Novec 1230 is a colorless, odorless and electrically non-conductive clean extinguishing gas developed as an alternative to Halon 1301, which has been prohibited for use by the Montreal Protocol due to its harmful effects on the ozone layer. Novec 1230, which is carbon-based (C₆F₁₂O) and identified with the code FK-5-1-12, is pressurized with nitrogen gas at 25, 42 or 50 Bars and stored in liquid phase within a cylinder. It is a suppression gas approved by many standards and organizations around the world such as UL, FM, LPCB and VdS.
Novec 1230 gas suppression systems respond to fire based on the principle of absorbing heat from the environment and contain fire without affecting the amount of oxygen in the area. Novec 1230 gas was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency to be non-harmful for the ozone layer, can be breathed at the required design concentration, and does not cause any harm to human health. The atmospheric lifetime of Novec 1230 gas is between 3 and 5 days, and its global warming potential factor is 1. In other words, Novec 1230 gas is neither harmful to ozone nor does it have a greenhouse effect. The atmospheric lifetime of FM200 as the closest competitor to Novec 1230 is 36.5 years.
For Novec 1230 gas, the NOAEL level is 10% and the LOAEL level is considered to be over 10.5%. When the design concentration is compared with the NOAEL value, there is a 150% margin of safety. This ratio in FM200 gas, which is the closest clean alternative extinguisher, is only between 3 and 20%.
