All people need to feel safe at home as well as, on commercial buildings. No wonder why many people invest in a variety of security systems with the most popular on commercial buildings being fire safety installations of high sophistication. These undoubtedly important safety elements can detect fires, contain them, and/or stop them. What types of fire security systems exist and how do they work?
Fire protection systems – why?
A fire-protection system is a network of compatible with each other devices that are designed to detect a fire and counteract its devastating effects. The sooner a fire is detected and located, the greater the chance it is efficiently extinguished and its negative effects are minimized. In summary, fire-protection systems can save material objects and most importantly, human beings, making them very important investments.
Types of active fire protection systems
Active fire-protection systems are the systems that are acting to extinguish a fire. These systems are composed of fire-detection modules and an active element:
Water sprinkler systems
Located at the ceiling level and connected to a water source, most commonly city water. A typical sprinkler system operates when heat at the site of fire causes a glass component in the sprinkler head to crack, thereby releasing the water from the sprinkler head.
Water fog systems
These systems work in a similar way with the sprinkler systems, located in the ceiling and their main difference is that they require extra hardware in order to create water fog. Specifically, the special sprinklers that the systems use, are connected to special tanks with pressurized air and distilled water, where a mist generator breaks water down to under 64 microns.
Foam suppression system
Automatic foam suppression systems come in expansion, medium expansion, and high expansion systems. These systems instead of water, use foam.
Gaseous clean agents
Gaseous clean agents are installed in places where water or dry chemical extinguishing agents will do more harm than good. They are mostly installed in server or computer rooms where water or fine dust particles will cause vast amounts of damage. The system works by flooding an area with an inert or a mix of inert gasses to break the fire tetrahedron. Due to the inert gases displacing oxygen, there is a suffocation risk when this kind of system is activated. Most systems have a short delay to give people the opportunity to evacuate.
The most popular active system is the common water sprinkler system. This system along with the rest, can not be considered as 100% effective in all situations and buildings. There are cases where they won’t make a difference and cases where these systems will make things worse.
So what is the solution to the fire-safety?
The solution is the mix of active and passive fire-protection systems, and we think that the passive fire protection part of the equation will make the difference in an event of a fire.
What are passive fire protection systems?
According to us, passive fire-protection systems are the most important systems because they slow down the fire. This allows fire-fighters to efficiently extinguish the fire and minimize the spread of fire and destruction. Passive fire protection is a group of systems that compartmentalize a building through the use of fire-resistant walls, doors, floors, and partitions. The compartmentalization of a building into smaller sections will help to slow down or even prevent the spread of fire and smoke through rooms. These systems will limit the damage done to a building and will provide people the necessary time to evacuate.
Aluminium passive fire-resistant systems:
Fire-resistant glass-walls/partitions
Our system, Alufire Vision Line is an innovative fire-resistant system that gives the possibility of designing transparent, soundproof, fire-resistant all-glass partition walls. Thanks to numerous certificates, the Vision Line system is ensuring that a fire will not get past it for up to 60 minutes!
This system is targeted to architects and constructors who want to take the best advantage of passive fire-protection systems and use the most aesthetically fire-resistant partitions in their projects. Additionally, Alufire Vision Line is a fantastic solution to the growing problem of noise in buildings with the max sound reduction value being one of the most impressive, Rw 47dB! Alufire Vision Line is the best fire-resistant partition solution of the most prestigious and well-designed buildings in Poland and Europe.Fire-resistant partitions and windows
Alufire Classic Line is our most popular and frequently selected fire-resistant products that max out the fire-resistance performance with up to 120 minutes of integrity and insulation. These systems can also be very aesthetically pleasing with the use of glass between profiles (unlike many steel systems) and the unlimited paint and custom shape options to perfectly match the interior design.Fire doors
The fire doors with many features and perfect compatibility with all the rest of our systems is the Alufire Classic Line Doors. With fire-resistance ranging from 15 up to 60 minutes of integrity and insulation, the Classic Line Doors are a fantastic example of a beautiful “packed with features” fire-resistant door. Fire doors are most commonly installed in commercial and public buildings and their function can be more than compartmentalization. Optionally equipped with anti-panic bars and special smoke-stopping hardware as standard, they can ensure the fast evacuation of buildings and always ensure that the hazardous vapors and gasses will not spread to rooms where there is no fire.
Solving fire-safety
A piece of mind to the owner of a building and the designer is the first step to controlling a building fire. A well-designed system will be crucial in creating a calm and efficient response to a fire. That will result in minimizing damage and most importantly avoiding harm to people.
Active fire protection systems are trying to predict how and where a fire will start and have to be in perfect condition maintenance wise all the time. Passive fire protection systems are essential because the start of a fire is unpredictable and they will work to slow the fire down for the firefighters to come, or even stop the fire!
It is important though, to invest in a good combination of active (AFP) and passive (PFP) fire protection systems to ensure maximum safety.