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The British Library’s new book storage facility in West Yorkshire is to be protected by Wagner UK’s OxyReduct system. The 85,000m3 facility, which will be constructed alongside the Library’s existing buildings at Boston Spa, will provide additional storage capacity for 7 million items from the UK national collection.
With such a valuable archive, it is imperative that a fire cannot start. OxyReduct creates an environment where fires cannot start: it continuously reduces the oxygen level in a closed area by adding nitrogen to the air. The oxygen is reduced to a level in which most combustibles do not inflame and an open fire is impossible. Importantly, people can enter and work in the area of risk at any time.
Wagner UK was awarded the contract by Rotary Yorkshire, and will be working alongside Logic Fire Systems to design and install the system. The system has a relatively small footprint compared to other fire protection solutions, and will not cause damage to the archive.
The company’s Titanus Top- Sens air sampling smoke detection system has also been chosen to provide secondary fire protection for the facility in the case of pyrolysis. A networked system of 18 units will be installed and interfaced together with OxyReduct to the existing fire alarm system. Both systems will be able to be remotely monitored via the internet.