Fire suppression system with variable dual use of gas source

A method of suppressing fire, comprising the steps of:

• providing pressurized gas to a pneumatically driven pump that is connected with a conduit having a nozzle near an end of the conduit, the gas driving the pump for pumping fluid into the conduit, the conduit and the nozzle establishing a discharge path;
• providing the gas to the discharge path for achieving a desired discharge of extinguishing fluid from the nozzle;
• and
• selectively controlling
• (i) the gas provided to the pump to thereby control a pressure of the fluid in the conduit and
• (ii) the gas provided to the nozzle or the conduit to thereby control an amount of the gas delivered to the nozzle
• by varying at least one of (i) and (ii) between selected values in at least one of a cyclical,
• intermittent or continuous manner.

A sprinkler system, comprising:

• a sprinkler nozzle;
• at least one conduit connected with the nozzle for delivering at least a fire extinguishing fluid to the nozzle, the nozzle and the conduit establishing a discharge path;
• a pneumatically driven pump connected with the conduit for pumping fluid into the conduit;
• a gas source providing pressurized gas to the pump for driving the pump, the gas source providing the gas to the discharge path to achieve a desired discharge of extinguishing fluid from the nozzle;
• and
• a controller that selectively controls
• (i) the gas provided to the pump to thereby control a pressure of the fluid in the conduit and
• (ii) the gas provided to the nozzle or the conduit to thereby control an amount of the gas delivered to the nozzle
• wherein the controller determines at least one of a volume or a pressure of the fluid provided to the pump and adjusts at least one of (i) or (ii) based on the determined volume or pressure to achieve a desired discharge of the fluid from the nozzle.