Air Sampling - High Sensitivity Smoke Detection (HSSD)

Air Sampling - HSSD & VESDA

How does it work?

The basic make up of an air sampling system is a highly sensitive smoke detector, to which a network of pipes draws air from the risk area(s).

Clean Environment

Typically used in computer rooms to highlight overheating (combusted) components and to provide extremely early warning, which allows the relevant person time to shut down the faulty equipment and avoid a fire.

Dirty Environment

This system is invaluable in environments such as waste recycling facilities, or flour mills, where it can be used to differentiate, to the smallest degree, between the normal every-day environment, and when a fire starts.

Key Advantages

One of the key advantages of an air sampling system is that once it has been installed, the pipe-work is maintenance free, providing significant savings in ongoing maintenance costs, negating the need to access out of reach detectors.

Air sampling can detect combusted particulates before it has had chance to grow into a fire, and therefore before any damage actually occurs.

Air sampling is an active fire detector, as opposed to passive, drawing air which could contain combustive particles towards it. In contrast to a point-based detector which waits for the combusted particulates to reach it.

Why?

Aspirating smoke detection is not intended to compete with standard point detection, which is suitable for most standard applications where cost and basic compliance to regulations are the main drivers.

However, there are many instances where a more effective and reliable form of detection is required, or point detecction is just not suitable.  ASD offers the only solution to these problem applications which are often high risk and high value.  There are seven main drivers or opportunities for ASD.

Where:

• very early warning is required;
• high air flow (air conditioning) is present;
• environment is hostile (very cold, wet or dusty);
• detection is to be covert (unseen);
• building height will cause smoke stratification;
• access for maintenance is impractical;
• coincidence detection is required for extinguishant release.