Fire suppression — Novec 1230 Fire Protection Fluid

3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid is a clean agent fire extinguishant which was developed as a halon replacement and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) alternative. It belongs to a family of chemicals called halocarbons, a group which includes HFCs and fluoroketones. Novec 1230 fluid is a fluoroketone, while chemical clean agents like FM-200™ are HFCs (HFC-227ea). Novec 1230 fluid has a global warming potential (GWP) of less than one while HFCs typically have a GWP of more than 3000. Novec 1230 fluid has the highest margin of safety for human occupancy among clean agents, including inert gas.

Ansul Sapphire Novec 1230 Fluid fire protection system discharging in data center servers.
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Clean agent fire suppression designed for the future

  • When you specify a fire protection system, your choices can determine whether a person, valuable asset or even an entire business survives a fire. When that system uses Novec 1230 fluid, you may confidently offer your client a solution that:

     
    • Extinguishes a fire in seconds, before it even starts and long before water-based systems or inert systems discharge.

    • Helps protect valuable assets including electronics, irreplaceable paper documents, artefacts and archives. Because Novec 1230 fluid is a waterless fire suppression solution, it leaves no residue and is electrically non-conductive.

    • Provides the highest margin of safety for human occupancy of any clean agent solution.

    • Is not subject to the HFC phasedown under the F-Gas Regulation in Europe or any global regulatory body, including the Montreal Protocol.

    • Comes with a global environmental warranty — the 3M™ Blue Sky℠ Warranty, designed to provide additional peace of mind.

    • Is stored as a liquid and discharged as a gas, taking up approximately 80% less floor space compared to inert gas systems.

    • Is appropriate for Class A, B and C fire hazards.

  • Woman IT worker on ipad in data center with blue and purple triangle graphic  over the top and text that reads

    How does Novec 1230 fluid work?

    Novec 1230 fluid extinguishes a fire before it starts by rapidly removing heat. In a typical total flooding system, the fluid is stored as a liquid in cylinders pressurised with nitrogen. Automatic detection sensors trigger release when the fire is at the incipient stage, extinguishing it in mere seconds.

    Novec 1230 fluid evaporates 50 times faster than water. In fact, you could soak a paperback book in a bath of Novec 1230 fluid and within a minute, pick it up and read where you left off.

    In this video you’ll see a controlled test of a fire in a simulated data centre. Watch to compare the performance of Novec 1230 fluid to a water sprinkler system.


  • Smart, safe, sustainable fire protection

    Smart, safe, sustainable fire protection

    When you specify a system for fire protection, lives, livelihoods and the environment are at stake. 3M™ Novec™ Fire Protection Fluid helps give you the peace of mind that you’ve made the smart choice to help safeguard all the things in your care.

    3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid is a next-generation synthetic clean agent, designed to balance concerns for human safety, performance and the environment.


  • Sustainable

    Helping to protect your business and the environment

    3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid has the highest environmental profile of synthetic clean agents available today.

    With zero Ozone Depletion Potential and a Global Warming Potential of less than 1 due to a five day atmospheric lifetime, Novec 1230 fluid helps protect the environment, as well as your valuable assets.

    Novec 1230 fluid is not subject to the European F-gas Regulation or any other International Directive or Regulation.

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    View Graph


  • Extinguishes Fires. Fast

    Extinguishes Fires. Fast

    Within seconds, the full extinguishing effect of 3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid unfolds. When released in a properly designed system, Novec 1230 fluid rapidly vapourises and evenly distributes throughout the protected space within 10 seconds. It absorbs the heat from the fire, thus interrupting the chain reaction and within a maximum of 40 seconds the fire is extinguished. And since the fire extinguishing system using Novec 1230 fluid extinguishes fire much faster compared to inert gas or CO2 based systems, damage to high value assets is significantly reduced. Meaning business can carry on as normal.

    Read more (PDF, 3.47 MB)

    View Graph


  • Safe for people

    Safe for people

    View Graph: Fire extinguishing agents: margin of safety

    Fire extinguishing agents are not equal in the safety provided for occupants. Reviewing the permitted limit for humans and the design concentration gives the best guide to an agent’s potentially hazardous effect. The NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level) is the internationally established limit for the various extinguishing agents. The design concentration is the amount of extinguishing agent required to extinguish the fire safely. The margin of safety for humans arises from the relative difference between the design concentration and the specific NOAEL.

    Graph: Novec 1230 fluid provides widest safety margin for use in occupied spaces Based on EN 15004 Higher Hazard Class A, and NFPA 12 for CO2


  • Saves space

    Saves space

    When space is at a premium, fire extinguishing systems requiring multiple cylinders can present a challenge. 3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid is stored as a liquid, whereas inert gases or CO2 are stored as a gas. This means you need significantly less cylinders to store Novec 1230 fluid, enabling more flexible site selection. For confined spaces, the cylinders can be installed within the protected area, removing the need for a separate storage room. In the long run Novec 1230 fluid can help save space and associated cost.

    Read more (PDF, 3.47 MB)


Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about Novec 1230 at a glance — get answers to typical questions and see why specifiers call it a clean agent with no known equal.

Purple banner: data center servers; ship; transmission tower; airplane; gas pump, museum, train, hospital, factory
Ideal fire suppression for challenging industries

Comparing fire protection solutions

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Novec 1230 fluid offers unparalleled value. Whether you’re looking to:


  • Replace a halon fire protection system
  • Find an environmentally sustainable and cost comparable alternative to FM-200™ or other HFCs
  • Select a clean agent with a high margin of safety for occupied spaces

See at a glance how it stacks up against other common fire suppression systems in terms of performance, safety, sustainability and design flexibility.

Or compare in-depth against HFCs, inert gases, water and CO₂​.

Novec 1230 vs Inergen, FE-25, FM-200, Water, Aerosol & CO2. Compare: safety, performance, sustainability & design

  • Fire Wire is 3M Novec 1230’s quarterly fire suppression newsletter, developed for specifying engineers, architects and everyone else working in special hazards fire protection. Sign up to get case studies, product announcements from 3M and our OEM partners, FAQs, news commentary and more.


Specifying engineer examines documents to prepare a Novec 1230 specification
Build a Specification

Each specification for a fire suppression system using Novec 1230 fluid reflects the unique circumstances of the application as well as each client’s special considerations, such as sustainability, occupant safety or protecting delicate assets such as hard drives.

Quickly and easily build a specification that meets your client’s needs with our Build a Spec tool.

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Find an approved equipment manufacturer

We have worked with our approved original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to optimise Novec 1230 fluid’s performance in their listed or approved systems.

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Featured resources and tools


  • 3M™ Blue Sky℠ Warranty

    3M™ Blue Sky℠ Warranty

    The 3M™ Blue SkySM Warranty is the industry’s first-of-its-kind global environmental warranty. If 3M™ Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid is banned from or restricted in use as a fire protection agent within 20 years after installation due to its Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) or Global Warming Potential (GWP), we’ll refund the purchase price of the fluid (backed by a system warranty offered by specific OEM partners).

    Download the brochure (PDF, 247 KB)


Let us answer your fire suppression questions

Turn to our team of engineers and scientists to answer your questions and give you the support you need regarding fire suppression systems, regulations and Novec 1230 fluid.