As the world becomes ever more urbanised it continues to put great strain on the infrastructure that supports that urbanisation. When it comes to critical infrastructure one of the most important facilities is the Power Plant. Without power plants everyday things we take for granted would become more difficult. For this reason it is vital that power plants have fire protection systems that have the upmost integrity. Over the course of this article we will explore the different ways in which a power plant can be protected. As I am sure we all agree a power plant destroyed by fire would be a catastrophic event for all concerned.
Typically speaking power plants have 2 main lines of defence when it comes to protection from fires. The first is detection; a power plant will have a variety of different detection equipment. Normally this would include smoke detectors, heat detectors, monitoring units and alarms.
Once a fire has been detected the next line of defence is the fire suppression system which will activate once a fire has been detected. Typically the fire suppression system would be a mix of sprinklers and fixed point cylinders. If needed the fire brigade responsible for the plant would also respond at this time.
One of the challenges we have seen over the last few years is with regard to maintaining the integrity of fixed fire suppression systems. Very often they may only be checked once a year. Although this fulfils the safety regulations companies and operators adhere too. We would argue this still leaves a probability that is higher than it needs to be that the system will lose integrity. This can happen for a variety of reasons such as accidental discharge or leakage.
This is where Coltraco and their innovative Permalevel Multiplex™ system can help. Traditionally the monitoring of fixed cylinders was a time consuming process which is why it tended to be done once a year. This system is ideal for high value high risk installations. Permalevel Multiplex™ gives the plant operator the ability to monitor their fixed fire suppression systems 365 days a year. This system has been developed to meet the challenges posed by the maintenance of fixed fire suppression systems in high value instillations. Permalevel Mulitplex™ has the ability to monitor anything from 5 to 700 fixed cylinder points. It is also the first system worldwide that is capable of monitoring the liquid level of critical fire suppression systems that use liquid suppressant agents such as FM200, Novec 1230 and CO2 on a constant basis. This makes it ideal for use in power plants due to the area power plants typically cover. With the Multiplex™ system the owner can be assured that the fixed point system will maintain integrity 365 days a year 24/7.
This enables the facility owner to have complete confidence in the fact that if the worst was to occur their fixed fire suppression system would respond as needed to the outbreak of fire.
