights were granted to FirePro.^[12][13]

Green Compound

The solid compound found inside the aerosol generator units uses environment friendly, naturally occurring potassium salts to extinguish fire by inhibiting the chemical chain reactions in the flame on a molecular level. On activation, the compound is transformed into a condensed aerosol consisting mainly of (K₂CO₃), (H
2O) (vapor), N2 and CO2. The gas-type properties of the aerosol facilitate its even distribution in the protected volume as well as its flow into the natural convection currents of combustion. The solid particles of potassium salts, which are of a few microns in size, are suspended in an inert gas that displays a high surface to reaction mass ratio. When the aerosol reacts with the flame, Potassium radicals (K*) are formed mainly from the disassociation of (K₂CO₃). The K*s bind to other flame free radicals (hydroxyls - OH-) forming stable products such as KOH. This action extinguishes fire without depleting the ambient oxygen content. KOH reacts further in the presence of CO2 and forms (K₂CO₃). It is a sustainable approach that challenges conventional firefighting technologies of cooling, starvation or smothering.^[14] The physical and chemical characteristics of the technology do not pose a threat to humans or the environment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has listed FirePro technology in its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) under the stratospheric ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act. The Green Label scheme recommends that they are ozone-friendly and do not contain CFC’s.^{[15][16][17][18]} The National Aerospace Laboratory concludes "that the Electronics Instrumentation test objects exposed to the action of the fire extinguishing agent FirePro have not been affected by their combined exposure to the condensed aerosol medium and to the exposure to a temperature/ humidity variation cycles."^[19]

FPC compound samples

Patents & Trademarks

• Register with the World Intellectual Property Organization
• International Register of Marks maintained under the Madrid system & Protocol
• Canadian Patent no./ 2,250,325
• European Patent no./ 0925808

Technology Standards

By the 2000s, scientific and industrial authorities come to recognize the potential of this new technology.^[20] International standards from Underwriters Laboratories in the United States and Canada, and the British Standards Institute and KIWA in Europe, are implemented to ensure precise application parameters.^{[21][22][23][24][25]} The Marine industry, recognizing the need for space and weight saving in marine applications, awards the company the Marine Equipment Directive 96/98/EC ‘Wheel Mark’ approval in 2010.^[26] By 2011 the technology becomes fully compliant with the European Committee for Standardization CEN/TR 15276 requirements. Approval from the DNV GL, the International Organization for Standardization ISO15779 and Bureau Veritas follows by 2013.^{[27][28][29][30]}

Industry Awards

• Swedish Security Awards 2015: Security Solution^[31]
• SICUR 2012: New Product Introduction
• HISWA Technology Contest: Most Innovative Product 2002
• Firesec 2009: BSI KITEMARK Award
• FISST 2008: Best Innovative Technology in Fire Protection
• Detektor: Technical Product Award

Key People

• Evelthon Avgousti CGS
• Dr Avgoustinos Avgousti Managing Director
• Dr Gian Guido Gianfilippi De Parenti R&D

Further reading

• Agafonov V., et al. 2004. The Mechanism of Fire Suppression by Condensed Aerosols. "Proceedings of the 15th HOTC." NIST, pp 984–993.
• Fleming, James W., Williams, Bradley A. and Sheinson, Ronald S. 2002. Suppression Effectiveness of Aerosols: The Effect of Size and Flame Type. NIST SP984-4. National Institute of Standards and Technology

References