FIRE RISKS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The fight against the fire is not a recent history, but it is almost as old as man is, and in the past people tried to find a way to put out fires in order to limit the damage. With the evolution of the modern technologies, we realized that it is much more effective to study for preventing and limit the effects of the fire. Unfortunately a concept that seems so obvious found a difficult dissemination and application for various reasons, among which are to highlight improvisation, lack of specific information, and the will to save costs of prevention (which by the way do not have a return on investment, but that show their usefulness in the unlikely event of fire).
An analysis of events and researches done on this area, identify some of the factors that must be taken into account by a fire system in the occurrence of fire:
- The rapid flames spread;
- Development of heat and smoke with serious consequences for persons who are in the environment for breathing difficulties, poor visibility and disorientation;
- Toxic and suffocating gases with lethal consequences for the people;
- The black out of technological systems service of (lighting, elevators, ventilation, etc.).
The safety in fires prevention in both civil and industrial sectors must be studied mainly in the design phase in order to adopt the most suitable solutions from technical and economical point of view. To Seek solutions subsequently results in compromise situations, with increasing costs during the construction phase, and then at work realized.
In the design of a work, as well as apply the local regulations and the earthquake standards, we need to study the safety problem as a whole by choosing well with analysis the prevention and protection systems, taking into account that the absolute security is only hypothetical.
Hence in the design phase of a fire system, we must prepare the measures in order to:
- Reduce the ignition likelihood, which decreases the chance of encountering the fire;
- Minimize the specific danger plants risk, placing them properly and with no space savings;
- Choose the best escape routes, bearing in mind the disabled;
- Make systems for exhaust smoke, heat and overpressure;
- Make difficult the spread of fire;
- Make outbreaks interception systems;
- Make and arrange intervention systems in order to reduce damage in the event of fire.
The designer then, in order to realize a work arranged to respond to the emergency, must consider some specifications, such the length of a door, the width of a scale, how many outputs to build, where to install the hydrants and the general electric framework etc.
The employer is responsible for the propulsive action (prevention and protection service designation, consultation of the representative of the work, designation of the workers responsible for implementing emergency measures) while the worker becomes the active subject of its and others’ security in the workplace, which may be affected by his actions or omissions in accordance with his training, the instructions received and the resources available.
All the staff who work in a business must know well the work that belongs to him and the environment, so that he can immediately take action to the benefit of his own and other people’s safety.
The security issue is becoming increasingly important not only in Europe but throughout the world, forcing technicians and managers to update. To fill the gap that still exists in the security sector would be ideal to take several precautions, such as teaching security in technical schools of all levels in order for the future to have a professional preparation, and issue a complete horizontal and vertical legislation, which would help to streamline arrangements and time of authorization, leaving more space to freelancers within them powers.
SPRINKLER SYSTEM
In the industrial area, it is having a good success the use of shutdown systems called “sprinklers”, operating by means of nozzles that spray water from above, creating a shower effect. The purpose of these fire system is to keep under control the flames until it is possible to extinguish the fire with other instruments, or suppress combustion when it is still in the early stage. The water flow opening valves are usually attached to the water pipes and maintained under pressure; to the top of the nozzle is fastened a closure heat-sensitive, capable of opening when it warn heat, and so tame the fire minimizing damages. Clearly, the control’s effectiveness is influenced by the nature of the fire, the triggering cause: normally four jets may be sufficient, but in case of flammable liquid, more than ten are required.
Once the sprinklers were activated manually, but that was unsafe, so later was introduced a trigger string that burning freed some counterweights and then activated the jet, but also this system used to jam often. It was necessary to wait until the end of the XIX century to see the first truly automated fire control, which although rudimentary, as now was made up of five elements:
- The body; it’s the backbone, which combines the thermosensitive element to the cap;
- The thermosensitive element; it’s the component that allows the liquid release; normally it runs from 57 to 77 ° C;
- The cap; it’s placed on the orifice obstruction, kept in position by the thermosensitive element;
- TheOrifice, is the hole from which the water comes out; the magnitude of that depends on how you consider risky the protected area;
- The deflector; it is the concluding part of the structure, built to split the jet in more flows with the purpose of enlarge the extinguishing range.
There are different types of sprinkler systems. Those designed by SMEA Engineering are designed to fit perfectly into the structure in which they will be used, thus allowing you to perfectly integrate the work environment with the safety required by the law. To consider accurately the fire protection system in the planning stage allows not only to maximize the efficiency in case of need by reducing the damage, but also to save any subsequent costs due to the inadequacy of the previous installations forced to adapt to the environment already existing.