The last word with Janus Fire Systems’ Fred Hildebrandt

Director of Sales at Janus Fire Systems, Fred Hildebrandt discusses the company’s latest fire suppression innovations.

For those unfamiliar with Janus Fire Systems, what does the company do and what sets it apart?

Janus Fire Systems provides engineered fire protection services and equipment for the special systems market, including FK-5-1-12, FM-200, high- and low-pressure CO2 , water mist, alarm and detection, and an engineered dry chemical system— the only one in the industry that uses software to develop product flow calculations.

Our management team has built its careers around engineered suppression systems, from carbon dioxide and Halon 1301 to today’s inert gas and water mist technologies.

How would you describe the relationship between Janus and its customers?

We have strong relationships with our customers, and our organisational structure keeps communication direct and efficient. Customers can quickly reach our sales and management teams. Ideas from the market can be shared directly with our focused R&D group. This helps us develop products that meet real marketplace needs.

What new products has the company launched?

Our latest launch is IG-100, a nitrogen-based inert gas system that stores agent at 300 bar and uses regulated pressure to manage agent delivery into the piping network.

The outlet regulator reduces pressure before the agent enters the piping system, allowing common materials such as Schedule 40 pipe and Class 300 fittings. Regulated discharge also helps limit pressure rise in the protected room. Because IG-100 uses pure nitrogen, it supports simpler recharge, maintenance and operation.

How did the IG-100 come about?

We believe nitrogen is the right molecule for our IG-100 extinguishing system platform. It is safe for occupied spaces at fire-suppression concentrations, offers strong heat-absorption characteristics, is available worldwide and is cost-effective.

How important are NFPA standards and other regulations to Janus, and how do you ensure your products meet them?

NFPA standards-making committees are highly respected worldwide, and their standards and guidelines are relied on across the industry.

Building on that foundation, UL and FM approvals give end users confidence that the product meets the highest recognised standards.

Looking to next year, can we expect anything new from Janus?

With IG-100 now in production and shipping to distributors, our R&D team is focusing on Water Mist systems.

Our low-pressure special protection system is designed to maximize water use for specific hazards and each system is engineered in accordance with NFPA 750.

It is primarily applied to combustion turbines and in power generation, but also has a FM light-hazard approval, suiting it for applications where a high demand for water cannot be supplied.