User Manual

A white paper issued by Siemens  September 2015
© Siemens AG 2015. All rights reserved
13
2 Silent Extinguishing –
an holistic approach
After concluding that high noise levels may disrupt hard disk drives, Siemens initiated the
development of the Silent Extinguishing Technology. The goal of the development process was to
devise concepts that would provide the same extinguishing performance at a significantly lower
noise level.
2.1 Extinguishing agent selection
Extinguishing
agent
Environment, personal safety
and secondary damage
Preferred
application in
data centers
Noise emission
Nitrogen ++ Very environmentally
friendly
++ Not hazardous to humans
++ Residue-free extinguishing;
no damage to IT equipment,
buildings and facilities
++ No disruption to hard disk
drives and storage systems
when using Silent
Extinguishing
Medium to large
protection
volume
High to very high noise emission with
conventional systems
Argon
Moderate noise emission with use of
silent nozzles and additional measures
Mixtures
CO2 + Environmentally friendly
-- Hazardous to humans
Not common Unknown
HFC-227ea - Subject to environmental
requirements or already
banned in some countries
0 Poses little hazard to
humans
++ No damage to electric and
electronic equipment and
building facilities
Small to medium
protection volume
High noise emission, no silent solutions
available
Novec 1230 + Most sustainable chemical
extinguishing agent
+ Highest safety factor for
humans
++ No damage to electric and
electronic equipment and
building facilities
Medium noise emission
Low noise emission with use of silent
solutions
Water mist ++ Very environmentally
friendly
++ No hazard to humans
-- Can cause damage to electric
and electronic equipment
and building
facilities
-- Electrical hazard
Building
protection
Low noise emission