Active fire prevention with OxyReduct®

A better alternative to sprinklers: Safe oxygen reduction / nitrogen infusion fire prevention

According to the NFPA, a fire breaks out somewhere in the United States every 23 seconds. Workplaces particularly at risk include warehouse settings, where fires can cripple operations for extended periods of time - causing serious, sometimes permanent, damage to the affected business. In order to adequately protect their people, products and processes, warehouse operators must put a reliable fire protection system in place. While sprinklers have long been the OSHA-compliant standard solution for fire suppression in the United States, they carry serious downsides as water and other extinguishing agents can cause irrevocable damage to stored goods. That is why companies, and particularly high-bay warehouses are now increasingly searching for sprinkler alternatives.

Enter WAGNER’s oxygen reduction solution for active fire prevention.

Unlike conventional fire protection systems that are primarily reactive, WAGNER’s flagship product, OxyReduc, prevents fires from starting in the first place. By introducing non-toxic nitrogen into the air, OxyReduct® safely reduces oxygen levels in protected areas to below the point at which a fire can ignite. Facilities remain safe and safely accessible to personnel.

Approved by VdS, Europe’s premier independent institution for fire protection and safety, OxyReduct® is the leading solution for nitrogen fire prevention around the world. A case in point: the system is currently being used by Preferred Freezer Services to prevent fire outbreaks at North America’s largest cold storage warehouse in Seattle, WA.

Active fire prevention

How oxygen reduction works to prevent fires from starting

To start, fire needs a certain level of oxygen, heat and fuel. If one of these three components is missing, a breakout becomes impossible. This is the basic principle behind OxyReduct®.  By introducing natural nitrogen into the air, OxyReduct® lowers oxygen levels just enough to ensure complete, reliable fire protection and a safe work environment.

Why WAGNER?

As the global technology leader in fire prevention, WAGNER develops  fire protection concepts tailored to its customers’ needs.

Why OxyReduct®?

  • Maximizes protection
    Proactive fire prevention also means preventing damage from smoke, extinguishing agents and other harmful substances, common byproducts of a fire.
  • Makes business sense
    OxyReduct® fire prevention ensures seamless business continuity and keeps operating costs down.
  • Offers continuous control
    OxyReduct® continuously controls oxygen levels in the air and automatically adjusts them, as needed.
  • Scalable
    OxyReduct® can be flexibly adapted and expanded to meet evolving business needs.
  • Flexible
    Einfachste Nutzungsanpassung bei Veränderungen des Schutzraumes nach Ein- und Umbauten sowie Renovierungen.
  • Tested and certified
    OxyReduct® is tested and certified by VdS, Europe’s premier independent institution for fire protection and safety.
  • Smart design
    Compact, cutting-edge design makes OxyReduct® both powerful and space efficient.
  • Leading manufacturer
    OxyReduct® is the brainchild and flagship product of WAGNER, a global technology leader in nitrogen fire prevention with over 700 fire safety patents.

Proactive carbon-based nitrogen generation

Reference projects

Preferred Freezer Services, Richland  (USA): Active fire prevention in the world’s largest cold storage warehouse

Our warehouse has to be operational 24/7 no matter what. We can’t afford interruptions of any kind.

Burnie Taylor, General Manager, Preferred Freezer Services

to Application Report

Dr. Oetker, London (Canada): new fire prevention system for the Canadian market

One of the biggest challenges was observing the local guidelines so as to provide the Safety Authority inspectors and the customer with a functioning and standard-compliant system. The result was the approval of the first OxyReduct® system within the North American market!

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Lena Niederstuke, WAGNER Project Engineer

KLM Logistik, Rheine (Germany): Fully automated deep-freeze high-bay warehouse with comprehensive fire protection concept

Even in the early stages of the planning process, we knew that [...] our business processes and our warehouse’s automatic logistics processes needed to be maintained no matter what.

Frank Huckschlag, Managing Director, NewCold Germany Rheine

KERN & SOHN GmbH, Balingen (Germany): Cutting-edge fire prevention technology for Southern German developers and manufacturers of precision scales

The goods are precious and actually being ready to ship them is even more valuable to us. That’s why we’ve invested in good fire protection, in the form of fire prevention.

Albert Sauter, Managing Director, KERN & SOHN GmbH

to Application Report

Areas of application

High-bay warehouses

Buildings 30 metres or more in height, product flows centralised within gigantic logistics centres, and investment-heavy intra-logistics systems: from a fire-engineering point of view, this combination results in a great deal of fire risk, and any serious situations will be nearly impossible to get under control using conventional extinguishing systems. This is why WAGNER developed OxyReduct® active fire prevention, as an economic system of preventative fire protection for sensitive areas with high asset concentrations.

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Automated small parts storage

Extensive automation and high, densely packed storage racks with narrow spaces between them help maximise efficient utilisation of warehouse capacity—and also facilitate the development and spread of fire. Extinguishing with foam or water is difficult in such situations, and also results in additional damage. When fires occur, the special polypropylene small load carriers behave like flammable liquids. OxyReduct® can help actively reduce the risk of fires developing.

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Deep freeze storage facilities

Changes in consumer behaviour have increased the need for frozen foods or convenience products, such as fish, meat, vegetables and baked goods. Requirements on the deep-freeze logistics process chain have increased accordingly. Should a fire break out in a cold storage facility, even the smallest amount of smoke contamination can damage food and endanger delivery capabilities. Extinguishing water with added antifreeze would render food equally unfit for consumption. The OxyReduct® oxygen reduction system effectively prevents fires from developing, and in these naturally sealed storage facilities, they can establish and maintain protective atmospheres in a very energy efficient way, while ensuring that employees can still access the protected area freely.

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Hazardous materials storage

In hazardous materials warehouses, safety poses major challenges for both operators and fire protection officers. The stored goods are flammable and may be extremely prone to combustion. In such situations, the most successful fire protection concepts are those that minimise risk from the outset, such as WAGNER’s oxygen reduction systems with CO2 flood extinguishers.

Lithium battery storage

Demand for lithium-ion batteries within the automotive industry has practically exploded. Battery formation and ageing represent the greatest fire hazards in production. When lithium-ion batteries are used outside of their specifications, mechanical, electrical and thermal effects can all make them potentially dangerous. For example, heat can cause a battery to burst, and the escaping electrolytes can catch fire, causing an explosion that ignites other batteries nearby and creating a chain reaction. Sprinkler systems are problematic in such facilities, both because batteries are packed so densely within the warehouse and because water is highly conductive. WAGNER has demonstrated in numerous fire experiments that protective oxygen-reduced environments can prevent a burgeoning battery fire from spreading.

Archives, museums and libraries

Museums, libraries and archives house priceless works of art, cultural heritage items and one-of-a-kind documents. Protecting these unique and irreplaceable items requires a comprehensive fire protection concept, because even the smallest quantities of smoke, fire, or extinguishing agent residue would destroy these valuable objects. OxyReduct® systems provide active, preventative fire protection for these collections.