ASB's approach provides you with the protection options you need, based upon your specific process requirements, and your protection objectives. As a leader in the industry, we are continuously researching and pursuing the leading technologies in protection strategies to meet our customer’s needs.

Explosion suppression systems deliver extinguishing agents into rapidly developing fires to suppress them before they reach destructive proportions. A typical system consists of a unitized sensor, a power supply module, a system monitor and several "cannons."

The cannon propels the extinguishing agent into the the developing fireball of an explosion. Because the developing explosion has a head start on the actuation of the suppression system, the system must be explosively actuated. This breaks up any compaction of dry chemical agents or vaporizes liquid extinguishing agents, and releases stored pressure to deliver the agent at a very rapid rate. The function of the agent is to extract heat from the developing fireball. Because of the amount of heat is a function of the size of the fireball, and because the size grows rapidly with time, the suppression system must react very quickly.

Process pressure is monitored by a unitized sensor module that contains three individual sensors and the electronic logic to trigger the cannons. If two of the three sensors indicate that a sufficient pressure rise of an explosive nature has occurred, the logic circuit actuates the cannons. The individual sensors are programmed to actuate the system based on a pre-determined rate of pressure rise typical of an explosion, as opposed to gradual process pressure increases.

The system monitor provides intrinsically safe power to the sensors and cannons. It also interprets signals from the sensor and indicates system status through dedicated LEDs. For additional signaling and monitoring purposes, the system monitor has relays for remote signaling and system lock-out.

A power supply module supplies 24 vdc to the system with either 120 or 220/240 vac line voltage input. Batteries within the power supply module are maintained on continuous charge and provide power to the system if inverter power is lost.

Because intrinsically safe levels of current are used to power the cannons and sensor, ordinary conduit can be used to run wiring, thus eliminating the need for expensive, explosion-proof hardware and installation costs.

The entire system has been engineered not only for the protection of process equipment, but also to safeguard personnel who must install and maintain the safety system. System lockout features assure maintenance personnel that there will be no accidental or process triggering of the system while they carry out maintenance work. The lockout has provision for attaching a standard OSHA padlock device.

After an explosion has been successfully contained by discharge of the cannons, they can be refit on-site. Components necessary for refit can be kept on-site without the need for an explosives license for storage or handling. This capability significantly reduces the cost of ownership that may not be apparent when considering the initial cost of a suppression system.