Water mist fire protection in buildings and industrial plants
protection of people, cultural assets, building structures and machinery
Fire fighting systems for buildings: When it comes to protecting public buildings and other facilities from fire, the primary focus is on the safety of people and on finding an alternative to complex and restrictive construction measures. Simpler integration of the fire fighting system into building structures is another important factor in the decision. When it comes to industrial applications, however, the primary focus is on the protection of material assets. This not only refers to the protected machines, systems and products themselves, but also in particular to the prevention of long downtimes.
Fire protection in buildings
offices, hotels, hospitals, museums, archives, stations
The safety of people has utmost priority when it comes to fire protection in public buildings. In cultural institutions, the protection of unique works of art, books or of entire heritage buildings also needs to be addressed.
High pressure water mist technology offers the following:
- It can significantly reduce thermal radiation for escaping people due to its intensive cooling effect.
- Water damage can be kept to a minimum. High pressure water mist systems require only approximately 10% of the water needed for conventional sprinkler systems. This means less damage, lower repair or restoration costs and shorter downtimes or interruptions to operations.
- It is more compact than conventional systems, simpler and more aesthetic in terms of integration into existing or new buildings.
- The high pressure level enables protection of buildings the height of a TV tower using just one pump unit in the basement.
- The better cooling and shielding effect of the fine, high pressure water mist enables more aesthetic materials to be used.
IT environment
Fire prevention for data centres, communication systems, IT areas
Data centres and rooms with switching units constitute a particular hazard due to possible short circuits or system overloads. Insufficient heat extraction or a defective cooling system will increase this risk in buildings. Failures of such areas present considerable difficulties for operators. This applies for banks, authorities, insurance companies and equally to internet service providers.
Once a fire has broken out, there is a risk of data loss due to fire or water damage. In addition, soot particles and corrosive gases will form due to the plastics used for cable insulation, for instance, which can damage IT systems in the long term. Sprinklers are often unsuitable for IT areas due to the expected water damage. The use of gas extinguishing systems can also be problematic since enclosures can often not be guaranteed in the long term and gas does not develop sufficient cooling effect.
High pressure water mist systems offer ideal protection in buildings:
- 100% environmentally friendly, with no hazards to people
- Can be triggered without any pre-warning time
- No partitions are required
- No limitations with regard to surface area protected
- Use as room protection as well as for the protection of raised floors
- Binding of soot particles and delution of smoke gases reduces damages
- Minimal water damage
- No dependency on extinguishing gas manufacturers
- No corrosive by-products from extinguishing agents
In addition to protecting entire rooms, FOGTEC water mist can also be used directly in server cabinets or switching cabinets. FOGTEC has conducted fire tests demonstrating that electronic components of computer racks used in fire tests suffered less damage than any other fire fighting systems tested.
Cable tunnels
a company’s central nervous system
Even today, cables tunnels and ducts are rarely protected using a fire fighting system due to the fear of water damage even though such areas often accommodating the entire power supply and the majority of the data transmission cables. A fire in cable ducts can bring a company to a standstill. FOGTEC water mist, with its special properties, creates optimal protection for cable ducts and increases their availability significantly:
- Minimal water damage in buildings
- Tolerant to forced ventilation or openings
- No pre-warning time or danger for personnel
- Installation usually only required below the ceiling
- Water mist spreads even into areas below cable trays
Industrial plants
production systems, CNC centres, presses, turbines, generators, pumps, engine test cells
Fuels and lubricants are fire loads frequently used in the industry. Devastating fires may be caused by hot surfaces in combination with leakages. The often very lengthy refurbishment times for destroyed machines create great difficulties for operators. The use of gas extinguishing systems is mostly associated with risks and they can often only be used with pre-warning times.
Depending on the specific requirements, FOGTEC systems can be designed as room or object protection systems. The benefits for operators are as follows:
- Immediate cooling of protected area or machine
- Short downtimes
- Very small system size; minor interference with machinery
- Low operating costs
- Low-cost re-commissioning of the FOGTEC system
- No personnel protection measures required
- No heat stresses on materials or machines due to uniform cooling
Conveyor systems
conveyor belts and assembly lines
A fire may quickly spread to large areas via conveyor belts and assembly lines. The fire risk can be reduced by the use of fire-resistant conveyor belts, but it cannot be fully prevented. In addition, conveyor belts of this type age significantly more quickly and are less flexible. They also cannot provide protection against conveyed goods that are on fire.
FOGTEC water mist systems are particularly suitable for especially critical areas in a conveyor system such as drives, bearings and wall penetrations, but also for overall protection:
- Local, precise installation
- Less water used
- Shorter downtimes; minimal space requirements
- No pre-warning times
- Reduced cleaning requirements
Fire protection in the food industry
industrial fryers and kitchen deep fryers
Oil fires are very difficult to control with conventional fire fighting systems. A very high temperature is reached within a short time and the fires spread very rapidly. FOGTEC high pressure water mist systems are able to fight oil fires immediately and effectively since the small droplets immediately atomise on the surface of the oil, thereby suffocating the fire. This prevents oil explosions in buildings, while re-ignitions are suppressed.
- For industrial frying lanes, deep fat fryers in kitchens, ovens, etc.
- Use of pure water Less risk of re-ignitions due to uniform cooling of metallic surfaces and the oil
- No partitions are required
- No time-consuming cleaning work as with chemical agents
- Only short business interruptions
Transformers
security of production
The safe and reliable operation of transformers is a basic requirement for virtually all production systems, infrastructure systems and inner-city systems, as transformer failures are generally associated with high costs. In case of fire, it is therefore important the damage is kept as minimal as possible.
The high energy levels that pass a transformer combined with the presence of large quantities of (combustible) oil result in particular fire risks.
FOGTEC water mist systems are ideally suited for transformers whether these are outside or in enclosed areas. Water mist is particularly effective for fighting liquid fires and hence transformer oil fires. The intensive cooling effect of the minute high pressure water mist droplets commences as soon as the system is activated.
- Immediate activation without pre-warning times
- Use of only small quantities of water, hence only slight contamination by the extinguishing agent
- Use of small pipe cross-sections saves space
- Low maintenance costs
- Various configurations full scale fire tested for indoor and outdoor use
Painting areas
high risk of fire due to combustible solvents
Modern painting areas enable very high production quantities, meaning downtimes are cost-intensive incidents for operators. The use of solvents, which are mostly combustible, during the painting process result in a multitude of special fire protection requirements.
This is where FOGTEC high pressure water mist can offer ideal protection. Unlike with a gas, the water mist is dispersed very quickly into the respective areas without any pre-warning times. In addition, the high pressure water mist enables a very rapid cooling effect that presents no danger to operators. In turn, unlike with sprinkler systems, only very small quantities of water are used so that water damage and the amount of contaminated water are kept to a minimum.
- Minimal production interruptions in case of fire
- Simple integration due to small components
- No pre-warning times
- Low-cost re-commissioning of the fire fighting system in case of a fire
Public infrastructure
Fire prevention in metro stations
An effectively functioning infrastructure is of major importance in modern society. This includes, in particular, underground and metro stations. Fires in these types of facilities with large gatherings of people and unfavourable escape conditions constitute a major safety risk. Later disruptions to rail or road traffic due to costly repair measures and road closures result in major economic damage, not just for operators but also for all passengers and local companies.
FOGTEC water mist can be used in stations and buildings to protect against a wide range of risks. This is the case for platform areas, track beds, vehicles, equipment rooms, shopping areas, tunnels, etc. FOGTEC experts have a wealth of know-how at their disposal that we pass on to our customers thanks to decades of research, comprehensive fire tests and the numerous FOGTEC water misting systems that have already been installed:
- Consultations on directives and legal issues worldwide
- Compensation options for construction measures
- Reduction of escaping smoke
- Fire hazard analyses
- Development of fire protection concepts
- Computer simulations (CFD)
- Fire tests
- Design and installation of firefighting systems
Smart Concepts
Find out more about hollistic fire protection concepts for underground railway systems.
Fire Fighting in Railways
Find out more about fire protection in rolling stock.
Water mist use in tunnel systems
Find our more about fire protection for underground transport systems.