FACILITY MANAGEMENT
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Zone
A zone is a group of one or more detectors grouped by their common location or in the case of a
collective circuit all of the detectors on that circuit.
In brief, the alarm items (detectors or manual call points) grouped by zones are connected
using the circuit(s) to the fire indicator panel (FACP Fire Alarm Control Panel).
FACP (Fire alarm Control Panel):
monitor each circuit / zone
display the status of these
warning in case of circuit trouble
operate according to the approved design of the system:
warning occupants on a fire alarm signal
notify the fire brigade
control the spread of heat, smoke or fire
2. Addressable
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On very simple terms, a Conventional (Collective) Fire Alarm System is one that
comprises one or more circuits, with detectors connected in parallel. An alarm
signal is received at the fire panel when the current on a circuit increases due to the
alarm operation of one of the detectors on that circuit. In modern detectors there is may
also be fitted an alarm status indication, often a light emitting diode or LED. One of the
limitations of a Conventional (Collective) Fire Alarm System is that the control panel is
unable to identify the status of each detector of the circuit. Another way to describe
this is that the control panel is only able to display the alarm or fault status of a
circuit, not each detector on the circuit.
The alternative is an addressable fire alarm system that comprises one or more
circuits with detectors connected in parallel, and each detector (or manual call
point) has a unique identification (address) on the circuit, so when the detector (or
manual call point) send his status to the FACP, it send also his identification
number . When the conditions for an alarm signal are satisfied at the detector (or
manual call point), an alarm signal is transmitted via the circuit to the fire indicator panel.
In an addressable system, each detector has the ability to identify itself and its
current status. Over the years, the level of sophistication of detectors and systems has
greatly increased. This includes collecting more information about the conditions
surrounding each detector including the many bi-products of combustion and other
environmental factors.
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B. Initiating devices.
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3. Heat Detector
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5. Multisensor Detector
1. Sounder
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The Infra-Red LED emits a burst of collimated light every second. In clear air the Photo-Diode
receives no light directly from the IR LED, because of the angular arrangement and the
chamber baffles. When smoke enters the chamber it scatters light from the emitter IR LED onto
the photo-diode in an amount related to the smoke characteristics and density. The photo-diode
signal is processed to provide an analogue value for transmission when the detector is
interrogated.
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The Heat Detector uses a single thermistor to sense the air temperature at the detector position.
The thermistor is connected in a resistor network, which produces a voltage output dependent
on temperature. The design of the resistor network, together with the processing algorithm in
the microcontroller, gives an approximately linear characteristic from 10C to 80C. This
linearised signal is further processed, depending on the response mode selected, and
converted to an analogue output. This output signal is sent to the FACP when the detector is
interrogated, triggering the status from the STAND BY level to the ALLARM level.
March 2015
Prepared by:
Nicolae Radulea
Supervisor
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