Airports are not what they used to be. Airport design has changed significantly over time with ultramodern buildings and amenities, such as business lounges, restaurants and retail outlets. Airports are now more akin to shopping malls often featuring very large open areas and atriums.

These changes affect the dynamics involved in designing the fire and life safety component of the airport. Understanding detector technology is key to selecting automatic fire alarm systems for airports.

“A system that does not sense smoke or fire properly may cause public injury or death. Conversely, a system that sends false alarms may cause injury or death due to panic evacuation or disrupt air traffic affecting other portions of the nation or compromise airport security measures,” states Steve Holtkamp, engineered systems specialist of Tech Electronics, a communications systems companyin St. Louis.” The system must be designed using proven detection methods, be installed correctly, and ensure prompt notification to the authorities to protect the public and minimize disruption of services.”

There is no single solution for the entire airport. Designing fire alarm systems for atriums and other areas where the airport has high ceilings can be tricky. This is especially true when considering potential challenges, such as extreme temperatures, high air velocity and potential smoke stratification during a fire.

Similar shortcomings also exist behind the scenes in areas such as baggage handling, hangars, technical warehouses, and electronic data processing centers. Smoke is difficult to detect in these environments because they feature large voids or because the smoke is diluted quicklyor removed by air conditioning systems.

For example, when Lambert-St.Louis International Airport added the East Terminal, it was in the midst of a major upgrade to its fire detection/alarm systems throughout the airport. According to Leroy Ginther, project manager for TechElectronics, the company that handled the upgrade, the detection system would need intelligent systems with PC graphical workstations to visually identify the source of the fire.

“The main catalyst inall of the upgrades was increased control,” says Ginther. “With the airport expansion in the offing, there would be more territory to protect and a need to respond to emergencies more quickly and effectively.”

It is important, therefore, to gain an understanding of the technologyand limitations of specific smoke detectors when selecting and applying them to airport fire alarm systems.
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Tags: Smoke detection

Posted in Airports, Audible/Visible Notification, Commercial, Guidelines, Spring 2008