FIA Release Guidance on Smoke Detection in High Spaces
Fact File 45 titled, 'Smoke Detection in High Spaces using ASD',
which looks at the detection of smoke in premises with high ceilings.
This Fact File follows recent research carried out by BRE Global, in a project jointly funded by the BRE Trust and the FIA, to review the recommendations provided for using OBSD and ASD in high ceiling spaces.
The results of the research are published in a BRE Information Paper but are summarised in the FIA’s Fact File 45, along with news of how the results will influence changes to various Design and Installation Codes.
In 2008, the BRE Trust, in association with and sponsored by the FIA, commissioned the research project to review existing recommendations for the protection of spaces with high ceilings; investigate the value of computational methods for predicting performance in such spaces and, most importantly, to perform some full scale fire tests.
The research was undertaken in three phases, starting with a review of the data, codes and experimental results available. The project then considered the prospect and viability of using computational Fluid Dynamics (CDF) and fire models to predict the response of detectors in such spaces. The program culminated in some full scale fire tests in a 43m (140’) high warehouse which provided demonstrable evidence that smoke formed from relatively small fires can rise to high ceiling levels in sufficient quantities to trigger both ASD and OBSD systems.
Reliable detection of smoke in high spaces has been considered to be a challenge for many years and many Design and Installation Codes (including BS 5839-1) define limits on the ceiling height that may be protected by a particular technology.
Most practitioners default to using detection technologies – such as Optical Beam Smoke Detectors (OBSD) or Aspirating Smoke Detectors (ASD) – which derive their smoke measurement over an area – not at a single location. Such “integrating” technologies are inherently more sensitive to smoke that is diluted or distributed as it rises to higher levels than point type detectors.
All Fact Files are free to download and are available in the Resources area of the FIA website www.fia.uk.com . Fact File 45 will also be in the Featured Downloads on the homepage for a limited time.
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