A new modular fire detection and alarm system with a guarantee against false alarms has been launched in the UK by Siemens Building Technologies.
The Sinteso range of detectors and panels means that Siemens now has a single platform for all its fire detection systems. The range is common throughout Europe, but components are fine tuned for each country’s legislation and regulations. So the UK versions, says the company, have been designed with the RRO and the CFOA (Chief Fire Officers Association) model policy on false alarms in mind, and installations carry a guarantee against false alarms – provided they are installed, commissioned and maintained by Siemens and their sub-contractors.
At the heart of the range are neural fire detectors, wide spectrum smoke detectors and heat detectors. These are complemented by flame detectors, air-sampling detection systems and linear smoke detectors. The flagship Sinteso S-Line detectors have advanced signal analysis (ASA) and are designed for more demanding environments. The ASA continuously compares signals from the detector’s sensors with pre-programmed parameters to determine whether or not conditions are those that warrant a real alarm. The more economical C-Line detectors are designed for less demanding environments and although they do not use ASA technology, they have all of the other key features of the S-Line models.
In line with the direction that the RRO takes of shifting more responsibility to the building owner or occupier, the detectors can be modified by the user to reflect a change in the building or operating environment.
The detector range is complemented by Sinestor fire control panels. They are available in two-loop versions which support up to 252 devices, and four-loop versions for up to 504 devices. For larger installations, the panels can be linked using Siemens’ FCNet system. All models have a large LCD showing status and alarm messages, an alarm indicator, status LEDs and an alphanumeric keypad. Spare LEDs and function keys are provided to suit the needs of the user. The panels have Ethernet/BACnet support as standard, allowing straightforward connection to PC based remote access terminals, which can display messages, alerts and alarms, and which can provide control functions such as opening fire doors. The Ethernet/BACnet compatibility also makes it easier to interface Sinteso installations with building management systems. Optional fire terminals are also available, to provide additional control and monitoring facilities in areas such as security offices and receptions.
The detector technology features:
– A measuring chamber which excludes extraneous light while allowing smoke particles to penetrate freely.
– Two optical sensors – one to detect forward scattering, the other to detect backward scattering.
– Two independent thermal sensors.
– Multi-critera operation which allows the functioning of the detectors to be matched to the needs of almost any application.
– S-Line fire detectors are neural multi-critera units, with an opto-electronic measuring chamber in the form of a complex labyrinth. Signals from all of the sensors are intelligently compared, analysed and evaluated by the ASA technology to provide discrimination between harmless conditions, such as the presence of steam, and the presence of harmful smoke.
The range marks a milestone for Siemens which has integrated many fire businesses with many different legacy products over the past few years.
The Sinteso range reflects Siemens’ belief that large end users are looking towards greater scalability and integration with other building control systems on their premises. “If they want to play with it that’s fine,” commented Stuart Gilbert, business development manager for Siemens’ fire business. “We’re quite happy for our customers to have the codes if they understand the risk involved.” The issue of false alarms, brought into sharp relief in the UK by the CFOA policy, has also influenced the specification and launch of the product to the UK market. While BS 5839 calls for false alarms generally not to exceed 1 in 20 per detector a year, and less then one in 100 in “relatively benign environments”, the CFOA policy stipulates a rate better than 1 in 40 for performance level 2, and 1 in 60 for performance level 3. Sinteso, however, is certificated to the VDS requirement of better than 1 in 300 false alarms per detector per year.
The company reports that its total buildings solutions business is growing twice as fast as its non-integrated business. By providing a managed open protocol, it believes users will make more use of integrating their detection and alarm systems with, for example, ventilation systems for smoke control. “You can have the greatest fire system in the world, but if other parts of a building don’t interact, you can create more problems,” adds Stuart Gilbert. But he is realistic enough to concede that offerings such as Siemens’ are not the cheapest on the market, and that some people will run a mile from single-supplier solutions.
