Fire Suppression Systems

An array of protective countermeasures installed throughout a building, or any other type of construction, to prevent, control, and/or extinguish fires. Fire suppression systems have three primary objectives: to save lives, to minimize financial losses, and to allow for operations to resume in the shortest possible span of time.

These systems home in on detecting hazards that have the potential to cause fires, obtaining basic information about the chemistry of the fire, and identifying fire extinguishing agents and their deployment according to the type of combustible material to extinguish, among other factors.

Fire Suppression Systems are classified into two types: active protection, which includes equipment that takes direct action against a fire; and passive protection, which are the measures whose effectiveness is provided by their permanent presence only.

Approach

Design the necessary circuits for the fire detection and alarm system.

Minimum Information Required

  • Process Flow Diagrams (PFD)
  • Plot plan
  • List of chemicals and materials used at the facility

Procedure

  • Identifying fire zone
  • Determining temperature curve, i.e., fire propagation rate
  • Specifying material thermal load limit, i.e., time for thermal degradation
  • Identification of the structures to be implemented based on the characteristics of the fire and the surrounding terrain
  • Establishing materials and structures to be used based on both fire and site conditions

Outcome

  • Overall study documentation