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FIRE SAFETY
PROTECTING AUTOMATED CONTROLS TO ENHANCE FIRE SAFETY
Sprinklers are an essential component of a building’s fire protection system. Automation can enhance safety, as well as ease of use, but this means that the control system requires its own protection. Grifen Sprinkler Solutions requested Spelsberg UK to provide high durability enclosures that could withstand the demanding environment. The service required digital printing as well as CNC machining, but it was essential for this customisation to maintain the integrity of the enclosure.
T
o protect from the threat of fire, sprinkler system design and manufacture is governed by strict standards. Though these regulations are highly robust, some sprinkler system manufacturers say that
standards can be extended further. “Key aspects of protecting a sprinkler
system’s backup and maintenance, for example, are not completely included in the regulations, but ensuring the long-term electrical reliability of the system is important to optimise safety,” says Gary Noble, managing director of Grifen Sprinkler Solutions.
In the event of a water leak in the sprinkler
system’s supply, the resulting pressure drop would typically cause the pump’s motor to temporarily kick in, as if it were reacting to the activation of the sprinklers. These motor re-starts would happen continuously, drawing repeated high current and damaging the motor’s windings. Instead, Grifen’s Asset Protect functionality upholds long-term reliability by putting the system into safe mode and generating an alert, enabling rapid maintenance.
OPTIMISING PROTECTION Features like Asset Protect are the result of Grifen’s holistic focus on fire safety. The company supplies sprinkler system contractors in the UK and Ireland, with systems designed for domestic, industrial, and commercial buildings. This ranges from Category 1 residential dwellings through to Category 4 tower blocks above 18m, including the highest EN 12845 standard. Even Grifen’s sprinkler systems for individual residences are electronically controlled by an industrial PLC, with logic control and software functions authored in-house. At the other end of the scale, Grifen’s fire sprinkler systems for
42 SUMMER 2024 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLIANCE
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