The innovation behind MAUS Fire’s Stixx Pro

Thomas Hughes, Managing Director of Aerocom UK and MAUS UK, discusses Stixx Pro’s role in safeguarding enclosed spaces from electrical fire risks

MAUS Fire Safety has developed a fire suppression system called the Stixx Pro, designed to protect enclosed areas vulnerable to electrical fires.

This system, featuring a potassium-based extinguishing agent, stands out due to its fully autonomous operation, requiring no power or maintenance.

In this interview, we speak to Thomas Hughes, Managing Director of Aerocom UK and MAUS UK, to learn more about the company’s vision, the unique features of the Stixx Pro and how this product addresses critical fire safety challenges, particularly in areas like EV charging points and electric scooters.

Could you start by telling us a bit about MAUS Fire Safety?

The technology used within MAUS Fire safety devices originated from a space program in the 1980s.

There was a need to develop a technology that could extinguish all types of fires without destroying the expensive technology inside the spaceships.

MAUS took that technology and placed it in small devices to protect people and buildings on earth.

The devices are based around a patented potassium smoke and as a result is a more effective extinguishing agent than conventional powder.

What motivated MAUS to focus on developing fire suppression systems for enclosed areas prone to electrical fires?

The motivation for developing fire suppression systems for enclosed areas prone to electrical fires came from irreversible amounts of damage and ever increasing risk to life, created by preventable fires.

Massive amounts of destruction created as a result of a small fires ignited by faulty sockets or outlets, components overheating, outdated wiring, old appliances and loose components.

There are fire extinguishers out there that can extinguish electrical fires, yes, but none of them can fit inside or automatically extinguish and leave no residue within the electrical cabinets and enclosures where they are almost always ignited from.

There was a severe gap in fire extinguishing capabilities and our MAUS system solves that.

A super compact, simple, quick, easy, self-adhesive device that is automatically activated when a fire starts, our device extinguishes the fire before it spreads and eliminates any need for wide scale evacuation, reactive damage control and intensive clean up.

Can you introduce the Stixx Pro fire suppression system and what makes it different from conventional solutions?

The MAUS Stixx Pro fire suppression system works in the form of a solid substance potassium compound.

Our Heat detecting cable will activate automatically once a fire is detected at 170’c.

This then creates a chain reaction into activating the potassium compound which is released as very small particles of gas.

These potassium gas particles interrupt the chemical combustion reaction by neutralising the hydrogen, oxygen and hydroxide radicles within the flame.

Therefore, suppressing and extinguishing the fire.

Our system is residue free and will cause no further damage.

What does the potassium-based extinguishing agent used in the Stixx Pro do?

The MAUS Stixx extinguishing agent works in the form of a solid substance potassium compound, activated only by HDC detecting a fire at a temperature of  >170’c.

Our device is considered environmentally friendly because of a few reasons; Our plastic shell is 100% recyclable.

Secondly, due to our agent being a solid substance potassium compound it can be disposed of safely.

Our system has zero Global Warming Potential (GWP) and negligible Atmospheric lifetime (ALT).

 Our systems are ozone-friendly and contain no CFC’s.

We are committed to environmental sustainability in both our technology and business practices as we continually strive to reduce our overall carbon footprint.

What are the benefits of the system being autonomous in environments like EV charging points?

The benefits of our system being autonomous or not requiring any electricity or wiring means that installers can discreetly and easily retrofit, specify, or implement it into the workings of both EV charging points and Scooter stations.

As a result of our system not needing any wires, batteries or power, they can be installed very quickly and without any disruption.

They have a manufacturer’s warranty of five years with zero maintenance, this means that once installed (unless there is a fire and they have been activated) you will only need to renew and replace every five years.

The Stixx Pro provides “100% flooding” once activated.

What does this mean?

Our MAUS Stixx Pro series comes with a recommended ‘volumetrically protected area’ for each different device.

If the volumetric area recommendation is followed, then upon activation, the potassium gas with completely flood the entire area within seconds which allows maximum surface area for the potassium gas particles to interrupt the chemical combustion of the fire.

To go into more detail of how that works; The falling speed of the Potassium particles decreases with a smaller diameter as the surface becomes large in relation to the mass, which means that air resistance becomes relatively large in relation to the force of gravity.

This results in the particles remaining suspended for a longer time and thus contributes to a longer inerting time.

As a result the fire will be extinguished as quickly as possible and you get better protection against re-ignition.

The extinguishing effect per unit of weight is in the range 3-10 times more effective than Halon and CO2.

Stixx Pro features low-temperature activation – why this is important for preventing fire outbreaks?

The low-temperature activation of the MAUS Stixx Pro is super important element of our system.

Our aim is to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible to avoid as much potential damage as possible.

This super low activation temperature and ability to put out the fire before it spreads and grows larger is especially imperative within environments such as server rooms and fuse boxes.

There is an incredibly high cost of damage if a fire is allowed to spread, not only within servers carrying important irreplaceable data, but the more a fire is allowed to grow, the higher the risk to life.

There are many benefits that come alongside the fire being put out as quickly as possible, the biggest being damage control.

Minimising parts needing to be replaced and reducing time taken to clean up results in areas being able to be back-up and operational incredibly quickly.

What sort of feedback have you received from customers or industry professionals?

We have recently been awarded a Highly Commended Product of the Year award at the IHEEM Healthcare estates 2024 show.

We were presented with this award as a result of our implementation throughout the NHS and our dedication to trying to further improve and develop fire extinguishing capabilities within all industries.

We have been receiving very positive feedback from large national infrastructure installations across the UK and Ireland, a couple of examples being Amazon, Pfizer and Irish Rail network.

What role do you see the Stixx Pro playing in improving public and workplace safety?

Stixx Pro will play the role of a ‘first responder’, our system improves public and workplace safety by being able to automatically react and extinguish fires before they spread.

The growing concern of fires starting when no one is around and being allowed to grow uncontrollably until only firefighters are able to extinguish.

Our system allows a maintenance free opportunity to control fires right at the start of ignition and eliminate the need for specialist firefighting techniques, therefore freeing up fire services availability for focus elsewhere.

We truly believe that the implementation of our system into domestic, commercial and industrial is imperative into the future of fire free environments.

Looking forward, how does MAUS plan to meet the evolving needs of fire safety in technological and electric spaces?

Our mission is to place fire protection where there could be no fire protection before due to space constraints or high cost.

With products so small and so versatile we will revolutionise the way we extinguish fires and save lives, buildings, machines, minimising expensive and costly production disruptions.

We are constantly developing and upgrading our products alongside our systems Swedish inventors to make sure they as up to date as we can be.

We offer CPD’s to keep everyone up to date with our developments and to share and exchange knowledge with industry professionals.

This article was originally published in the February 2025 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal – to read your FREE digital copy, click here.