ifp issue 36

An MDM PUBLICATIONIssue 36 – November 2008

www.mdmpublishing.com

THE GLOBAL VOICE FOR PASSIVE & ACTIVE FIRE PROTECTION




INTERNATIONAL FIRE PROTECTIONINTERNATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION

IFP36 OFC 4/11/08 8:32 am Page ofc1

Always.

continuing symbol of quality, reliability and ingenuity since 1915.defender of life, property and the environment since 1939.participating member of NFPA since 1943.

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INTERNATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION 1

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November 2008 Issue 36

91-93

61-63

55-58

45-53

31-37

19-21

82-84

74-76

Contents5-12 News &Product Profiles

15-17 Draka cablesprotect Europe’spremier rail project

19-21 Sprinklers inHospitals

23-25 JointingCPVC Pipe and Fittingswith One Step SolventCement

27-28 Art for art’ssake – suppression forsafety’s sake

31-37 TheApplication ofPerformance-basedFire Safety Design inShanghai

39-42Understanding the“normal” capability ofAspirating SmokeDetection

45-53 PanelsRound Up

55-58 F Gases areyou up to speed yet?

61-63 Flamedetection has taken ona new dimension

65-67 Safety WayGuidance SystemsCome of Age!

69-72 The historyof modern water mistfire protection

74-76 Suppressionsystem maintenance –sustaining peakperformance

79-81 Selectingand Placing GasDetectors for MaximumApplication Protection

82-84 Passive FireProtection – Fire RatedInsulation

86-89 Fire AlarmsRespond to Legislation

91-93 Are yougetting the cable youexpect?

94-95 Ignorance isnot always bliss!

96 Advertisers’ Index

P. 1 Contents 4/11/08 8:34 am Page 1

MDM dps IFF15 24/7/07 10:13 AM Page 2

MDM dps IFF15 24/7/07 10:13 AM Page 3

4 INTERNATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION

Why not call us on...

T: +44 (0)1420 592 444F: +44 (0)1420 592 445

or find us at www.cranfordcontrols.com

Cranford Controls also distributes a vast selection of productsincluding door retainers, power supply units, call points andIntrinsically Safe products, to add to their ever-growing productportfolio of sounders, beacons and sounder/beacons; enablingCranford Controls to offer a solution to all facilities.

On top of this, all of their product range has various approvalsincluding VDS, EN54 and Rohs and Weee.

Established in 1993 Cranford Controls hasgrown from strength to strength to become aleading UK independent manufacturer of firesafety and security products, supplying toover 35 countries worldwide.

FIRE & SECURITY

The cat’s whiskers

P. 4 ads 4/11/08 8:39 am Page 4


PROFILE

Evolved from the proven technologybehind Apollo’s acclaimed XP95 range,Discovery gives specifiers and users five

panel-selectable bands, inbuilt driftcompensation, a non-volatile memory andfail-safe operation. The range comprisesionisation and optical smoke detectors, aheat detector, a mulitsensor (combinedsmoke and heat) detector and a manualcall-point. There is also the Discovery Car-bon Monoxide (CO) fire detector, which isgood at detecting deep-seated fires andrequires only very low power.

Each detector in the Discovery rangecan operate in one of five responsemodes, any of which can be selected fromthe control panel. Each mode correspondsto a unique response behaviour, whichcan be broadly related to sensitivity to fire.Whatever the type of detector, mode onewill give higher sensitivity to fire thanmode five. Therefore, Discovery detectors set tomode one will be most suitable for environments inwhich sources of unwanted alarms are rare, forexample cleanrooms and computer suites. At theother extreme, response mode five will be suited tomore dusty or smoky environments such as loadingareas where diesel forklift trucks are operating.Response mode three is a general-purpose setting.

While the ability to select different levels of sensi-tivity dependent on environmental conditions makesDiscovery fire detectors particularly adaptable, it isarguable that the inclusion of a multisensor in therange does the most to combat false alarm incidents.

Equipped with an optical smoke and thermistortemperature sensor, Discovery multisensors can beprogrammed to operate as a smoke detector only,a heat detector only, or as one of three combina-tions of both. If an ‘in combination’ selection ismade, the signals from each sensor are consideredin relation to each other. This allows protectionduring fire verification and is also proving useful intheatres where special effects such as dry ice couldcause false ‘smoke’ readings.

At the 13,000-seat National Indoor Arena (NIA)in Birmingham, Discovery multisensors were speci-fied to minimise unwanted false alarms beingcaused by the multi-use nature of the building.With regular use of pyrotechnics and diesel-powered equipment, as well as full catering andmerchandising facilities, the NIA’s fire system neededto provide protection to the main four storeybuilding as well as its four linked multi storey carparks. BDS Fire & Security, who won the NIA con-tract, used an Advanced Graphics package toswitch groups of multisensors between different

operating modes in a pre-set sequence to takeinto account the varying fire detection require-ments of the building at different times of day.

The Discovery multisensor is certified to EN54standard in every one of its five operating modesand its reliability in the field in reducing nuisancealarm incidents has been proven over several years.Due to this proven reliability, it is becoming the firedetector of choice in applications where sleepingrisks are a primary concern, such as nursing homes, hospitals and student accommodation. Forexample, more than 700 Discovery multisensordetectors were recently installed to protect PhoenixCourt, a new luxury student village with 277 resi-dents that forms part of Bristol’s £500 millionCabot Circus retail and leisure redevelopment.

Apollo continues to refine the Discovery rangeto meet changing market requirements. ASounder Beacon Base, which combines audibleand visual alarms plus isolation in a single unit, isthe latest addition. The new device makes systemdesign and installation simpler by eliminating theneed for multiple warning devices. The sounderand beacon can be set independently for maximumflexibility, with volume and tone settings selectablefrom the control panel. For ease of commissioning,the volume can be adjusted locally using amagnetic wand. The device offers 15 tone pairs offire and non-fire warnings, including an electronicbell for signalling classroom changes. A lowvolume range is also incorporated – perfect for usein hospitals and nursing homes. IFP

A real discoveryin fire detectionThe Discovery range of intelligent fire detectors from Apollo Fire DetectorsLimited has been specifically developed to meet two key market demands:adaptability to changing conditions and protection against unwanted alarms.

For more information onDiscovery, please visit:www.apollo-fire.co.uk

Discovery Detector Group: Discovery has beenspecifically developed to meet key marketdemands

P. 5 Apollo Profile 7/11/08 4:49 AM Page 5


NEWS

SigNET’s revolutionary Integrityvoice alarm system is thepowerful new force behindthe life safety systems atAldershot Football Club.

Installed by top audiospecialist company, IntekElectronics, Integrity functionsas a fully integrated voicealarm (VA), public address (PA)and background music (BGM)system. In the event of anemergency situation, thesystem provides a completecrowd warning system toeffectively evacuate the 7,100capacity ground.

Combining a voice alarmsystem with a highspecification public address system, thesix-zone fully contained life safety systemfeatures 48 powerful speakers. Pre-recorded messages are stored in a digitalmessage store and volume levels can beset differently in each zone for emergencyannouncements, ordinary paging andbackground music.

Fully compliant with BS5839 Part 8,BS7827 and BS-EN60849, Integrity’sunique PC software enables a VA/PAsystem to be designed and demonstratedprior to purchase. Its capacity for all causeand effect scenarios to be tested andauditioned gives stadium/site managementunrivalled confidence and control over siteevacuation strategies.

Says Steven Wakefield of IntekElectronics: “Integrity fulfills allrequirements of British standards relatingto VA systems in sports stadiums and is atruly exceptional product. I wouldrecommend it to any serious installer,particularly one looking to install a lifesafety system at a sports stadium.”

Continues Steven: “Key to ourspecification of Integrity was the fact thatit is manufactured in the UK by a Britishcompany. Not only does SigNET designand manufacture the highest standard oflife safety equipment but also providesexemplary technical training, advice andafter-sales support. The service wereceived throughout the project – frompurchase right through to commissioning –was second to none”.

Affectionately known as ‘The Shots’,Aldershot Town is one of the UK’s up-and-coming football clubs. Recently promotedto the Football League, the Club hassecured a major sponsorship shirt andstadium name deal with leading UK paperdistribution company, EBB. The Ground isnow known as the EBB Stadium andboasts VIP hospitality facilities and

refreshment areas. Aldershot FC is just one of Intek

Electronics prestigious projects. As one of

the UK’s leading audiospecialist companies, IntekElectronics has undertaken anumber of impressivecontracts worldwideincluding installations andservicing for the Po Na NaGroup PLC, David LloydLeisure PLC, Morland PLC,Bass Taverns, BS Group PLC,Poole Greyhound andSpeedway Stadium andBournemouth InternationalCentre.

For more information pleasecontact: Alexandra SaintC-TEC

Tel: +44 (0) 1942 403810Fax: +44 (0) 1942 829867Website: www.c-tec.co.uk

Signet’s integrity voice alarm callsthe shots at Aldershot FC

KENTEC are the power behindIceland’s geothermal energy. Firealarm control panels from Kentechave been chosen for a newGeothermal Power Plant, currentlyunder construction south of Iceland’sMount Hengill for OrkuveitaReykjavikur (Reykjavik Energy), anddesigned to meet the increasingdemand for electricity and spaceheating in Reykjavik. Whencompleted next year, this latest phaseof the plant will give access togeothermal fields up to 5 kilometresbelow the surface and generate 300MWe of electricity, and 400 MWth ofthermal energy via steam transmission forReykjavik’s district heating system. Such a vastproject, with its attendant risks as a high-hazardenvironment, demands the highest standards ofreliability and integrity in monitoring andcontrol of the prevailing conditions of the plant.That’s why the specifiers, Iceland’s Ark Security,selected Syncro two-loop open protocol firealarm control panels from Kentec for interfacingwith the plant’s smoke detection system, basedon Hochiki’s ESP – Enhanced System Protocol –analogue addressable devices. Ark Security’sKjartan Scheving comments: ‘Essentially, thespecification of Kentec’s Synchro panels wasdetermined by the way we can so easily andrapidly configure a system with Kentec’sintuitive Loop Explorer software. The simplicity

of its graphical programming de-mystifies theprocess of configuring complex fire systems.What’s more, the expandability and flexibility ofSyncro control panels means networking is verystraightforward. In the longer term, integrationto much larger systems can be achieved easily, ifthe need arises, therefore providing a futureproof solution for any installation.’ With itslarge graphical display and ergonomic buttonand indicator layout, the Syncro control panelcan be very quickly customised by installers,commissioning engineers and end users alike.

For more information please contactKentec on 01322 222121, [email protected] or visitwww.kentec.co.uk

Kentec safeguards interior of Geothermal PowerPlant in Iceland

High hazard energyenvironment

News P. 5, 6, 8, 10 4/11/08 8:33 am Page 6


PROFILE

The model range comprises:

The FireRay 2000 end-to-end beam detector, a well-established product noted for its ruggedness, smalldetector head size and low level control. The smallsize of the transmitter and receiver mean that it isideally suited to projects where a low visual impact isrequired, such as buildings of historical importance.The FireRay 2000 has CPD, EN54 and UL certifica-tion plus others. A typical installation is Hong KongInternational Airport where the beams do notinterfere with the stunning Norman Foster design.

The FireRay 50/100 reflective beam detectors wereamongst the first purpose built reflective products.The big advantage with this product is that boththe transmitter and receiver are in the same dis-crete unit, which reduces the amount of cablingrequired thus saving time and significantly reducesinstallation costs. The FireRay 50/100 reflective hasCPD, EN54 and UL certification plus others. Thisbeam has been used in many prestigious locationsincluding the British Museum and the ForeignOffice in London.

The FireRay 2000 Eexd is the only ATEX 94/9/ECcertified beam detector available. Its flameproofconstruction and robust housing make it particu-larly suitable for use in hazardous locations whereother types of smoke detection would beunsuitable. Typical applications are oil refineries,petrochemical plants and warehouses for thestorage of flammable liquids. These beams havebeen successfully used in ordnance bays in theFalkland Islands and in some marine applications.

The new flagship model of the range is the innov-ative FireRay 5000 Auto-Aligning Infra-Red OpticalBeam Smoke Detector. This is a completely newdesign incorporating pioneering technology thataddresses the needs of both user and installer. Keyfeatures include: Easifit First Fix system; LASERassisted alignment, AutOptimise automatic beamalignment and a 2-wire interface from thedetector to the controller. The FireRay 5000 boastscertification from UL in addition to LPCB, VdS,CPD & EN54:12, with more international approvalson the way, and is protected by British PatentApplication 2426323 and by International PatentApplication PCT/GB2006/1799 pending. IFP

A Beam Detectorfor all InstallationsWhen it comes to optical beam smoke detectors it is vital that the correct beamtype is selected for a specific application. No other company has the experience,or the product range, of Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd. With well over 600,000beams installed, including in some of the World’s most prestigious buildings, it isclear that the FireRay series of projected beam detectors is the model of choicefor both installers and specifiers.

Further details can be foundon our website: www.ffeuk.com

P. 7 FFE Profile 4/11/08 8:47 am Page 7

Since their establishment in1993 CRANFORD CONTROLShas grown from strength tostrength to become one of theworld’s leading suppliers of fire,security and ancillary devices;with their rapid delivery timesout-shining the competition.Cranford Controls is based inAlton, Hampshire, UK wheretheir products are manufactured withintheir custom built facility approved toISO9001 by VDS.

The building is also equipped with ananechoic chamber enabling specialised in-house testing.

Cranford Controls is committed to thedevelopment of new, reliable and futuristicproducts and has a dedicated research anddevelopment team completely focused onfinding solutions for the ever expandingindustry requirements.

The Cranford range includes various

sounders, beacons, sounder / beacons,door retainers, power supply units, callpoints and Intrinsically Safe equipment,with assorted products available in aspectrum of colours, outputs and voltagerequirements. The products also comeequipped with various approvals such asVDS, EN54 and RoHS & WEEE.

The aesthetically pleasing looks of theentire Cranford product portfolio,combined with the uniform soundthroughout and the vast and varyingproduct selection they have to offer the

market, has ensured an ever growingand dependable client base across theworld.

Even though their main focus lieswithin the conventional sectorCranford products have beendesigned with flexibility in mind.Cranford Controls understands thatend users may wish to use theirproducts within addressable systems

or within the security sector and havedesigned their units to reflect this,allowing for easy adaptation by customers.

For further information on how CranfordControls could help you please call thesales team on +44 (0) 1420 592444 oremail [email protected]

NEWS

Dr Sthamer –Hamburg launchesnew environmentallyfriendly AlcoholResistant FluorineFree foamDR STHAMER – HAMBURG, has launched at the FireService College, Morten in Marsh, their latestdevelopment, Moussol FF 3/6.

A revolutionary new Fluorine Free alcohol resistant firefighting foam, the foam has been specifically designed toanswer the calls for an environmentally friendly foamwhich does not contain Fluoro-Surfactants.

The foam can be used at 3% induction rates forHydrocarbons and 6% for Polar Solvents, it has beencertified to EN1568 parts 1, 3 and Part 4 with a rating of1A/1B.

It can be used with all types of foam makingequipment, Monitors, Branchpipes, over the top pourers,etc.

Moussol FF 3/6 can be used with fresh, salt, brackishand recycled process water.

This latest addition to the Dr Sthamer-Hamburg arsenalunderlines the company’s commitment to remaining at theforefront of Fire Fighting Foam development.

For more information please contact: Jan Knappert, International Sales DirectorTel: +44 (0)7795 101770 Email: [email protected] Website: www.sthamer.com


Cranford Controls growsfrom strength to strength

FIRE & SECURITY

Keyswitch, push buttonand rocker switchactivation devicesKAC, global leader in the breakglass call point sector, also offerthe popular Class 9000 family ofactuation devices that feature awide variety of different operatingmechanisms. The Class 9000 unitshave numerous applications acrossthe fire, security, machineoperation and other industrieswhere manual control of specificoperations is required. The variousoptions within the family enable operation with or without security restrictions.

The keyswitch units are available as two and three position devices and provideprotection against unauthorised operation with removable keys. They control twoindependent circuits; in the two position versions one circuit is open while theother is closed, turning the key reverses these positions. In the three positionversion both circuits are normally open, either one is closed depending on whichway the key is turned. As a further refinement, the key can be removed in eitherone only or both positions for the two position keyswitch, in the three positionversion the key is removable in all three positions.

The push button units are double pole and available as either momentary action,with the circuit completed only while the button is pushed, or as latching units thattoggle between the open and closed state on successive operations. The two or three-position rocker switch units are available as two position double pole on/off switches,or three position double pole on/off/on devices with all switches rated at 230VAC.

All units are available with red, green, white, yellow and blue bodies and in achoice of flush or surface mounting variants.

For further information please contact: Mark Thomson, KAC Alarm CompanyTel: + 44 1527 406655 Fax: + 44 1527 406677Email: [email protected] Website: www.kac.co.uk

News P. 5, 6, 8, 10 4/11/08 8:33 am Page 8


PROFILE

No nonsense fire protection

Pilkington has also led the way with highperformance clear fire-resistant glass. PilkingtonPyrostop (fire insulation and integrity) and

Pilkington Pyrodur (integrity) were introduced inthe 1970s and now have more than 30 years’experience of use and testing. They continue to betrendsetters. Applications include doors, partitions,compartment walls, façade glazing, roofs andeven integral loadbearing fire-resistant glass floors(using both steel and timber frames). Fire testclassification times range from 30 or 60 minutes tomore challenging exposure of 90, 120 and even 180minutes if required. That shows the high degree offlexibility and capability of the technology.

The excellent protective action provided byPilkington Pyrostop (and, on a different scale, by the integrity glass Pyrodur) is due to the sand-wich construction of the glass: layers of silicateglass are laminated with intumescent fire-resistantlayers of solid water glass to form a single robustcomposite. If a fire breaks out, the layer of glassfacing the fire fractures first, causing the adjoiningfire-resistant layer to foam up, absorb the fire’senergy and release cooling water vapour. The glassturns opaque, effectively blocking out the fire. Thisprocess continues progressively layer by layer, andtherefore under control, ensuring that resistanceto fire, heat and smoke are maintained through-out. The intumescent technology is a reliable onethat has stood the test of time, and one that hasbeen exploited and developed for a wide variety ofapplications throughout modern buildings.

Tried, tested, trustedPilkington Pyrostop provides a high level of insur-ance against the effects of fire – that is againstsmoke, flames, fumes, and heat transfer by allmechanisms. Pilkington Pyrodur is primarily classi-fied as an integrity glass, but it also punches aboveits weight: the intumescent interlayer also providesa level of insulation for at least 15 minutes, withvery low levels of transmitted radiant heat for theremainder of the test time.

The fire-resistant properties of all Pilkingtonproducts have successfully undergone numeroustrials and fire exposure tests carried out by neutralexamination centres world-wide. Large internaltest furnaces are also kept busy monitoring andcontrolling on a daily basis. During 30 years’practical experience that’s a lot of testing. Theprotective performance has also been confirmed inactual fire situations where the formation of a firebarrier by Pilkington Pyrostop has prevented thespread of fire damage and allowed escape andrescue routes to be used without danger. Pyrostophas even been de-glazed and fire tested after 20years’ in use: performance was exactly as intended,as good as the original fire tests.

Key Pilkington watchwords for their fire-resistantglass range are consistency, reliability, and repeata-bility. Fitness for purpose for working in such achallenging environment as fire is absolutelycritical. Risks have to be minimised. And it is there-fore fundamentally essential that the fire-resistanttechnologies are tried, well tested and above alltrusted. IFP

Burning questions,brilliant solutionsPilkington’s commitment to fire safetyTraditions in fire safetyPilkington have a long tradition of focused commitment to fire safety, stretching back tothe 1880’s when wired glass was first introduced. Today’s polished wired glass(Pilkington Pyroshield) is still the world’s simplest and most widely used fire-resistantglass. Its function is robust and effective. In fire the glass cracks but the wire meshwithin the glass effectively holds the glass together. The best testament to the tough“no nonsense” effectiveness of wired glass in fire is that it is the thinnest fire-resistantglass (only 6mm) that can effectively resist the stringent examination set by the US hosestream test – a 30 psi (207 KPa) pressure full on hose stream played over the hot fire-exposed surface at the end of the test. There is no other fire-resistant glass like wired.

Note: the Pilkington rangehas achieved appropriate CEmarking certification. Detailsaccessed from:www.pilkington.com

Also access test summariesfromwww.pilkington.co.uk/specifire or via [email protected] phone on 0044 (0)1744 69 2000

By Mike Wood

of Pilkington

Product range snapshotPilkington Pyrostop™ A high performanceinsulation and integrity fire-resistant glass that providesclassification times rangingfrom 30 minutes up to 180minutes. Varied applicationsand a wide functional rangeby combining Pyrostop withthe Pilkington range of otherglass types includingvertical, horizontal andinclined.

Pilkington Pyrodur™ An integrity glass based onthe same intumsecentlaminated technology asPyrostop. Providesclassification for 30 and 60minutes at the CEN E andEW levels, and provides thebonus benefit of insulation(EI) for 15 minutes. Wideluused in partitions, doors,vision panels and overheadglazing.

Pilkington Pyroshield™ A well established androbust basic integrity glasswith an extensive record ofvolume use over decades.Provides 30 and 60 minutesclassification, and evencapable of 120 minutes inspecial glazed systems.

P. 9 Pilkington Profile 4/11/08 8:50 am Page 9


NEWS

BAVARIA EGYPT, a pioneer firefightingequipment manufacturer in Germany andEgypt, has established a modern trainingcenter at the new industrial community“10th Ramadan City”, about 50 km north-east of Cairo, Egypt.

The Center training programs aredesigned to cover a wide range of fireprotection and fire fighting skills, alongwith OHSAS management programs. Thetraining center offers two mainadvantages. The first is the diversity oftraining levels, starting from first-aidresponse to fire incidents, up to firefightingand fire prevention planning. The second isthe use of modern training techniques suchas simulation. Simulators are widely used inthe training programs, a feature which isnot common in the region.

The center emphasizes on enhancingskills of the trainees in operating light andheavy firefighting equipment. Live firefighting training using portable fire

extinguishers on real size dummies are oneof the most demanded trainings for manyinstitutions since this training significantlyhelps in building up an effective first lineof defense from every employee. Also,training on heavy equipment, water foamfire fighting trailers and firefighting waterpumps are widely available. Furthermore,evacuation and over draft fire trainings isalso another feature of the Center’s activities.

Fire Prevention in the oil and gasindustry acquires no small portion of theCenter’s time, as fire security measures areessential for preventing incendiary fires.The Center is also now offering a newtraining program on security in oilfacilities.

Bavaria Fire Training Center provides awell developed wide range of trainingprograms on fire safety and related issues,hardly covered by conventional trainingfacilities in the Middle East.

For more information please contact:Bavaria Egypt S.A.ECentral ManagementBlock 109, Gisr El Suez St.Industrial Zone Cairo, EgyptTel: +20 2 26989 443 / 5 / 6Fax: +20 2 26631 550 Email: [email protected]: www.bavaria.com.eg

A Modern Fire FightingTraining Center in Egypt

COOPER LIGHTING has published a new128-page full-colour guide to centralbattery solutions, which will be aninvaluable aid for anyone involved indesigning emergency lighting systems.

Starting with an overview of thebenefits of central battery technology, the guide then moves into a detailedsection covering system design andplanning.

This is followed by comprehensiveproduct information on the Menvier rangeof central battery systems, as well as

Menvier and JSB slave emergencyluminaires.

Also included is an updated version ofCooper’s 7-stage emergency lightingdesign guide, together with emergencylighting spacing tables and a usefulglossary of terms.

The Central Battery Solutions guide can beobtained by calling the literature hotlineon 01302 303200, emailing a request [email protected] or by visitingwww.cooper-ls.com

New guide covers central batterysolutions for emergency lighting

News P. 5, 6, 8, 10 7/11/08 4:49 AM Page 10


PROFILE

Being housed in some form of micro-environmentenclosure, these assets are isolated from afacility’s main fire detection and alarm installa-

tion. The result is that, by the time a remotedetector or sensor has been activated, the enclosedasset is virtually certain to be engulfed in flamesand extensively damaged, if not destroyed.FIRETRACE resolves this challenge by providingaround-the-clock protection where it is needed –inside the enclosure, where it can react the instanta fire breaks out. It is an automatic “self-seeking”system; a stand-alone solution that is entirely self-contained that does not require an external powersource.

The UL (Underwriters Laboratories), FM (FactoryMutual) and NFPA (National Fire Protection Associa-tion) certified system comprises an extinguishingagent cylinder that is attached to proprietaryFiretrace Detection Tubing via a custom-engineeredvalve. This small-bore polymer tubing is a linearpneumatic heat and flame detector that was speciallydeveloped to deliver the desired temperature-sensitive detection and delivery characteristics. Itdetects along the entire length of the tube, so theFIRETRACE tubing quickly detects a fire at its source,ruptures and automatically releases the suppressionagent, extinguishing the fire precisely where it startsand before it has had time to take hold.

The flexibility of the tubing means it can beeasily threaded around tightly-packed compart-ments and components, so is able to contend withthe often complex interiors of these micro environ-ments. A wide selection of suppression agents isavailable, the choice being dependent upon thecharacteristics of the fire hazard and any environ-mental considerations. The current offeringincludes clean agents such as 3M™ Novec™ 1230Fire Protection Fluid and DuPont™ FM200®. Otheroptions include foam, carbon dioxide and drychemical suppressants.

FIRETRACE systems can be configured for eitherdirect release or indirect release, and are availableas either a low-pressure or high-pressure system,depending upon the choice of fire suppressionagent, the type of enclosure and the particular firehazard, and is best determined in consultationwith one of Firetrace International’s authorisedFIRETRACE distributors. These FIRETRACE-trained

professionals will advise on hazard analysis andsuppression agent and system selection, as well ascarrying out the installation and commissioning.

Briefly, the Direct Release System utilises theFIRETRACE tube as both the detection device andthe suppressant delivery system. If a fire breaksout, the tube ruptures nearest the point where themost heat is detected, forming an effective spraynozzle that releases the entire contents of thecylinder to suppress the fire. The Indirect ReleaseSystem is typically used in larger areas requiring ahigher volume of extinguishing agent. It uses theFIRETRACE tube as a detection and system activa-tion device, but not for the agent discharge. Therupturing of the tube results in a drop of pressurecausing the indirect valve to activate. This divertsflow from the detection tube and the agent isdischarged from the cylinder through diffusernozzles, flooding the entire enclosure.

However, it is important to ensure that what isbeing installed is genuine FIRETRACE from ISO9001-approved Firetrace International’s globalnetwork of authorised distributors, as FIRETRACEhas a number of imitators that offer inferiorproducts lacking any form of testing, third-partyaccreditation or approval. Details of these authorisedFIRETRACE distributors are available by contactingFiretrace International at [email protected]. IFP

Firetrace protectionfor critical asset“micro environments”Firetrace International’s FIRETRACE® is an automatic fire suppression system thatis cost-effectively protecting 75,000 pieces of business-critical equipment aroundthe world. It is providing reliable unsupervised protection that is stopping firesbefore they can do expensive and possibly irreparable damage to vital enclosedequipment such as production machines, electrical cabinets, machinery housings,wind turbines, engine compartments, fume cupboards, IT servers and a widevariety of technical systems.

Further information onFIRETRACE is available from: the FIRETRACE EMEA headoffice in the UK on +44 (0)1293 780390, or fromFiretrace Internationalheadquarters in Scottsdale,Arizona on +1 480 6071218. The company’s websiteis at www.firetrace.com

P. 11 Firetrace Profile 4/11/08 8:34 am Page 11


PROFILE

The cost impact of this new technology is thati3 ADVANTAGE offers overall installed costsavings when compared with a typical “stan-

dard discharge” high-pressure inert gas system.Like the original HYGOOD i3 total-flooding

system, i3 ADVANTAGE uses a 50:50 mixture oftwo naturally occurring gases – Argon andNitrogen – and so is a truly sustainable “clean” firesuppression technology with a non-toxic, non-corrosive, odour-free, zero ozone depleting, zeroatmospheric lifetime and zero global warmingprofile. It is fast acting and has a low life-cyclecost; it is electrically non-conductive and has nobreakdown products or residue, so there is no riskof damage to sensitive equipment.

A “standard discharge” high-pressure inert gassystem is characterised by its distinctive spike orpeaking on agent discharge. This is normal formost of the inert gas systems on the market that,although complying with the British and inter-national standard BS ISO 14520 (Gaseous fire-extinguishing systems) and BS EN 15004 (Fixedfire-fighting systems. Gaseous extinguishingsystems), results in excess pressure that calls forcostly high-specification pipework and over-pressure venting to ensure that the protected roomor enclosure pressures are kept to acceptable levels.

By comparison, the innovative constant-flowvalve technology incorporated into the new i3ADVANTAGE eliminates this pressure peak, achiev-ing a constant, more even agent flow during theentire discharge period. There is lower pressurethroughout the pipework system and the constant,reduced flow into the protected enclosure lowersthe over-pressurisation effect common in standardinert gas systems, and reduces the size of the over-pressurising venting required in the enclosure.

The i3 ADVANTAGE system uses 80-litre steelcontainers that are filled with compressed i3 gas at300bar. Installations comprise one or more i3containers that are connected to a system ofpipework. These containers can be stored remotefrom the protected area and a bank of containers

can be used to safeguard more than a single roomor enclosure. The containers meet the require-ments of TPED (Transportable Pressure EquipmentDirective) and, when the system is activated, the i3gas is discharged to achieve the specific dischargetime and concentration to flood the entire pro-tected enclosure. These are calculated using thespecial i3 ADVANTAGE design software.

The easy to use i3 ADVANTAGE flow calculationsoftware is a special Windows-based system devel-oped for engineers to ensure fast and accurateenclosure protection design that is in accordancewith ISO 14520 and EN 15004. Familiar navigationmenus enable site survey data to be enteredeffortlessly. It shows tabulated concentration andoxygen levels in the protected area, plus it has the ability to generate a comprehensive bill ofsystem materials for the installation. Designdrawings can be generated in both isometric andplan-and-elevation formats, and the files can bemade available in pdf format for hard-copyprinting or emailing.

A number of installations have already beencompleted or are currently under way in the UKand Ireland, where i3 ADVANTAGE has been certi-fied as complying with all of the relevant standards.The approvals process in other territories is in handand is expected to be announced shortly. IFP

New i3 advantage™

inert gas systemcuts installationcosts The new HYGOOD® i3 ADVANTAGE™ inert gas fire protection system from TycoFire Suppression & Building Products provides installers and end users withsignificant and measurable savings, while meeting all of the environmentalists’demands. It incorporates unique HYGOOD patented constant-flow valvetechnology that significantly enhances the system’s performance by eliminatingthe need for high-pressure pipework, reducing the requirement for room venting,lowering installation costs and reducing room turbulence on agent discharge.

Further information on i3ADVANTAGE is availablefrom: Tyco Fire Suppression &Building Products bytelephone on +44 (0) 161875 0400, by fax on +44 (0)161 875 0490, or via emailat [email protected]

P. 12 Tyco Profile 4/11/08 8:35 am Page 12

8184-i3 Full Page ad2 .indd 1 7/10/08 12:45:47

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???? GBP Firetuf Full Page:Layout 1 14/12/07 12:58 Page 1


CABLES CASE STUDY

By any standards, the completion of the HS1 –High Speed 1 – rail link from Folkstone toLondon, the revitalisation of St Pancras

International station and the construction of newstations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford is a major featof engineering. It undoubtedly pushed rail engi-neering science to its limits. The final part of this£5.8 billion scheme was the northern extension, orSection Two, which completes the new HS1 –known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link untilNovember 2007 – from Ebbsfleet near Dartford innorth Kent to St Pancras.

The project was designed and managed by RLE(Rail Link Engineering), a consortium of Arup,Bechtel, Halcrow and Systra. CORBER – a consor-

tium of Costain, O’Rourke Bachy and EMCOR Rail– was responsible for the construction. EMCORRail, a part of EMCOR Drake & Scull, was the M &E contractor for the entire project with responsibilityfor the design, procurement, installation, testingand commissioning of engineering servicesthroughout Section Two. This included themechanical, electrical, public health, communica-tions, fire detection and alarm, voice alarm, publicaddress, security and fire protection installations.

The extensive fire safety solution was undertakenby the Infrastructure and Rail Services division ofEMCOR. This covered St Pancras Internationalstation, where the world famous “Barlow Shed”,in its time the largest enclosed structure in the

By Kevin Morris

Business DevelopmentExecutive, Draka

Draka cablesprotect Europe’spremier railproject High-performance cable manufactured by Draka UK is ensuring that essentialpower is reliably supplied to the tens of thousands of fire detection andemergency lighting devices that are safeguarding the rejuvenated St PancrasInternational station in London and the northern extension of the new high-speed rail link between London and Paris. Here, Kevin Morris, Draka’s BusinessDevelopment Executive, describes what he says is an installation that trulydefines fire safety cabling.

P. 15-17 Draka Cables 4/11/08 8:35 am Page 15

world, was extended to more than double itslength to accommodate the 18-carriage Eurostartrains, each of which is 400 metres long. It alsoincluded the new Ebbsfleet International Station,south of the Thames, and the new Stratford Inter-national Station near the City and Canary Wharfthat is central to the 2012 London Olympicstransport strategy. It also took in three new twin-bore tunnels, 29 ventilation shafts at approximately3km intervals along the tunnels, and a number oftechnical buildings.

The division’s Safety Critical Systems team wasled by Peter Patrick, head of EMCOR’s fire divisionand a widely acknowledged expert at undertakingmajor infrastructure capital projects. On thiscontract he managed four project managers, fivecommissioning engineers and more than 50electricians, and was responsible for system designand product selection, installation, testing andcommissioning.

His demands were uncompromising. He says:“The most sophisticated fire detection and alarmsystem will count for nothing if it is not providedwith continuous and reliable power. So, potentially,thousands of lives and £millions of assets are putat risk by specifying anything other than the bestavailable fire-rated cables.” He continues: “Byspecifying Draka cable we took chance out of theequation. The company’s manufacturing andquality control, and its rigorous testing regimes arebacked-up by third-party approvals. I would settlefor nothing less.”

In total, Draka supplied in excess of three-quarters of a million metres of cable, utilisingFiretuf Connecta, Firetuf Standard and FiretufplusEnhanced cables. These fire-rated 0HLS – ZeroHalogen, Low Smoke – cables are collectivelybeing used to supply dependable power to the firedetection and alarm, voice alarm and publicaddress systems at St. Pancras, Ebbsfleet andStratford stations, fire detection and alarm systemsin the three new tunnels, the ventilation shaftsand portals, and lighting throughout the tunnels.

The decision to specify 0HLS cables is significant,particularly bearing in mind the huge number ofpassengers that use Eurostar every day. A keyfeature of 0HLS cables is that they do not emithalogen gases and burn without producing large

amounts of dense smoke. By comparison, underfire conditions, the standard PVC cables usedwidely in the construction industry emit hydrogenchloride gas, which has a suffocating odour that isdetectable in even very low concentrations. Burn-ing PVC cables also generate hazardous volumesof debilitating or disorientating smoke that caneasily increase the likelihood of panic and makesafe evacuation much more difficult to achieve.

Tunnel cable solutionThe Firetuf Connecta system is specificallydesigned for tunnel lighting and power applica-tions, and more than 100km of Connecta cable,incorporating no fewer than 5,000 factory-fittedsockets, was used throughout the three tunnels.This was the largest single Firetuf Connecta instal-lation to date.

These tunnels comprise 22km of 7.15-metrediameter twin-bored tunnels, the 3km ThamesTunnel under the River, and the 19km LondonTunnels deep beneath East London from Islingtonto Dagenham. They pass through some of themost densely populated, heavily-developed land in the world; beneath 2,600 properties, sevenmiles of surface railway, 12 existing tunnels –including four London Underground stations – and600 gas, water and sewage pipelines.

The Connecta cable was supplied via CustomDesign Group in Cwmbran, Draka’s Connectapartner, in a variety of precise predeterminedlengths between factory-fitted moulded Connectasocket outlets. Secondary outlets to individualappliances were taken from the primary cables viamoulded Connecta plugs. This ensured the fastestpossible cable installation on the project; it min-imised the site labour requirement, and helped to


CABLES CASE STUDY


reduce the overall project timescale. As Connectainstallations require minimal maintenance, thesolution is also confidently expected to make asignificant contribution towards reducing NetworkRail’s ongoing maintenance and servicing costs.

The decision to select Connecta for the projectwas also motivated by EMCOR’s commitment tofire safety, and its determination to install only thefinest quality, third-party approved cable, to ensurecircuit integrity under fire conditions. Thanks toFiretuf Connecta’s superb fire performance, light-ing in the HS1 tunnels will continue to function ifany section of the circuit is involved in a fire.Firetuf Connecta is fully approved to BS 6387:1994, in particular the C, W and Z test that is usedto determine if a cable is capable of maintainingcircuit integrity under different fire conditions.

Enhanced protectionThe tunnel ventilation shafts – some as deep as 54metres – also serve as emergency access andescape routes, and their fire detection and alarmequipment is fed by Draka’s Firetufplus cable. Thisis a BS 5839: 2002 compliant Enhanced-gradecable that offers superior pliability, robustness andflame retardancy, and provides 60 minutes of fireand mechanical protection, followed by 60 minutesof fire, mechanical impact and water protection,exceeding the requirements of Clause 26.2e of BS5839. This ensures that the electrical circuit’sintegrity is maintained, even in the event of a fire.The BASEC (British Approvals Service for Cables)and LPCB (loss Prevention Certification Board)approved Firetufplus cable also satisfies therequirements of BS 7629,

The same superior performance cable is usedthroughout St Pancras, Ebbsfleet and Stratford

stations for the fire detection and alarm systemsand the stations’ public address systems.

At St Pancras, now one of the largest transporthubs in Europe, Firetufplus links the station’s 14Kentec Electronics’ Syncro control panels andrepeaters controlling a total of 5,000 Hochikianalogue addressable optical smoke sensors,multi-sensors, heat detectors, audio visual devicesand base sounder beacons. The installation takesin the world-famous “Barlow Shed” train shedarch that spans 73 metres and is over 30 metreshigh at its apex. It covers every one of the 13 plat-forms, six of which are around one kilometre longand are devoted to international Eurostar services.

The cable features a pressure-extruded sheathconstruction that provides greater protection thanStandard-grade cable in the event of fire. Itincorporates spark-free cores and a 100 percentcover electrostatic screen. Cable termination andinstallation is quick and easy, using 0HLS nylon orbrass stuffing glands. The cable’s pliability alsomakes life easier for the installer, as does the factthat it is available in long lengths.

However, selecting Draka cable turned out tooffer the project more than technical excellence,as Peter Patrick explains: “At one stage in thecontract, three days before a planned Easterholiday weekend opening of the temporary stationaccommodation, we suddenly found ourselves inurgent need of an extra 1000 metres of a particu-lar cable. Draka pulled out all of the stops and hadthe cable manufactured and delivered to site with-in 48 hours, which enabled us to complete theplanned installation before the system came backon line.” He concludes: “That was typical of theservice we received from Draka throughout thecontract.” IFP


DRAKA CABLES PROTECT EUROPE’S PREMIER RAIL PROJECTCABLES CASE STUDY


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SPRINKLERS

Gordon McQuade of the Fire Brigades Unionwas more direct, saying “What they aredoing is the bare minimum”. Ian Mullen,

chairman of NHS Forth Valley, who was underpressure to defend the decision said, “It’s ridicu-lous to suggest that we are in any way cuttingcorners and it’s not about cost”. He claimed thatthe trust had been advised there were moreeffective methods to tackle fires in hospitals andcommented, “If you have patients for example inan intensive care unit linked up to highly sophisti-cated electronic machinery it may not be the mostsensible thing to have those patients and thatequipment deluged with water.”

The comment from Ian Mullen is illuminating. Iam sure he is not suggesting that patients in aroom that is on fire should be left to burn. Morelikely, he thinks that all the sprinklers go off together,not just one or two over the fire. He probably alsothinks that sprinkler systems are prone to falseoperations, spraying water over patients andequipment without a fire. In fact sprinklers are nomore likely to leak than the hospital plumbing. Butif you are reading this you probably know that. The

challenge to the fire safety community and inparticular the sprinkler industry is to communicatethe truth about sprinklers to the healthcareindustry, for doctors and healthcare managershave perhaps the strongest influence on decisionsto install sprinklers in the facilities they run.

Since this very public row, facts have begun toemerge. There are thousands of hospitals aroundthe world that are fitted with sprinklers, includingsome in this country and quite a few in Scotland!Sprinklers are fitted as standard in hospitals inNorth America, including in operating theatres,where to guard against the small risk of a slow leakfrom a pipe joint or from a sprinkler, the pipes andsprinklers run around the edge of the room. Thissummer I visited Northwestern Memorial Hospitalin Chicago, which first opened in 1999. Every partof the building is fitted with sprinklers, includingthe new stem cell research laboratory, which has apre-action system. There are even sprinklers belowan overhead walkway that crosses a road, toprotect it should a vehicle catch fire underneath.

In September I also visited University CollegeHospital in London, which has sprinklers in the

By Alan Brinson

European Fire Sprinkler Network

Sprinklers inHospitalsMany will remember the outcry at the decision announced a year ago not to fitsprinklers in the new £300 million hospital being built at Larbert, betweenGlasgow and Edinburgh. Central Scotland Fire Service said that the brigadewould prefer sprinklers were fitted over other fire prevention measures.

P. 19-21 Sprinklers 4/11/08 8:36 am Page 19

corridors and wards to compensate for a reducednumber of compartments. Thus sprinklers enabledthe hospital to go ahead with its preferred layout.The hospital first opened in 2005 and is about toopen a new wing, which is again fully sprinklered.The experiences of University College Hospital,Northwestern Memorial Hospital and thousands ofother sprinklered hospitals show that Ian Mullen’sfears are not borne out in reality: nobody has beenhurt by the sprinkler systems and it is extremelyrare for them to go off by accident.

We do not have information in the UK but inthe US the National fire Protection Association hascollected information on fires in healthcare facili-ties. The most recent data I have seen is from1994-98. On average there were 2,600 fires each

year in American healthcare facilities, 69% ofwhich were in buildings fitted with sprinklers. Thisproportion fitted with sprinklers has probably sinceincreased. Fire deaths were 86% lower in health-care facilities fitted with sprinklers and propertyfire losses were reduced by 72%.

Hospitals are not immune to fires. On 2 Januarythis year fire destroyed five operating theatres andtwo wards in the Royal Marsden Hospital in centralLondon, our premier cancer research hospital. InMay the operating theatres were still closed. I havenot heard if they have since opened. Four peoplewere also injured in that fire. On 26 May 2007 firedestroyed eight operating theatres in the VUMedisch Centrum in Amsterdam. Fortunatelynobody was hurt but the cost for the repairs alonewas estimated at €50 million. No figure was putagainst the cost of the disruption to hospitalservices. I have not heard any cost estimations forthe Royal Marsden fire but the damage alone willbe a large figure. Perhaps the ‘business interrup-tion’ cost in terms of lost hospital output will notbe calculated but it is real and translates into anextra burden on the NHS and delayed treatmentsfor patients.

Sadly there have also been deaths in hospitalfires. From anecdotal reports I am aware of fatalitiesfrom fires in hospitals in Almelo, the Netherlands;Hamburg, Germany; Pfastatt, France and in a men-tal health ward of Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool.

Fortunately government guidance is becomingmore positive about sprinklers. While ApprovedDocument B is the fire safety guidance used forthe design of many buildings, instead it is Firecode– fire safety in the NHS Health Technical Memor-andum 05-02: Guidance in support of functionalprovisions for care premises which is used todesign hospitals in England and Wales. The latest


SPRINKLERS


edition of this document was published in January2007. Scotland has its own document, NHSScotland Firecode Scottish Health TechnicalMemorandum 82. Regarding sprinklers HTM 05-02says, “With the exception of buildings over 30m inheight, the guidance in this document does notrequire the installation of sprinklers in patient careareas of healthcare buildings. However, the designteam is expected to consider the advantages thatmight be gained by installing life-safety sprinklersthroughout the building. Any decision should beconsidered as an integral part of the fire safetystrategy and should clarify the decision to selectlow or ordinary hazard. However, sprinklers orautomatic fire suppression should be installed in

commercial enterprise areas in accordance withHealth Technical Memorandum 05-03: Part D –‘Commercial enterprises on healthcare premises’.”

It is to be hoped that the expectation to considersprinklers will lead to them being installed more inthe future in hospitals in England and Wales, if forno other reason than that designers will otherwisehave to explain why they considered sprinklers butdecided not to include them.

Scottish HTM 82 includes Supplement A:Automatic fire control systems and voice alarmsystems. The section on Automatic Fire ControlSystems begins, “In healthcare premises, parti-cularly in patient access areas, the immediate and total evacuation of a compartment, or sub-

compartment in the event of a fire may not bepossible or desirable.” It goes on, “In certainscenarios, due to the patient’s medical conditionand/or dependency on electrical/mechanical equip-ment, it may not be practical or advisable to moveor disconnect the patient from such life supportequipment. In this context the evacuation ofpatients from their position of care is effectively a‘last resort’ and therefore available technologiesshould be used to minimise the probability of thisoccurrence.”

“To both minimise the probability of occurrenceof the requirement to evacuate patients and tomaximise the time available prior to this eventualityan appropriate automatic fire control systemshould be installed throughout the building.”Given that this document was published in April2003 it is baffling that the hospital trust decidednot to install sprinklers in the new Larbert hospital.It is to be hoped that in future anyone designing anew hospital in this country will read and followthe government guidance, give serious considera-tion to sprinklers and to the fire safety benefitsand design freedoms they afford, and follow theexample of the thousands of hospitals which arealready fitted with sprinklers. IFP


SPRINKLERS IN HOSPITALSSPRINKLERS

In healthcare premises,

particularly in patient access

areas, the immediate and total

evacuation of a compartment,

or sub-compartment in the

event of a fire may not be

possible or desirable.


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JOINTINGS AND FITTINGS

The following summarises the jointing tech-niques for CPVC pipe and fittings, giving anoverview of those situations that require

special attention.Note: This summary does not replace the

manufacturer’s installation guideline. Prior toany installation, installers should be trainedby the manufacturer or the distributor of therespective CPVC fire sprinkler system!

Cutting of CPVC pipe

CPVC pipe can be easily cut with a ratchet cutter,a wheel-type plastic tubing cutter, a power saw ora fine toothed saw. Tools used to cut CPVC mustbe designed for plastic use and must be in goodcondition in accordance with the tool manufac-turer’s recommendations. It is necessary to cut thepipe square as this provides the surface of the pipewith maximum bonding area when it is bottomingout inside the fitting. If any indication of damageor cracking is evident at the pipe end, at least 5 cm beyond any visible crack needs to be cut off.● Note: Special care needs to be exercised when

using ratchet cutters as their blades dull quickly.● Only use ratchet cutters that contain a sharp

blade● Ratchet cutters should only be used at temper-

atures of 10°C or warmer● Only use well-maintained, good quality ratchet

cutters capable or consistently cutting the pipesquarely.

● Details can be obtained through training and information from manufacturers anddistributors.

Deburring of CPVC pipe

After the pipe has been cut, the pipe ends need tobe chamfered. Burrs and filings can prevent properbonding between pipe and fitting during assemblyand must be removed from the outside and theinside of the pipe. A slight bevel (10 to 15°) shallbe placed at the outside end of the pipe to easeentry of the pipe into the socket. The bevellededge helps the solvent cement glide in betweenthe pipe and the fitting while being inserted andthus minimises the risk of solvent cement beingremoved from the fitting inside during insertion.

Fitting preparationPrior to applying the solvent cement, a clean, dryrag shall be used to wipe loose dirt and moisturefrom the fitting socket and pipe end. Moisture canslow down the cure time and at this stage ofassembly, contact with water can reduce the jointstrength. First of all, the dry fit of the pipe andfitting should be checked. The pipe should enterthe fitting easily 1⁄3 to 2⁄3 of the way into the socket.While testing the interference fit, the pipe shouldnot bottom out in the socket as the fitting inside istapered.

Solvent cement applicationOnce dust or particles are wiped and the pipe andfitting are clean the solvent cement shall beapplied with an appropriate sized applicator. For a3⁄4” and 1” pipe, use a 12 mm dauber. For all largerpipe sizes use a larger dauber, which is generallypart of the 1 litre size cement can. There are twodifferent sized tins of CPVC solvent cement avail-able, each tin including an appropriate sizeddauber attached to the cover. Using the properlysized dauber will prevent too much solvent cement

By Sinikka Freidhof

Lubrizol AdvancedMaterials Europe(Blazemaster)

Jointing CPVCPipe and Fittingswith One StepSolvent CementCPVC Fire Sprinkler Systems are joined using one step solvent cement, requiringneither cleaner nor primer. The pipes are easily cut and chamfered and their lightweight allows a single installer to assemble the system and to work easilyoverhead.

P. 23-25 Jointings and Fittings 4/11/08 8:37 am Page 23

from being applied to the joint. Excess cementpuddles can lead to increased cure time or causeclogged waterways. On the other hand, too littlesolvent cement on the other hand could lead toleakage. Although jointing of CPVC pipes andfittings is fast and easy, installers shall obtainproper training and request a training certificateand card to show to the authorities or approvalbodies upon request.

The solvent cement, which contains CPVC, hasa shelf life of two years. The date of manufacturecan be checked at the bottom of the can. A heavy,even coat of cement shall be vigorously applied tothe outside pipe end and a medium coat ofcement applied inside the fitting socket. Pipe sizes11⁄4” (DN 32) and larger shall always receive asecond cement application on the pipe end. Excesscement outside of the joint can be wiped off, thesolvent cement inside the fitting remains forbonding. Only solvent cements that have beenspecifically formulated and listed for use withCPVC fire sprinkler systems and approved by thepipe and fitting manufacturers shall be used. Thespecific solvent cement that is approved for usewith CPVC fire sprinkler systems can be obtainedthrough the manufacturers and distributors sellingBlazeMaster® CPVC products.

AssemblyAfter applying cement, the pipe needs to beinserted into the fitting socket immediately, whilerotating the pipe one-quarter turn until the pipe

bottoms out at the fitting stop. The pipe needs tobe rotated into the fitting while it is inserted andnot after it has bottomed in the fitting. To ensureinitial bonding, hold the pipe and fitting togetherfor approximately 30 seconds. A bead of cementshould be evident around the pipe and fittingjuncture. If the bead is not continuous around thesocket shoulder, it may indicate that insufficientcement was applied. If insufficient cement is

applied the fitting must be cut out and discarded.Proper training teaches the installer how toproduce and recognise a good joint on the spot aswell as understanding how much solvent cementis necessary for a proper joint.

Exercise special care when installingsprinkler heads! Sprinkler heads should only beinstalled after all the CPVC pipe and fittings,including the sprinkler head adapters, are solventcemented to the piping and allowed to cure for aminimum of 30 minutes. Sprinkler head fittingsshould be visually inspected to insure that thewaterway and threads are clear of any excess


JOINTINGS AND FITTINGS

SOLVENT CEMENT CURE TIMES(Maximum hydrostatic Pressure Test of 15 bar)

Ambient temperature during cure period

Pipe size 16°C to 49°C 4°C to 15°C

3⁄4” and 1” 1.5 hrs 4 hrs

11⁄4” and 11⁄2” 3 hrs 32 hrs

2” 8 hrs 48 hrs

21⁄2” and 3” 24 hrs 96 hrs

Not all plastics have the same fire resistant

characteristics. Mixing different kinds of plastics (e.g. a

PVC fitting meant originally intended for use in waste

water or other CPVC products destined for industrial or

plumbing applications) is inappropriate.

Table 1. Minimum required cure times


cement. Sprinklers shall not be installed in thefittings prior to the fittings being cemented inplace as solvent cement could drip and plug thesprinkler head.

Set and cure timesSolvent cement set and cure times depend on thepipe size, temperature, relative humidity andtightness of fit. Curing time is faster for drierenvironments, smaller pipe sizes, higher tempera-tures and tighter fits. Cure times need to beincreased when moisture is present such as duringcut -ins to live sprinkler lines. A specific procedurefor modifications or repairs to existing CPVC firesprinkler lines has been developed. The assembly

must be allowed to set, without any stress on thejoint, for one to five minutes, depending on pipesize and temperature. Following the initial setperiod, the assembly can be handled carefully,avoiding significant stresses to the joint.

Table 1 indicates the minimum required curetimes if pressure testing at 15 bar.

An installation starts with the larger diametersand then is finalised with the smaller diametersused for the branch lines.

Pressure testingOnce an installation is completed and cured per the recommended times, all installation pipe

work shall be hydrostatically tested as stated inthe manufacturer’s installation guidelines. CPVCsystems must never be pressure tested by air orcompressed gas as air or gas is more compressiblethan water. A system failure when usingcompressed air or gas for system acceptance test-ing may result in property damage, serious injuryor death.

Estimating solvent cement quantitiesInstallers often ask how much solvent cement isneeded for a project. It is not possible to make anexact indication, but the average consumption ofsolvent cement by an experienced fitter is approxi-mated (see table 2).

RecommendationIn addition to the need for proper training, it is also important to understand that onlyappropriately CPVC products approved byLPCB, VdS, UL or FM for installation in firesprinkler systems shall be used for theinstallation!

Not all plastics have the same fire resistantcharacteristics. Mixing different kinds of plastics(e.g. a PVC fitting meant originally intended foruse in waste water or other CPVC productsdestined for industrial or plumbing applications) isinappropriate.

Unapproved plastic products must never beused in a CPVC fire sprinkler system as the in-stallation will not conform to the requirements. In addition, this may represent a dangerous source for a system failure in case of a fire. If you are not sure whether the CPVC product you intend to use is suitable for the installation,please check for the colour (it needs to beorange), the approval imprints on the pipes andfittings (look for LPCB, UL or FM), the brand name of the pipe and the company name of themanufacturer. IFP


JOINTING CPVC PIPE AND FITTINGS WITH ONE STEP SOLVENT CEMENTJOINTINGS AND FITTINGS

Number of Joints Pipe LengthFitting Size per litre in meter per litre

3⁄4” 285 1140

1” 190 760

11⁄4” 137 548

11⁄2” 106 424

2” 74 296

21⁄2” 53 212

3” 42 168

If you are not sure whether the CPVC product you intend to

use is suitable for the installation, please check for the

colour (it needs to be orange), the approval imprints on the

pipes and fittings (look for LPCB, UL or FM), the brand name

of the pipe and the company name of the manufacturer.

Table 2. Average consumption of solvent cement by an experienced fitter


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GASEOUS SUPPRESSION

In recent years, industry and commerce hasfocused a considerable amount of attention onbusiness continuity and disaster recovery measures,

so much so that fixed gaseous suppression is by farthe most preferred option for protecting businesscritical assets. However, safeguarding equipmentand facilities that keep the wheels of industry turn-ing is not the only use to which these systems areideally suited, and not every asset finds its way ontoa company’s balance sheet.

National assets come in many and varied forms.They may be important works of art or literature, orhistoric documents. Either way, their protection isvital as, in many cases, they are not merely difficultor costly to replace, they are truly irreplaceable.Often, what is at stake is a nation’s heritage. But,just as in a commercial application, a particular firesafety challenge dictates the choice of suppressant,the special demands of each heritage site also haveto be taken into account.

Norwegian heritage protectionAmong the landmark projects that demonstrate thisare three in Norway: the National Gallery; theNational Library; and the Munch Museum. TheNational Gallery in Oslo was established in 2003through a merger of the Norwegian Museum ofArchitecture, the Museum of Decorative Arts andDesign, the Museum of Contemporary Art, theNational Gallery, and the National Touring Exhibi-tions. Today, it comprises 4,500 paintings, 900sculptures, 950 plaster casts, 17,300 drawings and25,000 prints from as far back as the Middle Ages.The greatest attraction however, has been the early,major works by Edvard Munch, such as the world-renowned The Scream.

The National Library houses unique collections of manuscripts, books, music, radio and TVprogrammes, film and theatre posters, maps,pictures, photographs and newspapers, with theearliest documents dating back to the 13th century.

John Allen, EMEA

Marketing Director, Tyco Fire Suppression &Building Products

Art for art’s sake– suppression forsafety’s sakeThe latest crop of orders from Tyco shows that gaseous fire suppression systemsare not just for protecting conventional IT and telecommunications facilities, asrecent projects for Norway’s National Library, its National Gallery, the MunchMuseum, and Turkey’s prime minister’s archive building illustrate. John Allen,EMEA Marketing Director of Tyco Fire Suppression & Building Products explains.

P. 27-28 Gaseous Suppression 4/11/08 8:37 am Page 27

The Munch Museum is dedicated to the work andlife of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch andhas a permanent collection of well over half of theartist’s entire production of paintings and at leastone copy of all his prints. This amounts to over1,100 paintings, 15,500 prints, six sculptures, aswell as 500 plates and 2,240 books.

So, by any definition, these three buildings housecollections that are priceless; they are also constantlyavailable to visitors. The key criteria for selecting theappropriate agent was, therefore, to adopt a systemthat had three essential characteristics. Firstly, thesystem obviously had to extinguish a fire in theshortest possible time; the chosen agent also had todo no damage whatsoever to the precious exhibits;and it had to be completely safe for discharge inoccupied areas of each building.

Two other factors were also taken into account.There was a clear desire to choose a suppressionsolution that was sustainable and not likely to becalled into question in a few years’ time, and toensure that the agent’s environmental characteris-tics were of the highest internationally-acceptedstandard.

Although each of the three contracts wasseparately negotiated, the decision in each case wasto opt for the SAPPHIRE® system that uses 3M™Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid. The MunchMuseum was the first installation to be completedand, at the time, was heralded as being one of thefirst large land-based orders for the then new firesuppression system. Interestingly, combined, thetwo more recent orders are nearly four times the size of the earlier Munch Museum project.

Unlike many other fluid fire extinguishing agents,SAPPHIRE can be used with absolute confidence tosuppress fires involving document archives andfragile historic relics; artefacts that would otherwisebe destroyed by water from traditional sprinklersystems. When discharged, the agent disperses as agas and, most significantly, SAPPHIRE leaves noresidue to damage Norway’s priceless historic manu-scripts and works of art that, at the very least,would otherwise inevitably have to be subjected toyears of highly skilled and expensive restorationwork.

SAPPHIRE systems have a negligible impact on

the environment and an insignificant globalwarming potential that is lower than any of thehalocarbon agents that are acceptable for use inoccupied spaces. The suppressant is stored in con-tainers as a low vapour pressure fluid that, whendischarged, converts into a colourless and odourlessgas. Typical total flooding applications use a lowconcentration of the fluid that is well below theagent’s saturation or condensation level.

SAPPHIRE installations have an installed footprintsimilar to that of other chemically- based cleanagent systems and, most significantly, the Novec1230 fluid has the lowest design concentration andthe highest safety margin of any viable Halon 1301chemical alternative. While certain Hydrofluoro-carbons and inert gases are used at design concen-trations that are below the NOAEL or No ObservedAdverse Effect Level, with safety margins fromseven percent, no other Halon alternative comesanywhere close to the SAPPHIRE system’s safetymargin.

Turkish archivesSo, one of the key characteristics of SAPPHIRE isthat it is entirely safe for it to be discharged wherepeople are working or visiting. However, unlikeexhibits in a gallery, not all national treasures are onpublic view.

Indeed, at first glance, there may not appear tobe much common ground in the terms “govern-ment archives” and “national treasures”. However,to future generations keen to learn how theircountry’s decisions were reached, and politicalhistorians anxious to interpret a government’s policymaking, they fully justify being given the sameprotection as a work of art. One such recentexample is the fire protection system installed tosafeguard the Turkish Prime Minister’s archive inAnkara where, in a two-phase project, severalhundred HYGOOD® CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) highpressure containers were installed.

The requirements for the suppression system forthe Turkish archive mirrored many of those specifiedfor the Norwegian projects, with one notableexception. While fast and effective suppression,sustainability, the certainty of no damage beingcaused to the protected items, and the utilisation of“clean” technology were essential characteristics,the important difference was that the Turkisharchives are not normally occupied.

Hence the decision to use CO2, which comes intoits own when seeking to provide total floodingprotection for unoccupied spaces. This is becausethe discharge of CO2 in fire extinguishing con-centrations is lethal to room occupants. Because ofthis, it was essential, as part of the Turkish archiveproject, to take steps to ensure that every CO2flooded area could be adequately ventilated afterdischarge to prevent accidental exposure of person-nel to dangerous levels when investigating thecause of the discharge.

HYGOOD CO2 is an engineered system that usesindividual premium-build steel storage cylinders thatcan be manifold-linked together to enable rapid,simultaneous discharge. The colourless, odourlessand non-corrosive gas is stored under pressure andis piped to the protected enclosure, where it isreleased via a network of piping and strategicallylocated discharge nozzles. The container valves canbe opened automatically, and two or more hazardareas can be protected with a single group ofcontainers by means of directional or selectorvalves. IFP


ART FOR ART’S SAKE – SUPPRESSION FOR SAFETY’S SAKEGASEOUS SUPPRESSION

P. 27-28 Gaseous Suppression 4/11/08 8:37 am Page 28

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FIRE SAFETY DESIGN

Performance-based fire safety design is for specialbuilding with comprehensive consideration ofits function, architecture conformation, fire

load, and conditions, etc. The design is providedon the bases of theories and methods of fire safety engineering and computer simulation andmathematics computation for realizing completeintegrity of fire safety and investment benefit.Performance-based fire safety design is one of themost advanced technologies in the field of fire

protection, and one of the most active researchesin the foreland as well.

1 The characteristics of performance-based fire safety design

1.1 The advantages of performance-basedfire safety design 1.1.1 Goals. In traditional fire protection design,the designers only need to comply with the

By Shen Youdi

Shanghai FireDepartmentP.O.Box 200051No. 229, Zhong Shan Road(west), Shanghai, China

The Application ofPerformance-based Fire SafetyDesign in ShanghaiIn many countries around the world, building designs are shifting from prescriptive toperformance-based for technical, economic, and social reasons. This paper presentsthe advancement and development of the application for performance-based firesafety design in Shanghai, China. These include a comprehensive analysis ofadvantages and disadvantages both of the prescriptive and performance-baseddesign1 leading to the principles of application scope and alternative technologicalsolutions which are suited to performance-based design. It also indicates therelationships which should be receive great attention to during the use ofperformance-based fire safety design. The Shanghai Pudong International Airport No.2Terminal, as a case of performance-based fire safety design is introduced in this paper.

P. 31-37 Performance based Fire 4/11/08 11:40 PM Page 31

principles of the fire codes. But in the perfor-mance-based fire safety design, the designer mustpay much attention to the life and fire safetygoals, functional and performance objectives. Afteridentifying the fire safety goals, the designersshould integrate the fire precautions by choosingfreely any possible way to meet any desired criteriabasing on different spaces, function demands andother related conditions of the building. Generallyspeaking, the primary goals of fire protectiondesign are to provide an acceptable level of lifeand fire safety including safety to people, protec-tion of property, providing for operation continuityand protection of environment from the influenceof fire. It is considered that developing per-formance criteria and defining the boundarycondition and numerical value to which theexpected performance of the trial designs can becompared to meet desired the goals is the core ofthe performance-based design.1.1.2 Pertinence. Performance-based safetyapproach provides a design according to actualcircumstances of special building, but is not stan-dard for any building. For example, in the aspectof life safety, refuge area and evacuation pathmust be designed in order to safeguard peoplefrom heat radiation, smoke and other poisonousgases. In the aspect of prevention of fire spread,neighborhood buildings and combustible materialsmust be protected from being ignited. For the

design of fire protection zone, themeasures must be taken to controlfire within fire compartment in thebuilding. 1.1.3 Integration. Performance-based fire safety approach em-phasizes a comprehensive fireprotection strategy in which all fireprotection systems are integrated,rather than designed in isolation.Not only the passive, but also theactive fire protection measures ofthe building are considered duringthe design. Such a comprehensiveengineering approach often pro-vides greater cost-effectiveness inconstruction and satisfies the client.It also helps us to achieve the firesafety target by integrating theadvantages and functions of firealarm system, sprinkler system andsmoke ventilation system. 1.1.4 Flexibility. Performance-based design is unlike prescriptivedesign. It makes the design morefree and flexible by exerting thedesigners’ subjective creativity. Itgives support for innovation onmaterials and form of constructionresulting in development and popu-larization of new product and newtechnology. It also adapts thedemand of high-tech and aestheticsin modern buildings and offerschance for an insurance company totake part in fire protection.1.1.5 Rationality. The study of per-formance-based design is to perfectthe traditional design and to makethe design more scientific andrational. In other words, the perfor-

mance-based design is not only to improve thesafety standards or reduce the fire protection costdirectly, but also to optimize the fire protectionsubsystems better under the precondition ofmeeting the requirements of fire safety level.

1.2 The disadvantages of performance-based fire safety design 1.2.1 Localization. On one side, performance-based design aims at special construction projectsand solves main problems such as fire protectioncompartment, safety evacuation, smoke control,fire facilities and structure protection. It is notsuitable for all buildings and all problems. On theother side, the building designed on performance-based approach should have to be designed againwhen it changes the function. That is the localiza-tion of the performance-based fire design.1.2.2 Complexity. Performance-based designneeds great quantity of experimental data andprofessional design and evaluation tools forsupport. While at present the basic experimentaldata is scattered and not abundant in China.There’s no application software for large-scaledproject nowadays and most of software used forperformance-based design have not yet beenexperienced in many practical projects and fireexperiments. They are still faulty and may bringinfluence to the optimization of the design andthe veracity in calculation.


FIRE SAFETY DESIGN



THE APPLICATION OF PERFORMANCE-BASED FIRE SAFETY DESIGN IN SHANGHAIFIRE SAFETY DESIGN

1.2.3 Difficulty. Performance-based design is anew technology which covers fields of fire science,fire dynamics, mathematics statistics, computertechnology and behavior psychology during fire. Itis much more difficult than prescriptive design fordemanding flexibility. It needs for designers tohave good theoretical knowledge, rich practices,professional training and noble morality.1.2.4 Time consumption. Performance-baseddesign is much more complex and difficult. Per-formance based design process requires moreengineering time for analysis, calculation, and designdocumentation, and it also needs the clients,designers and related administration to discussagain and again, so it often takes much more timethan the prescriptive design for the same building.It may say a performance based design is a greatachievement of brooms of clients, designers andofficial reviewers, and also it is a result of repeatednegotiation and compromise between them.

2 The application scope and designparameters of performance-based firesafety design

2.1 Application ScopePerformance-based fire safety design has manyadvantages, but that doesn’t mean it is suitable toall projects. It is considered that the Performance-based design will be applied to solve unusual andunique problems in complex buildings only wherefire requirements are not fully addressed byChinese national codes or where strict compliancewith Chinese national codes compromises thefunction of the building. Generally speaking it issuitable to the projects as follows:1 Large-scaled railway stations, airport terminals,exhibition halls, gymnasiums and theatres.2 High-ceiling or large-volume spaces, such asshopping malls, supermarket, warehouses andlogistic centers.3 Public spaces with tall and large-scaled atrium.4 Large clean rooms for medicine and electron,etc.5 Other important buildings with potential forextremely high property or life loss.

Performance-based design should not beapplied to the following buildings in principle orwhere the national codes fully address firerequirements.1 Habitable buildings such as residences, apart-ments and dormitories.2 Common locations such as office rooms, hotelrooms, sickrooms and classrooms in publicbuildings.3 Small workshop and warehouses handling withgrade 1 and 2 combustible and explosive materialsor goods.4 Public entertainment places such as singingrooms, dancing halls, video play rooms, etc.5 Buildings for old-aged citizens and places forchildren such as nursing homes, kindergarten orgame rooms.

2.2 Design parametersPerformance-based design should be based on thefollowing parameters except common designcontents:1 Characteristic parameters. It includes the charac-ters of building, scale of fire, personnel characters,heat release speed, flame dimension, smoke

quantity, temperature and density of smoke andgas, concentration of toxic gas.2 Circumstance parameters. It includes evacuationpreplan, influence of circumstance, fire resistanceof structural component, and fire fighting capabili-ty of fire station, etc.3 Time parameters. It includes time of flash over,fire spread in an enclosure space, initiation of firealarm system, smoke ventilation system, sprinklersystem, and other automatic fire suppressionsystem, response of fire department, time foroccupants evacuation.4 Probability parameters. It includes data of firestatistic, dependability of fire prevention and firesuppression system.5 Safety goals. It includes not only to safeguardpeople’s life, to protect property and structure, butalso to prevent the fire spread in order to reducethe fire losses, to provide for continuity of opera-tion, and to limit the environmental impact of fire.

3 Key points should be paid muchattention to in the application ofperformance-based design

3.1 The relationship between performance-based design and prescriptive designFor many buildings that are straightforward in size,shape, and use, prescriptive codes provide thedesigner with sufficient guidance. The prescriptivecodes, in which goals and objectives are absent,set forth minimum requirements for protectionand are generic by occupancy. Examples includespacing requirements for fire compartment, detec-tors or sprinklers, specified fire resistance, or maxi-mum travel distances. So comparatively theprescriptive codes are convenient for designersand reviewers. Prescriptive design is the embodi-ment of human beings fighting against fire, andplays an important role in the aspect of fire safetydesign and fire loss prevention. But it also hassome disadvantages, which limit the innovation ofnew material, new structure, new technology andnew methods. As a result it influences the art


creation of architect, even the shape and use ofbuilding as well.

Performance-based design has features of cleartarget, flexibility and integration and provides anew way to solve the new problems. Both thePerformance-based and prescriptive design havethe same safety target but the different way andmeasure to solve problems. Performance-baseddesign is applied to some particular buildings withcomplex functions, super space and super height.But prescriptive design is suitable and easy to mostgeneral buildings. In this way, the two kinds ofdesign can’t instead of each other. They can exist

together in a quite long time as performance-based design is a good complementarity toprescriptive design. On the other hand, the studyand practice in performance-based design inChina is at the primary stage. The code and guideof performance-based design still haven’t been set up. So it’s helpful for us to grasp code ofprescriptive design while promoting application ofperformance-based design approach.

3.2 The relationship between performance-based design and fire safety evaluation Performance-based approach brings forward theproject design through engineering analyzing wayand focusing on the problems brought out by themaladjustment between present prescriptive codesand project practice or the incomplete andindefinite prescription. The fire safety evaluation ofthe total project design is the core of per-formance-based design. The evaluation is not only

for validating whether the precautions can achievethe adaptable fire safety level of the building, butalso for amending and perfecting the projectdesign. So any item of performance-based designshould be evaluated. The total fire safety levelshould be adaptable to related code and criterionin China. So the evaluation should base on relatedcode and criterion, fire statistic data and simulatedexperiment result inside or outside China.

3.3 The relationship between popularizationand steadily development Though performance-based approach provides auseful approach to solve new problems in firesafety design and is accepted by more and morepeople, it is still at the primary stage and notperfect in some aspects. So it can’t be consideredas the only choice to solve all problems in firesafety design.

Today, fire safety design is based on the actualfire codes in China. Performance-based design isonly used for buildings not be definite in presentcodes or some particular ones. Actually, only 1%-5% buildings are designed by performance-based approach in advanced countries, e.g. about1% buildings in USA, 1%-5% in New Zealand andAustralia, 1.5% in Germany. In China, less than0.5% buildings are designed with performance-based approach. So it is considered thatPerformance-based design and evaluation shouldbe popularized actively on one hand and shouldbe applied steadily on the other hand.

4 The application of performance-basedapproach in Shanghai

4.1 The challenges for fire protection inShanghai Shanghai covers an area of 6430 km2 with apopulation of more than 20 million. Since China’sembarkation on the cause of reform and open tothe world, especially since 1990s, Shanghai hasbeen developing rapidly into a city full of vigourand vitality. Shanghai will host the World Exposi-tion in 2010. By the year 2020, Shanghai will havebeen turned into a modern world city character-ized by a prosperous economy, high levels of socialcivilization and a beautiful environment. It willhave established itself as an international economic,financial, trade and shipping centre. With thedevelopment and adjustment of city function andconformation, Shanghai has changed greatly withthe 5 following features:1 Many high-rise buildings. There are about13,000 high-rise buildings more than 24m heightand about 420 super-high-rise buildings morethan 100m height in Shanghai nowadays. Forexample, Jinmao Building with 420.5m height isthe highest one in China at present. InternationalFinancial Center, which is under construction nowand will open in July of this year, will be one of thehighest buildings throughout the world with 492meters height up to the roof. These buildings usedperformance-based design which was done inconjunction with RJA, a global fire protectionsengineering firm. 2 Many underground spaces. There are about15 million m2 underground spaces nowadays, whichwill be developed more reasonable and more scal-able. For example, large-sized underground suitmarket will be built near the Bunds of Huangpu



Prescriptive design is the

embodiment of human beings

fighting against fire, and plays

an important role in the aspect

of fire safety design and fire

loss prevention.


436a

460383IFPAd.indd 1 9/5/08 1:14:40 PM

River and 500KV main transformer for EXPO 2010will be set in 45m depth underground. Also thereare 7 tunnels through Huangpu River in use and 6tunnels are under built. In the project of “SouthTunnel & North Bridge” over Changjiang River, thetunnel is 8 km long with 15m in diameter dividedinto 2 levels, the upper level is for roadway andthe lower for railway, beside which there is a220KV municipal electric cable chamber. It is con-sidered to be the first multiple function tunnelthroughout the world. 3 Many chemical plants. There are 5 main largechemical bases in Shanghai, they are GaoqiaoChemical Base, Wujing Chemical Base, TaopuChemical Base, Jinshan Chemical Complex andShanghai Chemical Industry Park. Especially withthe development of Shanghai Chemical IndustryPark, top chemical companies in the world havebeen settled in Shanghai one after another.1200,000 tons of ethylene plant and 10 milliontons of oil refinery plant will be established inShanghai.4 Many big projects. Large micro-electron cleanworkshop, large logistics centers and largeshopping malls emerge in endlessly. Especiallyimportant projects such as Hongqiao TransportHinge Center with a 1,300,000m2 syntheses build-ing, large-sized China Exhibition Hall, ThemeExhibition Hall, Convention Center, and Art Centerare under construction for EXPO 2010.5 Many railway lines. There have been 5 linesput into use with the total length of 145km atpresent. 6 lines and 178 railway stations are under

construction. By the end of 2010 the railway lineswill reach to 400km. Besides metro lines and lighttrack lines there is a maglev line in Shanghai.

With the all above, cosmopolitan fire problemsfocus in Shanghai. If the requirement of structureprotection, fire compartment, safety evacuation,smoke control and fire suppression in manyprojects are executed according to the prescriptivecode, the function of the building and therealization of clients’ idea will be influenced andimpossible. That brings great challenges to firesafety design and fire protection review.

4.2 The application of performance-basedfire safety designFor the purpose of ensuring the safety develop-ment, application of performance-based fire safetydesign is actively promoted for some special largeprojects in Shanghai.

4.2.1 Performance-based design andevaluation of Shanghai Pudong InternationalAirport No.2 Terminal Shanghai Pudong International Airport No.2Terminal (hereafter is called T2) is a enormousmodern building group covering 485,500m2

including a terminal building, an air gallery and apassenger gallery, with a capacity of 40,000,000person-time/year. The buildings have a big-spanned shape in mixing framework system witharmored concrete and steel structure. The terminalbuilding is 40m high and 416m long, the passen-ger gallery is 32.3m high and 1,414m long, andthe air gallery is 42.3m high and 289.5m long.

The terminal building, air gallery and passengergallery all have large space. It is very difficult todivide the whole space for fire compartmentaccording to the fire code, resulting in the firecompartment too large and the evacuation dis-tance too long. Besides there have many technicalproblems in steel structure protection, smokecontrol, fire detection and alarm, and automaticfire suppression.

Focusing on the characteristics and the function,the T2 was designed with fire safety engineeringapproach under the authorized computer model-ing and mathematics computation. The hot smokeflowing of T2 in case of fire was simulated withthe FDS software and the passenger evacuationalso simulated with STEPS software. The comput-ing software was used to account heat radiation,mist temperature, alarm and sprinkler responsetime in T2, and after which the fire risks andharms were analyzed and demonstrated in numer-ical value. Basing on these, the strategy of firecompartment, smoke control, safety evacuation,steel structure protection and fire suppressionsystem were put forward for T2. 1 The concept of fire prevention cabin.The “fire prevention cabin” is indicated for high-fire-loaded zones such as office room andsupermarket in the check-in hall. The “cabin”design will enhance the fire protection facilities inthe areas with high potential of fire. It couldensure the limitation of fire disaster with integrationof local fire compartment, fire detect and alarmsystem, smoke extraction system and sprinklersystem. Such a design will guarantee the continuityof passengers moving freely and the operation ofthe airport without the physical compartment forlarge space in case of fire.


FIRE SAFETY DESIGN


2 The concept of fuel island. The “fuel island”is indicated for area with combustible material.The “island” design will analyze and ensure thefire safety space between fixed or moving com-bustible material in large space of the terminal. Itdemands the area of every booth less than 9m2

and the safety space must be roomed betweenbooths and shops. It should also keep a reason-able space between chair areas in the waiting hallto prevent the spread of the fire.3 The concept of fire isolation belt. The “isola-tion belt” means for safety distance in belt shapebetween two separated parts. There will design anisolation belt of 12m width between check-in halland united-check hall, and an isolation belt of15m width between international waiting galleryand united-check hall. There should not be anycombustible material in the isolation belt. That isconsidered a reasonable approach to solve theproblem in fire compartment in the terminal.4 The concept of cold smoke extraction. The“cold smoke extraction” means that air condition-ing system is used to exhaust the smoke after thefire is suppressed. So there will be no mechanicalsmoke exhaust system in some public areas withlight fire load in large space of the terminal. Inorder to ensure the effect of the smoke exhaust, itwas required to design and install automaticsmoke exhaust windows on the top of the termi-nal after the evaluation of performance-baseddesign. 5 The concept of subsection evacuation.“subsection evacuation” means for passengerevacuation from section and section but not fromthe whole terminal in case of fire. Fire may happenin some local small area within the large space ofthe terminal. So it’s not necessary to require evacu-ation of passengers from the whole building. Onlywhen the fire is extremely uncontrollable, personsin the whole terminal should be required toevacuate. Basing on performance-based analysis,it’s required less than 60m for the evacuationdistance in the terminal. 6 The concept of local protection. In the aspect of steel structure fire protection, basing onperformance-based evaluation, only the steel com-ponents near the 18.40m level at interlayer in thewaiting gallery should be protected, and the otherpart will be no necessary to have fire protection.That is the concept of local fire protection.

Modern buildings with different functions andshapes have been emerging in Shanghai day afterday. It provides wide stage for engineers anddesigners in application of performance-based firesafety design and evaluation, and that will beencouraged and supported further more.

References1. “The Summarization of Performance-based FireSafety Design for Buildings”, in the book FireProtection Handbook of China, Kan Qiang, JiangMingli, published by Shanghai Science & TechnologyPublishing House, Dec. 20062. Fire Engineers’ Manual, Zhu Liping, published byNanjing University Publishing House, Dec.20053. Performance-based Fire Protection Design forBuildings, Li Yinqing, published by Chemical IndustryPublishing House, Aug. 20054. Performance-based Fire Protection Design & Analysisfor Building, Huo Ran, Yuan Hongyong, published byAnhui Science & Technology Publishing House, Sep.2003

IFP



Shen Youdi, born in Shanghai in 1954, has worked infire service for 35 years. The current post is ChiefEngineer of Shanghai Fire Department, Deputy Directorof the Board of Shanghai Fire Protection Association,Master of Laws. He has organized and instituted a seriesof administrative prescriptions and technical standardsin the field of fire protection. He is active in promotionand development of performance-based fire safetyapproaches, and in the reformation of administrativereview and approval system of fire service. He hastranslated and published the two books, Fire Problems inHigh-rise Buildings and Fire Hydraulics, and hascompiled Fire Protection Directory in Chinese, Japaneseand English. Tel: 0086-21-52737771Postal code: 200051Email: [email protected]

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Xtralis IFP36 30/10/08 2:52 AM Page 1


SMOKE DETECTION

Regular readers will already be aware that EN54-20 was published in June 2006 and intro-duced three classes of sensitivity. This is only

useful if those people responsible for specifyingand installing the technology actually use theClasses when defining and selecting ASD for theprotection of particular risks. If the Class defini-tions are not used in the field then there is a risk

that they will be omitted from future versions ofthe standard. So – use it or lose it!

ASD – the cumulative advantageASD systems are by their nature a little morecomplex than point-type detectors because theyare sampling from many different points in space.To keep the analysis simple, consider that an ASD

By PeterMassingberd-Mundy

Technology and ExpertPractices Manager,Xtralis – manufacturersof VESDA

Understanding the“normal” capabilityof AspiratingSmoke DetectionHigh-sensitivity Aspirating Smoke Detectors (ASD) have been in use for many years, butthe basis of their approval has historically been the fire tests used to test normal sensitivityOptical and Ionisation Point-type Smoke Detectors. As many users of Aspirating SmokeDetectors will testify, ASD are generally used for Early Warning and the detection ofincipient fires which means that they are “normally” configured and commissioned to besignificantly more sensitive than “normal”. Is that a problem? Does EN 54-20 help?

Starting with a review of the basics of ASD technology, this article explains the rationalebehind and some of the results from testing ASD systems to EN 54-20. Most importantly,it presents three observations of installed systems to reveal that, in terms of EN 54-20,most ASD systems are currently installed to either Class B (enhanced sensitivity) or ClassA (high sensitivity). It concludes with a recommendation that consultants and designersshould be careful to clearly specify the sensitivity Class they require of any ASD systemthey propose.

P. 39-42 Aspirating Smoke 4/11/08 8:39 am Page 39

system draws samples from several holes (let’sassume 20). If smoke enters only one hole then it is mixed with clean samples from the other (19) holes before it reaches the detector. As suchthe detector in a multi hole ASD must be many times more sensitive than a standard pointdetector (at least 20 times for our example) inorder to detect the standard test fires (TF2-TF5).The “at least” is a reflection that the samplingholes in a practical system do not all draw exactly the same amount of flow. Some (typicallynearer the detector) draw more flow and areconsequently more sensitive. Those drawing lessflow (further from the detector) are effectivelyexposed to a greater dilution ratio. Fortunately,

more and more ASD manufacturers are nowproviding pipe modelling programmes whichcalculate the sensitivity of each individual hole –such as ASPIRE2 used for VESDA and ICAM ASDsystems.

While this “dilution effect” does not need to beconsidered for point-type detectors, it has a dis-tinct advantage in practise because smoke oftenspreads through a space. When smoke enters twoor more sampling holes the dilution from theremaining holes is lessened. In effect the wholesystem becomes increasingly sensitive the morethe smoke spreads and enters more holes. Thefortunate consequence of this is that ASD systemsprovide an excellent measure of the size of theoriginal ‘packet’ of smoke released into theprotected space – whether released from a fasthot fire in the form of a classic plume or releasedslowly from an incipient file and diluted through-out the space by air currents and time. In the lattercase ASD is preferred over point-type smokedetectors because measurement of the obscura-

tion in the immediate environment of the point isof little value – you need to know how muchsmoke has been released and diluted in the largerspace. It is for this reason that ASD systemsperform so well in the windy datacentre and thelarge open spaces of building atria, large manu-facturing & warehouse spaces and public buildingssuch as airports and railway stations – theymaintain a better perspective on the size of thesource.

To illustrate, if smoke with a 10% obscuration/mis sufficient to cause an alarm when entering 1 hole on a 20 hole ASD system then smoke with5% obscuration/m entering 2 holes will also causean alarm. Equally, smoke with a concentration

of 2.5% obscuration/m entering 4 holes wouldresult in an alarm and ultimately, smoke with aconcentration of only 0.5% obscuration/m enter-ing all 20 holes results in an alarm. This cumulativeeffect is particularly relevant when protecting largeopen spaces.

EN 54-20 – a safe approachEN54-20 takes no account of this cumulativeeffect and simply requires that each and every holeon any Class C system can independently detectthe same four test fires that a point detector mustdetect. This is logical because, in a fast growthfire, smoke may only reach one hole in which casethe cumulative effect is of no benefit. The result ofa Class C approval to EN 54-20 is confidence thatthe particular system is at least as reactive to fireas any EN 54-7 point detector.

However, as already observed, ASD systems areoften specified for their high sensitivity and earlywarning capabilities because they offer significantlymore than equivalent fire detection to a point


Figure 1 – Product labelshowing Class andcapability to EN 54-20

SMOKE DETECTION

This detectorprovides support forClasses A, B & C

To achieve Class Awith 30 holes, thedetector sensitivityshould be 0.05%/mor better

Marks andcertificatereferences showingfull compliance toEN 54-20

100 Class C holesare supported

When smoke enters two or more sampling holes

the dilution from the remaining holes is lessened.

In effect the whole system becomes increasingly

sensitive the more the smoke spreads and

enters more holes.


detector with the added benefit of cumulativesampling. In fact, they offer the ability to reliablysignal early warnings when there are extremelylow concentrations of smoke present. This beingproven by successful detection of the smaller testfires for Class A and Class B systems.

Nuisance alarms are a misconceptionIgnorance of the nature of ASD’s cumulative effectunderlies many misconceptions about false orunwanted alarms from such high sensitivity

systems. Observing that smoke of only 0.5%obscuration/m is not enough to be certain there is a fire, they conclude that nuisance alarms frombackground levels will be the consequence. In fact,while 0.5% obscuration/m at a single point maynot be sufficient to be confident of a fire, whenspread through a space it indicates that there is asignificant threat which is well above normal back-ground levels. More importantly, our field experi-

ence with extremely stable, fixed calibrationVESDA technology indicates that backgroundlevels are typically less than 0.02% obscuration/mand rarely exceed 0.05% obscuration/m (otherthan in particularly challenging environments) – sothere is typically a safety factor of >10 beforenuisance alarms become an issue.

The 10% obscuration/m figure quoted above isrooted in the EN 54-20 approvals of the VESDAsystem and relate to Class C. To be specific, allXtralis VESDA detectors are approved to EN 54-20

Class C as long as the sensitivity of every hole isbetter than 10% obscuration/m in the installedsystem. As such, an Xtralis VESDA VLP can support(and has been tested with) up to 100 holes atdetector sensitivity of 0.08 %/m. For Classes A & Bthe hole sensitivity must be better than 1.5%obscuration/m and 4.5% obscuration/m respec-tively. As such they can support (and have beentested with) 30 holes at 0.05% obscuration/m


UNDERSTANDING THE “NORMAL” CAPABILITY OF ASPIRATING SMOKE DETECTIONSMOKE DETECTION

Figure 2 – Summary ofXtralis VESDA VLPcapability

Xtralis VESDA VLP – Capability summary

1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Number of holes supported

Dete

cto

r sen

sit

ivit

y s

ett

ing

VLP Class A

VLP Class B

VLP Class C

Background

Default Fire

Default Alert

Our field experience with extremely stable, fixed

calibration VESDA technology indicates that

background levels are typically less than

0.02% obscuration/m and rarely exceed 0.05%

obscuration/m (other than in particularly challenging

environments) – so there is typically a safety factor

of >10 before nuisance alarms become an issue.


and 60 holes at 0.06% obscuration/m respectively.This information is published in the datasheet and appears on the product label (see Figure 1). Of course where fewer holes are drilled on asystem the alarm thresholds can be corres-pondingly relaxed as summarised graphically inFigure 2.

Figure 2 reflects that a Class C system is with100 holes is achieved with a detector sensitivity of0.08% obscuration/m (as per the label) but a ClassC system with 40 holes is achieved with a sensitivityof 0.2% obscuration/m. This is a simple generalcalculation. For a particular installation an ASPIRE2calculation is recommended.

Most importantly, the graph makes it clear thatwith typical background readings of <0.02%obscuration/m, nuisance free Class A and Class Bsystems are realisable with a satisfactory safetymargin against nuisance alarms.

Field experienceWhen an understanding of the EN54-20 capabilityof the VESDA VLP is combined with several fieldobservations it is clear that the majority of ASDsystems installed in the field are currently Class Bor better.

The first observation is grounded on the factthat the default thresholds on a VESDA are Fire =0.2% obscuration/m (Alert = 0.08% obscura-tion/m and Action = 0.14% obscuration/m) andthat many systems are operated successfully withthese default thresholds in place. This is logicalsince the fire threshold is 10x higher than anytypical background readings (the Alert threshold is4x higher) so nuisance alarms are rare. Moreover,if the number of sampling holes is 20 or less(which is generally the case), the sensitivity of eachindividual sampling hole is better than 4.5%obscuration/m so the system is operating withClass B sensitivity.

An alternative way of setting the alarm thresh-olds on a VESDA system is to use a commissioningtool called AutoLearn. This monitors the back-ground environment for a number of days(typically 14) then sets ALERT threshold with asafety factor of about 3 and the other thresholdscorrespondingly above. Our observations indicatethat AutoLearn typically results in Fire thresholdsof <0.1% obscuration/m and often significantlyless in clean office environments. This means (withreference to Figure 1) that they are operating atClass B or better as long as they are supportingfewer than 40 holes.

A third observation that supports this conclu-sion comes from the fact that there is a tendencyto directly compare ASD sensitivity values with the

nominal values quoted for point detectors –typically stated as having a sensitivity of 3-5%obscuration/m. In fact, basic point detectors needto be set to this level of sensitivity to effectivelydetect the flaming fires (TF4 and TF5). In contrast,Xtralis VESDA detectors, as verified by testing toEN 54-20, only require a single hole with asensitivity of better than 10% obscuration/m tosuccessfully detect all 4 class C test fires (includingTF4 and TF5). However, the practical consequenceof this misplaced comparison is that many XtralisVESDA systems (which are not left to operate atdefault thresholds or commissioned usingAutoLearn) are configured to have individual holesensitivities of better than 5% obscuration/mwhich is approaching the detector’s Class B limit of4.5% obscuration/m.

Other sourcesXtralis are proud to be the first ASD company toachieve full approval to EN 54-20. To supportdesigners of their systems Xtralis has investedconsiderable effort in its design tools and supportdocumentation. For example ASPIRE2 has beenmodified to enable design to the Standard andXtralis has taken a leadership role in the marking

of all its products to explain the Class approvals.Though it is inevitable that other manufacturerswill release compliant product prior to thestandard becoming mandatory from July 2009across most of Europe, it is important they make itclear how the Class of any particular ASD installa-tion is to be determined. All ASD manufacturersshould be encouraged to clearly publish theirdetector capabilities in terms of the number ofholes they can support at a given sensitivity for agiven Class.

ConclusionFor the specifier and designer of ASD systems it isimperative to specify the sensitivity Class requiredfor any particular ASD project. If it is left un-specified then there is a risk that the performanceachieved will be significantly less than thatexpected. This is particular true given that themajority of ASD installations currently installedachieve a Class B capability or better – assupported by the evidence presented in this article.

Moreover, it is important to verify that theproduct selected is suitable for the application. Notonly must it have an approval for the sensitivityClass required but it must also support the numberof holes envisaged for the project and providesufficient information to ensure that the alarmthresholds are correctly set at commissioning toachieve the Class required. IFP


UNDERSTANDING THE “NORMAL” CAPABILITY OF ASPIRATING SMOKE DETECTIONSMOKE DETECTION

Further information isavailable at: www.en54-20.org and in theFIA Code of Practise forAspirating Smoke Detectors

When an understanding of the EN54-20 capability of

the VESDA VLP is combined with several field

observations it is clear that the majority of ASD

systems installed in the field are currently

Class B or better.


20137 Milano - Via Ennio, 25 - ItalyTel.: + 39 02 5410 0818 - Fax + 39 02 5410 0764E-mail: [email protected] - Web: www.controllogic.it CONTROL LOGIC s.r.l.

20137 Milano - Via Ennio, 25 - ItalyTel.: + 39 02 5410 0818 - Fax + 39 02 5410 0764E-mail: [email protected] - Web: www.controllogic.it CONTROL LOGIC s.r.l.

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25SF-c275x185gb.indd 1 24-06-2005 12:50:37

Control Logic w/p 16/2/06 12:22 pm Page 1

Bavaria IFP36 p44 30/10/08 12:35 AM Page 1

ADVANCED ELECTRONICS, one of thelargest independent global fire detectionmanufacturers in the industry, haslaunched a new redundancy controller forits Ax-Series of UL approved fire alarmpanels. The controller has been designedfor heavy industry where redundant andresilient fire detection is critical for plantoperation. All of the field wiring is con-nected to the redundancy controller whichin turn routes it to one of two Ax-Seriesfire panels. Should a system fault occur inthe panel the field wiring is automaticallyrouted to the second standby panel. Thecontroller and fire panels are installed in anindustrial rack enclosure.

The Ax-Series consists of high-end con-trol panels and a range of fire detectorsand field devices. The range complementsthe established EN54 approved Mx-4000series of intelligent fire panels, which havebeen successfully sold in the UK andEurope for a number of years.

The Ax-Series is UL 864 approved andhas a number of unique and innovativefeatures that will appeal to fire systemconsultants, designers and installers. Atthe heart of the new range are the ana-logue addressable fire control panels,which are available in both 2 and 4 loopconfigurations and can be networkedtogether using Ad-NeT+, the company’swell-established fault-tolerant network sys-tem. This allows the Ax-Series to provide

simple cost effective solutions from thevery smallest through to very large multi-panel network systems requiringthousands of devices. The panels includeextensive network cause-and-effect eventprogramming capabilities which are fullyprogrammable from the built-in keypad or via PC-NeT, a suite of Windows™

based software tools.Ax-Series panels also incorporate the

Advanced Dynamix-Zoning function.Larger systems typically require large num-ber of zones in order to comply with fireregulations and to give clear unambiguousindication to the user. Historically, thenumber of zonal based I/O and reportingrequirements for these installations oftenexceeded the capability and/or capacity ofthe individual control panels used to makeup the multi-panel networked system.Dynamix-Zoning effectively overcomesthese restrictions, allowing buildings withmany hundreds of zones to be readilysupported with standard panels andequipment.

The Ax-Series range of fire detectorsand field devices offers the system designerextensive choice. Fire sensors includeoptical and ionisation smoke, heat, multi-sensor and beam detectors. All of thesmoke detectors include drift compen-sation and selectable sensitivity modescontrolled from the fire panel. Field devicesinclude pull stations and an extensive arrayof I/O modules.

For further information contact: Advanced Electronics LtdTel: +44 (0) 1670 707 111Fax: +44 (0) 1670 707 222 Email: [email protected] or visitwww.advel.co.uk


PANELS ROUND UP

100% Redundant Fire Systemsfor Industrial ApplicationsThe new Ax-Series of intelligent fire detection products

C-TECs entire range of XFP networkableanalogue addressable fire alarm panelshave attained third-party LPCB approval.

Recognised by governments and regula-tory authorities across the world, theapproval demonstrates that all six of C-TEC’s XFP panels have been extensivelytested for functionality and performance,comply with EN54 Parts 2 and 4 and meet

the overall standards of the Loss Pre-vention Certification Board, the leadinginternational certification body in the fieldsof security and fire protection.

Says Charlotte Manley, C-TECs Euro-pean Sales Manager: C-TEC invests mil-lions of pounds in quality control andapprovals and this accreditation underlinesour dedication to manufacturing productsof the very highest standards. The LPCBstamp is the ultimate seal of approval and Ihave no doubt that our investment willpay off. We have already received advanceorders and our overseas customers areparticularly delighted by the news.

Offering high performance at a verycompetitive price, the XFP range is idealfor office blocks, shopping complexes andbig industrial sites as well as smaller, stand-

alone applications.Available as a cost-effective single loop

16 zone panel in a plastic enclosure or arobust 1 or 2 loop 32 zone metal panel,XFP panels offer an array of user andinstaller-friendly features including fullcompatibility with Hochikis ESP and Apol-los XP95, Discovery and Xplorer protocols,two independently programmable conven-tional sounder circuits and the ability tointerconnect up to eight XFP main panelsonto a two wire RS485 network. The XFPis also fully compatible with C-TECs newHush Button fire alarm solution for Housesof Multiple Occupation.

For more information, please contact thecompany’s sales desk on +44 (0) 1942322744

LPCB Approval for C-TEC’s XFP Fire Panels

P. 45-53 Panels Round Up 4/11/08 8:40 am Page 45

C-TEC’s new LPCB approved three-zoneautomatic extinguisher panel has beenspecifically designed for areas housingexpensive, dangerous or irreplaceable itemssuch as computer servers, chemicals orantiques.

With the growing emphasis on safe-guarding not only people but property andsocietys increasing reliance on comput-erised systems, the market for such panelsis booming. Fully compliant with EN 12094part 1, the panel has been manufacturedto the highest standards and epitomisesquality, durability and reliability.

With three programmable detectioncircuits and three programmable soundercircuits, the panel has been extensivelytested in a quality-controlled environmentand is currently operating in a number oftrial sites. A 128 x 64 pixel graphic displaywith two-colour backlight provides a userinterface for presentation of informationand interrogation of data held by theEP203. The panel also possesses adjustableextinguishant release, delay and flood

times and an array of program-mable relay outputs with voltfree changeover contacts, a timestamped log and a facility to delaythe alarm sounders.

An alarm counter also records the num-ber of times the panel has been in analarm state.

Comments C-TECs MD, Andrew Foster,C-TECs new state-of-the-art Research andDevelopment facility and recruitment ofadditional specialist engineering staff hasmade the development of this new auto-extinguisher panel possible. This producthas been designed to meet demand fromour customers for a top quality extinguisherpanel and we confidently expect theEP203 to exceed all expectations.

Up to eight Remote Status Units withtheir own graphic displays and manualrelease functions can be connected to thepanel via a simple two-wire RS485 bus toindicate the status of the system in build-ings with multiple entrances. Low-costsingle-gang Economy Status Units are alsoavailable as are Abort and Hold buttons.An optional relay expansion unit, fitted inthe main panel housing, can also bepurchased for system expansion.

For more information, please contact: Alex Saint, Marketing Executive, [email protected] SaintMARKETING EXECUTIVEC-TEC Stephens Way Wigan WN3 6PH United KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1942 322744Fax: +44 (0) 1942 829867Website: www.c-tec.co.uk


PANELS ROUND UP

C-TEC’S new LPCB ApprovedAutomatic Extinguisher Panel

C-TEC’s Hush Button fire alarm solution is nowcompatible with both Hochiki’s ESP and Apollo’sXP95/Discovery protocols.

Designed to give fire alarm installers aunique opportunity to enter the lucrative andrapidly expanding HMO marketplace, C-TEC’srevolutionary new product costs just £70 trade.

According to BS 5839 part 6 (the code of prac-tice for fire alarm systems in dwellings) around80% of all UK fire deaths and injuries occur inhomes. Nowhere is the risk greater than in Housesof Multiple Occupation (HMOs) where a fire inone ‘dwelling’ can quickly spread to another.

Providing reliable and fully monitored firedetection, alarm and silencing facilities insideeach individual apartment, C-TEC’s Hush Buttonsolution puts the resident firmly in control oftheir own fire detection system. Basically theHush Button functions as a miniature fire alarm– the resident can silence a false alarm them-selves (for example should they set the alarm offaccidentally by burning a meal) thus preventingfalse alarms, full-scale evacuations and the likeli-hood of a true alarm condition being ignored.

Says C-TEC’s MD, Andrew Foster: ‘Now C-TEC’s Hush Button is compatible with ApolloXP95 and Hochiki ESP – the fire alarm industry’sleading analogue open protocols – I am certain

it will become a great seller. Indeed I have nodoubt that Hush Buttons will be fitted as stan-dard in many Houses of Multiple Occupation inthe not too distant future such are the benefitsthey offer the occupant”.

For more information, please contact C-TEC’s sales desk on 01942 322744.Alex SaintMARKETING EXECUTIVEC-TEC, Stephens WayWigan WN3 6PH United KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1942 403810Fax: +44 (0) 1942 829867Website: www.c-tec.co.uk

C-TEC’S Hush Button nowcompatible with Hochiki andApollo Protocols


FIKE ALARM SYSTEMS is proud toannounce the release of itsnewest products, the PreciseVision™ and Precise Touch™computer-based event manage-ment systems.

Created to help control andmonitor facilities during emer-gency situations, Precise Visionallows facility managers and/orkey personnel the ability torespond to alarm and troublesituations with just a few easyclicks – gaining access to buildingfloor plans, emergency contacts,and security plans. In addition,Precise Vision has the capabilityto inform appropriate personnelvia email about alarm situations.

Precise Touch is an intuitive computergraphics package designed for use in pub-lic locations so that responders can quicklylocate an alarm situation, view floor plans,identify potential hazards and find emer-gency exit routes. This intelligent device isalso powered with knowledge to locatewhere a fire started, how it is progressingand what potential hazards may exist, so

personnel can quickly locate the nearestexit route.

“These event management packagesinterface with Fike fire alarm technology,giving users detailed, visual information onexactly what is happening within theirfacility, so the safest and most efficientaction can be taken for the situation,” saidKevin Montgomery, Market Manager.

“Both of these products are easyto operate and provide intuitiveinformation for facility managersand/or personnel to respondquickly.”

Precise Vision and PreciseTouch were specially designed towork with the Fike CyberCat®fire alarm control panels and can be customized and adaptedto meet changing needs of afacility.

Fike is a globally recognizedsupplier of products and servicesthat protect people and criticalassets from dangers such as fire,explosion, and over-pressurization.With over 60 years experiencemanufacturing safety solutions,

Fike offers a complete line of proven,reliable products to customers around theworld.

For more information, please contact: Kevin Montgomery, Market ManagerTel: +1 816-229-3405Email: [email protected]: www.fike.com


PANELS ROUND UP

FIKE introduces Fire Alarm EventManagement Systems

NANOA new fire alarm panel designed by the engi-neers who will be installing it has beenlaunched by GENT BY HONEYWELL.

The Nano control panel has been developedin close partnership with Gent’s network ofapproved System Integrators (SIs), who havehad significant input into its design and practi-cal usage.

The panel is designed for small buildingapplications, capable of powering a loop withup to 127 devices. It has a simple cause andeffect which can be configured by a simple PCcommissioning tool.

Developed with ease of use as a high priority,Nano delivers an experience that makes the firealarm system easy to use and safe to operate. Itis also design-led to ensure the panel looksgood in any type of building.

Mark Ayton, managing director of Gent byHoneywell, said: “Nano is a breakthrough prod-uct in terms of design and functionality, givingscope for more sophisticated fire technology tobe used in smaller buildings.

“We included our network of SIs in theprocess from the start, so they could choose thestyle and function which they will find best towork with when installing it.

“They were presented with various designoptions, with all feedback incorporated into the

product development process. We prideourselves on good working relationships withSIs but the Nano plans involved more in-depthinteraction with them about a new product thanever before.”

The Nano panel operates the latest Vigilonloop devices from Gent by Honeywell, including

the S-Quad and S-Cubed ranges, allowing asmall system to benefit from Gent’s advancedfire detection technology.

Nano is the latest innovation from Gent,which has a proud history of pioneering devel-opments in fire technology including the firstloop powered sounders and interfaces, laterfollowed by devices with combined sensor,sounder, speech and strobe functions.

VIGILONVigilon is a feature-packed analogue address-able system which is Gent by Honeywell’s mostpopular fire alarm panel. It offers the latest insystem flexibility for medium to large sizedbuildings.

One panel is able to support a system whichcovers up to 10,000 sq m, with a maximum1,200 devices across six loops.

The sophisticated system also incorporates ahost of features designed to make it simple toinstall, configure and use.

Vigilon is compatible with Gent’s multi-functional S-Quad devices, which includessensor, sounder, speech and strobe functions inone device. Voice messaging capability throughthe sounder functionality of S-Quad ensuresquick and safe evacuation in the event of a fire.

The combination of S-Quad sensors with theVigilon panel provides quick and intelligibledecision making. Vigilon’s processor is able tolocate and analyse what is happening in anyzone, with the alarm prompt decided by thepanel based on information received from the

Gent by Honeywell


sensors. The S-Quad’s dual angle optical sensorrecognises a clear distinction between smokeand steam.

Vigilon’s backlit 8-line by 40 characterdisplay presents clear indication of fire or faultlocations. Separate zonal indication with 32 fireLEDs gives an ‘at a glance’ indication without

the need for manual intervention by fire fighters.Fire plans can be tailored to precisely meetproject requirements.

Vigilon also provides a historic log of thesystem’s management information. Should asystem fault occur, a detailed explanation isshown and the user can navigate through thefaults history at any time.

The panel is available with a 24 or 72 hourstandby function, with advanced options allow-ing multi-domain networks of up to 260 panelsto retain control on large or complex sites. Also, new buildings or extensions are easilyaccommodated onto the existing system.

VIGILON COMPACTVigilon Compact is an analogue addressableone or two loop panel offering the unique sys-tem functionality of Vigilon with the very best incontrol panel aesthetics for small to mediumsized buildings.

For larger scale projects it can be networkedwith up to 31 other Compact panels and is alsocompatible to be linked into Vigilon systems.

The introduction of innovative design featuresinto this panel means that the wall space neededto mount the panel is 60 per cent smaller than astandard Vigilon installation.

Stainless steel door options are available toprovide a discreet and luxurious feel in up-

market office environments.The LCD display allows clear indication of fire

or fault locations, while site specific plans canbe programmed to meet the evacuation needsof the building.

Vigilon Compact analogue addressablepanels fully comply with EN54: Parts 2 & 4 and can be specified with one or two


PANELS ROUND UP


detection loops, each capable of accommodat-ing up to 200 Vigilon devices including repeatpanels, interfaces, manual call points and Gent’sinnovative S-Quad device.

S-Quad is a combined multi-sensor rangewith speech, sounder and strobe in one intelli-gent unit. The four separate sensing elements inthe S-Quad, including CO, can be set withindividual sensitivity levels and sensor ‘states’can be programmed for different time periods tosuit all applications and environments.

The combined power of S-Quad and theVigilon Compact panel provides quick, intelli-gent decision making. The S-Quad dual angleoptical sensor recognises a clear distinctionbetween smoke and steam.

Fully compatible with Gent’s S-Cubed alarmdevices (offering sound, speech or strobe effectsin combination), Vigilon Compact also offers thefamiliar advantages of combined functiondevices and loop powered beam detection withintegral short circuit isolators fitted into everysingle loop device.

Separate zonal indication, visible at accesslevel 1, comprises 32 fire LEDs which gives an‘at a glance’ overview without the need formanual intervention by fire fighters.

For additional information, please visitwww.honeywell.com


PANELS ROUND UP

The XLS80e control panel fromHONEYWELL BUILDING SOLUTIONS, isavailable in 2 through to 8 loop versions,and is one of a few in the market placethat will comply with the standards andyet provide control of over 512 devices.The Enhanced Loop Interface Board (ELIB)enables multi processor control to provideup to 8 loops of detection and loop pow-ered sounders from one controller. The keybenefit of this system is the functionalitythat can be provided when connected toEnterprise Building Integrator, EBI™. EBI™provides a seamless graphical representa-tion of alarms and processes to: ● Hasten the identification of a genuine

fire alarm condition ● Improve the efficiency of evacuation

procedures

● Provide seamless smart integration withBuilding systems:●● Fire●● HVAC●● Intruder

Honeywell BuildingSolutions: XLS80eControl Panel


●● CCTV●● Access Control●● Energy management

● Total control and responsibility forintegrated solution, be they 3rd partyor in-house

● Enable Honeywell Building Solutions toprovide a total solution tailored to theneeds of the customer

Advanced design and manufacturingtechniques together with Honeywell’s 50plus years of experience at the forefront ofthe fire industry, ensure that the XLS80esets new standards in areas of function-ality, flexibility, user friendliness andreliability. The XLS80e is the first choicewhen it comes to smart building integra-tion. Connectivity with Enterprise Building

Integrator (EBI™) affords total control overyour building services: Lifesafety, CCTV,Access Control, HVAC, Asset Location,Intruder and Energy Management . TheEBI™ platform is the point at which thedifferent functions come together into acommon operator interface, pulling alldata from the component applicationstogether into one graphical user interfaceon a pc screen.● Seamless integration into EBI™● Enhanced Loop Boards provide con-

nection of more than 512 devices percontrol panel

● Supports Honeywell’s advanceddetection:●● FILTREX – harsh environment

detector●● Loop powered aspirating module●● Intrinsically safe equipment●● Laser sensor point detection●● Loop powered sounder beacons

● 24 and 72 hour standby● Interfacing to Public Address and Voice

Alarm systems (PAVA)● Peer to peer or master slave networking

Contact:Honeywell Building SolutionsEurope, Middle East, Africa & India:Honeywell HouseArlington Business parkBracknellUnited Kingdom RG12 1EBTel: +44 (0)870 600 1659Website:www.honeywellbuildingsolutions.co.uk


PANELS ROUND UP

KENTEC’s Syncro Matrix™ uses flexible,fibre optic light guides to illuminate areason a fire alarm mimic display floor plan,laid over a high-resolution grid and it canbe connected to any panel in Kentec’sSyncro and Syncro AS fire alarm panelrange. Syncro Matrix™ is also uniquelyflexible and future-proofed as it completelydispenses with wiring, enabling indicatorsto be moved, removed or added on site.

When linked to the fire control panel, aMimic Panel provides a graphical represen-

tation of the site or building layout to giveusers, at a glance, the location of the ori-gin of a potential fire incident. The MatrixMimic system uses bright, flexible fibreoptic light guides, carrying LED-originatedlight to a high resolution grid, to illuminatezonal areas on a floor or site plan. Thisunique, rapidly configurable system dis-penses completely with wiring and enablesindicators to be moved, removed or addedon site without the need for any wiring.

British Standard BS5839: Part 1:2002recognises the benefits of such a graphicalrepresentation and recommends that aZonal Plan is placed adjacent to the firealarm panel.

Syncro Matrix™ can be supplied with orwithout LEDs and controls. Optional LEDsindicate Power on, Fire, Fault and Disable-

ment and optional controls are for Alarmsilence, Buzzer silence, Lamp test and Reset.

Housed in attractive, slim-line enclo-sures to match Kentec’s Syncro and SyncroAS fire alarm panels and incorporatinghigh quality, full colour or monochromefloor plans, Syncro Matrix™ provides aclear, geographical indication of fire alarmactivation enabling speedy identification ofthe source of an alarm in a form that canbe easily maintained and modified toreflect extensions or changes to buildingor site layout and usage.

Up to 500 indicators can be supplied onthe Matrix Mimic. These default to zonalfire indications but are fully programmableand can be controlled by complex causeand effect relationships set by the firecontrol panel configuration software.

Syncro Matrix™ is arevolution in firealarm Mimic displaytechnology



Kentec Electronics Ltd.

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� Feature-packed and compatible with Apollo's XP95/Discovery and Hochiki’s ESP open protocols

� Easy to program using our powerful and intuitive Windows PC programming software

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1-2 loop analogue addressable fire panels from C-TEC


All indicators can be configured easilyvia Kentec’s powerful and intuitive LoopExplorer configuration programme.

There are several enclosure size optionswith standard enclosures capable of hous-ing 24, 56 or 88 LEDs. Bespoke housingsfor up to 500 LEDs to suit more complexrequirements can be easily accommodated.The Matrix is ideal for environments wherethe building layout may evolve over aperiod of time.

Matrix Mimic panels are controlled bydata transmitted from Kentec Syncro ana-logue addressable fire control panels overa two wire RS485 data bus. Unlike manyconventionally wired mimic panels, which

require a wire for each indicator, thismethod minimises the wiring required onsite between the fire panel and the Mimicpanel.

Because the indicators on Matrix Mimicpanels are not wired but fed via electricallybenign fibre optic cable, the electromagneticcompatibility characteristics are consistentand do not vary from one unit to another,so the units can be confidently certified ascompliant with EMC requirements.

For more information contact Kentec on +44 (0)1322 222121email [email protected] or visitwww.kentec.co.uk


PANELS ROUND UP

In direct response to increasing customerdemand, KENTEC’s Syncro 6 and 8 loopanalogue-addressable panels are now availableas standard items, which will mean faster deliv-ery times compared to made-to-order products.

Available in three analogue detector protocols,Apollo, Argus Vega and Hochiki, and with 96zone indicators as standard, these Kentec Syncropanels can be purchased either with or withoutin-built printers. Supplied with two ENS400, 4amp PSUs and with network cards fitted asstandard, they are available in surface mountingversions only and without an enable keyswitch.

Kentec’s pedigree for modularity means thatSyncro Response, Focus and Focus+ repeaters,the modem as well as Guide and GuideRepeater, can all be seamlessly integrated tothese Syncro panels, with the capability for net-working to other panels in the Syncro family. Theinternal Syncro bus also allows the local inter-connection of the ancillary Input/Output cards –relay, additional sounder and conventional zonemodules, as well as the Syncro View Repeater.

THE SYNCRO FAMILYSyncro Response is a full function repeaterpanel used to complement the Syncro controlpanel range. Using the most advanced micro-processor technology to provide a system ofhighest integrity, Syncro Response can be con-figured to suit all types of system, to provideselectable event reporting and controls fromeach networked panel. A large area graphicdisplay ensures that information is presented in plain language with detailed extra helpavailable by pressing a ‘help’ button. Syncronetworks support three of the most widely used,leading fire data communication protocols. Focus and Focus+ Network LCD ControlPanel Repeaters. These simple and attractiverepeater panels can be connected to any pointon a Syncro network to provide additionaldisplay points as needed. Using the same largeformat graphics display as the main controlpanel ensures clear and concise indication isgiven at all times. These units are ideal foradditional building entrances, security desks ornurses’ stations, and provide an economical

alternative to a Syncro Response full functionrepeater panel. The repeater also acts as a net-work booster and can be used to extend cableruns beyond the specified lengths as required.Syncro GUIDE Graphical User Interface. Syncrofire control panels can send data to, and be con-trolled by, the Guide system providing a singlepoint of co-ordination for all alarms. The powerful32 bit programme features a standard Windowslook and feel and runs under Windows 2000 orXP. The system presentation is highly configurableso that the end user can be presented with maps,text, photographs, audio or a combination of all asrequired. User profiles allow the system managerto control the facilities available to each individ-ual system user. A comprehensive history loggingand reporting system allows analysis of eventsand trends to be identified to reduce unwantedalarms. Easy to programme and simple to use,Guide provides a cost effective solution for firealarm management at many levels, withRepeater provision for extended networking.

For more information contact Kentec on+44 (0)1322 222121email [email protected] or visitwww.kentec.co.uk

More loop options fromKentec as standard

Sirius II fromKidde FireProtection

The KIDDE “Sirius II” range of conventionalfire detection and alarm panels has beendesigned with simplicity of operation andattractive appearance in mind. Available in2, 4 or 8 zone versions, Sirius II 200, 4000and 8000 are LPCB approved to EN54 Parts2 & 4, including battery monitoring anddetector removal.

Sirius II is compatible with Apollo,Hochiki and Nittan conventional detectorranges, making it ideal for retrofit installa-tions as well assmall industrialunits, schools,shop units, pri-vate clinics andnursing homes,hotels, factor-ies or residen-tial premises.

All types of warning devices are supported;electronic sounders, bells and xenon strobes.

Integral zone detector removal is incorpor-ated, with short and open circuit monitoringand no Active End of Line Device required.

Other features include:● Real time clock/alarm counter● Programmable zone co-incidence and

sounder functions● One man walk test● LCD display for indication & program-

ming menu● Each zone supports up to 32 detectors

and unlimited number of call points● 2 x alarm circuits as standard rated 1 A

@ 28 VDC● Fire & Fault relay contacts● Monitored Fire Output with disable func-

tion rated 0.5 A @28 VDC● 2.5A Switch Mode Power Supply incor-

porating intelligent battery monitoring● Zone disable function● Class change input● Company logo window● Zone indication window

Sirius II supports an RS485 repeater net-work, with the possibility of up to 7 passiveand 7 active standard 8-zone repeater panels.

Option cards available, all in 8-wayformat are Relay Output, Sounder Outputand Input/Output.

For more information logon to www.kfp.co.uk


The SITA 200 plus single loopanalogue addressable systemallows up to 200 detectors andsounders on one loop – a speci-fication currently unmatched inthe marketplace.

The Sita 200 plus system isa single loop ‘intelligent’ ana-logue addressable systemdesigned to satisfy the require-ments of small to medium sizefire systems, Sita is capable ofsupporting up-to 200 Multi-point combined detector/sounders on its single loop, aspecification unmatched in the Fire industry.

The CIE offers a comprehensive cause-and-effect feature enabling programing of eventssuch as phased evacuation and alarm confirma-tion drastically reducing the problem of falsealarms. A wide range of interfacing inputs andoutputs allowing a large range of additional

auxiliary functions are avail-able at the panel, I/O isalso available at eachMultipoint device. Thecontrol panel has beendesigned to high specifica-tion and quality standardsand fully complies with thenew EN54 -2 and EN54 – 4standards and EU direc-tives. Sita is approved tothe above standards byLPCB (Loss PreventionCertification Board)

Rafiki Protection Ltd 31 Springvale Industrial Estate Cwmbran NP44 5BD Tel: +44 (0)1633 865558 Fax: +44 (0)1633 866656 Email: [email protected] Website: www.rafiki.biz


PANELS ROUND UP

Duonet

Incorporating the Multipoint detector withbuilt-in sounder means the whole systemcan be installed using only one pair of wires.

Twinflex 2-Wire Fire Alarm System Usingthe Multipoint detector as part of theTwinflex 2-wire fire alarm system means thatwhen a detector is wired in, a sounder istoo – with no extra wiring required. Thisgreatly reduces the number of points thatneed to be installed and the time it takes toinstall them.

As the Multipoint offers 7 different modesof detection, the installation is made evensimpler as this one device suits all applica-tions. Whatever type of detection is required,for any part of the installation, it can beselected by the flick of a switch at the timeof commissioning. Any one of the 3 differentsmoke modes, 2 fixed temperature heatmodes, a rate of rise mode and a combina-tion smoke or heat mode can be selected.

As the Multipoint detector is availablewith or without a full specification 92dBAsounder (for only a marginal cost difference)no extra devices need to be purchased whenaudible warning is required (meets audibilitylevels recommended in BS5839 Part 1:2002). Twinflex callpoints can be run on thesame pair of wires as detectors. Further costsavings can be utilised by using the newcombined callpoint/sounder. Both detectorsand callpoints have a selectable EOL moduleso any device can be set as the end of linemonitor. The panel can also differentiatebetween callpoint or detector alarms.

If extra sound is required, or for areas thatdo not require detection, then the HatariSounder can be used on the same two

wires, offering sound output of 100dBA. Italso has a built-in EOL monitoring switch.

The panel can accommodate 32 devicesper zone, has separate fault monitoringdisplays for each zone, and a one man walktest facility. Zones are configured withoutthe need to use resistors or capacitors onunused zones.

All Twinflex Systems have the ‘Check-point’ alarm confirmation feature drasticallyreducing false alarms.

Repeater panels are also available for theTwinflex system, which use key switch accessand have the facilities silence, sound alarmsand reset.


The DUONET system is a 1-2 loop intelligent analogueaddressable, networkable, firealarm system capable ofsupporting up-to 200 Multipointcombined detector/sounders perloop and a network of up-to 32 control panels.

The Duonet panel offers a full network capacityof up to 250 panels, each panel having 1 or2 loops capable of supporting up-to 200Multipoint combined detector/sounders on eachloop. The panel supports two plug-in loop cards,giving choice for the size of system require-ments. Although powerful software has beenutilised, operation of the control panel remainsuser friendly with intuitive functions. Program-ming and commissioning of the Duonet systemis carried out using the Duonet OSP softwarepackage, and as well as soft addressing theadditional feature of ‘safe initialisation’ allowsdevices to be added or removed from thenetwork easily

As well as offering one of the most technicallyadvanced systems on the market Duonet alsooffers the specifier a piece of equipment that isappealing to the eye. A renowned designcompany was commissioned to produce a con-trol panel that reflects the ‘state of the art’technology it encases. The standard black hi-gloss finish panel for maximum visual impact.Many other finishes are available includingbrushed aluminium, walnut and marble if adifferent ‘look’ is required to make theDuonet panel a showcase product in its techni-cal capabilities and also its appearance.


Twinflex 2-Wire FireAlarm System

Sita 200 Plus



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In the event of fire, Pilkington Pyrostop™ can provide insulation against heat for up to 120 minutes,with Pilkington Pyrodur™ also able to provide full insulation for a short period of time – protecting theproperty and giving people more than enough time to vacate the building safely. As well as acting asa barrier against hot gases and flames to increase protection, they reduce any panic by turning opaque.Available in a range of thicknesses to suit every need, Pilkington Pyrostop™ and Pilkington Pyrodur™

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F GASES

So you are all working in a manner that meansyou fully comply aren’t you?

I can hear the cogs whirring right now: “F Gases”, “EC 842/2006?” “Penalties” WHAT!!!!

However, as in “The Hitchhikers Guide to theGalaxy”, this article does contain big red lettersreading:

“Don’t Panic!”

The Fire Industry Association (FIA), in conjunc-tion with the Department of Environment andRural Affairs (DEFRA), has been working to ensurethat the UK industry has a smooth transition tocompliance. In this article I will explain what the

regulations are, what the main requirements areand how you can comply.

Firstly what is an F Gas? The title of theregulations goes some way to explaining this: “ECRegulation 842/2006 on certain fluorinated green-house gases” ie they are fluorinated gases and inthis case it refers to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)and perfluorocarbons [PFCs]. For fire fighting itreally means HFC’s.

The F Gas regulations are part of the environ-mental protection regulations; many will rememberthe Ozone regulations (EC2037/2002) which leadto the demise of halon fire protection systems. Wecould debate whether that was a good or baddecision but it is too late – halon is gone! Some of

By Rob Thilthorpe

F Gases are youup to speedyet?Those involved in the gaseous extinguishing systems business should already beaware of EC regulation EC 842/2006. It was published in 2006 and came intoforce in July 2007 in Europe, becoming UK law in February 2008 when statutoryinstrument 41 was published. Over the last few years various aspects of thelegislation have come into force and by 2010 all requirements will have enteredinto UK law, with all the resulting penalties (fines, prison) for non-compliance.

P. 55-58 F Gases 4/11/08 8:41 am Page 55

the agents that were developed to replace halon,whilst not ozone depleting, do have a globalwarming potential and are covered by these newregulations.

They cover all systems that use these gases –not just fire protection – but refrigeration and airconditioning systems, so yes the aircon in your caris covered. However, for this article we willconcentrate on fire protection.

The fire protection gases covered are:

What do the regulations require? The tablebelow summarises the requirements and I will gointo detail on each in the subsequent paragraphs.

So, who is responsible? Well, most of theobligations in the regulations are placed on theoperator of the fire protection systems and who isthe operator? This was an area of great debateduring the drafting of the regulations but theoperator is defined as:

“the natural or legal person exercising actualpower over the technical functioning of theequipment and systems covered by thisRegulation; a Member State may, in defined,specific situations, designate the owner as being responsible for the operator’sobligations.”

You may say I only install and maintain the sys-tem so I am not responsible. Sorry but no. Installa-tion and maintenance contractors and fireprotection equipment suppliers also have certainobligations, along with producers, exporters andimporters.

What are the obligations? The main aim of the regulations is to reduce the

emissions of the gases to atmosphere. During thediscussions on the drafting of the regulations we(the fire trade) put the case that fire systems werevirtually none emissive and by working to theappropriate standards (ISO 14520) the chances ofaccidental emissions were also very low. However,

we still have to prevent leakage, with theregulations stating that using all measures whichare technically feasible and do not entaildisproportionate cost, operators must: (a) preventleakage of F gas fire extinguishants and (b) as soonas possible repair any detected leakage (article3.1). Furthermore, it states that the operator mustensure that FP systems containing 3 kg or more ofF gas are checked for leakage by certifiedpersonnel on a regular basis (Article 3.2). Certified

personnel must comply with the requirements ofArticle 5: more on this later. These requirementscame into force from July 2007.

Yes, you should be working to them now!The regulations set out the frequencies of

testing: these are given in the table below.One of the great successes during the

discussion on the regulations was that we pro-vided sufficient arguments for the EuropeanRegulators to agree that the requirements of ISO14520 met the leakage requirements. So as longas you work to ISO 14520 you comply with theregulations.

Another important requirement is that for largesystems, i.e. over 300kg, automatic leak detectionshould be fitted as from 1 July 2007. Any systemwith over 300kg installed before this date willhave to have automatic leak detection fitted by 4 July 2010.

Labelling is also a key requirement of the regu-lations; after all, it is important to identify what isin the cylinders. The labelling requirements arequite straight forward and came into force in Aprilof this year. Any new fire protection systems andfire extinguishers placed on the market must befitted with a label clearly stating that the equip-ment contains F gases, along with information onthe type and quantity of F gas used.

In addition, labelling records must be kept: thiscame into force in July 2007 and the regulationsrequire that records must be kept by operators on


F GASES

F Gas Trade Names Chemical Formula

HFC-23 FE-13 CHF3

HFC-125 FE-25, ECARO, NAF-125 C2HF5

HFC-227ea FM-200, FE-227, NAF-227 C3HF7

HFC-236fa FE-36 C3H2F6

System (charge) size (kg) Frequency Frequency with leak detectionsystem installed

3 kg to 30 kg Annual Annual

30 kg to 300 kg 6-monthly Annual

Greater than 300 kg Quarterly 6-monthly

Leak Checks Regular leak checks for systems containing 3 kg or more of F gases.

Labelling Products placed on the market must be properly labelled.

Recovery Appropriate F gas recovery during servicing and maintenance and at end of life.

Records Good records kept for each system containing 3 kg or more of F gases.

Training Use of personnel with appropriate qualifications.

P. 55-58 F Gases 4/11/08 8:41 am Page 56

each system with 3 kg or more of F gas. Therecords must include:● The quantity and type of F gas installed in each

system● Any quantities of F gas added● The quantity of F gas recovered during servic-

ing, maintenance and final disposal● The identity of the company or technician who

performed the servicing or maintenance, aswell as the dates and results of leak checks andleakage detection system checksThe regulations also state that the records shall

be made available on request to the competentauthority and to the Commission.

As already stated, the regulations are there toprevent emissions to atmosphere so they also haverequirements on recovery. If F gas needs to beremoved from a system (e.g. during systemdecommissioning at the end of life) it must beproperly recovered by appropriately qualified per-sonnel. After recovery the F gas can be reused orsent for reclamation or destruction. The systemoperator is responsible for putting in placearrangements for proper recovery.

As those involved with gaseous fire protectionsystems area aware, the extinguishant is neveradded or removed at an installation site, only at aspecialist filling facility. Therefore it is up to theoperator to ensure that the disconnection of the

container is undertaken by qualified personnel andthat those removing it from site provide writtenevidence of its return to a specialist filling/reclama-tion facility.

Producers, importers and exporters are notexempt: as of 1 March this year and then annuallyafterwards, if you produce, import or export over 1 tonne of F Gas you have to provide the ECand UK regulator (BERR) information via a set offorms which are available from BERR. This onlyapplies to imports and exports from non EUcountries.

You may have noticed in some of the require-ments reference to certified personnel. This is key

to the regulations and, in short, only trained andcertified personnel are allowed to handle equip-ment containing F Gases. This covers leak check-ing, gas recovery, system installation ormaintenance. The main requirements are coveredin EC 842/2006 but specific, more detailedrequirements, were published in a further regula-tion EC 304/2008. These more detailed require-ments will take time for industry to meet and, inrecognising this, the UK regulators are acceptingexisting “in house” qualifications for an interimperiod up to July 2010 . This means that if youhave been trained by the OEM of the system totheir training requirements, you are deemed to bequalified.


F GASES ARE YOU UP TO SPEED YET?F GASES

Any new fire protection systems and fire

extinguishers placed on the market must be fitted

with a label clearly stating that the equipment

contains F gases, along with information on the type

and quantity of F gas used.

P. 55-58 F Gases 4/11/08 8:41 am Page 57

This interim qualification runs out in 2010 andDEFRA have recently launched a consultation onthe UK regulations that put in to place the officialUK schemes for training and certification ofcompanies and personnel. These draft regulationsare expected to come into force in February 2009and as far as fire protection systems areconcerned, the regulations list the Fire IndustryAssociation as an examination and certificationbody for approving companies and personnel tothe F Gas regulations. British Approvals for FireEquipment (BAFE) are also listed in the Regula-tions. In order to be able to meet this requirement,FIA has been in detailed discussion with DEFRAand will soon launch their training course andexamination for F Gas competency. If the reg-ulation proceeds as planned, the course andexamination will be ready to run from February2009 and the FIA is confident that it will have thewhole fire protection sector trained, examined andcertified by the July 2010 deadline.

This has been a long process to get where weare today, but it has shown what can be achievedwhen industry and government work together onEuropean legislation. FIA (and its predecessorBFPSA) have been involved in the discussions rightfrom the outset when the regulations were firstproposed. FIA was involved in stakeholder groups,both in the UK and Europe, on the F Gasregulations and still takes part in regular meetingswith DEFRA and BERR. On the whole I think the FGas regulations are as near as we can get toindustry favourable legislation. The UK regulatorsBERR and DEFRA have spent a lot of time making

sure that enough information is available forindustry and end users and that it is the rightinformation. To that effect they have set up a body– “F Gas Support” – to provide support and guid-ance on the regulations via phone or email. Thisgroup has drafted some good guidance docu-ments which can be downloaded from the DEFRAwebsite. The documents can also be found on theFIA website (www.fia.uk.com).

In summary, the F Gas regulations are here andwill have a significant impact on the use of gasextinguishing systems in the UK but in a beneficialway as they take us further down the line of prov-ing competency in our industry. It also shows whatcan be achieved when you are proactive withEuropean legislation; it doesn’t always have to bebad news – if we put the right amount of effort init can work for the benefit of the industry as awhole.

The final table shows the key legislative instru-ments that make up the F Gas regulation andsome of the key dates. IFP


F GASES ARE YOU UP TO SPEED YET?F GASES

EC Regulation 842/2006 The F Gas Regulation

Commission Regulation Establishing minimum requirements and the conditions for mutual 304/2008 recognition for the certification of companies and personnel.

Commission Regulation Establishing standard leakage checking requirements.1497/2007

Commission Regulation Establishing the form of labels and additional labelling requirements for 1494/2007 products and equipment.

Commission Regulation Establishing the format for reporting for importers and exporters of certain 1493/2007 fluorinated greenhouse gases.

The Fluorinated Greenhouse This GB Regulation prescribes offences and penalties applicable to Gases Regulations 2008 infringements of the EC F gas Regulation and lays out the current (Statutory Instrument No. 41) qualifications and certification requirements. It came into effect on

15th February 2008.

4th July 2007 Leak testing for F gas systems containing 3 kg or more. Leakage detectionsystems installed for applications containing 300 kg or more of F gases.Refrigerant recovery from all systems. Record keeping. Use ofappropriately qualified personnel

31st March 2008 Annual Reporting by importers, exporters & producers to DEFRA and theEuropean Commission on quantities of F gas.

1st April 2008 Labels (in a standard format) stating amount and type of F gas containedmust be fitted to all new equipment.

4th July 2010 Interim personnel and company certification no longer valid. All personneland companies engaged in leak checking shall be certified.

4th July 2010 Leakage detection systems fitted to fire protection systems containing300 kg or more of F gases – for systems initially installed before 4 July2007.

P. 55-58 F Gases 4/11/08 8:41 am Page 58

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Just because the Dräger X-am 5000can measure up to 5 gases,

it doesn’t mean that ithas to be any larger.

At first glance you would never realize that thenew Dräger X-am 5000 personal monitor hasgrown to meet your requirements. The reason forthat is that whilst its capabilities have grown itsphysical size has not. We have not only develo-ped the smallest 1 to 5-gas detector but we havealso enhanced its capabilities with extendedfunctionality, increased operating time andadditional flexible application options.The Dräger X-am 5000 not only detects O2,CO and H2S but is also capable of warningwhen harmful concentrations of CO2, Cl2, HCN,NH3, NO2, PH3, SO2, and organic vapors arepresent.A variety of special calibrations for the new EXsensor (which outputs values in Vol.-% as well as% LEL) allow even more sensitivity whendetecting combustible gases and vapors.The Dräger X-am 5000 is also easy to upgrade:The Software Dräger CC-Vision makes itpossible to customize the sensors to match yourchanging operational requirements.

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FLAME DETECTION

Whether it be on or offshore and involvegas turbines, recycling or fuel stores, etc.,the type of application is just one of the

many considerations that should be taken intoaccount when selecting flame detection equip-ment. A whole host of variables such as theweather conditions and the position of the sensorscan have an equally profound affect on a system’sability to “read” the situation correctly.

Evolving technology has meant that the cost ofownership as well as reliability, accuracy and easeof use have all improved over the past few years.In addition, the latest systems, such as those that

boast integral CCTV, are able to overcome manyof the problems associated with more traditionalmethods. For instance, false alarms can be virtuallyeradicated and the need for operator interventionto investigate alarms can be eliminated – reducingthe risk of injury and saving both time and money.

Steve Pepperell, Head of GDS UK PortfolioManagement at Draeger, explains how the newtechnology differs from traditional detectionmethods.

Fundamentally, there are two types of flamedetection technology: Radiation (which includesultraviolet (UV), single frequency infrared (IR),

By Steve Pepperell

Head of GDS UKPortfolio Management,Draeger

Flame detectionhas taken on anew dimensionPast events have served to demonstrate that fires can spread rapidly, bringingabsolute devastation to plant and surrounding areas. Used extensivelythroughout the petrochem, oil and gas industries, flame detection systems canprovide reliable detection of a wide range of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbonbased fires. Providing an ideal solution to the growing demand for flamedetection in industrial applications, they are also being increasingly usedalongside gas detection equipment to form a complete safety solution in manyother areas of industry.

P. 61-63 Flame Detection 4/11/08 8:42 am Page 61

combination UV/IR and Multiple Frequency IR), andVisual.

RADIATION FLAME DETECTORSThese types of detector work by determining thetotal radiation within the field of view, recognisingany flicker frequency that might exist, and calcu-lating the intensity of the radiation in that area.

UV Flame DetectorsAs all fires give off some UV radiation, a UV Flamedetector can be used as a good general purposeflame detector. Suitable for inorganic fires, such asthose that are metal based, they can also be usedto detect fires that are invisible to the human eye,such as hydrogen. With a fast response time oftypically less than 1 second, they incorporatesensors that are usually UV tubes. The tubesgenerate pulses that are counted – the greater the

number of pulses, the larger the source of UV.However, fires do not emit a large amount of

UV radiation and, because UV sensors are verysensitive, they can be susceptible to false alarmsfrom other sources such as electric arc welding,lightning and x-rays. In addition, oil films, certainsolvents and foggy weather conditions can absorbUV radiation before it reaches the detector, caus-ing attenuation of the signal. In the worst cases,the detector may even be rendered completelyblind. For these reasons, UV flame detectors arebest suited to clean, indoor applications.

Single Frequency IR Flame DetectorsIR Flame Detectors are used to detect hydrocarbonbased fires and usually sense radiation at 4.4µm –the wavelength at which hot CO2 gases areemitted from fires of that type. Many IR detectorsincorporate algorithms which look for a flickerfrequency of 2 to 10Hz. They also ensure that thesignals received from the sensor are random interms of both time and frequency. Whilst thesignals associated with fires are always random,the problem of false alarms can occur as a resultof hot, modulated black bodies which are usuallyrepetitive in one form or another.

In terms of other potential inhibitors, solarradiation at 4.4µm does not reach the earth’ssurface and, therefore, has no effect on thedetector. Neither arc welding nor X-rays causefalse alarms and the device performs as normalwhen its’ optical surfaces are contaminated withoil films or solvents. Water on the optical surfaces,however, will reduce the detector’s sensitivity aswater absorbs radiation between 4 to 5µm.

UV/IR Flame DetectorsIn effect, these instruments combine both IR andUV detectors in a single housing. Both detectors


FLAME DETECTION


are required to detect simultaneous radiationbefore generating an alarm, thereby ensuring thegreatest immunity to false alarms. However, whilstthey share the benefits of UV and IR systems, theyalso suffer the same limitations in relation tooptical contamination and will be blinded by oilfilms, airborne substances, water and ice.

Multi-frequency IR Flame DetectorsMulti-frequency detectors were developed toreduce false alarms and to increase detectorsensitivity, thereby offering a greater operatingdistance. The false alarm immunity is improved byusing additional sensors known as guard bandsensors. The signals from the sensors are correlatedat either two or three optical wavelengths depend-ing on the detector type.

The most common detector types are triplechannel devices (IR3) which sense radiation atapproximately 4.2µm, 4.4µm and 4.6µm and thenmake a comparison of the ratio between thesensors. As fires emit very strong signals at 4.4 butprovide weak signals at 4.2 and 4.6, they providea ratio that can be measured and which will resultin an alarm.

However, the sun emits exactly the oppositewith a minimal signal at 4.4 and strong signals at4.2 and 4.6. Therefore, if the sun is reflecting off awater surface (with the rippling effect of the wateradding to the modulation) it will not result in analarm.

Similarly, modulated black body radiation alsofails to provide the correct ratio so, once again, nofire signal will be generated. Small fires at relativelylong distances of up to around 50 metres areeasily detected.

Unfortunately, where more than one incidentoccurs at the same time, a detector can often failto respond. For example, because reflected sun-light is effectively the opposite of a fire, reflectedsunlight and a fire at the same time will not give afire signal. In addition, modulated black bodyradiation, caused by the detector mounted on apole and moving in the wind and able to view hotprocesses, can also reduce the sensitivity of adetector.

VISUAL FLAME DETECTORSThese systems use CCTV and advanced algorithmsto process live video images and interpret flamecharacteristics. Whilst some systems simply strap acamera to a standard flame detector, the moreadvanced systems use the camera itself to detectthe flame. As a result, those with an integral CCTVcapability offer virtually no false alarms and, as anadded bonus, can be used over longer distances.The use of video also means that visual indicationcan be achieved without anyone having to enter apotentially dangerous environment.

CCTV Flame DetectorsFalse alarms can be virtually eliminated with thistype of system because black body radiation andhot CO2 emissions have no effect on the CCTVsystem. The presence of water also poses less of aproblem as light is easily transmitted throughwater and, in any event, the detectors are not con-cerned with heat energy. Where bright fire imagesmay not be present, the use of live video ensuresthat even the dimmest of fires can be detected.

By way of example, the new Draeger Flame5000 is a colour imaging based flame detector.Comprising integral CCTV, this state-of-the-artsystem uses digital signal processing and softwarealgorithms to process live video images and inter-pret the characteristics of a flame. The system’sadvanced imaging algorithms are so discriminatingthat false alarms are all but non-existent.

The detector can be used as a stand-alonedevice providing live video, or it can be integratedwith a control system or fire panel to provide faultand fire signalling using a 0-20mA signal or relays.As well as the surveillance benefits, this obviouslyremoves the need to despatch operators to investi-gate alarms, and reduces the risk of injury whilstimproving response time to around 4 seconds.

Simple to install with a stainless steel mountingbracket that can be rotated to ensure optimumpositioning, this innovative system can be used todetect fires of 0.1m2 or more, at 44m within a 90°horizontal field of view. An advanced opticalverification facility automatically checks thewindow for contamination and ensures that thisfield of view is not compromised by obstructionsplaced immediately in front of the detector.

A built-in memory card allows the detector torecord both before and after every alarm. For imme-diate, on-site visual verification, a tri-colour LED islocated on the front of the detector with greenconfirming normal operation, yellow signifying afault and red indicating the presence of radiation.

Light in weight at just 2.5kg and measuring 200x 100mm, the Flame 5000 can be operated intemperatures ranging from –60°C to +85°C.Supplied with a stainless steel or aluminium finish,it can be used worldwide, is performanceapproved to FM 3260 Standard, is SIL2 Verified,and meets the requirements of ATEX, IECEx, FMand CFM Approvals.

Further information is available from MarionMackenzie, Draeger UK Limited, Ullswater Close, Blyth Riverside Business Park, Blyth,Northumberland, NE24 4RG. Tel: 01670 561413.Fax: 01670 544475. IFP


FLAME DETECTION HAS TAKEN ON A NEW DIMENSIONFLAME DETECTION

For more information, visitwww.draeger.com

Modulated black body radiation,

caused by the detector

mounted on a pole and moving

in the wind and able to view hot

processes, can also reduce the

sensitivity of a detector.



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SIGNS, PATHS & LIGHTING

Several aircraft fires and crashes brought tofocus that smoke would obscure the exit signsplaced near the ceiling causing confusion and

panic amongst the passengers. The AmericanFederal Aviation Authority subsequently made it arequirement for a form of pathway marking to beimplemented on all aircraft. Thus Low LocationWay Guidance Systems were conceived necessary.Further events, more often tragedies, over the nexttwo decades continuously re-highlighted thebenefits of WGS, each time in new situations and applications and, of course, always after theevent.

1984 – Fire in New Jersey kills 8 in Haunted Houseride fire due to obscuration of exit signs by smoke.

1985 – British Airtours Flight 28m. Engine catchesfire prior to take off and spreads to cabin, of 136occupants 48 die from smoke inhalation.

1987 – Kings Cross Fire in London claims 31 lives.Poor evacuation procedures and smoke inhalationwas the main cause of loss of life.

1990 – Cruise Ship “Scandinavian Star” catchesfire. 184 perish, mainly due to smoke inhalationwith smoke obscuring exit signs greatly hinderingpassenger evacuation.

1993 and 2001 – (See Sections 2 & 4)

The earlier events highlighted the importance ofsiting WGS in low locations and its use in situationswhere the environment amplified the dangers offire. Delayed evacuation times due to unfamiliarlayouts and smoke obscured signage meant morepeople were overcome by fumes, the primary killerin a fire.

Way Guidance Systems, however, were due toundergo something of a revolution. A series of

By Jim Creak

of Jalite PLC

Safety WayGuidance SystemsCome of Age!Evacuation Signs, Paths & LightingThe story of Low Location Way Guidance Systems (LLWGS) begins around the1980s where, as so often is the case with developments in fire safety, highprofile events highlighted a failing in the fire safety measures of the time.

Pic courtesy of JalitePLC. www.Jalite.com

P. 65-67 Signs, Paths 4/11/08 8:43 am Page 65

events, years apart, would highlight in a startlingand shocking way the importance of WGS’s inmore typical situations and the concept wouldundergo a re-genesis as a result.

A photoluminescent revolutionIn 1993 the World Trade Centre came underattack, a bomb detonated in the undergroundgarage killing 6 persons and in the ensuing evacu-ation more than 1,000 were injured. It highlighteda dangerous flaw in the evacuation continuityplanning of the building. Upon vacating desks andexiting offices into emergency stairwells stafffound themselves in complete darkness. Theexplosion had knocked out the emergency power,including that to the emergency lighting. Theevacuation took people from the top floors up to3 hours.1 In the ensuing investigations a recom-mendation of marked simplicity was made. Inorder to bypass the dependency on electricity forlighting, use photoluminescence.

Photoluminescence is defined by the NationalFire Protection Association of America as, “Havingthe ability to store incident electromagnetic radia-tion typically from ambient light sources, andrelease it in the form of visible light.” For theWorld Trade Centre the material presented itself asthe ideal product to allow for the contingency oftotal power loss. Provided adequate lighting wasavailable in times of normal operation and thematerial had been sufficiently charged the pig-ments would illuminate immediately upon lightingfailure for the likely duration of the evacuation.Important items for safe navigation such as stairedges/sides, handrails and directional signs wouldall be photoluminescent (Via paint or high durabilityplastic). Low level continuous strips would also beincluded for additional light and visual re-assurance.In the event of complete power failure of standardand backup systems people would not be withoutlight and guidance when evacuating.

A perfect system? So now we have the concept of a WGS, thenecessity to locate it low on the horizontal and aproduct innovation that makes it independent ofinterruptible power sources. Its ideal use as a “lastresort” backup to a failed electrical guidancesystem was obvious. But could it completelyreplace such a system? What of its performancenot only in low light but also in dense smokeconditions, these being the most dangerous condi-tions. The benefits of lower energy consumptionand greatly reduced maintenance were such that itbegged the question.

In 1998 Geir Jensen of InterConsult Group(formerly IGP AS) began research into “Wayfindingin Heavy Smoke: Decisive Factors and SafetyProducts.”

His conclusions were remarkable. Out of 7system categories he concluded the following.“Very high performance of guiding people insmoke may be provided by simple non-poweredway finding systems; a tactile safety hand rail orphotoluminescent marking or both” and also that“Viewing distance, not power or luminance, is thecrucial factor at high smoke density…. A photo-luminescent strip at 0.5 meters distance to the eyeis more visible than the most powerful luminariesat just 1.5 metres.” Surely here was proof of thesystems effectiveness in the most dire of condi-tions, should it ever come to be tested in a real lifesituation its effectiveness seemed guaranteed.Hopefully it never would. . .

Twin tragediesSeptember 11th 2001 is a day forever in people’smemories. There are few who do not know of theterrifying events that befell the twin towers thatday. The hijacking and subsequent crashing ofcommercial airliners into the two towers caused araging inferno which soon led to the collapse ofboth structures and the deaths of over 2500



SIGNS, PATHS & LIGHTING


people. The question for manyinterested in WGS’s was whetherthe system had helped in speedingthe evacuation of survivors? TheNational Research Council ofCanada’s Institute for BuildingResearch had conducted extensiveresearch on the 1993 evacuation ofthe buildings. They surveysed sur-vivors from the 2001 incident andcompared the results to the 1993findings. The results were mostinteresting.

For Tower 1 evacuees had 1 hourand 42 minutes until the collapse ofthe tower from time of impact. In1993 52.6% of people surveyedhad taken between 1 to 3 hours toevacuate with 7.8% taking overthree hours. The median evacuationtime from the 90th floor had been2.5 hours. In 2001 some people onthe 90th and 91st floors reportedvacating the building in as little as45 minutes more than three timesthan the average from that floor in1993, a startling improvement.With between 5–7000 people pertower, had conditions been similarto those of the 1993 evacuation thiswould certainly have meant a much greater loss oflife caused by slow evacuation times.

Local Law 26In the wake of the disaster and the threat offurther attacks the New York Department ofBuildings passed Local Law 26. PhotoluminescentWGS, so clearly beneficial in evacuation both as anaid and as a backup, were to be a requirement inall high rise office buildings across New York,affecting over 1800 buildings.3 The requirementwas to be met by all buildings by no later than July2006. This task proved something of a problem tobuilding owners and system installers alike whowere unfamiliar with the technology and itsrequirements.

The answer was for the NYCDOB to develop itsown standard, later to be known as RS 6-1. Itwould outline the requirements of a WGS andspecifically specified that it was to be a photolu-mincescent system. It also placed requirements onthe quality of system to be installed. A danger ofphotoluminescence is the use of sub standardmaterials. Poor quality materials exhibit poor lumi-nosity and duration of operation greatly reducingtheir effectiveness.

A task force representing the leading authoritieson a range of disciplines was assembled, theircharge being to develop a standard of excellencefor PLWGS’s. Their specialties lay in fields such asArchitecture, Emergency Management, BuildingManagement and High Rise Evacuation. GeoffreyPeckham, president of Jalite USA, was called uponfor his specialist knowledge in photoluminescenttechnology. Together the task force prepared andpublished the standard the NYCDOB subsequentlyimplementing the standard via its MEA process.This is a testing standard by which the NYCDOBapproves of systems and is known as Materialsand Equipment Acceptance (MEA) process. Anysystem installed as part of RS 6-1 would have to

have had previously gained approval through theMEA process.

Assuredly any PWGS to be installed anywhere inNew York, high or low rise, would be prudent toinstall a RS 6-1 compliant system with approvedmaterials as a function of this. For any installationelsewhere in America ensuring it is to RS 6-1 stan-dard will undoubtedly go a long way to proving acommitment to safety in the wake of a tragedy.

The last leg of the journeySo the concept of a non-electrical photoluminescentway guidance system has matured. It has beenconceived out of tragedy, believed to work by thepioneers of its uptake, tested to work by safetyresearch professionals, proven to work in the mostphenomenal way by incident and made a standardof safety as a result. The reason for all this issimple. The system is easy to test, certify and nowaccredit under independent 3rd party qualityassurance schemes (as listed below). Most impor-tantly above all is its proof of effectiveness notwhen emergency comes but by the simple flick ofa switch, each time you turn out the lights.

Governing Standards For PhotoluminescentProducts:NFPA 101 – Life Safety Code UL-924 – Standard for ‘Emergency Lighting andPower Equipment’NYC MEA approval – Photoluminescent Productsin High Rise applicationISO 15370 Ships and marine technology – Low-location lighting on passenger ships

References1. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3737/is_/ai_n89760532. NRC research into what went right in the evacuationof the twin towers3. FPE – Escape from New York – The use of Photo-luminescent pathway-marking systems in high-rise

IFP



SAFETY WAY GUIDANCE SYSTEMS COME OF AGE!SIGNS, PATHS & LIGHTING


LPG IFP36 p68 4/11/08 12:22 AM Page 1


WATER MIST

Conventional sprinklers remain the main tech-nique for fixed fire fighting installationsaround the world. An alternative and innov-

ative water based fire fighting solution has beendeveloped extensively over the last almost 30years. The development of the so called modernwater mist fire fighting technology was driven bythe drawbacks of conventional sprinklers andgaseous systems. Water mist fire fighting todayhas achieved a well established position in fire pro-tection and it has become an accepted alternativesolution for a large number of applications.

Water mist fire fighting is in point of fact quitean old idea which has been tested and developedin several contexts and locations around the worldfor many decades. The International Water MistAssociation has started to assemble this historicalevidence. This article presents the current status ofthis accumulated knowledge. Some parts of thehistory are already well known and documented.A good example of such is the high-pressure watermist development in Sweden during 1975-1990,which can be identified as the real start of modernwater mist technology. But there probably havebeen many efforts and trials that are not publiclyknown. This article wants to start the discussion inorder to finally collect the history of water mist fire

protection as one story. The main focus in this arti-cle is in high-pressure water mist since this hasbeen the main stream of modern water mist firefighting after the technology was commercialized.

Early days before 1950 – A possiblealternativeThe origin of modern water mist technology leadsback to the use of small or fine droplet sprays. Thefirst known efforts were done for manual firefighting in the USA. For example the company F.E.Myers from Ashland Ohio, USA, was selling aback-bag system with a lance producing smallwater droplets to fight small forests fires already in1880. This technology gained more reputation inthe beginning of 1900s when the pumping equip-ment and new sealing materials were developed.Higher pressure levels made it possible to createhigher fluxes of small droplet sprays. The first pio-neers also recognized the extreme efficiency ofsmall droplet sprays compared to conventionalsprinkler systems. Already in the 1930s there wereseveral companies offering systems that appliedfinely atomized water in form of mist or fog (alsothe terminology fog and mist was already used).For example, the company Lechler of Metzingen,Germany presented during this time the same key

On behalf ofInternational Water MistAssociationBy Max Lakkonen

Manager, Design andR&D, FOGTEC FireProtection

The history ofmodern watermist fireprotectionThe effectiveness of water as a fire fighting agent has always been known.Applying water with fixed fire fighting installations started already in the 19thcentury when sprinklers were invented and the design of sprinklers has notchanged a lot from the early days.

P. 69-72 History of Water Mist 4/11/08 8:44 am Page 69

benefits of water mist (cooling effect, oxygen dis-placement and low water damages) that are stillused as the main arguments when promoting thewater mist technology nowadays. The key innova-tion of Lechler was a multiple orifice nozzle calleda water dust nozzle. There were some scientificand non-scientific activities with small dropletsprays with fixed installations in this era. For exam-ple, Factory Mutual’s engineering division carriedout a test series with small droplet nozzles fighting19MW gasoline fires in the 1940s. The perfor-mance was noticed to be comparable with con-ventional sprinklers whereby the flow rates weremuch lower. Many fire brigades in Europe and theUSA adopted water mist fire fighting as a manualfire fighting strategy. The fire fighting tactics withwater mist were developed especially by the USMarine corps in the 1940s.

During the early days of water mist fire fightingthe effectiveness of water in the form of mist wasalready well understood. Water mist fire fighting

was seen as a possible alternative. However, com-mercially and technically water mist systems werenot yet seen to be competitive for fixed installa-tions. The idea of replacing conventional sprinklerswith water mist systems was not really feasibleduring these times. The pressure levels of theapplied systems were still well under the ones oftoday’s systems mainly due to the lack of suitablecomponents. The water mist technology wastherefore mainly applied for manual fire fighting.

Time between years 1950-1970 –Random effortsThe development between the years 1950-1970can be summarized in general as a time of randomefforts, because there were independent researchactivities in both the US and Europe. However,

these activities were not system-atic but rather trials. The com-mercial interest was also still at alow level. The main researchwork was carried out byresearch institutes and scientists.Commercial companies hadbeen more seldom involved. Themain focus was still in conven-tional sprinkler systems but alsoother new technologies likepowders and especially systemsutilising gases.

However, there were someefforts taken for example by FMin the USA and A. Herterich inGermany. Also D.J. Rasbashstarted his research work withfine droplet sprays in this era.

There are some other names and research groupsthat have worked with water mist or fine watersprays in this time period but the documentationdoes not exist anymore or is not known to theauthor.

Time between years 1970-1990 – Earlydevelopment of modern water misttechnologyThe development of water mist fire fightingchanged a lot during this time period. The basicknowledge of small droplet sprays and their effecton fire had been generated and made public bythe first pioneers many years ago. Meanwhile sup-porting technologies like hydraulic systems usinghigh-pressure had become commonly known inother industries. The logic consequence was toincrease the working pressures of water mist sys-tems to provide more energy at the nozzles for thesplitting up of the water and the acceleration ofdroplets.

There were several separate research groupsthat were working with water mist fire fightingtechniques simultaneously in different parts of theworld. Probably some groups even did not knowthe efforts of others involved in the very sametopic. The main stream was changing from lowerpressures to higher ones. This meant that dropletsizes were decreasing. Names like Vincent, BeylerPietrak&Patterson and Rasbash can be mentionedin connection with this research in fine water sprayfire fighting. A probably less familiar name is Hans-Joachim Herzog from former GDR (DeutscheDemokratische Republik) who worked intensivelywith low- and medium pressure water mist sincethe beginning of the 1980s. His company’s prod-ucts were actually installed in a number of indus-trial and public buildings like e.g. the Leipzig


Herzog water mistnozzle from 1986

WATER MIST

The pressure levels of the applied systems were

still well under the ones of today’s systems mainly

due to the lack of suitable components. The water

mist technology was therefore mainly applied for

manual fire fighting.


Bowling Center in the middle of the 1980s.However, the development work with the

strongest impact on modern water mist technologyprobably originated from Sweden. The develop-ment there was started by Krister Giselsson, ateacher of the Swedish Fire School. He developedjointly with his colleague Mats Rosander a newmanual fire fighting tactic against indoor fires. Thisso called offensive fire fighting was based onapplying small droplet sprays in short bursts to coolthe combustion gases effectively without disturbingthe thermal balance or creating large volumes ofscalding steam. On the basis of their experimentsfor manual fire fighting Giselsson and Rosanderstarted to develop a fixed water mist system in thebeginning of the 1980s. They co-operated with thecompany Electrolux Euroclean, which was a high-pressure cleaning company. Electrolux Eurocleangot the inspiration to develop high-pressure watermist fire fighting systems as a result of an accidentin which their cleaning equipment was used toextinguish a deep fat fryer under fire. The key peo-ple in Electrolux Euroclean were Omar Vestli, HåkanUngerth, Bengt Crener and Sten Hansen. ElectroluxEuroclean did not have fire engineering knowledgeso Giselsson was consulted by them. Giselsson gotsupport by high-pressure equipment from Elec-trolux Euroclean in return. There were several fire

tests and demonstrations organized by these twodeveloper groups in Sweden during 1981 to 1983.Electrolux Euroclean carried out a series of tests inthe Swedish research institute SP in order to proveand demonstrate the performance of the newtechnology since there were not references avail-able. The pressures used ranged between 120 and150bar and standard industrial nozzles were used.Electrolux Euroclean started to develop an ownglass bulb activated (sprinkler) water mist nozzle inthe middle of the 1980s. The company name waschanged to HTC after the key people, workingwith fire fighting, bought the rights for water mistfire fighting from Electrolux Euroclean. HTC wasfocusing only on high-pressure water mist fireprotection.

The impact of the coming change in environ-mental thinking was already noticed in the late1980s when the Montreal Protocol was signed.

During the late 1980s also some otherapproaches with fine spray systems were made,but only very few with extremely fine atomizedwater. The extensive work of P.G Papavergos withsmall droplet sprays generated by dual fluid

nozzles can be mentioned as an example. Furtherthe widely known American research for aircraftprotection.

The period from 1970 to 1990 can be summa-rized as a time of early development of modernwater mist technology. All benefits of applyingespecially high-pressure water mist had been dis-covered and an early commercial system hadalready been marketed in Sweden. The technologywas already very advanced in that time. Both del-uge and heat activated nozzles (water mist sprin-klers) were in their design principals very similar to

the ones which can be seen in the market today.Mainly the size of the nozzles has decreased andthe activation time of automatic nozzles hasbecome shorter. Small droplets with different spraycharacteristics created from high pressure water(80-280bar) were used by the Swedish pioneers.The time was just not yet right for the break-through but first signs of change were seen.

Time between years 1990-2008 –Breakthrough of modern water misttechnologyThe year 1990 is very important for the history of modern water mist technology. As many times before the change was finally triggered by acatastrophe.

A serious fire broke out on the passenger ferry“Scandinavian Star” in the early morning of April7th in 1990. The result of this incident was that40% (157 people) of the passengers did not sur-vive the disaster. This was the final alarm for themarine industry and authorities who understoodthe problems related to common fire safety strate-gies. The amount of water needed and heavy


Electrolux Euroclean(HTC) automatic nozzleprototype from 1985and deluge nozzle from1983 tests (photo byHåkan Ungerth)

THE HISTORY OF MODERN WATER MIST FIRE PROTECTIONWATER MIST

The development work with the strongest impact on

modern water mist technology probably originated

from Sweden. The development there was started by

Krister Giselsson, a teacher of the Swedish Fire

School. He developed jointly with his colleague

Mats Rosander a new manual fire fighting tactic

against indoor fires.


piping made it almost unfeasible to use “classic”sprinklers to protect ferries. This was the time forthe pioneers to present their solution. The keyevent probably was the fire demonstrations inBålsta, Sweden on the 20.6.1990. The demonstra-tions were carried out by a new company Ultrafogfounded by Krister Giselsson, Sven Brutsner andStephan Forsström. The focus of this company wasto market a high-pressure water mist fire fightingtechnology to the marine sector. Cabin fires withand without the use of a high-pressure water mistsystem were shown and a number of people fromshipping companies, insurance companies, fire &rescue services and some other companies fromthe marine industry witnessed the demonstrations.For example the Finnish company Marioff KY, inthese days a high-pressure piping company wasamong the invited parties in the Bålsta demonstra-tions. Only half a year later Marioff started theirown development of high-pressure water mist firefighting products. Marioff became the first com-mercial success story with water mist fire fightingsupported by their knowledge in hydraulics andhigh-pressure piping.

The years after the Bålsta fire demonstrationswere a time when several other companies werenoticed as being involved in work with high-pres-sure water mist. The Swedish pioneers continued,but also at least Danish, Norwegian, German, Eng-lish and Japanese companies were either develop-ing and, or marketing high pressure water mistsystems. The first large marine installations foraccommodation areas were realised in 1992 (M/sDanica, M/s Festival and M/s Karneval).

The success story of modern water mist tech-nology in the marine market was supported byIMO, International Maritime Organization, whichaccepted water mist systems as an alternative forconventional sprinklers. Several IMO resolutionsduring 1994 and 1995 accelerated the use ofwater mist in the marine industry. The requirementto replace Halon systems was gaining momentumduring the same time period, what brought thewater mist technology into machinery spaces andsimilar applications also on shore.

However, the wider use of modern water misttechnology has taken a much longer time for theland based market than for the marine sector. Animportant starting point was a first standardcreated by NFPA. The standardization work startedin the year 1993 and a first NFPA750 Standard forWater Mist Fire Protection systems was publishedin 1996. Nowadays there are also other standardsand official guidelines for water mist available likeFM5560, CEN TS14972, APSAD D2 and UPTUN251.

The application areas for water mist have rapid-ly increased ever since. Such in the food industrywere among the first land based applications.Soon the technology was adopted by the IT-indus-try and heritage buildings. Environmental andsafety aspects have continuously gained impor-tance which consequently has limited the use ofvarious gaseous fire extinguishing agents. Thisagain continues to be a main driver for the furtherdevelopment of modern water mist technology.

The foundation of the International Water MistAssociation (www.IWMA.net) in 1998 is anotherimportant milestone in the history of the modernwater mist technology. The purpose of the IWMAis to bring together all parties having an interest inwater mist fire fighting. Today manufacturers,major research institutes, leading approval bodies,installation companies and engineering offices arepart of the IWMA. They jointly promote the tech-nology, at the same time giving advice on goodpractices to make its use safe and efficient.

The increased interest in water mist is wellreflected in the development of IWMA; there wereonly 5 corporate members in 1998, nowadays

there are more than 50 of such all around theworld. The annual IWMA conference is a wellknown meeting point for the water mist industry.

Over the recent 20 years the market for modernwater mist systems has steadily grown. Accordingto market estimations by IWMA the Marine sectorhas started to stabilize, although some new appli-cation areas have lately been explored. Presentlythe major part of growth is coming from the landbased market and a number of new applications.Water mist presents still only a small part of thefire protection industry compared to the marketfor sprinklers and gaseous fire fighting systems.However, since the fire demonstrations in Bålsta,Sweden in June 1990 modern water mist has con-tinuously made its way in becoming a well accept-ed technology for the protection of risks previouslyunprotected as well as an alternative to traditionaltechniques. The many advantages of the modernwater mist technology are the basis to thecontinuation of this success story.

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgments to all pioneers that have beenin contact to the author so far (especially HåkanUngerth, Krister Giselsson and Mats Rosander).Also the work of Magnus Arvidson (SP, Sweden)regarding the Swedish part of the history is greatly acknowledged. His comprehensive articleabout the water mist history in Sweden can bedownloaded from IWMA webpage under IWMAconference 2008 (www.iwma.net). IFP


THE HISTORY OF MODERN WATER MIST FIRE PROTECTIONWATER MIST

WANTED!Do you know more detailsabout the history of watermist or do you have somematerial?

The author of this article isworking on morecomprehensive publicationabout the history of watermist fire fighting and asksyour help to collect furtherinformation. Wanted arerespective literature, testsreports, early components,brochures, videos, photos orjust your verbal information.If you are able to support this work, please contact the author by phone +49-221962230or by [email protected]

The purpose of the IWMA is to bring together all

parties having an interest in water mist fire fighting.

Today manufacturers, major research institutes,

leading approval bodies, installation companies and

engineering offices are part of the IWMA.



2052

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SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

Just about everyone in the fire safety businesshas a maintenance horror story to relate. Itdoes not matter whether you are in Dubai,

Dubrovnik or Doncaster, the same themes keepoccurring time and time again. Tales abound ofservicing engineers who turned up with neithertools nor test equipment; maintenance companiesthat are completely devoid of any documentaryevidence of the systems being maintained; clock-in,clock-out records that defy belief that the workhas been carried out with any diligence; and“specialist” companies that employ staff with littlebut cursory training – the list just seems to beendless.

Of course, what makes this even more alarmingis that this situation exists at a time when, inter-nationally, legislation is demanding that system

testing and maintenance is undertaken by competent people, to the prescribed regimes, and that accurate documentation is kept. It is also when the risk assessment approach todetermining fire safety and the growth of fireengineered solutions is making both propertyprotection and life safety even more dependentupon the reliable and effective operation of firesafety systems.

Just consider the legislation in the UK. Underthe Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, the onusfor fire safety falls on the designated “responsibleperson”, who frequently delegates part or all ofhis or her duties to one or more specialist companiesto ensure compliance. However, it remains theduty of the “responsible person” to ensure – andthe word “ensure” is worth remembering – that

By Mick Gay

Senior Project Manager,M J Quinn IntegratedServices

Suppression system– Sustaining peak performance

Despite a growing mass of legislation requiring the proper maintenance of

fire suppression systems, too often it is still the Cinderella of the fire safety

industry. Here, Mick Gay, Senior Project Manager at M J Quinn Integrated

Services, which is responsible for what is probably the UK’s largest fire

safety system maintenance contract – covering the total Fire Assets on

London Undergrounds Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines for their client

Tube Lines Limited – outlines what is needed to ensure that fire

suppression systems continue to function at peak performance.

P. 74-76 Systems Maintenance 4/11/08 8:48 am Page 74

fire safety systems remain functioning correctlyand are properly maintained at the appropriateintervals. The recently introduced ApprovedDocument B (Fire safety) of the Building Regula-tions for England and Wales underpins this firesafety management obligation by flagging-up thata failure may well result in prosecution. In terms of keeping proper maintenance records, theDocument includes: “. . . a requirement to providesufficient information for persons to operate,maintain and use the building. . . .”

More recently the Corporate Manslaughter andCorporate Homicide Act has, or at least shouldhave, made boards of directors aware of theirlegal responsibility to ensure a sounder culture ofsafety. This has now been followed by the new BS 9999:2008 (Code of practice for fire safety inthe design, management and use of buildings)that establishes a decisive link between fire safetyand the use of the building.

That is quite a clutch of legislation by any

country’s standard. However, even in countriesthat have as yet to adopt such legislation, thetrend towards more and more buildings beingconstructed using fire engineered solutions ratherthan prescriptive measures is evident. The protec-tion in these buildings is often ultra-dependent onthe reliable operation of fire safety systems.

Legislative landscapeFire suppression comes in a number of forms.Some systems are fixed, while others are portable;they may utilise any number of inert gases, chemi-cal agents, foams or water. There are applicableregulatory standards for each and, while standardsvary from country to country, the UK andEuropean regulations are well defined and areindicative of the standards adopted, or underserious consideration, elsewhere.

In the UK, water-based sprinkler systems are

becoming ever more popular, and their testingrequirement depends on whether the installationis for life safety or property safety. If the intentionis life safety, it is considered to be a “relevantsystem” under the Fire Safety Order. It must,therefore, be maintained to the relevant BritishStandards. These are BS EN 12845:2004 (Fixed firefighting systems. Automatic sprinklersystems. Design, installation and maintenance) orBS 5306-2:1990 (Fire extinguishing installationsand equipment on premises. Specification forsprinkler systems). BS EN 12845 specifies require-ments and provides recommendations for themaintenance of fixed fire sprinkler systems inbuildings and industrial plant, together withparticular requirements for sprinkler systems thatare intended for life protection.

If the sprinkler system has been installed forproperty protection, it is not a “relevant system”as defined in the Fire Safety Order and, under theOrder, there is no expressed requirement for the

system to be tested. However, the property’sinsurer may take a very different view!

BS ISO 14520-1:2006 (Gaseous fire-extinguishingsystems. Physical properties and system design.General requirements) covers the performancetesting, inspection and maintenance of gaseoussystems generally, while other parts of theStandard relate to specific agents. Foam systemsare covered by BS 5306-6.2:1989 (Fire extinguish-ing installations and equipment on premises. Foamsystems. Specification for medium and highexpansion foam systems) and BS 5306-6.1:1988(Fire extinguishing installations and equipment onpremises. Foam systems. Specification for lowexpansion foam systems). The maintenance ofportable fire suppression equipment is covered inBS 5306-3:2003 (Fire extinguishing installationsand equipment on premises. Code of practice forthe inspection and maintenance of portable fire


SUPPRESSION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE – SUSTAINING PEAK PERFORMANCESYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

em maintenance

More recently the Corporate Manslaughter and

Corporate Homicide Act has, or at least should have,

made boards of directors aware of their legal

responsibility to ensure a sounder culture of safety.

This has now been followed by the new BS 9999:2008

(Code of practice for fire safety in the design,

management and use of buildings) that establishes

a decisive link between fire safety and the use

of the building.


extinguishers). It provides schedules for themaintenance of portable fire extinguishersinstalled in all locations.

Delivering complianceThe reality of compliance though is that fewcommercial or industrial organisations have thecompetence to undertake fire suppression systemmaintenance to the required standards, so invari-ably turn to specialist maintenance contractors.The challenge comes in finding a contractorwhose commitment is to ensure that the system isoperating properly, rather than one that adopts a“tick the box” approach. So, how can confidencein the maintenance regime be established, andhow can the competent maintenance contractorbe identified?

The first step is to ensure that the testing andmaintenance requirements are fully understood bytalking to the system designer and installer,whomever is responsible for the building’s fire risk

assessment and fire strategy, and possibly thebuilding’s insurer. The next step is to ensure that allof the maintenance documentation is read andunderstood both by the building occupier and themaintenance contractor and that robust protocolsare in place to store and update the informationand that a reliable mechanism exists to flag-upwhat actions need to be taken and when.

For the maintenance of large or complexsystems, or when the contract spans over anumber of buildings or sites, a paper-basedrecording system is simply inadequate. M J Quinn’ssolution to this now common challenge was todevelop a computer-based planned preventativemaintenance software system called Qu-Trak. Thisis the central point of contact for all maintenanceissues, and supports the company’s 24/7 servicecall desk. Qu-Trak also provides a complete andreliable audit trail of all maintenance activity,ensuring that both the company and the buildingowner are continuing to comply with any legisla-tion that demands that system maintenance beproperly documented.

Ensuring competenceHowever, no matter how well the maintenanceregime is recorded, its success remains dependenton the operational competence of the main-tenance contractor. Perhaps this is one aspect of

maintenance where a “tick the box” approach is,in fact, appropriate. For example, any maintenanceorganisation that uses anything other than directly-employed staff should be immediately discounted,because relying on sub-contractors defeats thewhole object of assessing the ability and experi-ence of the appointed contractor. In short, youneed to know precisely who you are employing.

Next, the company should use only a main-tenance contractor that meets the rigorouslyapplied standards of such an organisation as theUK’s LPCB (Loss Prevention Certification Board), asthis is the only way of ensuring that the peopleundertaking the maintenance work have beenindependently assessed as truly competent. Whenit comes to sprinkler systems, this means a main-tenance company that is approved to LPS 1048.Insisting on a company that is also accredited toBS EN ISO 9001:2000 (Quality managementsystems. Requirements) is also a prudent move asit provides the essential confidence that the

company does precisely what it claims to do.It is also important that the company has staff

that has been trained by system manufacturers,because systems vary between one producer andanother and it is critical that staff are fully con-versant with the system they are testing ormaintaining. And this needs to be coupled with in-house training. One way of gauging thiscommitment to training is to appoint a companythat has its own fully equipped training facilitythat incorporates the latest systems, and thatemploys – either directly or indirectly – suitablyskilled trainers.

Finally, before signing a contract with a main-tenance contractor, it is well worth insisting onestablishing clearly defined KPI (Key PerformanceIndicator) benchmarks to monitor achievementagainst agreed performance criteria. These shouldcover more than just continued compliance withany regulatory standards. KPIs should embraceevery critical aspect of the contract including tech-nical competence, health & safety performance,fault rectification call-out response times, sitesecurity compliance, and any planned preventativemaintenance objectives.

This information will undoubtedly proveinvaluable when objectively reviewing the performance of the contractor throughout the life of the contract. IFP


SUPPRESSION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE – SUSTAINING PEAK PERFORMANCESYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

Mick Gay is Senior ProjectManager with M J QuinnIntegrated Services inLondon. He is a qualified fireengineer and, prior to joiningM J Quinn, worked forLondon Underground,Network Rail and Tube LinesLimited, implementing majorfire safety improvements. M J Quinn can be contactedby telephone on 020 84530450 or via email [email protected]

The company should use only a maintenance

contractor that meets the rigorously applied

standards of such an organisation as the UK’s LPCB

(Loss Prevention Certification Board), as this is the

only way of ensuring that the people undertaking

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assessed as truly competent.


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GAS DETECTION

To ensure a high level of safety, know thelatest sensing technologies, which technologyis best for the application, and where detec-

tors should be installed for maximum protection.

General Introduction to fixedgas detectionPortable gas detectors are small, lightweight, andmove with the user; many are disposable. Fixedgas detection systems, on the other hand, aredesigned for installation at a stationary locationand are expected to provide long-term service lifeand protection. This article addresses fixed gasdetection only. Three main types are generallyoffered: point-type, open-path, and analytic orsampling detection systems.

Point-type gas detectorsPoint-type gas detectors can be fitted with eithercombustible or toxic gas sensors. These detectorsmonitor a specific area or point within the facilityand must be strategically located for early detec-tion of gas. These detectors require calibration forthe gas type to be detected. Point-type detectorsalso must be routinely inspected to ensure they arecapable of performing as expected.

Open-path or line-of-sight gas detectors Open-path, or line-of-sight, gas detectors monitorthe presence of combustible hydrocarbon gaseswithin a beam of infrared light projected betweena pair of modules. To ensure that the gas/vaporhazard passes through the light beam, the modulesmust be strategically located and properly aligned.As with point-type detectors, open-path detectorsmust be calibrated for the gas type to be detected.Typically, open-path detectors are self-monitoring in the case of a blocked light beam or similartrouble.

Analytic/sampling gas detection systems Many point-detection and analytical instrumentsuse a sampling system technique to extract an airsample, direct the sample to a sealed sensor whereit is analyzed, and then exhaust or return thesample to a safe location. Sampling systemcomponents typically include a vacuum pump,sensor(s), flowmeters, filters, and flow controlelements. They are generally mounted on a subplateinstalled within an enclosure with compressionfittings for sample tubing connections.

Gas Alarm Threshold SettingsFixed gas detection systems provide alarm outputsignals to alert people and initiate correctiveaction. The alarm settings must be low enough toensure the safety of people and equipment, butshould not be so low as to cause false alarms,sometimes caused by background gases, sensitivityto other gases or vapors, or sensor signal drift. Iffalse alarms are a problem, one option is to usevoting: two detectors must detect hazardous gaslevels before the alarm activates. In determiningoptimum alarm levels for fixed gas detectionsystems, consider the following:● Applicable industry standards or codes● Fire/explosion risk of the gas(es)● Toxicity of the gas or vapor● Typical background gas levels ● Size and magnitude of the potential leak● Whether the area is occupied or unoccupied● Time required to respond to the alarm● Corrective actions required

By Dave Opheim

Detector ElectronicsCorporation

Point gas detectors detect gas in the air withina defined radius of their sensor

A pair of open-path gas detectors detect gasin the air between the two sensors

Selecting and PlacingGas Detectors forMaximum ApplicationProtectionMany industrial processes involve dangerous gases and vapors: flammable, toxic,or both. With the different sensing technologies available, and the wide range ofindustrial applications that exist, selecting the best sensor and locating themproperly for the job at hand can be a challenge.

P. 79-81 Gas Detection 4/11/08 8:48 am Page 79

Selecting Gas Detectors

Third-party approvedFortunately for users of fixed gas detectors, anumber of independent agencies now have docu-mented safety and performance criteria for fixedgas detectors. Manufacturers must submit theirinstruments to these agencies, or affiliated test labs,for testing to ensure compliance with the standardsand mark their product as “certified.” Independentproduct safety and performance certification bene-fits end-users by providing a level of assurance thatthe product being considered for purchase is actuallyfit for duty. Above is a summary table of agenciesand criteria to which they require compliance.

IntelligenceThe latest fixed gas detection instruments andsystems often offer on-board digital intelligence,meaning they deliver diagnostic capabilities, his-torical data logging, digital communications proto-cols, and provide additional microprocessor-basedfunctionality. The most dominant digital protocolsinclude HART and RS-485 Modbus, althoughproprietary digital protocols are also available.

Mean time between failureNew gas sensing technologies are available thatsignificantly improve the mean time betweenfailure. Foremost of these new technologies arenon-dispersive infrared (NDIR or simply IR) opticalgas detection devices that sense the presence offlammable hydrocarbons based upon their ten-dency to absorb infrared energy in a certainwavelength. This nondestructive measurementtechnique results in overall excellent service lifeexpectancies, as long as 10 years in some cases.

Sensing technologies for combustiblegasesFor detection of combustible gases, the mostcommon choices are catalytic and infrared sensors.

Catalytic sensors detect a wide range of com-bustible vapors, including hydrocarbon, hydrogen,and acetylene. Catalytic sensors offer good repeata-bility and accuracy with fast response time and lowinitial cost. A catalytic sensor’s greatest weakness isthat at high combustible gas concentrations, theremight be insufficient oxygen to catalyze all of thecombustible gas, resulting in a decreased signal ofgas concentration less than 100% LEL. Catalytic

sensing requires routine calibration (typically everythree months or less). Catalytic sensors are suscep-tible to poisoning from exposure to a substancessuch as silicones, halogens, tetraethyl lead, acid,pvc vapors, and other corrosive materials. Sensorscan fail without annunciation, hence the require-ment for routine calibration or bump testing.

Infrared (IR) detectors are immune to poisoningfrom contaminants and require less maintenancethan catalytic. They are unaffected by prolongedexposure to gas, high gas concentrations, andchanges in oxygen level. Unlike catalytic sensors,some IR detectors are fail-safe, meaning that theinstrument checks itself and reports any internalcondition preventing detection capability. IR sen-sors can detect only hydrocarbon-based gases andvapors. IR sensors do not detect the presence ofsubstances such as hydrogen (H2), carbon disulfide(CS2) or acetylene. Apply IR sensors in combustible-gas applications where hydrocarbons are present.

Sensing technologies for toxic gasesCurrently, two main fixed-detector families areavailable to detect toxic gases: electrochemical celland Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors.

Generally considered the workhorses for toxicgas detection, electrochemical sensors are relatively


GAS DETECTION

Performance Requirement FM 6310/6320 (2001) CSA C22.2 #152 (1988) EN 61779-4 (2000)ANSI/ISA-12.13.01 (2000) IEC 61779-4 (1988)

Unpowered storage X X XCalibration and adjustment X X XStability X X XAlarm set point(s) X X XTemperature X X XPressure XHumidity X X XAir velocity X X XOrientation XVibration X X XWarm-up time XTime of response X X XFlooding X X XPower supply variation X X XVoltage transients X XElectromagnetic field X X

Nanotechnology MOS (NTMOS) sensorssignificantly improve MOS performance inboth arid and humid environments


stable, repeatable, and consistent. Used to detecta wide range of different toxic gases in a variety of different applications, electrochemical sensorsare available in different sizes and packages.Electrochemical gas sensor limitations includerestrictions in very hot and very cold environments.Some sensors use an electrolyte that can evaporatein hot arid conditions. They are generally not fail-safe, meaning they must be visually inspected androutinely calibrated to ensure proper operation.

MOS sensor strengths include long life, wideoperating temperature range, and excellentperformance in low humidity environments.Historically, MOS sensor stability was not ideal inregions prone to major changes in ambient relativehumidity. However, nanotechnology MOS (NTMOS)sensors are now available that significantlyimprove MOS performance in both arid and humidenvironments. These new sensors also enhancesensor speed of response to dangerous hydrogensulfide gas concentration levels.

Installation and CoverageRecommendationsAlthough gas detection system design and perfor-mance requirements exist through some regulatoryauthorities, there are no documented rules con-cerning optimum detector placement or quantityrequirements. Hazardous operation (HAZOP)analysis, along with proper planning and place-ment of sensors is the first step in protectingworkers and assets from gas hazards within anyfacility. However, best practices show that identifi-cation of most-likely sequence of events leading toa gas leak, and typical environmental conditionsduring the leakage, are the best way to identifyoptimal sensor installation points.

Where and how many?Consider these factors when evaluating optimalplacement and quantity of gas detectors: gas orvapor source, ignition source, gas density orbuoyancy, location (indoors or outdoors), ambienttemperature, and personnel location.

Gas or vapor source: To locate potential gas orvapor sources, review Process and InstrumentationDiagrams (PIDs), facility maps, and hazardous-areaclassification drawings. Evaluate the characteristicsof potential sources including pressure, amount of source, source temperature, and distance.Common areas for releases include pump andcompressor seals, instrumentation sources, valveseals, gaskets, and sample points.

Ignition source: After determining the presenceof combustible gas, identify sources of ignition –sparks or high-pressure gas release areas. Place thedetector between the ignition source and anypotential source of the gas or vapor.

Gas density, or buoyancy: Gas or vapor that isless dense than air (1.29 g/cc at normal conditions)will rise in still air. Gas or vapor that is denser thanair will settle to lower elevations in still air. Thedetector typically should be placed 45.7 to 61 cm(18 to 24 inches) above level where the gas wouldsettle. Remember that temperature affects thedensity of a gas. Heating decreases the density ofa gas and makes it lighter. In fact, heating orcooling a gas by 30°C (54°F) changes the gasdensity by approximately 11%. Pre-stratification bythermal sources can delay or prevent gas detectionnear heated areas or ceilings. This typically occurs

where heat sources are near the ceiling or whereroof decks are heated by solar radiation and nosuitable mechanical ventilation is provided. If suchpre-stratification potentials are present, thenplacement of the detector in area(s) unaffected bythe stratification is recommended.

Indoors/outdoors: The environmental settinggreatly influences vapor dispersion characteristicsand gas detection ability. Typically, indoor settingsmean that the overall hazardous area is well con-tained and that air flow can be identified andcontrolled. Ceilings and walls usually are the likelyareas for gas accumulation and area delineation.Point(s) of human contact are usually identifiable.Outdoor settings mean the air flow is less control-lable with few distinct areas of gas accumulation.These areas present a challenge that requirescomprehensive application analysis and soundengineering judgment.

Ambient temperature: Determine the maximumambient temperature. Include all nearby hotsurfaces, such as motors, pumps, or steam lines.The maximum ambient temperature plus a safetyfactor of 50°C to 60°C should be less than theflash point of the monitored gas.

Location of personnel: Particularly in situationsdealing with toxic gases, it is extremely importantto consider the locations of people at the facility.To place a sensor accurately between the leaksource and the people, review PIDs, facility maps,and hazardous-area classification drawings.

Useful accessoriesThe availability and routine use of gas detectionsystem accessories often ensures proper applica-tion, operation, and maintenance of an installedgas detection system. Typical useful accessoriesinclude compressed gas calibration kits, sensorseparation kits, remote gas-tubing kits, duct-mount adapters, and handheld communicators.

Combination of open and pointOptimal protection of a facility can be achievedthrough the simultaneous use of both open pathand fixed gas detectors. Point detectors should beinstalled at or near known high-risk gas leakagepoints or accumulation areas to provide specificinformation on the level of gas present at theseareas. Open-path gas detection systems should beinstalled at plant or process area boundaries,where they can monitor the plant perimeter, andprovide an indication of overall gas cloud move-ment in and out of the facility. It is possible toindentify and track the movement of gas cloudsthroughout the facility by monitoring the outputsignals of all the gas detectors on a commonworkstation graphic display screen.

Technology and TechniqueGas detection design relies on both technologyand technique. After becoming familiar with thetools of the industry, talk with detection systemproviders. They will know the most effective waysto install and use the devices and system.

In general, look at process design drawings andconsider where gas leaks can happen. Make sureyou are using the proper technology to see the haz-ard. Look seriously at the safety standards you arerequired to meet and judge whether devices haveundergone full third-party testing. And take fulladvantage of the experts that know the safetydevices and system you decide to implement. IFP


SELECTING AND PLACING GAS DETECTORS FOR MAXIMUM APPLICATION PROTECTIONGAS DETECTION

Dave Opheim has over 20years’ experience in flameand gas detection and iscurrently regional managerwith Detector Electronics. Our web address is www.det-tronics.com



FIRE RATED GYPSUM

Fire-related incidents in residential dwellingsand commercial buildings result in a terriblecost to lives and property. There were 84,500

reported building fires and a resulting 343 fatali-ties in the 12 months ending September 2007.The cost to the UK economy has previously beenestimated at £2.5 billion a year.

As such, legislation to help reduce fires is con-stantly under review. The most important recentpiece of fire regulation for building design andconstruction is the 2005 Regulatory Reform (Fire

Safety) Order (RRFSO), which superseded the FirePrecautions Act of 1971, the Fire Precautions(Workplace) Regulations (Amended) of 1997 andmany others.

The RRFSO is supported by another piece oflegislation, the Fire and Rescue Service Bill (FRSB),which as introduced in 2006, followed by thecurrent fire safety standards for building construc-tion and materials, set out in Approved DocumentB2 of the Building Regulations in 2007.

All this legislation and the related Building

By Hans Schreuder

Managing Director,Rockwool

Passive Fire ProtecInsulation

The importance of increasing insulation content in buildings to improve theirenergy efficiency must be balanced with a clear understanding of differentinsulation materials’ performance in the case of fire. Rockwool’s managingdirector, Hans Schreuder, examines this in relation to the legislativeresponsibilities for fire safety and use of fire resistant materials.

P. 82-84 Fire Rated Gypsum 4/11/08 8:49 am Page 82

Standards have a significant influence on specifica-tion of building materials and design for improvedfire safety.

Clarifying the responsibilitiesPut simply, the changes made by the RRFSO meanthat fire safety in a building has become theresponsibility of all parties involved in the designand build process, from the architect to thebuilding owners and the employers who lease abuilding. All should satisfy themselves that thebuilding materials, methods of construction anddesign meet the relevant standards for safety.

As a part of this, the designer must identify andaddress potential fire risks in materials and design,and the contractor should be trained andcertificated in fire safe construction where this isspecified. Importantly, any potential fire risk –including the use of combustible products in theconstruction – must be communicated to theother parties so that responsibility for ensuring firesafety is shared; ignorance is no defence.

Applying this to new build is one aspect, ofcourse. Retrospectively applying it to existing con-struction is more difficult. However, all substantivebuilding changes, refurbishments, extensions etc.should be designed and specified to the higheststandards of fire safety and if, in the course of this,fire risks are discovered, they should be mitigated.

This means that the building owners and usersmust now have a much greater awareness of theimportance of approved design and build detail,and especially the fire safety of different materialsused in construction. They should not passivelyassume compliance.

Passive containment designOne of the main methods of combating firespread is to create sealed compartments through-out a building to ensure that the fire is containedwithin the area of its origin.

This concept has been adopted by all theregulatory authorities in the United Kingdom andthe Republic of Ireland. The specific legislation cov-ering England and Wales is Approved Document B

of the Building Regulations, with the section ADB2being applicable to all buildings other than singledwelling houses.

ADB2 addresses the problem of fire spread viaroof structures which traverse the head of acompartment wall and provides guidance onminimising this risk through the use of decks andsubstrates made from materials of “LimitedCombustibility”.

Paragraphs 8.29 and 8.30 of ADB2 state that azone of the roof, 1500mm wide on either side ofthe wall (commonly referred to as the protectedzone), should have a covering of designation AA,AB or AC on a substrate or deck of material oflimited combustibility (see Figure 1). This designdetail applies to all non-domestic buildings over 15metres high and also, irrespective of height, allhospitals, schools, warehouses, factories andshopping centres.

In practical terms this means that a roofstructure incorporating combustible insulation, (i.e.not CE marked and not bearing either of theterms non-combustible or limited combustibility),cannot be used in these zones unless it has beenproven to be capable of preventing fire spread tothe adjacent compartment.

The incorporation of parapet walls or fire resistantceilings into the roof construction can also provide amethod of complying with this aspect of ADB2, buttheir addition to the construction can be costly andunwelcome. A straightforward solution to maintainthe effectiveness of the compartmentation is to usemineral wool insulation, which is non-combustible(and is also of “Limited Combustibility”).

The role of insulation and fireresistanceInsulation and construction techniques for incor-porating insulation into roof, wall and floor detail,have been given a very high profile by the drive forenergy efficiency. This is enshrined in ApprovedDocument L2 of the Building Regulations, whichprovides standards for controlling energy loss inbuildings and is now updated in a regular andfrequent cycle.


Figure 1. Compartmentwall diagram

PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION – FIRE RATED INSULATIONFIRE RATED GYPSUM

ection – Fire Rated


As a result of this drive for lower fuel use, small-er carbon footprints and improved sustainability,greater thicknesses of insulation are incorporatedinto building envelopes. Thus the importance offire safety of the materials used is becoming evermore important.

There are many different types of insulationmaterials available and their fire performancediffers considerably.

For example, structural materials used for exter-nal envelope construction like sandwich orcomposite panels, which employ plastic foaminsulation cores sandwiched between thin skins ofmetal or timber, are of particular concern becausethe insulation is not classed as not non-combustible or of limited combustibility. In thepresence of fire, the structural integrity of thesepanels could be lost and this can (and has) createddangerous and fatal conditions for buildinginhabitants and fire fighters.

Marketing terms such as “fire safe” and “fireproof”, which are applied to some widely availabletypes of plastic foam insulation products, can bemisinterpreted as being somehow equivalent to“non-combustible”, leading to confusion in themarket.

However, the most widely used and certifiednon-combustible insulations are mineral woolproducts, which are manufactured from stone orglass. CE marked insulation products like mineralwool are fully compliant with non-combustibilityrequirements.

The building regulations applicable to all partsof the United Kingdom and the Republic of Irelanddeem all products which achieve an A1 classifica-tion to BS EN 13501-1 to be non-combustible.This standard describes all A1 rated products asthose which “will not contribute in any stage of afire, including the fully developed stage”.

The Building Regulations applicable to England& Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland deem allproducts which achieve an “A2 (-s3, d2)” rating orhigher to be of “Limited Combustibility” (includ-ing non-combustible A1 products).

Correct identificationThe RRFSO is intended to minimise the risk fromfire by identifying and reducing potential fire

hazards to an acceptable level, which includesmaterials. It states that designers, specifiers andcontractors have a duty to disclose to buildingowners and employers any design decisions whichmay affect risk; “including the use of combustibleproducts in the construction”.

Furthermore, the RRFSO clearly states that,designers may face criminal prosecution if they donot communicate all elements of the design thatmay affect fire performance, including the use ofcombustible insulation products.

Additionally, the Construction, Design andManagement (CDM) regulations, introduced inApril 2007, also clarify the significance of theRRFSO with regard to the responsibility of the building contractor and other specialistinstallers of fire resistant materials. Within Section5, Paragraph 46 (“Enforcement in respect ofFire”), it states that contractors must fulfil therequirements of the RRFSO as part of theirobligations under CDM. This means contractorsmust also consider the combustibility of theproducts they are installing and advise buildingowners and employers accordingly or risk criminalprosecution.

Viewing the effects of fireThe wide variation in fire performance of insula-tion materials under the same exposure conditionshas been illustrated by a series of recent and livefire demonstrations. These were held in front ofaudiences of local authorities, architects, con-tractors, insurers, fire safety specifiers, fire servicepersonnel and journalists.

These demonstrations were intended to providea visual impression of the effects that may beobserved when various insulation products aretested in the full-scale ISO 9705 room-corner test.

Clearly non-combustibleThe room demonstration showed clearly thatmaterials marked fire-safe will ignite with flamesemerging from the rooms, and continue to burnuntil they are extinguished. In addition, they emitheavy smoke with fumes that could cause asudden increase in combustion and fire, whichcould significantly affect the safety of anyone inthe room, or fire fighters.

The non-combustible stone wool did not igniteduring the demonstration, nor could flash-over,which can be seen as flames emerging from therooms, be induced.

The duty of care of specifiers and installers to the building users and inhabitants would seem to dictate that their safety should not becompromised with a higher risk product.

Assurance of fire resistance in buildingmaterialsUse of imprecise terms such as fire safe, fireproof,fire resistant and self extinguishing for insulationproducts should not disguise the fact that theymay in reality be combustible. The RRFSO clearlystates that individuals may face criminal prosecu-tion if they did not make a suitable or sufficientfire assessment.

It is clear, therefore, that any part of a buildingat fire risk, or where a fire would compromise thestructural integrity, should be using CE markednon-combustible materials to protect it asstandard. IFP


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WARNING SIGNALS

The introduction of the Disability and Discrimi-nation Act (DDA) has played a pivotal role inthe development of the Fire Industry. Organi-

sations and businesses must have fire proceduresin place that take account of the requirements ofthe DDA, including warning systems that cater forboth the hearing and visually impaired.

In addition to the DDA, the Fire Safety ReformOrder came into force in 2006, stating that theresponsibility for fire safety lies with employers andthat they have a duty to ensure the safety ofeveryone who uses their premises, including thosein the immediate vicinity.

These policies have not only forced employeraccountability, affecting companies and business-es, but have changed the way the fire industry hasdeveloped. Technology has moved on from itsrudimentary beginnings with the simple fire belland is gathering speed, making use of combinedsounder-beacon technology and more recently,pre-recorded voice messaging.

Many fire and security systems have beenredeveloped to take their capability beyond that ofa basic audible warning. A sounder should nolonger be used in isolation but in conjunction witha beacon, to comply with the DDA. The idealsolution for many applications is the use of bothaudible and visual technology: the sounder-beacon; this meets the demands of the consumer

and complies with the UK’s BS5839:1* andEN54** guidelines.

For example, Klaxon Signals offers the LED basesounder fire alarm that has a low profile designthat is ideal for use in offices, hotels and hospitals.It combines a 95 dB sounder with 12 high pow-ered LEDs that complies with the DDA. The unit’sdesign is such that the light shines in a 360°spread, ensuring the visual warning will reachthose standing or lying underneath it, and whoperhaps may not have the ability to hear thesounder siren alone.

Sounder-beacons have become the marketstandard, and these dual purpose units are often anecessity in certain applications; for example, in asmoke filled area a guiding emergency light maynot be seen, and in a high noise environment asounder may not be heard. BS5839:1 states thatwhere excessive noise is apparent, a visual indica-tion of the alarm condition should be present. Thisclearly highlights the need for both audible andvisual warning.

IndustryThe EN54 approved Nexus alarm sounder seriesfrom Klaxon is currently unparalleled in the marketfor addressing legislative issues and industry require-ments. The Nexus range consists of three productlines, each containing sounder and sounder-beaconvariants: Nexus 105, Nexus 110 and Nexus 120, thenumeral indicating sound output in dB(A).

Although tone and volume settings can be pre-set, Nexus products also allow individual adjust-ment of the head settings for installations where

By Sara Mudalige

Marketing Executive,Klaxon Signals

Fire Alarms Respon

*BS5839:1. Fire detection and fire alarm systems forbuildings. Code of practice for system design, installa-tion, commissioning and maintenance.**EN54. Fire detection and fire alarm systems.

Sara Mudalige, Marketing Executive at Klaxon Signals, looks at how legislationhas driven technological developments in the Fire Industry.

P. 86-89 Warning Signals 4/11/08 8:50 am Page 86

precise local control is needed.Optimised for use in fire, industrialand marine applications, each unitprovides 64 distinct alarm tones,three alarm stages and sound out-puts up to 120 dB(A) at 1 metredepending on the tone. The secondalarm stage on the Nexus 110product is achieved via a reversepolarity option. Loops of soundersare automatically synchronised formaximum audibility in the event ofan alarm.

Part of the Fire & Life Safetyproduct range, Nexus soundersand sounder-beacons use ‘first fix’technology and innovative quarterturn fasteners which facilitatefaster and reliable maintenance.Sounder and sounder-beaconheads “click into place”, allowingfitting or removal at any time asthe base is the only part of theproduct that requires wiring. Asthe cabling requirement is reduced,commissioning time and costs arealso reduced.

A combined sounder-beaconunit with powerful sounder and high output 5Jxenon beacon is offered for applications requiringvisual as well as audible warnings. This meets withBS5839:1 guidance regarding the necessities ofvisual alarm indication and ensures a very effectiveaudio-visual signal.

In addition to the 5J xenon beacon option,Nexus sounder-beacons are also available in LEDbeacon variants. Designed for applications wherelow current consumption, reliability and synchro-nised beacon flashing are important, the new LEDbeacons and sounder-beacons can be powered bya 10-60V DC supply, making them particularlysuitable for fire and security applications. Thesesounder-beacons can be operated in static orflashing mode, and a choice of sound outputs

means there is a model to overcome differinglevels of background noise.

General purpose fire alarmsLike the Nexus range, Sonos is a range ofsounders, beacons and sounder-beacons thatemploy ‘first fix’ technology to enable quick con-nection/disconnection and user-specific tone andvolume adjustment. LPCB (Loss Prevention Certifi-cation Board) approved, Sonos sounders andsounder-beacons are general purpose electronicdevices for fire, security and industrial applications.

As well as the standard shallow base, Sonosunits can be specified with a deep base for instal-lations in which cable conduit is used. Deep basesare ingress protected to IP65, making them idealfor external as well as internal use.

Sonos sounder units draw currents from 6 to 35 mA depending on the tone set, and arecompliant with all relevant EN regulations andBritish Standards. With a choice of 32 tones,including all major international standards, includ-ing VdS and NF approvals, the Sonos range hasuniversal acceptance.

Voice messagingThe recent development of pre-recorded voicemessaging in conjunction with the sounder-bea-con is the next technological step in the fire indus-try. Although electronic sounders are able toeffectively address most problems in the event of afire, the voice sounder has the added benefit ofproviding clear instructions that ease confusionand improve response time.

Repeated nuisance and false alarms result inmany warning signals being treated with indiffer-ence. Offices and work buildings have evacuation


FIRE ALARMS RESPOND TO LEGISLATIONWARNING SIGNALS

ond to Legislation


procedures in place that employees must followwhen a fire alarm sounds; training, practice andcontinual alarm testing leads to familiarity and amore efficient response time. But in areas wherethere is a high volume of visitors, training is impos-sible, and the public must rely on clear informationand instructions from a reliable source. Behaviour-al responses to fire alarms tend to show that peo-ple react in accordance with their peers. In generalpeople observe the actions of others, and if noone else appears to be responding to the alarm,are reluctant to take action themselves. Oftenvisitors wait for confirmation or instructions froman authority figure or member of staff before

responding, which may lose valuable time;unfamiliar surroundings can increase stress andconfusion when a warning signal sounds.

The introduction of the voice sounder providesa clear, unambiguous warning message in theevent of an emergency. Voice messages haveproven to substantially improve evacuationresponse time to fire alarm or bomb alert situa-tions; the voice alarm being the next ‘big thing’ inwarning device technology. They have the addedbenefit of being able to promptly evacuateuntrained personnel or visitors via clear and con-cise instructions. In essence, the voice sounderbecomes the ‘authority figure’.

Klaxon Signals has expanded its Sonos and NexusRange of fire alarms to include new voice enhanced

variants – where normal sounder signals are com-bined with a clear, synchronised voice message tohelp reduce confusion and distress during an activealarm. They are available as sounders or sounder-beacons.

Responding to legislationThe NIA (National Indoor Arena) in Birminghamresponded to the changes in legislation andawarded a contract to update the existing site-wide analogue/addressable fire alarm system toBDS Fire and Security (Northern). The warningdevices installed were Klaxon’s Sonos sounder-beacons.

The NIA has attracted over 4 million visitorssince it opened in 1991. Located near the Interna-tional Convention Centre in Birmingham CityCentre, it is equipped to cater for a variety ofsporting, musical and theatrical events.

Approximately 300 deep-base IP65-rated Sonossounder-beacon units were subsequently installedin the NIA’s two main car parks. New conventionalfire alarm sounder circuits were also added, con-trolled by analogue/addressable sounder circuitcontrollers and supported by local power supplyunits with battery back-up. The existing fire alarmsystem was re-configured with additional net-worked control panels and repeater panels added.

The ability to source products and equipmentthat could meet the required performance and


WARNING SIGNALS

Sounders, beacons and sounder-beacons from the

Sonos and Nexus ranges form an integral part of

Klaxon’s Fire & Life Safety product range. ‘First fix’

technology is employed throughout both product

families to enable quick connection/disconnection

and user-specific tone and volume adjustment.


legislation at the right price and within a specifiedtimescale was vital to the success of the project.Graham Hawkins, Director of BDS, led the NIAproject from BDS’ Birmingham-based office. Heremarked, “We chose the Sonos sounder-beaconfrom Klaxon Signals for the job. This was for sever-al reasons, including ease of installation, excellentvisibility from wide angles offered by the transpar-ent beacon dome, and, of course, competitivepricing. I’m particularly happy in the knowledgethat we are installing a market-leading productwith the necessary legislative credentials.”

The Sonos sounder-beacon uses LEDs as its lightsource, drawing significantly less current thantraditional xenon beacons without a loss of lightoutput. The current consumption of the sounder-beacon unit also has a significant impact on thefire alarm system design. Being able to achievehigh sound output coupled with a good visualwarning helps the Sonos sounder-beacon unit tolimit the size of the power supply and batteryback-up.

Sounders, beacons and sounder-beacons fromthe Sonos and Nexus ranges form an integral partof Klaxon’s Fire & Life Safety product range. ‘Firstfix’ technology is employed throughout both prod-uct families to enable quick connection/disconnec-tion and user-specific tone and volume adjustment.Sonos and Nexus products follow DDA guidelines.

Klaxon Signals is working alongside its partnercompanies and customers to ensure its products,and the installation of its products, are in line withthe latest fire safety regulations. Any organisationor individual wishing to discuss its, or Klaxon’s,obligations regarding new legislation may contactKlaxon’s Technical team directly or visit www.klax-onsignals.com.

Klaxon Signals Limited is one of the world’sleading manufacturers and suppliers of sound andvision signalling equipment for fire and life safety,industrial and security applications. Part of Halmap.l.c., Klaxon offers an extensive range of fire alarm sirens, electronic sounders, buzzers, beaconsand bells, in addition to innovative evacuationtechnology and software. IFP


FIRE ALARMS RESPOND TO LEGISLATIONWARNING SIGNALS

For more information pleasecontact:Klaxon Signals LimitedWrigley Street, Oldham,Lancs. OL4 1HW, UKTel: +44 (0)161 287 5555Fax: +44 (0)161 287 5511Email:[email protected]


Hochiki Europe (UK) LtdGrosvenor Road, Gillingham Business ParkGillingham, Kent ME8 0SA UKTel: +44 (0)1634 266 566Email: [email protected]

www.hochikieurope.com

The phrase? Above All Expectations

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There’s a low-cost voice alarm system that’s feature

packed and new industrial flame detectors that will

dramatically reduce false alarms. Then there’s a new

fast-fit module housing system that will revolutionise

site installation and a new high-sensitivity system

that cuts the cost of smoke detection.


FAKE CABLES

Over the last 25 years, the electrical industryhas made great strides to improve the safetyof the cable installations that snake through

the fabric of every building providing power andlight, with the development of products designedto increase public safety by reducing flamepropagation and the emission of smoke andnoxious fumes in the event of fire.

Highly durable fire resistant cables are used topreserve the power supply to essential life safetysystems such as those used for fire detection, firealarm signal paths, voice alarm systems and emer-gency lighting systems. Low smoke halogen-freecables are typically specified for enclosed-spacepublic-area installations and reduce emissions ofsmoke and fumes which can pose a far greater riskto life than the fire itself. Because of the vital rolesthese cables play in the preservation of life, thereis absolutely no room for error when it comes to

using the correct cable for a specific fire safetyrequirement.

Fakes in the fire resistant market It is a sign of the economic times that faulty andsubstandard cable products have become a majorissue in the electrical industry. Huge increases inthe price of copper have lead unscrupulous manu-facturers to cut corners in some instances byreducing the diameter of copper conductor wireused in cables or by using badly recycled copper,copper-coated aluminium or even substitutingsteel wire instead of copper. The effect is reducedconductivity potentially causing a cable to over-heat and catch fire.

Some of these cheaper cables, which are usuallyof non-UK manufacture, also use the wrong typeof insulation and sheathing materials, which canlead to poor smoke and fire performance in

Terry Journeaux

Technical marketingmanager, Prysmian Cables andSystems

Are you gettingthe cable youexpect?Many of the electric cables that run through our buildings are designed toincrease public safety in the event of fire. But, says Terry Journeaux technicalmarketing manager at Prysmian Cables and Systems, with fake, faulty andmisleadingly described cables in the marketplace, you may not be getting theproduct – or the performance – you expect.

P. 91-93 Fake Cables 4/11/08 8:51 am Page 91

supposedly fire and smoke-rated cables.A most concerning recent activity has been the

targeting of the fire resistant cable markets with“fake” cable which has no fire resistance at all.

One example of cable taken from a fire alarminstallation and examined in the Prysmian labora-tory illustrated the steps some manufacturers andtheir suppliers will take to increase their profitswith no regard to the lives they are potentially

putting at risk due to the lack of essential perfor-mance of their product.

The cable in question had markings thatincluded “BS5839-1:2002 26.2d BS6360/BS6387CWZ BS EN50200 PH30 British Made Cable”which would suggest a fire resistant cable. How-ever, examination revealed some alarming findingsincluding:– Conductors that were actually copper clad

aluminium instead of copper– The insulation was actually PVC which, far from

being of a fire resistant type, quickly softenedand degraded when subjected to fire

– The screen was not in contact with the drainwire so there would be no automatic earthingof the screen In fact, when tested in the laboratory, this

particular cable survived for less than one minute,although the marking claimed 180 minutes, andindeed met none of the claimed fire related tests.

Never has the warning “caveat emptor” beenso necessary. Use of such a cable would potentiallyput lives at risk due to non-functioning of the firealarm system and under the UK Regulatory Reform(Fire Safety) Order 2005 or even the Manslaughterand Corporate Homicide Act of 2008 could lay theinstaller open to serious penalty.

Confusion over low smoke cablesWhile the issue of faulty and unsafe cables in themarketplace continues to pose a problem, equally


FAKE CABLES


important is the accuracy of theinformation given to describe theperformance of the cable. Unfortu-nately, in the area of “low smokehalogen free” cables, the lack ofagreed terminology and a reliance ondescriptive trade names has alreadylead to the discovery of traditionalPVC cables in the market which aremisleadingly described.

PVC cables give off hydrogenchloride gas when burnt, which iscorrosive and highly irritant wheninhaled and in contact with the eyesand skin. In addition to chokingfumes, burning PVC cables emithazardous volumes of dense smokethat may obscure exit routes andmake safe evacuation of buildingsmuch more difficult.

Clearly it’s important to knowwhat you’re buying and installingbut with terminology such as LSOH(Low Smoke Zero Halogen), LSHF(Low Smoke Halogen Free), OHLS(Zero Halogen Low Smoke), LSF (LowSmoke and Fume) so widely usedand misused within the cable indus-try it’s easy to see where confusionarises.

When used correctly, as in British Standards(e.g. BS6724, BS7211, BS7629, BS7846), theterms “low smoke”, “halogen free” and “zerohalogen” relate to clearly defined test methodsand performance requirements.

Low smoke describes a product tested in accor-dance with BS EN 61034-2. This smoke densitytest (known as the 3 metre cube test) measureshow much light is transmitted through the smokeproduced by a burning a sample of cable, where0% means the light is totally obscured and 100%is full light transmission. A minimum requirementof at least 60% residual light transmission must beachieved.

“Halogen free” describes a product tested inaccordance with BS EN 50267-2-1. Under fireconditions these products must emit no more than0.5% halogen acid.

Prysmian is a leader in the development of lowsmoke halogen free technology and has its ownstate-of-the-art fire testing lab in the UK where itcarries out rigorous testing on all of its cables to ensure that they exceed British Standardsrequirements.

Whilst reference to British Standards should beused to check claimed performance, problemsarise for products where there is no nationallypublished standard. In these cases the onlydescription is often through a generic acronymsuch as LSOH. Great care is needed if using suchdescriptions to define a level of product perfor-mance. Many acronyms are in fact trade marks –LSOH is actually a registered trade mark of Prysmi-an. However protection of such trademarks hasbecome increasingly difficult for manufacturersand the major acronyms are widely in use asgeneric product descriptions. Unfortunately not allusers are using them with the same meaning asthe trade mark owner and purchasers can be mis-lead into thinking they are getting a low smokehalogen free cable as defined by the appropriate

tests, when in fact they are actually buying some-thing quite different that has far from low smokeand acid emissions.

Beware also of products described as LSF. Thereare no specific standards for LSF cables and thisterm may be used to describe modified PVC cableswhich when tested may emit more than 20%hydrochloric acid – not at all the level of perfor-mance you might believe you’re getting when youmake your product selection.

Quality assuranceSo, what can you do to ensure that the cablesused are fit for purpose and will not leave youopen to fire and safety risks?

Evidently, it is not sufficient to look only for thenecessary standards to be marked on the productbut also to ensure that the product is a recognisedbrand from a reputable manufacturer and backedby verifiable approval from an independent body.

Also, as demonstrated in the case of low smokecables, an over reliance should not be place onacronyms alone as you may end up with a productwhich performs far below the standards youexpect or need, potentially placing lives in danger.

Cables from a reputable manufacturer in the UKsuch as Prysmian, will carry the BASEC or otherrecognised approval mark on the cable whichguarantees that the cable is of a high quality andfit-for-purpose. The mark confirms that they havebeen rigorously tested and manufactured under anapproved quality management system. For speci-fiers seeking third party approval of products thereis no higher level of approval than the BASECmark.

Surprisingly, the difference in cost betweencables which carry the BASEC mark, and thosewho don’t, is not very great. The extra cost is asmall price to pay for the reassurance that youhave a quality product, fit-for-purpose, that won’tput lives at unnecessary risk. IFP


ARE YOU GETTING THE CABLE YOU EXPECT?FAKE CABLES

Terry Journeaux is TechnicalMarketing manager ofPrysmian Cables and SystemsLimited – formerly PirelliCables. Since graduatingfrom the University of Sussex,he has obtained 35 yearsexperience working in thecable industry in technical,commercial and marketingroles. Much of his career hasbeen closely involved in thedevelopment of fireperformance cables andmarkets



On 22nd September 2008, the ‘LondonEvening Standard’ ran a feature on a twoyear battle by residents of a luxury block of

apartments in Rotherhithe, London over a numberof workmanship issues. The ensuing investigation,relating to water damage and toxic mould growth,uncovered the ‘shocking discovery’ that:1 There was little or no fire compartmentation

between floors or apartments and inadequatefire resistance to the structural steel frame.

2 Of equal seriousness, shafts rising from thebasement car park through all six floors wereable to vent smoke unchecked on all floors andin places no fire dampers were incorporated inthe basement air ducting system.

Put simply and without wishing to over drama-tise the matter, the lives of all the residents of thisapartment complex were being put at risk.

The article concluded that many homes havebuild problems, but perhaps this is somethingspecial.

ASFP contracting member, Sharpfibre Ltd. whois undertaking the remedial programme on thiscomplex, would argue that this is far from aspecial case and if anything this project is merelythe tip of the iceberg. In fact, they are currentlyundertaking the same essential remedial work atanother block of apartments in Chiswick, London.

Far from being an isolated incident Sharpfibre,

By Wilf Butcher, CEO

Association forSpecialist Fire Protection(ASFP)

PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION FORUM

Ignorance is notDoes it matter that the

lay person does not

understand the

importance of Passive

(Built-in) Fire Protection?

This article sets out to

look at the reality of this

question.

Over the last ten years there has been an upsurge

of apartment block construction all over the

United Kingdom and until the near collapse of the

housing market earlier this year, such apartments

were being snapped up, ‘off plan’, faster

that they could be built.

P. 94-95 ASFP Forum 4/11/08 8:51 am Page 94

along with other ASFP contracting membersregularly identify buildings with poorly installedcompartmentation and fire protection measures,as misapplied by non third-party certificatedcompanies.

Over the last ten years there has been anupsurge of apartment block construction all overthe United Kingdom and until the near collapse ofthe housing market earlier this year, such apart-ments were being snapped up, ‘off plan’, fasterthat they could be built.

In this drive to meet demand, who has beenresponsible for ensuring the fire protection needsof a building are met? Or, when put another way,when things go badly wrong, as in this case, whois to blame when they are not met?

As with most things in life the answer is neverthat simple. None the less, this issue must beaddressed if we are to avoid the inevitable fatalconsequences. To do this we must ask some verydifficult questions, for example:● Is the whole inspection process fit for purpose?

Clearly in the case outlined above this wouldseem not to be the case.

● What is the level of specifier awareness/responsibility in relation to what is happeningon a day to day basis with his/her original speci-fication?

● To what degree is the contractor’s drive for costsavings greater than his willingness to under-stand the dangers of his cost cutting actions(particularly in the current financial climate)?

● Dare I say it; is the fire industry itself getting itseducational message across as well as it may?

● How effective is the legislative process, or is itassumed by government that, as is the case inthe UK, the advent of the Regulatory Reform(Fire Safety) Order and guidance given inApproved Document B is sufficient. (In fact theRRO does not cover apartment blocks)?

● Is the growing freedom given to fire engineeredsolutions (particularly with an eye on newcarbon friendly modular construction) as safe asthe theory would lead us to believe?

● Do the fire services have all the powers that itneeds?

● Are the benefits of third-party certification ofspecialist installers fully recognised and respected(In the UK it is not a mandatory requirement)?

● How aware is the insurance industry of thenon-compliance and the insured risk?Many of these issues are complex and I regret

to state, some are seen from the perspective of a‘head in the sand’ but the fact remains that theyneed to be addressed.

Twenty five years ago, if you had asked the manin the street where on his list of priorities he wouldplace safety features when selecting a new car,chances are it would not have been very high. Today,it’s right there at the top of his list and he demands it.

In many respects buying an apartment today isnot so different to buying a car all those years ago(except the cost is hundreds of times greater)! Thelast thing on the mind of the buyer when viewinghis dream apartment is the level and quality of thepassive fire protection, built in to protect him fromhis neighbours.

In most instances he will not even know it isthere. This is one occasion, however, where ‘out ofsight’ should never be termed as ‘out of mind’.Fire safety within the structure of this type ofconstruction must be pushed up the agendabecause this is not a theoretical debate. In the lastfew months alone there have been a number ofsignificant fires in apartment complexes within theUK. Sixteen homes, for example, were destroyedin June following a twelve hour blaze in a block offlats in Hounslow, London.

This issue will not go away and I for one do notwant to look back at some point in the future toregret that this matter was not addressed. In myopinion the time has come for all of the abovegroups to come together to debate this issue andrespond appropriately.

So, in answer to my own question ‘Does itmatter that the lay person does not understandthe importance of Passive (Built-in) Fire Protection?’Yes, it matters a great deal! IFP


PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION FORUM

ot always bliss!

In many respects buying an apartment today is not

so different to buying a car all those years ago

(except the cost is hundreds of times greater)! The

last thing on the mind of the buyer when viewing

his dream apartment is the level and quality of

the passive fire protection, built in to protect

him from his neighbours.

P. 94-95 ASFP Forum 4/11/08 8:51 am Page 95


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