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 | | WAGNER SMOKE DETECTION MAKES PRISON BLOCK SAFER | | | WAGNER UK Limited | | 01/07/2008 | | | WAGNER UK’s TITANUS MICRO•SENS® addressable Air Sampling Detection (ASD) systems are providing early warning smoke detection for a new prison block at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottingham. The 128 cell block was constructed by Skanska Rasleigh Weatherfoil for the prison’s operators Serco Ltd. The TITANUS ASD systems have been successfully tested and evaluated by the Home Office for use in prison accommodation.
Air sampling is an established form of fire detection for prison cells as it eliminates the need for a point smoke detector that can easily be damaged – ASD only requires a discrete sampling point. However, WAGNER UK’s TITANUS® MICRO•SENS® addressable ASD units have a unique advantage in that a single unit can monitor multiple cells and identify the specific location in the event of a fire. This provides a significant cost saving compared to traditional ASD systems which require a detection unit for each cell. In total 35 MICRO•SENS® units were installed, one for approximately every 4 cells, with the sampling point being terminated in WAGNER’s discrete capillary system fitted with a tamper-proof plate.
A spokesman from Serco commented: “We are very pleased with the WAGNER units and have found them to be more sophisticated than most systems. Operationally they are good because they are fully addressable, so we can identify that there's smoke in cell 27 of Houseblock 3, as opposed to just somewhere in Houseblock 3. The sensitivity threshold is adjustable and the system doesn't false alarm with cigarette smoke.”
ASD systems draw air samples continuously from the monitored area through a pipe system fitted with sampling holes at regular intervals. The airflow is then analysed for smoke particles and an alarm is raised if smoke is present. The system is active, continually drawing air samples from the risk areas. PRO•SENS® and MICRO•SENS®, like the other ASD units in the TITANUS® range, incorporate PIPE•GUARD and LOGIC•SENS. PIPE-GUARD is a unique monitoring system that detects if a sampling hole is blocked, a pipe is ruptured or if the air sampling unit has failed. This feature is vital in inaccessible areas where access is restricted and identification of individually blocked sampling points is essential. LOGIC•SENS is an advanced signal processing technology that analyses the smoke sample and provides the earliest possible smoke detection whilst safely eliminating false alarms such as cigarette smoke.
The TITANUS® range has been developed by WAGNER as a simple and low cost air sampling system replacement for point smoke detectors. As well as applications where aesthetics are important, TITANUS® ASD can provide significant benefits for buildings with large open spaces, in areas where future access is likely to be a problem (in voids, shafts, locked rooms, etc) or where the environment is too harsh for traditional smoke detectors. | |
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