Tyco Fire Protection Products showcased its experience in water mist suppression options at 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 using Water Mist’, the place he mentioned how the extinguishant is well suited to the protection of irreplaceable works and artefacts in extremely priceless buildings.
Tim’s lecture targeted on a hearth take a look at protocol that was formulated to confirm the performance and use of Tyco’s own water mist resolution, AquaMist, in an historical building, residence to treasured archive storage. Authentic (NFPA) 750 normal requires that, when using a water mist suppression system, fire testing is undertaken pertinent to the risk. However, of the printed hearth 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’ type, which restrict the amount of house for constructing services, including those for extinguishing system pipework.
Together with the project stakeholders, Tyco devised the protocol to incorporate check rig and layout, check type, hearth load, data acquisition (for example, sensors and imaging), hardware required (such as pumps, nozzles, pipe, tank, generator), and health and safety procedures (for occasion, the fireplace brigade). The related performance primarily based hearth checks were then designed to copy the vary of software parameters associated with archive storage.
While ignition sources at the unique website were identified to be minimal, and the primary hearth source confirmed as arson, the multi-level building poses quite a few challenges that needed to be thought-about when formulating the fire test protocol to guarantee effective protection. Low ceilings and numerous obstructions, such as lighting, ducts and pillars, contribute in the course of the confined setting of the archive storage basement level. Items are stored in a mixture of open racks and compact racks, which supply less than a 150mm hole between themselves and the ceiling, and there’s limited on-site water storage. Pre-test risk evaluation also highlighted restricted entry and exits below and above ground, so it’s important for storage space to be maximised and protected egress offered in case of the event of a fireplace. In addition, the highly valuable nature of the storage contents meant that the chosen fire suppression answer had to ensure minimal injury to these historical items.
To obtain validation, the exams needed to meet varied aims. These comprised fast management of the fire inside a prescribed space (in this case, defined as inside a block of racks); management of temperature; attenuation of radiation; and minimisation of collateral injury via water clean-up. They also had to bear in mind numerous parameters, together with the required high strain mist system; a 30 minute run time; and an annual measurable achievement goal (AMAO) defined in accordance with a formulation based on the quantity of nozzles activating during testing.
The fire exams, carried out for each open and roller racks with minimum storage gaps, had been undertaken in a personalized 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 materials were identical to that present in archive storage, together with paper, books, micro-film and CD cases.
Success was outlined by cross or fail criteria and decided by detailed quantitative measurements on system configuration, hydraulic analysis, discharge strain, discharge sequence, hearth spread, temperature, fireplace damage and water consumption. In both exams, Tyco’s AquaMist system operated successfully and was noticed to suppress and management the fireplace efficiently. The venture staff was impressed by the shortage of fireside and smoke harm to the materials and structure and the product has since been installed in the constructing in query.
“The IWMA convention is a fantastic opportunity to spotlight the benefits of water mist as a fireplace suppression solution, in addition to reveal its versatility in a variety of functions,” comments Dr Tim Nichols. “Identifying a spot out there and taking the chance to formulate a fire check protocol for archive storage enabled us to validate the professional capabilities of our AquaMist system and facilitate safety of a customer’s extremely valuable property.”
For extra info, go to www.tfppemea.com
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