On latest gas sensing technologies Honeywell Company City Technology is one of the keynote speakers at this year’s SENSOR+TEST 2014 exhibition in Nurnberg, Germany, from 3-5 June. The international fair is held every year to showcase the latest innovations, technology and talent in sensors, measurement and testing. City, the world’s largest gas sensor manufacturer, is exhibiting at stand 607, Hall 12. Dr Keith Pratt, Principal Scientist at City, is delivering a keynote presentation on Thursday 5th June from 2-2:30pm in Hall 12 on the latest advances in electrochemical gas sensing. The content will cover City’s new long life oxygen sensors for safety and emissions and new high performance ammonia sensors. John Warburton, Marketing Leader for City, said: “2014 is an important year for City. Not only have we rebranded our company, which has been trading for over 35 years, we are also introducing some key technologies which will have a major benefits for both users and manufacturers of gas detection products. Sensor + Test, with its combination of scientific and commercial content is a great vehicle to introduce our new brand and communicate our core values of reliability, innovation and safety. Many of our key international OEM customers attend the show to gather the latest information on solutions that will help them offer more reliable and efficient gas detection products. We are expecting a great deal of interest in the new long life oxygen sensor which will extend sensor lifetime and performance in extreme environments as well as complying with the EU RoHS directive. As the leading provider of life saving gas sensing solutions, City Technology is – and always will be – committed to improving the quality of gas detection through innovative technology." The 2014 show will be run together with the 17th ITG/GMA Symposium “Sensors and Measuring Systems”. This year’s special forum topic will be “Safety and Security”. For more information please visit www.sensor-test.de

Puts data at the fingertips of first responders and emergency services personnel Safer Systems, a leading chemical emergency response solutions provider has announced the debut of Safer Mobile Response, a smartphone and tablet supported application integrating the 2012 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2012) with the power of Google Maps, Google Traffic, and live weather updates and forecasting. The app puts data at the fingertips of first responders and emergency services personnel first called to the scene of a dangerous goods incident. The app is now available for free via iTunes or the Google Play store. ‘First responders the world over have come to recognize the ERG as a trusted source for initial protective action distance information and response guidance. That crucial ‘but static’ printed information is now freely available for download onto smartphones and tablets where they are brought to life in Safer Mobile Response,’ said Safer Systems President Allen Edmund. ‘Safer Mobile converts the ERG protective distance charts into visual hazard zone plots and identifies key points of concern at risk using Google Maps and Google Places.’ ‘The app takes the widely accepted ERG hazard zone guidance to the next level with real-time weather and traffic data to help responders plan their way to the incident scene and identify key municipal amenities at risk,’ said Safer System Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Bob Gerow. ‘SAFER Systems has taken the guide and facilitated access to its crucial information by putting it on platforms that most responders have continuous access to, to help ensure the information is available, anywhere, anytime.’

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Label: Power Plants Title: Inspection, testing and maintenance of fire systems Teaser: Power plant protection is often out of date Label: Aviation Label: Mark Fletcher Label: Detection Title: Fire safety in hotels Teaser: The cost of fire versus the cost of assets Teaser: The need for greater awareness of the risks

Ensuring the safety of guests is naturally a fundamental requirement for all hotel owners, operators and licensees. The possibility of fire in any hotel should always be a concern, particularly given the impact that even the smallest outbreak might have. Apart from the obvious threat to the lives and safety of hotel guests and staff, fire can cause consequential damage that will pose a risk to the longevity and the brand values of the hotel itself. Destruction of the fabric of the building caused by even the smallest fire may well be expensive to rectify, but the harm to the hotel’s reputation might be even greater. It will also undoubtedly take much longer to repair.The installation of an inadequate fire system on the other hand, might well bring with it the unwelcome nuisance of false or ‘unwanted’ alarms. The disruption caused when alarm bells or sounders ring unnecessarily – or when full-scale evacuations are wrongly undertaken – can also have a lasting and damaging effect on any hotel’s business continuity. So, like their guests, hotel operators also need the assurance that the hotel is safe and well protected. This invariably means the implementation of a reliable, integrated fire protection system that offers the earliest and most dependable detection, along with timely evacuation concepts and clearly defined escape routes. Fire statistics for hotels and motels Statistics show that perhaps fire safety needs to be given greater priority by some hotel owners and chains. An average of one in every 12 hotels in the US* reported a fire every year1 and an estimated average of 3,700 structure fires in hotels and motels is reported annually, resulting in associated yearly loss of 12 deaths and injury to 143 other people1. 12% of fires in hotels and motels are said to have begun within guests’ rooms and – of all civilian deaths resulting from fires in hotels and motels – fires starting in guests’ rooms have accounted for 72% of the resulting deaths of guests and staff1. Smoking materials have been found to be the cause of the initial outbreak of fire in 79% of these civilian deaths1. Indeed, the blaze that swept through the Parco dei Principi in Rome in May 2004 that resulted in three people losing their lives, is thought to have been started by a cigarette2. In the Grand Park Avenue Hotel in Bangkok in March 2012, two people died in a fire probably caused by an electrical short circuit3 and one month later in Cornwall, England, the Falmouth Beach Hotel was completely destroyed by fire4. More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at the four-storey, 120-bedroom Best Western property but were unable to prevent the fire spreading throughout the building fanned by gale-force winds and causing the roof to collapse. In the USA alone, the cost of damage to hotel property averages, in simple monetary terms, around $127 million (£75 million) every year1. A safe and pleasant stay Fire prevention in any hotel should at the very least involve ensuring the installation of adequate fire detection systems in guests’ rooms, public and ‘back-of-house’ areas, as well as implementing safe working practices in high-risk areas such as the kitchen. According to statistics*, cooking equipment is involved in nearly 45% of all fires1. However, operators and guests alike also need to know that the guests will enjoy their stay. This, of course, includes the guarantee of a good night’s sleep on the hotel premises without disturbance – or the rude interruption of a ‘false’ fire alarm. False alarms are disruptive and irritating, but more importantly, they undermine the credibility of any genuine alarm. Any installed detection system needs to be accurate, reliable and ‘intelligent’ – that is, capable of detecting the earliest stages of a smoldering fire anywhere in the hotel to provide assured protection of the lives of guests and staff alike. Yet the same system must also be capable of differentiating steam from smoke and other deceptive phenomena to prevent the triggering of those unwanted alarms. The protection of guests’ assets and valuables is important, too. When staying at a hotel, the most valuable asset that guests bring with them is usually their motor vehicle. Therefore, hotel car parks should be adequately covered by any fire protection system, not only to protect the vehicles and assets contained therein, but also to protect the integrity of the building. This is because car park fires are capable of generating temperatures sufficiently intense to cause damage to even reinforced concrete structures. Car parks should also be fitted with systems to detect, alarm and deal effectively with the build-up of carbon monoxide to protect guests from high concentrations of the gas. Fire safety in corporate chains In the constant struggle to attract and retain custom, some operators find themselves faced with a dilemma if they have limited capital to invest. Should they spend more on protecting customers and ensuring their safety regardless of cost – or should they, for instance, make their hotel/s more appealing by investing in more attractions and customers services? Or should they keep expenditure to a minimum in order to sustain their competitiveness and maximise profits? Sometimes the latter approach leads to the investment made in fire safety standards to meet only the basic requirements of the relevant national legislation. Yet others rely heavily on the continued support of their corporate customers whose expectations and demands are very much on the rise. As a result, many travel managers now, as a matter of course, insist on the highest safety standards, with 25%** refusing to book rooms with hotels that do not have the highest standards of fire protection for their guests. Global brands operating across multiple geographical locations face even bigger problems when dealing with fire safety. In different countries throughout the world, the implementation, use and maintenance of fire protection solutions will be stipulated by many different regulatory authorities. Simply keeping abreast of all the legislative advances of the different bodies, along with the constantly changing technologies

Fire hazards such as large quantities of fuel, combustible/flammable liquids, electrical hazards, combustible dusts, and warehousing are common in electric power generating plants. Although fires are not a daily occurrence, they usually will cause severe property damage and business interruption. Many power generation plants are ten to 20 years old, and sometimes the fire protection equipment systems have not received attention since they were installed. If these systems are needed, however, they are counted upon to perform reliably and protect vital plant equipment from fire. Fire protection systems are a combination of mechanical and electrical components and, like power generation equipment, need regular attention. In addition, some people in charge of fire protection do not have an adequate knowledge of necessary inspection and testing frequencies, or they use the minimum frequencies prescribed by their authority having jurisdiction. For example, some jurisdictions only require annual water flow alarm tests on sprinkler systems, a frequency which is considered inadequate by most fire protection professionals. The information contained in this article is based on the current standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the most widely used in North America, and generally accepted guidelines. Most fire protection systems are designed and installed according to these standards. Unfortunately, information on inspection, testing and maintenance is not contained in a single standard but is contained within the various system-specific standards, making it cumbersome and difficult to obtain an overview of the tasks which need to be accomplished. Other codes and standards such as UBC, UFC, BOCA, OSHA and MSHA also address fire protection, but their contents are usually based on NFPA documents and may not address testing/maintenance requirements. Members on the NFPA technical committees comprise a wide range of fire protection expertise and include representatives from manufacturers, testing laboratories, users, authorities having jurisdiction and insurance companies. Adherence to NFPA standards will satisfy most jurisdictions and insurance companies. Getting started The first step in establishing an inspection, testing and maintenance programme is to generate a list of all the fire protection systems at the plant. These typically range from portable extinguishers to detection systems and automatic suppression systems. Once this list is complete, plant management needs to decide which tasks will be completed by in-house personnel and which will be contracted out. This will depend on the number and complexity of the systems as well as the availability and qualification of in-house personnel. In some areas, state law dictates that any physical testing of fire protection equipment must be performed by a contractor with an appropriate state-issued license. A telephone call to the state fire marshal’s office should clarify this issue. The next step is to determine the frequencies of the tasks. The guidelines in this article will help to establish these. Other sources for determining frequencies include the property insurance carrier or an independent fire protection consultant. Keep in mind that different carriers have different requirements, although the gist is usually the same. Then, a documentation system needs to be implemented. This can consist of paper forms, a computerised preventive maintenance programme (PM), or a modern bar code scanner system. Bar code scanners with their associated software prompt the inspector to report to each assigned station and to input the required data, thus making this type of system a valuable tool for larger plants. Once the round is completed, data from the bar code scanner is downloaded into a personal computer. The associated software then generates reports and highlights any discrepancies, which should be reviewed by plant management. Documentation Documentation is an essential part of a good programme. The information contained on the reports should accurately reflect the tasks performed. The reports should be clear, concise, and well organised. For example, a work order stating ‘sprinkler inspection’ is not adequate because it does not provide information about alarms, system pressures, riser condition, etc. Although there is no ‘universal’ report form, NFPA standards, fire protection manufacturers’ associations and property insurance carriers publish forms which can be tailored to a particular application. Whichever method of documentation is chosen, the records should be thoroughly reviewed by management for discrepancies, acceptability of the results and any problems noted. The records should be filed in chronological order in an accessible location for review and use by other parties, such as for jurisdictional inspections and insurance company surveys. The usually required record retention time is three to five years. These records can also be used for trending analysis. Impairments An impairment is an expression for a fire protection system which is out of service. Impairments fall into two categories: planned and concealed. A planned impairment is usually the result of maintenance or repair; a concealed impairment is usually inadvertent. Frequent inspections help to prevent concealed impairments. Whenever an impairment occurs, several procedures need to be followed. First, the person responsible for safety/fire protection should be notified who should then inform the plant manager. Then, appropriate third parties should be notified such as the fire department, alarm company and the property insurance carrier. The severity of the impairment must be analysed by management. There may be alternative methods of fire protection available while a primary system is impaired or the decision to take the affected equipment out of service may need to be made. Before the system is taken out of service, the affected area should be secured. This would include stopping hazardous activities, shutting equipment down and posting a fire watch. A conspicuous tag should be attached to the system’s control valve to remind personnel that protection is temporarily unavailable, and to turn the system back on after the work has been completed. HSB Professional Loss Control provides its clients with impairment pamphlets, impairment stickers for fire protection equipment and red impairment tags. Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) A phenomenon found recently across the United States, but mainly in the Southwest and West, this condition has caused premature corrosion in sprinkler system piping and heavy tuberculation (scale which inhibits water flow). Some plants have reported that five-year-old sprinkler piping

Mark Fletcher explores fire suppression technology and the necessary attention paid to prevention and planning, no matter which facility is protected. Fire has no prejudices; it doesn’t pick and choose who it affects. That, instead, is down to those in charge of the facilities at risk. Fires are terrible no matter where they happen, from small domestic chip-pan fires, to large refineries, the fall out can be immense – mentally, physically and fiscally – which is why so much attention is paid to prevention and fire-fighting. Insurance can cover losses and Fire Departments can prevent further spread, but if the worst does happen, all manner of resulting issues compound the issue even further. This is especially relevant to premises that contain high-value products or offer high-value services. Prevention is always the best approach, but as media headlines often suggest, even the best preventative measures can be breached or circumvented; either through a combination of random environmental factors, staff negligence, foul play, or just simple plain bad luck. It is in these instances that facilities owners/managers need to assess the net worth of their premises and contents/services, estimate the costs of stock or service loss and then feed these figures into a ‘magic equation’ that determines the importance and value they place on their fire-fighting infrastructure. Fire-fighting solutions are now being viewed in much the same way that industrial safety is being considered. Rather than a necessary cost, that knocks a chunk off the bottom line, facilities managers are now starting to take a holistic view that considers the fire-fighting infrastructure as an investment that actually prevents potentially huge punitive costs. There are many fire-fighting solutions available to facilities managers, but the first and most obvious place to start is in the realm of fire detection. Contemporary advances in image and chemical analysis system have enabled many manufacturers to actually sniff out smoulder points before they even progress into full-blown fires. Examples include both standalone and fully integrated solutions which can be patched into existing infrastructures and expanded as the premises or business grows. One example of a detection system is the Sinteso C-Line fire detectors from Siemens, which offer very high security on the basis of the newly developed detection algorithms. Before an alarm is activated, the signals recorded by the sensor (such as smoke density, temperature or both simultaneously) are converted to mathematical gradients (intensity, rate of increase and fluctuation) and analysed by means of detection algorithms. Chubb, among many others, also offers a range of detection technologies from conventional fire detectors, smoke detectors and gas detectors all the way up to fully integrated and addressable plant-/building-wide systems. Camera-based solutions have also come into their own in certain applications and are normally coupled to existing traditional detection technologies. One example is the SigniFire system from Fike. SigniFire is a state-of-the-art camera-based video smoke detection system, which visually detects the presence of flame or smoke at its source, independent of airflow in the area. The IP camera combines the enhanced resolution and picture clarity of a standard network camera with built-in flame, smoke and motion detector capabilities. As an added bonus, the camera system is also capable of being deployed for intruder detection, adding a security element to high-profile areas. The whole system can be coupled to the company’s FSM-IP Network Video Recorder, a scalable, network video recorder with video management software, designed to support up to 32 SigniFire network, flame detecting cameras, which also offers a network management interface for configuration and maintenance. Beyond fire detection we hit the realm of fire-fighting and the first and most obvious preventative measure in terms of fires spread is compartmentalisation, where high-value assets or stock are segregated from each other to ensure that single-event occurrences remain just that – single. In data centres and similar set ups, backups and redundant configurations also prevent the huge potential penalties that can occur should the worst happen. Detecting and containing the fire then gives fire suppression systems a fighting chance of reducing the impact. One example of a solution developed specifically for data centres is the Victaulic Vortex system, which uses approximately one quarter gallon of water per 1,000 cubic feet of protected space per minute, and can suppress most fires in less than three minutes. This small amount of water is mixed and dispersed into the fire space with nitrogen, which pulverises it to such small particles (droplets less than 10µ in size) that accumulation is negligible – an important factor when dealing with water-sensitive assets. The company’s patented Vortex emitter technology creates a hybrid dispersion where both the water and nitrogen act as suppressive agents, cooling and reducing oxygen levels for an effective two-front assault on a growing fire. Other solutions for sensitive areas, where any water is simply not tolerable, involve the use of inert gases to starve the fire of oxygen. These are typically broken down into two types of application – total flooding solutions, where the gas is applied to an enclosed space in order to produce a certain concentration of gas, or local application, where the gas is applied directly to the fire. The use of either is determined by the locale and type of fire risk and its potential to spread. The main drawback with these approaches is the means to suffocate the fire also has the same effect on personnel, so their application is tightly controlled and monitored. However, some inert gas solutions can address this risk by simply reducing the oxygen count to below the 15% needed by a fire to sustain combustion. Humans on the other hand only need 12% and, one presumes, with alarms sounding they will only stay in the immediate area for a limited time anyway. In all instances, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fire prevention, detection and fighting. The costs and relative merits of a solution have to be weighed up against the value of the assets they are protecting and then a solution designed around the precise needs.

At least one firefighter has been slightly injured Thousands of people in California have been forced to flee after wildfires hit San Diego county on Wednesday. A major fire engulfed the coastal town of Carlsbad, north of San Diego, scorching several buildings and forcing an amusement park to close. Further north, blazes also caused evacuations at a nuclear plant and a military base. At least one firefighter has been slightly injured. Months of drought have made California particularly prone to fires this year. The state, and other areas on the US west coast, often experience wildfires over the warmer months.  Nine fires raged across San Diego county on Tuesday and Wednesday, and officials ordered at least 20,000 people to leave their homes. The Legoland theme park in Carlsbad was closed due to power surges, while San Onofre nuclear power plant briefly evacuated non-essential staff as a precautionary measure. Fires also hit the military base at Camp Pendleton, between San Diego and Los Angeles. Carlsbad fire chief Michael Davies said such fires were unprecedented this time of year. "This is May, this is unbelievable. This is something we should see in October," he said. Officials say tinder dry conditions following many months of drought – coupled with the winds and high temperatures – have left parts of the region highly combustible.