Who needs oxygen, anyhow?

NO, bob. At Denver's

NO, bob. At Denver's altitude your 15% artifical atmosphere would be deadly for many. It would become an equivalent of around 12.5% oxygen.

Gentlemen, Go

Gentlemen,

Go to
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/2/352

and you will see the Walter Reed Medical Center Study from 1995 that proves FirePASS technology's safety.

Just to let you know from a respiratory standpoint it is the same partial pressure Oxygen environment as being in a commercial airplane.

Jim to let you know you can use a pulse Oximeter to check your PSO2 levels in your blood and it takes 30 seconds or you can wear one on your wrist, you don't need to draw blood. Jim you should really should understand the technology before you come on a blog space a show your ignorance. People should also do your homework and see who owns the patents worldwide it is Igor Kotliar of FirePASS and not Wagner.

If you take the OSHA standard then it would be safe for all us to have an office at the Top of MT Everest since the atmosphere contains 20.9% Oxygen, even though really from a respiratory standpoint it is 6.7% partial pressure oxygen environment. OSHA's Standard has been flawed for years and Their standard was created off data from 1935 that is completely wrong. They have never done any testing what so ever and have been lazy for years and I am curious about other standards and codes that were developed from data from the early 1900's that are completely wrong.

Fletcher to your point about an IT room in Denver, the people would already be acclimatized to the environment and their PS02 levels would see very little change. Denver 5300 ft altitude = 17.1% oxygen partial pressure oxygen environment.

I agree with Jim. I also

I agree with Jim. I also don't think you'll find any worksites in the US at 14,000 feet either as the gentleman from firepass mentioned.
Have there been any studies that show people working in this environment could ever get used to it though? Wouldn't it be sort of like going from LA up to Leadville everyday and then back down at night. And that is assuming the system is installed in a facility that is at sea level. I imagine if this system was put in an IT room in Denver, you'd just pass out as you walked through the door.

Well you should Check out

Well you should Check out the company who invented this technology go to www.firepass.com. They have a lot of momentum in this space with top global 1000 companies and they are battling OSHA right now and from what I understand they are doing a good job doing it. OSHA does not understand partial pressure oxygen environment, it is all about the OXYHEMOGLOBIN level in the blood. The 19.5% number is a completely ridiculous number and FirePASS is working with NIOSH to change the respiratory standard because in fact OSHA current standard puts people at risk. go to table II and you will see at 19.5% at 14000 ft really really equals 78 mm of Hg which equal 18,500 ft...

http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/ih/respirator/AltitudeAndO2.htm

I have been to their office in NY and seen the technology in action it is truly amazing

Ok, I think everyone is

Ok, I think everyone is missing the point here. They are saying that at 15% oxygen concentration (assuming sea level), it is **similar** to being at 6,000 feet altitude in terms of how your body reacts (how you breath).

What they mean is that there are approximately the same number of oxygen molecules per volume of air at 15% oxygen concentration (sea level assumed) as there are at normal concentration at 6,000 feet. The % of oxygen in outside air is constant from sea level up to over 60,000 feet altitude at outside pressure.

I live at 5,000 feet and can ski all day at 10,000 feet without any ill effects, but I've lived at this altitude all my life.

Wagner Alarm and Security

Wagner Alarm and Security System should let the Colorado Department of Transportation know that they can take the fire extinguishers out of the I-70 Eisenhower Tunnel located at 11,013. Wagner claims to keep “most fires” from starting at the 6,000 foot oxygen level. It should be a low forest fire season in Colorado this summer (pardon the pun).

The whole idea of removing

The whole idea of removing oxygen from a room full of electronic equipment and replacing it with an inert gas when fire or smoke has been detected is not a new concept. The communications industry (Telephone companies) have been using the HALON system for close to forty years. Leave it to the Germans to reinvent the wheel and call it new.

Keep in mind it's a German

Keep in mind it's a German company, they would have been quoting (or thinking) a metric altitude, 6000 feet probably started as 2km. Target 16% rather than 15% and optimistic rounding, one can duplicate their numbers.

The real issue here isn't whether people can tolerate the reduced oxygen. Check OSHA regulations. My wife looked into this to replace an old halon installation. Regardless of actual effects, reduced oxygen levels aren't allowed in an occupied area. Anything below 19.5% is covered. Warning labels, sealed and locked doors, no entrance without supplementary oxygen equipment. Big time OSHA hassle. Impractical in the US except perhaps in a fully lights-out environment.

To the person who asked what they replace the oxygen with, check the company's web site. They are removing oxygen, meaning they replace it with everything else that air is comprised of -- mostly nitrogen, some CO2, trace gasses. Note they pitch this to prevent fires, meaning they reduce oxygen all the time, not just after a fire breaks out.

I do think Frank Hayes is overstating the effects on healthy people. I live in Colorado Springs (6300') and have observed lots of visitors here or going directly into the mountains. The only ones with problems are those with breathing issues at sea level (e.g. bad emphysema). Local doctors agree.

About breathlessness at DIA layovers. Whatever causes it, it's more from having been on an airplane than the altitude of DIA. I and everyone I know (including those who live at 9,500 feet) suffer the same problems as flatlanders.

But none of this is relevant given the OSHA issues.

Treat it like an

Treat it like an airlock...

As long as it is just the machines in the room it should be fine. For the most part the IT staff should be able to use remote control to handle the servers. For hardware swaps, open the door so you have "real air".

Finish with it, suck out the air, and replace it with Nitrogen rich air. Don't even need Helium.

Bit expensive for most shops, but for the bigger ones, it may be an idea. Just don't lock Fred in the server room as a joke.