Event Recap
RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Fire Suppression (APAC)
During Uptime Institute’s 13th Sep, 2018, fire suppression roundtable participants shared their experience and challenges in selecting and maintaining their fire suppression systems.
Some roundtable participants said that their predominant fire suppression system uses pre-action water sprinklers as the base protection system. In some special cases local regulation or specific end user company policy require the use of gas systems.
One roundtable participant said that that gas systems are less expensive to maintain than water-based sprinkler systems because of the need to prevent leaks. The participant also said that, it is important to watch out for the gradient of the pipe when installing a pre-action water sprinkler system. He said that there water may accumulate in the pipe if the gradient of the pipes does not effectively drain out the water.
Another participant uses a very early smoke detection apparatus (VESDA) system as an add on to detect fire as early as possible.
One roundtable participant shared that high-pressure clean agent systems generate high levels of noise during discharge, and, the noise may damage IT systems in some cases.
Pitt Turner said that Uptime Institute’s Abnormal Incident Reporting (AIRs) database has no records of an inert gas system being triggered due to a fire. However, there have been cases of accidental discharge in which the inert gas system damaged IT equipment.
Pitt Turner added that low-pressure clean agent systems are preferred to high pressure (inert) systems. There are 3 to 4 times more low pressure clean agent fire suppression systems than high pressure systems.
Pitt added that AIRs show that many data center fires do not originate in the data center but spread from adjacent rooms. In one particular case, a fire started in a copier room below the data center and due to the flammable paper stored there, spread to the upper data center floor.
Pitt also advised against some bad practices, siting examples of fire caused due to smoking in data halls or in adjacent rooms and spreading from printing rooms located near to data center.
One roundtable participant located the PDUs outside the IT systems area, as a practical way to avoid fire hazard due to electrical sparks. Pitt explained that electrical sparks are typically self-extinguishing. However, there is a huge obligation to maintain the fire barrier of a data center. The integrity of such barriers must be maintained when some renovation work takes place around the data center area.
One roundtable participant asked Pitt to elaborate on some fire suppression solutions. He explained that while water systems protect the building structure, clean agentsystems became popular to protect IT equipment. Pitt also highlighted that these systems were originally designed to protect very expensive asserts and for explosive environments.
When asked about the popular solution choices, Pitt shared less than 10% of the fire suppression uses carbon dioxide. For high pressure systems, Inergen, nitrogen and argon are common choices.
Pitt Turner also said while gas suppression systems are not recommended for IT systems, low-pressure clean agents are preferred if one still decides to implement a clean agent suppression system. One roundtable participant agreed and is using nitrogen.
Some roundtable participants said that their predominant fire suppression system uses pre-action water sprinklers as the base protection system. In some special cases local regulation or specific end user company policy require the use of gas systems.
One roundtable participant said that that gas systems are less expensive to maintain than water-based sprinkler systems because of the need to prevent leaks. The participant also said that, it is important to watch out for the gradient of the pipe when installing a pre-action water sprinkler system. He said that there water may accumulate in the pipe if the gradient of the pipes does not effectively drain out the water.
Another participant uses a very early smoke detection apparatus (VESDA) system as an add on to detect fire as early as possible.
One roundtable participant shared that high-pressure clean agent systems generate high levels of noise during discharge, and, the noise may damage IT systems in some cases.
Pitt Turner said that Uptime Institute’s Abnormal Incident Reporting (AIRs) database has no records of an inert gas system being triggered due to a fire. However, there have been cases of accidental discharge in which the inert gas system damaged IT equipment.
Pitt Turner added that low-pressure clean agent systems are preferred to high pressure (inert) systems. There are 3 to 4 times more low pressure clean agent fire suppression systems than high pressure systems.
Pitt added that AIRs show that many data center fires do not originate in the data center but spread from adjacent rooms. In one particular case, a fire started in a copier room below the data center and due to the flammable paper stored there, spread to the upper data center floor.
Pitt also advised against some bad practices, siting examples of fire caused due to smoking in data halls or in adjacent rooms and spreading from printing rooms located near to data center.
One roundtable participant located the PDUs outside the IT systems area, as a practical way to avoid fire hazard due to electrical sparks. Pitt explained that electrical sparks are typically self-extinguishing. However, there is a huge obligation to maintain the fire barrier of a data center. The integrity of such barriers must be maintained when some renovation work takes place around the data center area.
One roundtable participant asked Pitt to elaborate on some fire suppression solutions. He explained that while water systems protect the building structure, clean agentsystems became popular to protect IT equipment. Pitt also highlighted that these systems were originally designed to protect very expensive asserts and for explosive environments.
When asked about the popular solution choices, Pitt shared less than 10% of the fire suppression uses carbon dioxide. For high pressure systems, Inergen, nitrogen and argon are common choices.
Pitt Turner also said while gas suppression systems are not recommended for IT systems, low-pressure clean agents are preferred if one still decides to implement a clean agent suppression system. One roundtable participant agreed and is using nitrogen.
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