Tyco Fire Protection Products showcased its expertise in water mist suppression options on the International Water Mist Association (IWMA) Conference in Istanbul. Dr Tim Nichols, Sales Director Water Mist EMEA, gave a presentation entitled ‘Fire Protection of Compact Archive Storage utilizing Water Mist’, where he discussed how the extinguishant is well suited to the safety of irreplaceable works and artefacts in extremely valuable buildings.
Tim’s lecture focused on a fire test protocol that was formulated to verify the efficiency and use of Tyco’s personal water mist resolution, AquaMist, in an historic constructing, residence to treasured archive storage. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 750 commonplace requires that, when employing a water mist suppression system, fire testing is undertaken pertinent to the danger. However, of the published fire take a look at protocols listed in NFPA 750, none details the necessities for archives that include roller (compact) racking. Many of the racks within the focused building are of the ‘roller’ sort, which restrict the quantity of area for building services, together with those for extinguishing system pipework.
Together with the challenge stakeholders, Tyco devised the protocol to incorporate check rig and layout, take a look at type, hearth load, information acquisition (for instance, sensors and imaging), hardware required (such as pumps, nozzles, pipe, tank, generator), and well being and security procedures (for instance, the fireplace brigade). The associated performance based fire tests had been then designed to copy the range of utility parameters associated with archive storage.
While ignition sources on the authentic website have been identified to be minimal, and the primary fire source confirmed as arson, the multi-level building poses quite a few challenges that had to be thought of when formulating the hearth take a look at protocol to ensure efficient safety. Low ceilings and numerous obstructions, similar to lighting, ducts and pillars, contribute in direction of the confined environment of the archive storage basement degree. Items are stored in a combination of open racks and compact racks, which provide less than a 150mm gap between themselves and the ceiling, and there’s restricted on-site water storage. Pre-test risk analysis additionally highlighted restricted entry and exits beneath and above ground, so it is important for cupboard space to be maximised and secure egress supplied in case of the event of a hearth. In addition, the highly priceless nature of the storage contents meant that the selected fire suppression solution had to ensure minimal damage to those historic objects.
To obtain validation, the checks had to meet numerous aims. These comprised speedy management of the fire within a prescribed area (in this case, outlined as within a block of racks); control of temperature; attenuation of radiation; and minimisation of collateral damage via water clean-up. They also needed to bear in mind various parameters, together with the required high strain mist system; a 30 minute run time; and an annual measurable achievement goal (AMAO) defined according to a formulation based mostly on the quantity of nozzles activating throughout testing.
The hearth tests, carried out for both open and curler racks with minimal storage gaps, had been undertaken in a customised test rig, designed, built and fitted to replicate the exact specification, racking arrangements and storage supplies of the positioning. Considered a high load, the gas supplies were identical to that found in archive storage, including paper, books, micro-film and CD circumstances.
Success was defined by cross or fail standards and decided by detailed quantitative measurements on system configuration, hydraulic analysis, discharge pressure, discharge sequence, hearth unfold, temperature, fire injury and water consumption. In เพรสเชอร์เกจ4นิ้ว exams, Tyco’s AquaMist system operated effectively and was observed to suppress and management the hearth efficiently. The venture team was impressed by the dearth of fire and smoke harm to the supplies and structure and the product has since been installed in the building in query.
“The IWMA convention is a fantastic opportunity to highlight the benefits of water mist as a fireplace suppression resolution, in addition to demonstrate its versatility in a variety of purposes,” feedback Dr Tim Nichols. “Identifying a spot in the market and taking the chance to formulate a hearth take a look at protocol for archive storage enabled us to validate the professional capabilities of our AquaMist system and facilitate safety of a customer’s highly useful property.”
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