Company
FOGTEC - The Smarter Way of Firefighting
FOGTEC is an Eco-Technology company in the field of fire protection
Our core products are 100% eco friendly water mist firefighting systems and high performance electronics and software – way above the industry standard. We serve highly relevant markets such as for hospitals, hotels, rolling stock, infrastructure and industrial applications. The basis of our activities is continuing research and development work jointly with our partners like universities and research institutes.
FOGTEC is active on all seven continents with its various own locations and a first class network of local partners. More than 30.000 FOGTEC systems are protecting lives and assets every day. Our team of highly educated experts originates from more than 20 nations and includes graduated engineers for software, hardware, hydraulics, mechanics, physics, safety and others. We are members of all relevant norming and technical working groups in our fields of activities and are equally represented in related trade and research associations.
Roger – A. Dirksmeier, married since 2001, three daughters, graduated in 2001 with a degree in engineering from the Technical University of Cologne in the field of vehicle engineering, specializing in rail-based transport and traction technologies.
After a brief stint at Deutsche Bahn, where he also wrote his thesis on “Fire risk analyses and fire protection concepts for rail vehicles,” he joined FOGTEC in 2001 with the aim of conducting fire tests in research and development and laying the foundations for a new product area for rail vehicles. In 2003, he became a shareholder and subsequently joined the management board. Since 2017, he has been chairman of the small and medium-sized member companies of the European railway supply industry association UNIFE and represents SME members both on the presiding board and in discussions with the European Commission.
In addition, he is Vice President of the International Monorail Association, a member of the European Committee for EN 45545 and the associated German mirror group, a member of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee of the Federal Railroad Administration in the US, and an industry representative in the working groups on fire safety at the highest European approval body, the European Railway Agency.
Dirk K. Sprakel graduated from Bochum University and has been involved in various businesses prior he was part of the team starting the FOGTEC project. Ever since he has been deeply involved in R+D as well as in marketing and commercial tasks. Parallel to his engagement with FOGTEC he served in various other functions, such as e.g. for 8 years as member of the supervisory board of dormakaba. He is holder of numerous patents and member of a number of technical committees, norming groups and associations.
- IWMA (International Water Mist Association), Vice Chairman
- STUVA (Institute for research on underground facilities), Treasurer
- NFPA 502 Tunnel Standard, Member Technical Committee
- DIN Water Mist Standard DIN NA031-03-03 AA, Member Technical Committee
- prEN 14972 Water Mist Standard, Member Technical Committee
- FM Advisory Board
- BVES Standard for Fire Protection in BESS
Ruediger Kopp earned his Diploma in Chemical Engineering and Safety Engineering from the University of Dortmund. He has more than 30 years of experience in the development, fire testing, approval, and marketing of high-pressure water mist systems. Ruediger is Managing Director for fixed water mist systems at FOGTEC. He is an active member of several international water mist standards committees and a founding member of the International Water Mist Association (IWMA). He has published numerous articles and a book on water mist technology and regularly gives presentations at international conferences.
Current committee memberships:
- IWMA (International Water Mist Association), Marketing Board
- NFPA 750 Water Mist Standard, Member Technical Committee
- DIN Water Mist Standard DIN NA031-03-03 AA, Member Technical Committee
- EN 14972 Water Mist Standard, Member Technical Committee
- VdS 3188 Water Mist Standard, Member Technical Committee
- FIA/BAFSA (UK) Water Mist Standard Working Group, Member Technical Committee
- APSAD D2 (France) Water Mist Standard, Member Technical Committee
Mr. Dipl. Ing. Heino Pruess has many years experience as advisory board member in many companies. He was Executive Director of stock listed companies for more than 10 years. He specializes in marketing and sales of technologically complex investment goods. Alongside his position as advisory board member at FOGTEC Brandschutz GmbH, Mr. Pruess is board member and advisory board member of other companies.
Prof. Dr. Ronald Pörner is a senior expert in the railway industry, Professor of Strategic Management at the HTW Berlin and owner of a strategy and marketing consultancy. Between 2007-2015 he held a position as Main Director in the Verband der Bahnindustrie (VDB) in Berlin. Alongside his position as advisory board member at FOGTEC Brandschutz GmbH, Mr. Prof. Dr. Pörner is part of the advisory board of other companies.
Lars Gehlhaar has many years of experience in the equity and M&A business, corporate finance and the development of medium-sized companies and groups. He is Managing Director of M Cap Finance, an equity and mezzanine financier specializing in German medium-sized companies. Previously, Mr. Gehlhaar worked in the corporate finance division of an international management consulting firm as well as in a DAX-listed group in Germany and abroad.
For almost 20 years, Dr. Bernd Bösche, as Managing Director of the Schleswig-Holstein Economic Development Corporation, supported medium-sized companies in the field of innovation and in opening up international markets. Strategic innovation consulting, innovation financing and foreign trade strategies were the focus of his work. In addition to his work on the advisory board of FOGTEC GmbH, Dr. Bösche supports the development of selected medium-sized companies and start-ups.
Founding of FOGTEC
- Opening of representative offices in Belgium, Great Britain and Kuala Lumpur to serve the Asian region
- Delivery of the first water mist fire suppression system for Indian State Railways
Opening of a representative office in Shanghai, China
Full-area protection of the Telecity large-scale data centre in Frankfurt
Launch of the European research project UPTUN on fire protection in tunnels with 41 partners.
The high-pressure water mist system tested within the project was developed by FOGTEC.
- First installation of high-pressure water mist systems in electric locomotives (Bombardier Re484)
- Implementation of compensatory fire protection measures in rail vehicles by replacing fire doors with FOGTEC fire detection and suppression solutions (Siemens Desiro ÖBB with network-wide approval)
- Start of the SOLIT (1) research project ‘Safety of Life in Tunnels’: Large-scale fire tests carried out, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
- UPTUN Guidance WP251: Publication of the world’s first guideline on equipping tunnels with active firefighting systems. FOGTEC is one of the main authors.
- Virgolo Tunnel, Italy: FOGTEC equips the first road tunnel with a high-pressure water mist system.
- FOGTEC celebrates its 10th anniversary.
- Opening of a representative office in India.
- Winner of the UITP Award for the most innovative product
French National Archives, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine:
After intensive 1:1 fire tests, FOGTEC prevails over the competition and equips an area of 42,000 m² with a fire protection system.
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg: Equipping the Elbphilharmonie with a completely new type of nozzle and detection system installed in the floor
Sydney public transport: FOGTEC receives major order to equip all vehicles in the new public transport fleet with special electronics for detection and control
Metro Singapore: FOGTEC supplies fire alarm systems with components specially developed for tropical climates for the Downtown Line, the world’s most reliable metro line.
- Conducted fire tests for railway tunnels with over 200 MW of actual fire load, the largest fire tests for tunnels worldwide to date.
- Eurotunnel, France: Equipping the Eurotunnel with a fire protection system. The system has a availability of 99.98% to date, making it the global benchmark for the protection of railway tunnels.
IRIS certification: First fire protection company worldwide to be certified according to the “International Railway Industry Standard” quality management system.
Completion of the SOLIT2 research project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, with FOGTEC as head of the research consortium. The SOLIT2 guidelines are now the authoritative basis for tunnel equipment.
British Railway: Receiving the contract for the Intercity Exchange Programme (IEP). FOGTEC supplies all fire detection and suppression systems for the largest fleet renewal in British railway history.
- Equipping a 35 km long supply tunnel across Singapore for Singapore Power, including extensive large-scale fire tests under the supervision of various experts and authorities.
- Receiving our first turnkey major contract in the rail vehicle sector: converting and equipping 57 electric locomotives for the Eurotunnel.
Establishment of FOGTEC Fire Protection Pvt. Ltd. in India.
- FOGTEC celebrates its 20th anniversary
- Launch of the SUVEREN research project. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with the partners “Bundesanstalt für Materialwirtschaft” and STUVA on new energy sources in underground transport systems.
- FOGTEC obtained a seat on the Executive Committee of the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) as representative for all SMEs in Europe.
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Launch of the first, and to date only, SIL2-certified fire detection and suppression system for rail vehicles.
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Delivery of a large-scale system in accordance with SOLIT2 specifications for the Port Said Tunnel, Egypt
- Major project: Siemens ÖBB Railjet and Nightjet new generation passenger coaches. Including 1:1 fire tests and a full system mock-up for testing purposes.
- Equipping of Apple data centres in Gui’an and Ulanqab, China. Apple’s largest data centres at the time.
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COVID Pandemie: FOGTEC ensures uninterrupted production. All back-office workstations operated 100% remotely from the beginning of lockdown.
- FOGTEC complets SUVEREN, the largest research project on battery fire detection and suppression.
- Launch of the first frost-resistant water mist nozzle for car parks
- Equipping of the TESLA Gigafactory in Shanghai
- Equipping of all underground stations of Budapest’s third metro line
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Development and delivery of the fire detection and firefighting system for the new Metro Los Angeles vehicle fleet. Objective: Compensation for infrastructure requirements.
- Commissioning of the Hugh Carey Tunnel (formerly Battery Tunnel) in New York
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Contract to equip over 600 vehicles for Berlin’s public transport company. Term of over 10 years.
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First Ernst Achilles Prize awarded by FOGTEC to promote young scientists.
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FOGTEC Brandschutz Systeme, a subsidiary company specialising in plant engineering, moves into its own office building due to its steadily growing workforce.
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Latest generation of Singapore metro trains: Delivery of SIL 2 fire detection systems for over 100 trains.
- Commissioning of the FOGTEC system in the Ismailia Tunnel beneath the Suez Canal. A key project for fire protection in North Africa.
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VUMC Hospital Amsterdam: Installation of the system across 43,000 m² while the hospital remained in operation.
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Opening of the historic Procuratie Vecchie building on St. Mark’s Square in Venice, protected by FOGTEC.
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SBB regional train (Flirt EVO): Fitting out of up to 512 trains
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Initial equipping of hydrogen trains (Stadler SBCTA) with SIL2 system in accordance with EN 50129. For the first time, also with H2 flame detectors.
- Metro Jaipur: First Metro contract in the Indian market
- Integration of FOGTEC as a new platform supplier in the diesel locomotives of the American manufacturer ProgressRail
- World’s first 1:1 fire tests for bus depots, as part of the research project SUVEREN_4_Depots.
- Launch of the SUVEREN2use research project for lithium-ion batteries, led by FOGTEC in collaboration with the University of Wuppertal, the Fraunhofer Institute in Goslar and the company Lobbe.
- Natural History Museum, Copenhagen: Equipping the historic building and underground extension totalling 30,000 m².
- Khazna Group, United Arab Emirates: Completion of three large data centres
- The first SIL-certifiable display for fire protection in rail vehicles.
- Fire Protection Guidelines for car parks. The recommendations are based on the first 1:1 fire tests with electric vehicles as part of the SOLIT research project.
- Development of the LiSa-Sens sensor for early detection of thermal runaway in battery storage systems.
- Local transport, Sao Paulo: Over 200 trains equipped with FOGTEC fire detection and firefighting systems are in operation every day.
- Membership in the BVES working group BESS for the protection of energy storage systems.
- Protection of the first large-scale battery storage system in a building with a FOGTEC system and LiSa Sense technology.
- IRIS recertification according to rev.04 and attainment of CMMI appraisal. The only fire protection company worldwide to achieve both.
- Jungfrau Railway, Switzerland: Retrofitting of the existing fleet with a turnkey system comprising fire detection and fire suppression systems for the passenger compartment.
- Railway operations in Mongolia and Saudi Arabia: Delivery of the first systems for diesel locomotives, thereby introducing a new level of safety.
- Rail: 25,000 systems delivered
- New locations in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Saudi Arabia
- Growth in India: Move to new offices and own production facility. Split of the company into three separate companies.
- World’s first large-scale fire tests for lithium-ion batteries in warehouses as part of SUVEREN2use.
- Growth in Cologne: expansion of production facilities, acquisition of additional premises.
- Offenbach, Germany: World’s first installation of a high-pressure water mist system in three underground railway stations. This eliminates the need for significantly more expensive structural measures as part of smoke management.
- Retrofitting of 193 Indian State Railway trains as a significant project to increase safety.
- Dwarka Tunnel, India: Installation of a SOLIT2 high-pressure water mist system as a turnkey project.
- Bern, Switzerland: Installation of the world’s first system for protecting bus depots based on the results of the SUVEREN_4_Depots research project.
- California/Chicago, USA: Delivery of fire protection systems for the new battery and hydrogen trains.
- Development and delivery of the fire detection system for the latest generation of Japanese high-speed trains in Taiwan.
The basic idea of using small droplets for cooling isn’t new. The basics of this idea are in every school curriculum: The bigger the surface area of a liquid, the faster and more efficiently the energy gets transferred, which is what causes cooling or heating. Firefighters have always used this technique when spraying water instead of pouring a full stream. But not many people know that there have been a bunch of inventors and companies that have used this idea in their products and machines.
The catalogue of F.E. Myers & Bro. Company, based in Ashland, Ohio, USA, founded in 1870, featured the following firefighting equipment with watermist:
Even back then, they offered a selection of nozzles.
The fog patterns created would still be impressive today.:
Even stationary pump units were offered.
By this time, the company, Myers, had already become an established and successful manufacturer.
This concept was later refined by German nozzle expert Lechler, who also contributed significantly to the early development of FOGTEC. The “Bündeldüse” (bundle nozzle) was invented as early as 1893, and was later claimed by several other parties as their own invention in the 1990s.
It was already noted at the time that water mist – or water dust, as it was known – was even ideal for fighting liquid fires, such as those involving petrol.
For those who did not fully understand the miracle of amazing small droplets, Lechler gave detailed explanations in 1956.
The 1960s saw the introduction of a new generation of Lechler “Bündeldüsen” firefighting nozzles, which came with amazingly good explanations. We couldn’t explain it better today!
In the 1970 Myers of the US still followed the very same idea with their products. They already applied higher pressures using piston pumps.
In the 1980 Lechler had brought the Bündeldüse already to a quite sophisticated level of design.
FOGTEC is certainly a pioneer in the development of many new water mist products and applications. However, we can’t help but smile when others claim to have invented firefighting with water mist.