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Applications
(For
more information.)
Water Mist is increasingly being specified for computer and telecommunication
facilities. The system can protect not only the computer equipment, but also
the generators and switch rooms. Customers are initially skeptical about the
choice of installing a water-based system into spaces full of computer and
telecom equipment. But by using sprinklers instead of open 
spray nozzles and a pre-action design that only fills the pipe work when the
second alarm level is reached, the chance of accidental discharge is minimal.
Water damage will be very low if there is a fire, and of course only in the
actual fire location. The same system can also provide protection of other risk
areas of these facilities such as back-up generators and machinery spaces. It
is also important to remember that recharge costs are negligible.
Another important aspect of fires in computer room spaces is damage caused by
smoke. One special type of water mist system has been designed for installation
in computer room sub-floors for the specific purpose of “scrubbing” the smoke
from computer equipment cabinets and the sub-floor itself. The high-velocity
discharge of the water mist causes a venture effect and the “dirty” water is
collected in the piping and flows to a drain. Only a very small amount of water
is used and typically no water damage is evident. Testing has shown a
significant reduction in harmful HCL gas that is often the result of a fire in
a computer room.
(For more information.)
Retrofitting a sprinkler system into an existing hotel or office building is
always a time-consuming, difficult and expensive task. Retrofitting of HI-FOG
system provides a new approach, which causes minimal installation disturbance,
and hence lower cost compared with 
conventional systems. Furthermore, Marioff’s HI-FOG nozzles are a visually
attractive choice for The HI-FOG 2000 system is ideally suited to building
upgrades and retrofits due to the smaller number of sprinklers, small tube
sizes, reduced amount of ‘exposed’ tubing as well as the reduced water storage
requirement at site. This means quicker installation and minimum disruption and
inconvenience to occupants, as the building can continue to operate during a
refurbishment program. Water damage is always minimal also in the case of an
accidental discharge. And if there is a fire the superior fire suppression and
smoke absorption capability of HI-FOG can mean the difference between life and
death.
When the Whitbread Hotel Company, who operate the Marriott franchise in the UK,
decided to comprehensively refurbish their prestigious Marriott Regents Park
Hotel in London, they decided to take a closer look at water mist technology.
The result was a contract for a HI-FOG system to protect over 300 bedrooms as
well as all corridors and ground floor public spaces, reception, bars and
restaurants.
The increasingly high cost of equipment downtime and additional loss incurred
with gas turbine enclosure and machinery space fires has highlighted the need
for fire protection systems that are effective, safe for personnel, safe for
the environment, and require minimum clean-up time. 
Enclosure integrity is not an issue for Water Mist systems. Water Mist systems
are highly effective both in totally enclosed spaces and in spaces subjected to
normal ventilation conditions. In the US there are approved systems available
to protect an enclosure volume of up to 17,650 ft3 for machinery space or
turbine enclosure applications. Using only a few nozzles, a single pipe, and a
horizontal spray pattern, water mist systems can protect gas turbine enclosures
at a low cost in comparison to other gaseous suppression systems. Another
important aspect of the water mist system is that it is completely safe for
personnel. This makes it a perfect choice for Machinery Spaces where personnel
might co-exist with fire hazards such as diesel engines, engine test cells, oil
and fuel pumps, fuel filters, hydraulic power units, gear boxes lubrication
skids and drive shafts to name a few.
Water Mist has gained wide-spread acceptance in buildings of cultural heritage,
museums and churches. These buildings are often some of the most difficult to
protect from fire due to delicate artworks, highly flammable structure and
furnishings, and regulations which make conventional sprinkler protection
impractical. Heritage buildings 
benefit from small pipe sizes, innovative piping methods that cause minimal
disruption to the building fabric. Most importantly these buildings will
experience very low water damage as a result of using water mist instead of
conventional sprinkler systems. Testing has shown that water mist suppression
has a significant cooling effect thereby keeping the delicate artwork from
being damaged by the heat from a fire.
The future looks bright as the number of applications continues to grow where
water mist technology is determined to be an effective fire suppression system.
In comparison to conventional systems, water mist has the benefit of being safe
for people, equipment and the environment, superior fire suppression, smoke
scrubbing capability, minimal water usage, and low life-cycle costs.
The special risks and evacuation difficulties of subway transport systems,
trains and tunnels require fire protection systems that are fast, efficient,
safe for passengers, staff and the environment, and provide few clean-up
problems. Conventional low-pressure water spray 
or sprinkler systems can be inefficient and difficult to install, whereas
gaseous systems are unsuitable for most metro risks because of the difficulty
of guaranteeing enclosure integrity.HI-FOG therefore becomes the “first choice”
fire protection for metro systems. Fire suppression is fast, efficient and 
requires minimal water. Because of small tubing sizes, systems can be easily
retrofitted in existing stations and in the long term they require little
maintenance once commissioned. HI-FOG is currently being installed in over 50
stations of the Madrid Metro, coordinated by Marioff’s Spanish subsidiary.
Extensive full-scale fire tests were carried out, including some in an
operational station, to demonstrate the fire extinguishing and smoke absorption
capability of HI-FOG. The final system was developed in partnership with Madrid
Metro who insisted on reliability and stand-alone capability as being key
elements.
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