A Quick Guide to Fire Detection and Alarm Systems
Fire detection systems are made to identify fires early on, when there is still time for inhabitants to safely evacuate the premises. Protecting the safety of emergency response workers is largely dependent on early discovery. Early detection reduces property loss and minimizes operational downtime since control measures are initiated while the fire is still minor. The majority of alarm systems expedite the firefighting procedure by informing emergency personnel of the fire’s location.
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Alarms must be connected to detectors for them to be effective. Alarm systems alert the building’s residents at the very least and often send a signal to an on-site or off-site manned monitoring station. Alarms may sometimes be forwarded straight to the fire department, however this is no longer the standard procedure in most places.
These systems offer several benefits, as was previously mentioned. The only significant drawback is that they take no action to put out or manage the fire. Automatic sprinkler systems and other suppression systems work to contain the fire. If linked to notification appliances around the building, they can serve as a heat detection-based system as well as a means of alerting when they are in operation. However, they won’t function as fast as a smoke detector. For this reason, even with sprinklers, buildings where quick notification is crucial still require detection and alarm systems.
The simplest alarm systems don’t have detection. It just sounds a local alarm and features manual pull stations. This is not the usual level of system; it is dependent upon an occupant detecting the fire, which can result in a considerable delay. The cost of the system you need to build will increase with how rapidly you want to be informed of the fire. The cost of detecting speed is high. Heat detectors are the least costly and slowest systems to detect fires. The fastest fire detection is provided by an air-aspirating smoke detection system; however, these systems are five to ten times more costly.
Where to Begin Selecting a System
Your facility’s fire safety goals should determine the kind of fire detection and alarm system you choose. These goals stem from an evaluation of your facility’s and operation’s risks. An essential component of this process is determining how much you can afford to lose and how much risk you can tolerate.
The problems at a warehouse are not the same as those in a hospital. Early warning is crucial in establishments where life safety is the first priority, including hospitals where patients might not be able to escape on their own. A system that can notify people more quickly is also necessary for establishments like hostels, motels, and other places where people can be sleeping when a fire breaks out.
The alarm system frequently does not need to sound as early in a warehouse because there are usually less of them and they will be awake and aware of the situation. Fire detection can go more slowly in a largely empty building when life safety is not a prominent concern without appreciably raising the danger.
You also need to take into account the continued maintenance that will be necessary for the system’s lifetime while choosing one. These systems have strict standards for testing, inspection, and maintenance. Over the course of a system’s life, meeting these needs will typically cost more than the initial installation.
Parts of the system known as initiating devices are what start a signal. This set of parts includes supervisory devices, detectors, and manual pull stations.
In essence, a manual pull station (Figure 1) is basically a switch that, when pressed by a building inhabitant, triggers the alarm system. Pull stations must to be placed such that residents can easily locate them. Usually, they are situated along the paths that people would use to leave the building.
There are many different kinds of detectors available. The three main types of detectors are flame, smoke, and heat. There are many more particular varieties within each group. The ones that are most frequently utilized for building fire detection and alarm activation will be the only ones discussed here. The main purpose of certain types of detectors, including flame detectors, is to trigger suppression devices.
The most basic type of detecting equipment is a heat detector. There are several varieties of them. Spot and line are the two main categories into which these sorts fall. Spot detectors are solitary devices placed in discrete areas within the perimeter. Line detectors offer a continuous detector throughout the whole coverage region. Line type detectors are saved for unique circumstances, whereas spot detectors are utilized more frequently.
The most frequent types of spot type heat detectors (Figure 2) are fixed temperature, rate-of-rise, or combination. As the name suggests, fixed temperature systems function at a particular temperature. Rate-of-rise detectors don’t operate at a set point; instead, they react to the rate at which the temperature rises. These detectors work best in locations where there is a chance of heat buildup during regular hours, such uncontrolled warehouses. During the day, the heat that the roof collects can cause detectors placed at the ceiling to get rather warm. However, this rise in temperature happens gradually, and it is compensated for by a rate-ofrise detector.
Numerous types of smoke detectors are available (see Figure 3). The way photoelectric smoke detectors work is by using light scattering inside the detector’s detecting chamber. When light passes through the chamber and comes into contact with smoke, it becomes dispersed. A photocell detects this light when it reflects off the smoke in the chamber.
The most popular type of smoke detector for residential usage, ionization detectors, identify the particles in smoke. The smoke ionizes the particles as it moves through the chamber. The detector’s charged plates may then be able to identify these particles. It is also possible to get smoke detectors along with heat detectors (Figure 4). When smoke obscures the beam between the laser emitter and receiver, the beam type detector (Figure 5) activates. Large wide regions are where these detectors are most frequently employed.
The shielded space is covered with tubing that is used in an air sampling detection system. Small holes are evenly placed throughout the tube, and air is continuously pulled into the device, allowing it to detect incredibly low quantities of combustion products.
Devices for Monitoring and Notification
The fire alarm control panel can be linked to many supervisory devices. For automated sprinkler systems, water control valves may have a tamper switch (Figure 6) installed. The tamper switch will notify your personnel to the issue if this valve is closed by an unauthorized individual by sending a supervisory signal to the control panel. There are several uses for supervisory devices.
Systems can be addressed or they can’t. In the first kind, every detector in the system has a distinct digital ID. Every device has a separate communication channel with the fire alarm control panel. When using non-addressable systems, detectors can be grouped into zones if they share a pair of wires, but no specific detector’s information can be retrieved by the control panel.
Addressable systems have a number of benefits. The first is that, in the event of a fire, a precise indication of the activation’s position is accessible. Which would you want to know—that a detection has taken place in office 103 or someplace in the west wing of your building? Obviously, the latter is more instructive.) The second key benefit of these systems is their capacity to locate individual components—trouble signals can pinpoint the exact component that is malfunctioning. For instance, an addressable system will send out a problem signal identifying the particular detector in the event that one fails. In non-addressable systems, the zone will be identified, but in order to figure out which detector in that zone is broken, a repairman will need to examine each one individually.
