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Refrigerated Storage Design Guide 

VESDA

®

 

 

 

Disclaimer On The Provision Of General System Design 
Recommendations 

Any recommendation on system design provided by Vision Fire & security Pty Ltd (VFS) is an 
indication only of what is considered to be the most suitable solution to meet the needs of the 
common application environments described.  

In some cases the recommendations on system design provided may not suit the unique set of 
conditions experienced in a particular application environment. VFS has made no inquiry nor 
undertaken any due diligence that any of the recommendations supplied will meet any particular 
application. VFS makes no warranty as to the suitability or performance of any recommendation on 
system design. VFS has not assessed the recommendation on system design for compliance with 
any codes or standards that may apply nor have any tests been conducted to assess the 
appropriateness of any recommendations on system design. Any person or organisation accessing 
or using a recommendation on system design should, at its own cost and expense, procure that the 
recommendation on system design complies in all respects with the provision of all legislation, acts 
of government, regulations, rules and by-laws for the time being in force and all orders or directions 
which may be made or given by any statutory or any other competent authority in respect of or 
affecting the recommendation on system design in any jurisdiction in which it may be implemented. 

VFS products must only be installed, configured and used strictly in accordance with the General 
Terms and Conditions and the technical documentation available from VFS. VFS accepts no 
liability for the performance of the recommendation on system design or for any products utilized in 
the implementation of the recommendation on system design, aside from the General Terms and 
Conditions. You acknowledge that you have read and agree to the General Terms and Conditions. 

No statement of fact, drawing or representation made by VFS either in this document or orally in 
relation to this recommendation on system design is to be construed as a representation, 
undertaking or warranty.  

To the extent permitted by law, VFS excludes liability for all indirect and consequential damages 
however arising. For the purposes of this clause, ‘consequential damage’ shall include, but not be 
limited to, loss of profit or goodwill or similar financial loss or any payment made or due to any third 
party. 

Recommendations on system design are provided exclusively to assist in design of systems using 
VFS products. No portion of this recommendation on system design can be reproduced without the 
prior approval in writing of VFS. Copyright and any associated intellectual property in any such 
recommendations on system design or documentation remains the property of VFS.  

 

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Summary of Contents for VESDA

Page 1: ...Vision Fire Security Refrigerated Storage Design Guide March 2006 i ...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ...tute or with prior written consent of Vision Fire Security Pty Ltd Copyright 2006 Vision Fire Security Pty Ltd ABN 25 008 009 514 Disclaimer The manufacturer reserves the right to change designs or specifications without obligation and without further notice VESDA LaserTEKNIC LaserPLUS LaserSCANNER LaserCOMPACT LaserFOCUS VESDAnet VESDAlink ASPIRE ASPIRE2 AutoLearn VSM PSM VConfig InfoWORKS PROACT...

Page 4: ...Refrigerated Storage Design Guide VESDA ii ...

Page 5: ...n 8 3 6 In rack Protection 9 3 7 Ceiling Void Protection 9 3 8 Other Areas To Be Protected 10 4 Preventing Condensation And Crystallization 10 4 1 The Effects Of A Temperature Drop 10 4 2 Condensation On The Sample Pipe Outer Surface 10 4 3 Crystallization On The Sample Pipe Outer Surface 11 4 4 Condensation Inside Sample Pipes 11 4 5 Crystallization Inside Sample Pipes 12 5 Installation Considera...

Page 6: ...Refrigerated Storage Design Guide VESDA iv ...

Page 7: ...unction with specific local fire codes and standards Other regional industry practices where applicable should also be adhered to 1 2 Quick Reference The key design considerations presented in Table 1 are an overview only They should be used in conjunction with the remainder of the information presented in this Design Guide and in the relevant VESDA System Design Guide 2 Table 1 Key design conside...

Page 8: ...t equipment Electrical equipment wiring and other equipment housed in the roof space The lighting system Hot spots resulting from maintenance operations Discarded cigarette butts Arson Due to the large amounts of plastic present in this type of facility in the form of packaging materials a fire would produce large amounts of highly toxic and corrosive smoke which would damage assets and endanger p...

Page 9: ...e safety assessments of the environmental risks and performance requirements specific to the particular refrigerated storage facility are also conducted as part of the design process Standard risk management concepts like those listed below are also often used for refrigerated storage facility assessment AS NZS 4360 1999 7 SFPE Handbook Third Edition 2002 8 Note The SFPE Code Officials Guide to Pe...

Page 10: ...earlier a fire can be detected the better The perishable nature of the goods commonly stored in freezers or coolers makes it essential that any rise in temperature be avoided Heat from a fire or a rise in temperature due to refrigeration system down time following a fire would both result in stock spoilage and hence loss of revenue Even an incipient fire in this type of environment can lead to sig...

Page 11: ...E 80 50 to 60 C 58 to 140 F 20 mm per 10 m per 10 C 0 79 per 32 8 ft per 18 C Above 50 C 58 F PE 100 50 to 60 C 58 to 140 F 13 mm per 10 m per 10 C 0 52 per 32 8 ft per 18 F Above 50 C 58 F An added advantage of using a continuous semi flexible pipe material such as HDPE 14 is the reduction in the number of pipe junctions required 3 2 Positioning Pipes And Sample Holes The various international co...

Page 12: ...hown above Figure 1 there are two alternative approaches to pipe network configuration design for optimal air sampling performance 1 The pipes can be run along the ceiling inside the area to be protected as shown Figure 2 This technique minimizes the number of pipe penetrations through the walls or ceiling and can be applied in most practical situations Sample holes MUST be drilled after installat...

Page 13: ...nsulation has a temperature range of 40 C 40 F to 105 C 221 F a density of 88 to 105 kg m3 and is very flexible For a 25 mm 0 98 internal bore pipe a single layer of insulation 9 mm 0 35 thick is adequate 3 4 Sealing Sample Pipe Penetrations Pipe penetrations through ceiling or wall insulation panels MUST be properly sealed with a solid Urethane foam and or flexible mastic material To enhance air ...

Page 14: ...e network is installed before the refrigerators are turned on For example according to its thermal expansion coefficient an ABS pipe will contract by 0 1 for every 10 C 50 F drop in temperature This equates to a 40 mm 1 57 inch reduction in length for a 40 m 131 2 ft pipe and will result in disconnection of pipe sections in cases where the pipes were installed in temperatures well above the intend...

Page 15: ...ng the racks used for storage in the refrigerated area as shown below Figure 6 Figure 6 Example of in rack air sampling Wherever possible the in rack sample pipe should enter the protected area through the wall at the height that the pipe will be positioned in the rack Note Capillary air sampling is not recommended for in rack sampling 3 7 Ceiling Void Protection Very early smoke detection is esse...

Page 16: ...cur if the sampled air is cooled as it passes along the pipe through an area of lower temperature than that from which the air was sampled On the outer surface of pipes condensation is expected and can be tolerated During system design all areas to be protected must be categorised according to the criteria listed below The temperature and humidity changes that will occur if the function of the pro...

Page 17: ... Example of ice formation on sample pipes close to the refrigerator entrance 4 4 Condensation Inside Sample Pipes Condensation inside sample pipes outside the protected area is rare However it can occur if the function of the protected area changes and or as a result of seasonal temperature variations For example if a chiller 9 C 16 F is converted to a cooler 8 C 46 F condensation may form inside ...

Page 18: ...ly the top is a good design the bottom is not Important Note Pipes MUST NOT run from a high temperature area into a lower temperature area Separate VESDA detectors should be installed in the chiller cooler ceiling void and office areas 5 Installation Considerations 5 1 Sampled Air Warming For optimum detection and ease of maintenance access the VESDA detector MUST be installed in a location where ...

Page 19: ...h ft 20 l min 30 l min 40 l min Figure 11 Chart showing the estimated required ABS pipe extension for sampled air warming 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 40 40 30 22 20 4 10 14 0 32 10 50 Sampled Air Temperature deg C F Cu Pipe Length m 0 4 8 12 16 20 Cu Pipe Length ft 20 l min 30 l min 40 l min Figure 12 Chart showing the estimated required Copper pipe extension for sampled air warming 13 ...

Page 20: ...approach to warming sampled air is NOT recommended by Vision Fire Security as it has not been validated by Factory Mutual FM Important Note The Appendix contains information on the copper pipe and heat tape lengths required for sampled air warming No design guidelines will be given here If wishing to use heat tracing appropriately qualified Engineers MUST be consulted as to the most suitable metho...

Page 21: ...ow Figure 15 Figure 15 Example of a water trap To install a water trap a T section of pipe must be fitted to the pipe entering the inverted detector Water will pool at the stop valve on the downwards pointing arm of the T The transparent section of pipe allows maintenance personnel to see when water is building up before it rises above the intersection with the main sampling pipe and release it vi...

Page 22: ...prinkler heads on the ceiling 3 Set the VESDA Alert alarm threshold for early detection and intervention 4 Set the VESDA Fire 1 alarm threshold for pre action sprinkler activation as indicated in Table 4 Note Delays can be configured for both of these alarms The smoke thresholds in Table 4 are absolute values hence the environmental background level must be taken into account All values are recomm...

Page 23: ... secondary power supply MUST be available This power supply needs to be capable of running a single VESDA detector for a total of 90 hours This is in compliance with the fact that approved control panels for the automatic release of pre action or deluge sprinkler systems must have 90 hours of standby power plus 10 minutes worth of power to operate the sprinkler system and alarms 17 Where the VESDA...

Page 24: ...Times should be applied conservatively Smoke tests can then be used to check system performance for both smoke detection and pre action suppression activation 6 3 Service And Maintenance The VESDA system shall be serviced and maintained according to both the local codes and standards and the instructions provided in the Maintenance section of the VESDA System Design Manual 2 The frequency of sampl...

Page 25: ...nsulated Figure 17 Example of heat tracing with heat tape Raychem heat tape 5BTV2 CT or 3BTV1 CR can be used The following charts provide estimates of copper pipe and heat tape lengths required for heat tracing Variations in ambient temperature are assumed to be negligible due to pipe insulation The surface of the pipe is kept at a temperature of 35 C 95 F and the tape is wound around it at 100 mm...

Page 26: ...orage Design Guide VESDA 0 1 2 3 40 40 30 22 20 4 10 14 0 32 10 50 Sampled Air Temperature deg C F Heat Tape Length m 0 2 4 6 8 10 Heat Tape Length ft 20 l min 30 l min 40 l min Figure 19 Estimated heat tape length 20 ...

Page 27: ...and Design of Buildings 7 Australian Standard AS NZS 4360 1999 Risk Management Standard 8 SFPE 2002 Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering 3rd Edition 9 SFPE ICC 2004 The Code Officials Guide To Performance Based Design Review 10 NFPA 2002 National Fire Alarm Code 72 11 The Plastics Pipe Institute Inc 1999 Suggested Temperature Limitations for the Operation and Installation of Thermoplastic Pipes...

Page 28: ... any statutory or any other competent authority in respect of or affecting the recommendation on system design in any jurisdiction in which it may be implemented VFS products must only be installed configured and used strictly in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions and the technical documentation available from VFS VFS accepts no liability for the performance of the recommendation on ...

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