An interesting question came up today so I thought I would share it with you all. It all started with apples!
So how are apples stored while they await processing? Apples are sealed in an environment that is around 2 percent oxygen where temperature, humidity, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are carefully regulated. Apples “breath” and the deeper they breathe, the longer they’ll live!
So the question was – what is the fire risk of this area? Any idea?
None!! Fire needs at least 16% oxygen.
For those who work with fire suppression gases this makes perfect sense, as many of the gas suppression systems work on the theory of reducing the oxygen levels to around 14% – where the fire will die, but people can still live.
Note, other gas suppression systems reduce oxygen levels below 12% – these are not rooms you want to be in when they are released!!