Fire Protection in
DATA CENTERS AND IT

Jim O'Connell, Director of Business Development of ORR Protection sits down with Lee Kaiser to talk about high-tech fire protection systems in industries like telecommunications, his journey at ORR, and the future of mission-critical fire protection.

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Sprinkler

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Air Sampling

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Smoke Detection

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Suppression Clean Agent

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Suppression Water Mist

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Sprinkler

Sprinkler systems are fundamental to building fire protection. In mission-critical spaces, dry-type, preaction sprinkler systems are often selected. ORR Protection's specialty is the intersection of suppression and detection, and we excel at preaction sprinkler systems. Whether you need a new system, modifications to an existing system, or testing and inspection, we can address your needs.

Air Sampling

Air Sampling Detector consists of a piping or tubing distribution network that runs from the detector to the area(s) to be protected. An aspiration fan in the detector housing draws air from the protected area back to the detector through air sampling ports into piping. Air Sampling Smoke Detectors are capable of detecting a fire at its smallest point. Air Sampling Smoke Detectors actively pulls room air through a piping network to its detection chamber where it can detect the presence of particles that are created in the very early stages of combustion, even before smoke is visible.

Smoke Detection

Spot type smoke detectors are devices that respond to the smoke particles produced by a fire. Photoelectric detectors use light to sense particulates being put into the air from smoke. Properly installed, smoke detectors can detect smoke particles in early stages of fire in the areas where they are located. The selection of a particular detector or mixture of detectors should be made by a fire protection specialist and installed based on building conditions.

Suppression Clean Agent

Clean agent fire suppression agents are designed for use in mission-critical applications where operation of traditional sprinkler systems will cause extended damage and business interruption. Clean agents are environmentally safe, Non-conductive and non-corrosive to sensitive electronic equipment, non-life-threatening to personnel, and extinguish fires quickly.

Suppression Water Mist

Water mist fire suppression systems capitalizes on the extinguishing properties of water and amplifies them for extreme fire suppression capabilities. Water droplets are atomized to increase surface area to absorb heat quicker, thus using significantly less water – often leading to a greatly suppressed fire and significantly less water damage than sprinkler systems.

Want to learn more about our team and how we can help?

Thought Leadership on Data Centers and IT

Datacenter designs have become a playground for creative problem solvers and new products. The areas of information technology, electrical power, and equipment cooling—The Big Three—seem to be reinvented every five years.

Sprinkler placement is a very important aspect of making sure air handling structure within a mission-critical facility does not interfere with the ability of the sprinkler system to perform when called upon.

Learn About Us and Meet Lee Kaiser

About

The mission of a data center or server space is to house and support information technology equipment – computers, servers, hard drives, and network equipment. These spaces are specialized, expensive, and important to the ongoing mission of the business or organization and now often to the public. Sometimes the data being processed in these spaces is irreplaceable. A fire in a data center can be excessively costly, interrupting the delivery of service, and costing millions of dollars. Fire protection strategies in the data center should all be centered around limiting the risk and minimizing downtime due to a fire.

 

Considerations

Like data centers, broadband facilities rely on sensitive computing equipment, they are often tightly packed, cooling is a concern, cables and network equipment are always live with electricity, and a fire would be catastrophic. Risk is accentuated when buildings are unmanned. Many are located in remote areas. In some cases, the buildings sole purpose is to house telco network equipment and fire suppression equipment is not required by the AHJ.

Lee Kaiser, P.E.

Vice President of Engineering

Leave Mission Critical Fire Protection to the Experts!

Lee  is VP of Engineering and Technical Training for ORR Protection and is Chairperson of the technical committee for NFPA 75, Standard for the Protection of Information Technology Equipment. His career at ORR has been to provide technical and thought leadership in the protection of mission critical facilities.

Lee is a professional engineer in the discipline of fire protection engineering. He participates in industry committees for ORR and gives technical education sessions at conferences and seminars throughout the county.