FirePro System Installation for STFC in Warrington

When STFC in Warrington decided that they needed a fire suppression system fitting in their on-site plant/LV switchroom, the natural choice would be to equip it with gas suppression, most probably using NOVEC 1230® or an inert gas as the suppressant, but things on site were not as simple as that…

The construction of the room’s ceiling was made up of concrete beams with spaces in-between, meaning that the room’s integrity could be very poor – leading to poor hold times for the room integrity test and a lifetime of failed compliance due to the fact that the room’s integrity could never be guaranteed. Gas suppression relies heavily on the integrity of the room to hold the gas.

So how could we overcome this issue?

“Overboard” the room ceiling to seal it – this was clearly impractical/uneconomical, however, due to the size of the room and the congested nature of it with cable containment, trays and equipment.
Spend an age and countless tubes of intumescent sealant trying to seal all of the gaps – again, however, this would be impractical and uneconomical.

Maybe condensed aerosol should be used? Sovereign Extinguishing’s engineering team was approached by our regular customer data centre builder in the very early stages of the project with the room integrity issue clearly defined, and it was decided in conjunction with the customer, that a FirePro system could be installed in the room. FirePro is a condensed aerosol solution, which does not rely on the room’s Integrity so heavily as it emits a mist – not a gas – when it activates.

You can read our blog articles on the system for more information: “What is a Condensed Aerosol Fire Suppression System?” and “Fire Protection Systems for Electrical Substations and Generator Enclosures”.

A coincidence smoke and heat detection system was installed to activate the FirePro generators, whilst an Xtralis VESDA system was installed above the UPS equipment to act as a very early warning system of a fire.

An early request from the customer was that the control panel should have the ability to create both SMS messages and have email functionality as well as Modbus and BACnet compatibility – to achieve this, Sovereign Extinguishing fitted the Vizulinx system from Kentec to give full remote monitoring capabilities.

In all a great project for all concerned, showing Sovereign Extinguishing’s capability to incorporate new technologies to address old problems, and help our customers to achieve their end goal.