Fire Detection and Suppression Sytems Fire Alarm Systems and Smoke Detection

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.

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Data Center and IT TRENDS

VESDA: Air Sampling Smoke Detection

Learn more about Vesda

VESDA air sampling smoke detection is uniquely designed to detect particles of combustion at four field programmable levels, beginning with the earliest, incipient stage; where smoke is invisible to the human eye.

How does it work

  • A fan consistently draws air from the protected area through the detection chamber.
  • Once inside, the photo collector measures reflected light from the particles as they pass through the laser beam.
  • The collector counts the number of discrete particles to determine the level of smoke concentration. A particle size discriminator prevents large particles (like dust) from contributing to the smoke concentration.
  • Unlike other types of high-sensitivity smoke detection systems, particle concentration is absolutely critical.
  • Because they detect both the number and size of particles, they can actually distinguish particles of combustion from dust and other airborne contaminants that routinely trigger nuisance alarms in traditional spot detectors.
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3M NOVEC 1230 Clean Agent

3M NOVEC 1230 is a fire protection fluid used in clean agent fire extinguishing systems. It is stored as a liquid, but during activation comes out into the data center as a gas. It is safe for use in occupied spaces, safe for electronics, extinguishes fires when they are small, leaves no residue on surfaces, and is environmentally sustainable.

How does it work

  • Discharged early by detecting smoke
  • Stored in pressurized agent containers
  • Distributed through steel piping and nozzles
  • Floods the space as a gas to address and extinguish fires wherever they are
  • Flexible in installation and can accommodate even the most complex data centers

Corrosion Prevention

Learn more about ECS

The pipes in preaction sprinklers can rapidly corrode if not addressed properly. Filling the pipes with nitrogen instead of compressed air allows corrosion to be stopped before it starts. To protect your investment in your preaction sprinkler system, apply a nitrogen generator to stop costly damage to your pipes.

How does it work

  • Compressed dry nitrogen fills the pipes
  • The nitrogen replaces oxygen in the pipes and stops oxygen-based corrosion of steel pipe
  • The nitrogen acts as the supervisory gas for the system
  • Small systems can use bottled nitrogen through a pressure regulator
  • Large systems use a nitrogen generator skid
  • Monitoring nitrogen concentrations in the pipes ensures nitrogen is present and protecting the system
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Preaction Sprinkler

Local building codes and property insurers require many data centers to have automatic sprinkler systems installed in them to control a fire if one starts. Most data centers elect to use dry-type preaction sprinkler systems so that water does not sit in the pipes and potentially leak onto the valuable IT equipment below. 

How does it work

  • Sprinkler pipe and sprinklers cover the space
  • A preaction valve holds water back from filling the pipes until a fire occurs
  • A releasing fire alarm panel controls the opening of the preaction valve
  • Fire detectors in the space detect a fire and send a signal to the releasing panel
  • Once the fire grows large enough to fuse a sprinkler, the preaction valve opens and water can flow to the open sprinklers and control the fire
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Thought Leadership on Data Centers and IT

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DATA CENTER FIRE PROTECTION: ADAPTING TO A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

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.

Read More
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Aisle Containment in Data Centers with Sprinkler Systems

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.

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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
lkaiser@orrprotection.com

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.

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