Fire Safety’s “Super Freeze” Machine: A Simple Yet Innovative Tool at NYCHA

Normally, NYCHA’s Office of Fire Safety handles heat (from fires) but, in a particular instance, is focusing on freezing cold. “Frozen pipes” sounds like trouble for NYCHA residents and staff alike, but in this case, frozen pipes – or more specifically, freezing ice plugs inside those pipes – are beneficial.

Let’s back up. NYCHA buildings have more than 3,000 trash compactors, mostly located in their basements. To minimize the risk of fires from combustible waste, each compactor room is protected by a dedicated sprinkler system, which is connected via a series of valves to each building’s main domestic water supply.

But the sprinkler systems are old; many of them were installed 40 to 60 years ago. Over time, their valves can become leaky or corroded. And replacing those valves is not an easy enterprise.

“Because those valves are directly connected to domestic water lines, if we want to replace one, we have to shut off water to the whole building,” said Joe Terranova, Senior Director of NYCHA’s Office of Fire Safety.

At least that was the case until NYCHA’s Fire Safety team acquired the SuperFreeze machine, a compact unit that circulates supercooled refrigerant gas through conducting blocks clamped to the outside of a pipe, to freeze the water inside that pipe. Within minutes, the SuperFreeze machine can create an ice plug strong and solid enough to block all local water flow, allowing the Fire Safety team to repair or replace pipes and valves without shutting down a building’s water supply.

The SuperFreeze machine was first used at Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn, where two compactor sprinkler valves had long been in need of repair.

“Using our new little machine, my team was able to isolate and replace both of those leaky valves in under two hours — with zero impact on residents!” Mr. Terranova said.

The Fire Safety team expects to deploy this new technology at least 50 times a year for fire protection system maintenance. But it can help facilitate other work as well.

“Across NYCHA, there are many old valves — on all sorts of systems — that are overdue for repair or replacement,” Mr. Terranova said. “All those jobs can now be done so much more easily and less disruptively; this one little freeze machine can save NYCHA untold hours of work, prevent inconvenience to residents, and reduce our emergency repair costs significantly. I just love this little machine – it’s the kind of small but important win that shows what’s possible when we work not just harder, but smarter.”