Machinery is the heartbeat of major operations such as manufacturing plants, ports and petrochemical sites - and they are extremely susceptible to fire hazards.
Poor maintenance of electrical panels, as well as faulty wires and overloaded circuits, will dramatically heighten the risk of destructive fires. The protection of such crucial assets, which are typically stored in cabinets or other enclosures, presents a unique challenge, but there are advanced fire suppression systems available which can provide comfort for risk-conscious site owners and managers.
The key is to use in-cabinet systems that do not flood a whole room or area with a fire suppression agent in the event of a blaze. Rather, the fire can be contained to specific cabinets, which prevents more widespread damage to the site and minimises operational downtime.
These systems are a proven way to protect micro-environments and any associated valuable assets.
How they work
Local application systems generally utilise a gaseous cylinder and pressurised tubing distributed through the cabinet or risk being protected. When the tubing is exposed to heat or fire, the tube ruptures at that point, and the loss of pressure activates the system and discharges the cylinder's contents within the risk of being protected, extinguishing the fire and maintaining an environment thereby the fire cannot re-ignite.
These automatic systems can detect and suppress fires before they grow significantly, which reduces the damage to any panels and lowers the chance of employees being hurt by a blaze and minimises downtime.
Another significant advantage of these systems are that they can provide around-the-clock fire protection without the need for an electricity source or third party interface to operate. This is important for many operations that do not have people monitoring their site 24 hours a day.
The systems are ideal for sites such as ports, for example, where massive shipping container cranes require fire-suppression technology to protect the drivers and the port infrastructure in the case of a fire emergency. Cabinet-based applications can mitigate such risks and keep teams operating in a safe environment.
In addition to servers and telecommunications equipment, the in-cabinet systems are also well suited to protect other applications such as cleaning tanks, dust and mist collectors, switchgear and any other type of electrical control equipment.
Seek advice from qualified installers
There is no doubt that automatic, in-cabinet fire suppression systems save lives and ensure that facilities and their workforces can get back up and running after a fire incident.
Nevertheless, such systems are complex and require pre-installation planning to ensure they are fit for purpose. For those considering using these fire suppression tools, it is important to seek advice from experienced fire-safety professionals to ensure you get the right system for the right site.
Fires that destroy crucial electrical and telecommunications assets can put businesses out of action for months, but proven fire-safety solutions can provide safeguards. So click here to contact Australia's leading provider of in-cabinet fire-suppression systems.
ALSO READ: Cabinet Fire Protection for two major Australian Ports.
