Fire suppression systems market is expected to witness substantial growth owing to rising demand for fire protection and prevention system in fire risk prone industries including manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, energy and power.

According to a report by Research and Markets, the global fire suppression market is estimated to be worth $22.97 billion by the end of 2018 and is projected to reach $29.13 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 4.87 per cent between 2018 and 2023.

Increasing awareness among organisations related to fire protection including safeguarding the structure and minimising human loss are expected to be the key drivers for growth of global fire suppression market. In addition, stringent regulations supporting improved fire safety standards due to rising disasters are expected to propel market growth.

Furthermore, growing infrastructure activities particularly in developing countries is expected to augment the market growth over the forecast period. Rising consumer awareness regarding fire safety coupled with mandatory building safety codes will also foster market growth.

Rising demand for advanced technologies related to automation of fire safety systems are other factors which will drive market growth. In addition, construction of smart cities with wireless sensory networks is likely to simplify the automation process. Also, rise in demand for centralised protection system with advanced sensors and detectors connected through LAN/WAN networks is expected to propel the market growth owing to higher efficiency standards, the report said.

WIDELY USED PRODUCTS 

Fire suppression systems are fire protection systems which uses a combination of dry chemicals and wet agents to control and extinguish the fire. Most widely used fire suppression system is automatic fire suppression system including fire sprinkler system, gaseous fire suppression and condensed aerosol fire suppression. Fire sprinkler system is the most widely used fire protection system across as it is widely used in factories, large commercial buildings, hotels, schools and hospitals owing to comparatively low setup cost. In addition, use of gaseous fire suppression and condensed aerosol fire suppression is on a rise owing to improved fire extinguishing capabilities.

Flexible sprinklers are the most selling fire suppression systems

Fire suppression clean agents are expected to account for the largest share of the fire suppression market during the forecast period. The gaseous suppression system is also known as clean agent suppression system that uses inert gases and chemicals to extinguish fire. Clean agent fire suppression systems are waterless and deploy immediately without leaving oily residue or water that can damage irreplaceable assets. Clean agent fire suppression systems use a gaseous agent rather than water to diffuse fires to minimise damage from a fire. These systems, available in different forms, such as carbon dioxide and FM200 (fire suppression reagent), are ideal for data centres, manufacturing plants, healthcare offices, chemical storage facilities, museums and IT rooms.

In fact, FM200 accounted for the largest market size in 2017. FM200 is a clean, colourless, and environmentally friendly fire suppression agent that is electrically nonconductive and safe for humans. It extinguishes flame primarily through heat absorption, leaving no residue, and thus minimising downtime after a fire. FM200 agent is stored in a cylinder as a liquid and pressurised with nitrogen, which makes it a highly compact fire suppression system.

The use of FM200 does not affect aluminum, brass, steel, cast iron, lead, stainless steel, copper, as well as rubber, plastic, and electronic components. Due to this, it is used in telecommunication facilities, computer rooms, control rooms, museums and art galleries, historical archive storage, and pharmaceutical and medical facilities.

GROWING SECTORS

Manufacturing industries accounted for the largest market share for fire suppression system owing to its large scale use in industries including automotive, steel and cement to help control the damage and loss of equipment.

Oil and gas industry contributed a significant market share owing to large scale use in onshore and offshore fire protection, gas plants, refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants fire protection. Fire suppression system is used in power plants for fire protection in various locations including control rooms, cable trays, coal handling, turbine areas, electrical equipment, boiler buildings, cooling towers, transformers and fuel storage and handling. In addition, fire suppression system is used in photovoltaic solar power plants to provide fire protection in switchgear rooms used in photovoltaic facility and in concentrated solar power plants to provide fire protection in solar field.

Fire suppression system is also used in healthcare mainly in hospitals for protection against fire due to HVAC and electrical fire where the main focus is on safety of patients in the hospital. However rising market competition for manufacturing high quality and cost competitive products with improved efficiency is expected to be a major challenge for the market growth over the forecast period, the report noted.

FAST GROWING REGIONS

Europe accounted for the largest market share for fire suppression system owing to stringent government rules and regulations supporting the installation of fire protection system in buildings. Stringent fire safety norms in Norway and UK have also pushed offshore oil and gas operators in the region to increase their investment to improve fire safety arrangements. Asia Pacific contributed to a significant market share owing to considerable growth in building infrastructure and rising investment in offshore development in the region.

In addition, rising industrialisation in emerging economies like India and China coupled with significant number of floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels proposed to be setup in Australia is expected to augment the global market for fire suppression system over the forecast period. Increasing oil and gas projects in Brazil and West Africa coupled with preplanned offshore projects initiated by governments of several economies is expected to augment global fire suppression system market growth.

The fire suppression market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in RoW (rest of the world) during the forecast period. The African fire sprinkler market has the potential to grow due to the development of power plants. For instance, the construction of coal-fired Amu Power plant in Kenya, coal-fired power plant in Ghana, gas-fired power station in Ressano Garcia, coal-fired independent power plant in South Africa, and peat-fired power plant in Southern Rwanda drives the installation of fire suppression systems. Further, there are many government initiatives fostering the growth of the fire suppression market in Africa.

Major factors restraining the fire suppression market growth are high installation and maintenance costs of fire suppression systems and the lack of integrity in system interfaces.

Major companies in the fire suppression market are Johnson Controls, United Technologies, Robert Bosch, Siemens, Halma, Hochiki, Firefly, Minimax Viking, Honeywell, and S&S Fire Suppression Systems. Key innovators in the market are EMS Security Group, Electro Detectors, Napco Security Technologies, Fike, and Gentex.