Information

With the continually growing data centre market, in Ireland and beyond, it is essential that these buildings have the best fire protection solutions on the market.  For this application, we look at two key considerations:

  • Protection of equipment and data
  • Protection of personnel and anyone onsite

These considerations are important when choosing the extinguishing agent.  Typically, in Datacentres, we observe to hazard classes:

  • Ordinary Class A: “Fire of Materials such as wood, fabric, rubber and certain plastics”
  • A+ Electrical Hazards

The main sources of fire in Datacentres are:

Internal Sources

 

External Sources

 

Sparks caused by switches

 

Dirt

Short-Circuits and Electric Overload

 

Equipment Overheating / Thermal Conditions

Static Electricity

 

Solar Radiation

 

Solution

The most effective solution for protection of datacentres is by total flooding with a gaseous agent such as an Inert Gas or Chemical Clean Agent, provided that room integrity is guaranteed.  We would typically propose two options depending on the size of the building, number of rooms to be protected and room characteristics:

  • Cylinders located at the protected area, or as close as possible. This is a typical configuration for stand-alone systems that has a single cylinder system protecting one room or area.

Pros

Cons

Simple installation

Larger quantity of extinguishing agent required

Reduced amount of pipework

Greater number of cylinders required

Easier to maintain

If using chemical clean agents, it is more expensive to hold a reserve supply

Fast Effective Suppression

Room Integrity required for total flooding

Lower pressure piping when using chemical agents (24 to 60 bar)

 

Suitable for occupied areas

 

 

  • A cylinder bank system where all hazard areas are protected by one bank of cylinders spec’d to the largest area / most unfavorable and controlled by a series of selector valves. Typically for this application a connected reserve is installed for continuity.

Pros

Cons

Extinguishing agent is low-cost when using inert

Longer pipe runs requiring more pipework, cost implications

All components are located in the same room

Complex design, requires early stage consideration

Reduced cylinder requirement

Room Integrity required for total flooding

Reduced extinguishing agent requirement

 

Naturally occurring gases so zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and greenhouse effect

 

Suitable for occupied areas

 

Easy to connect an reserve supply

 

 

Other considerations and solutions for Datacentres

Silencers

Free discharge of fire protection systems contributes to high frequencies and sound pressures of over 110dB that may affect sensitive equipment found within Datacentres, such as hard drives. In collaboration with our partner manufacturer, we can offer fire protection systems that operate below 90dB by installing silencer nozzles that offer maximum benefit when used with inert gases.

  • False Ceilings and Raised Floors – with fire load
  • Total Flooding recommended – provided leak tightness
  • Inerts, Chemical Clean Agents and Watermist

 

Raised Floors / False Celings

It is common to find raised floors and false ceilings in many datacentres, particularly those on a large scale.  Often these areas are difficult to maintain and inspect  and contain electrical equipment and other potential hazards, that have a fire load and therefore must be protected.  We can offer both fire detection and protection for these difficult to reach places.

Healthcare

 

Hospital Facilities are generally vast areas that span across a number of floors and present various fire hazards that require effective fire protection.  The areas that pose the greatest risk of fire in hospitals are:

  • Occupied Spaces – Corridors/Waiting Rooms/Wards
  • Operating Theatres
  • Laboratories
  • Kitchens
  • Document Storage Rooms
  • Comms/Server Rooms
  • Generator Rooms
  • Laundry Facilities

This highlights the complex nature and various sources of fire within a hospital building.  This in turn requires a systematic and versatile approach to fire protection.

For continuous fire protection, we can offer High Pressure Watermist that is installed is AISI 316L stainless steel piping that provides a clean and hygienic H2O discharge.  It can be used for many applications and can be retrofitted easily due to the smaller pipe diameter used for these systems.  Water usage is approximately 85% less than in a standard sprinkler system which offers a more environmentally friendly solution with minimal to no damage on equipment and material.

For laboratory spaces and server/comms rooms where Watermist may not be suitable we can offer Inert or Chemical Clean agents that offer fast and effective fire suppression.