BSEE
A fire in a server room can have serious
consequences for a business. Here, John Newbury, product manager at Ramtech Electronics, looks at how the latest technology can detect the risk of an electrical fire before it ignites
protecting these spaces is fire suppression systems and these have been used for a number of years. Effective though they are, suppressant systems are not usually activated until smoke or heat is detected, meaning that the flames are already present and most likely damaging valuable assets before the alarm is raised. Fire suppressants work in two ways. Either they use argon, nitrogen or carbon dioxide to displace oxygen levels to below 15 per cent to suppress the flames, although there is a danger that if personnel are present in the room then oxygen levels must be kept above 12 per cent.
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Alternatively, a chemical or synthetic fire suppression agent can be used. This uses less gas and doesn’t significantly deplete oxygen levels. However, high doses can be toxic to people and so again careful deployment is required. Add to this the fact that data centres and server rooms are becoming larger and more complex, and you have a situation where around a third of all unplanned outages are caused by thermal / electrical sources. Obviously, avoiding deployment of suppression systems in these situations will save money, it can cost thousands of pounds to recharge the gases and clean up, as well as minimising the risk of injury from the gases by people in the immediate vicinity.
Financial datacentres
uWES Hotspot is an intelligent new technology that detects the risk of an electrical fire before it ignites
The BBC reported in 2016 that a gas- based fire suppressant system at ING bank’s datacentre had gone wrong in an ‘unprecedented’ manner, causing its cash machines, online banking operations and website to go offline. ING customers were unable to access cash for an extended duration. An investigation later found that the fire extinguisher system, expelling a mix of nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide at very high-pressure, created a sound that topped 130 decibels. A study by the German engineering group Siemens found that nozzles used by some fire suppression systems could cause ‘fatal’ damage to hard disks because of sound wave vibrations they sent through the air. It points to this causing the problem at ING. It was because of the limitations of traditional fire suppressant systems that we set about developing a technology- based approach that would activate
erver rooms and data centres are the drivers of the digital age which is why their contents require failsafe protection. The traditional form of
before flame ignition. This would have a number of benefits, not least that preventing an electrical fire starting in the first place would avoid expensive damage and possible downtime to server rooms and datacentres. A common cause of electrical fires is resistive heating caused by loose connections, faulty appliances or overloaded sockets and distribution boards, all of which are present in server room and datacentre environments. They all have one thing in common, the generation of excessive heat, resulting in the ignition of adjacent combustible materials and, ultimately, fire. This abnormal heating of connections and components can develop long before a fire even starts, and is the root cause of so many avoidable and potentially life threatening electrical fires. The technology we developed is a pre-ignition solution that is activated as soon as abnormal heat (80ºC ± 5°C) is detected. Once activated, these single and multi-point sensors can either automatically isolate the circuit supply by operating an RCD or else provide a signal to an alarm system, long before the temperature can increase to the point of ignition. It can be connected to virtually any system to provide occupants with instant notification. The range has been independently tested and is compliant with all applicable statutory regulations and requirements. A growing number of building owners and operators are now seeking these smart, technology-led solutions because they provide an effective, easy to fit solution that actively prevents electrical fires, making it highly valued by server room and data centre operators.
Fire prevention in critical infrastructure
Electrical engineers at a large infrastructure project in the UK recently specified WES Hotspot technology to protect two data rooms within the workers’ accommodation from fire. The IT networks during construction phase is run from two server rooms into four data hubs housing the patch cabinets that supply the entire site. Any downtime on this project caused by an incident in the server rooms would result in major disruption to the schedule. Gas suppression systems had been considered but were felt to have limitations because they would not activate until the fire had started, resulting in unavoidable damage, noxious gases, extended downtime and costly remedial works. Following a visit to site, we proposed installation of WES Hotspot, featuring Thermarestor technology, to provide thermal monitoring and pre-ignition protection for each of the two server rooms. The technology comprises multi-point sensors to cover all rack-mounted equipment within 18 data cabinets per room, together with the monitoring of electrical connections within the associated distribution boards. This provides comprehensive coverage, with more than 4,000 individual points within each server room being permanently monitored. Once activated, these single and multi-point sensors can either automatically isolate the circuit supply by operating an RCD or provide a signal to an alarm system, long before the temperature can increase to the point of ignition. The WES Hotspot units are connected
8 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2019
DATA CENTRES There’s no smoke without fire
to a programmable logic controller (PLC) within each server room. When excessive (resistive) heating of equipment is detected, the PLC will pinpoint which data cabinet is the source of the overheating, allowing rapid investigation by the facilities team and correction of the problem before it escalates into something far more serious.
The PLC is also connected to the existing fire alarm system via an I/O module and the activation of any of our devices will result in a local alarm being triggered at the fire alarm panel. The event will then be instantly relayed to the on-site monitoring station. This ensures that property staff can investigate the cause at the earliest opportunity and take appropriate action. This early intervention prevents what would be a serious electrical fire t developing in the first place. A spokesperson from the project team, said: “We now have complete thermal protection to our server data rooms for less than a third of one gas suppression system, along with the added benefit of being able to accurately pinpoint the heat generated from malfunctioning data racks. This will allow rapid replacement before any serious damage to equipment occurs, along with ensuring continuity of service.”
The range has been independently tested and is compliant with all applicable statutory regulations and requirements. It is easily retrofitted to any existing electrical installation or deployed in a new build project.
The answer
Existing fire suppressant systems are effective but limited because they can only detect an incident after the flames have started. As server rooms and data centres become larger and more complex, the risk of fire will increase. We have seen that suppression based on pressurized systems can have unintended consequences as was the case with the bank, whilst noxious gases create their own problems. Technology is now able to prevent electrical fires from starting in the first place and because of that we expect they will grow in popularity. Common sense tells you that this is the right way forward and it is the reason why it has already been deployed on a number of UK projects.
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uAs server rooms and data centres become larger and more complex, the risk of fire will increase
‘
Exisng fire
suppressant systems are eecve but limited because they can only detect an incident aer the flames have started
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