Automatic gas fire extinguishing system in the data center
After the tumultuous events of last week, we continue to publish materials about the engineering systems of the data center. Today we will discuss the automatic gas fire extinguishing installation (AUGPT).
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Where there is a lot of electricity and high-performance equipment, there is always a small, but the likelihood of fire. It doesn’t matter why it can happen, due to a manufacturing defect or human factor - it is important that it can be quickly eliminated without damaging the equipment. In this case, traditional methods are not suitable. Do not extinguish fire with water or fire extinguisher mixture - this may irreparably damage equipment and potentially lead to data loss. This can not be allowed, even in the most extreme case. Of course, if we are talking about people's lives, the fire can be extinguished even with vintage champagne, but if you can avoid such extremes, you should avoid it.
For this purpose, and serves as a gas fire extinguishing system. In short, its principle is as follows: when a fire occurs, a manual or automatic system start-up takes place. In seconds, the internal volume of the room where something caught fire is filled with a special gas. In our case, this is freon 125. Gas radically reduces the concentration of oxygen in the air, after which combustion becomes simply physically impossible. For greater efficiency, gas is supplied immediately above and below, the nozzles are located above the rows of racks and below the raised floor. After the cessation of fire, the gas is removed from the room through a special hood, air conditioners resume their work, and the containment zone returns to normal operation. In the process of fire extinguishing, all the equipment continues to operate normally, since it does not require the presence of oxygen for its operation. The room temperature automatically decreases with gas. And after its removal, heat removal is performed with the help of air conditioners returned to normal operation.
Naturally, when a fire alarm is triggered, all electric locks are unlocked, and even those who happen to be in the area where the system is working can easily leave the room. Anticipating questions, I will inform you that the gas itself is not toxic, and, holding your breath, you can stay for some time in a room where fire extinguishing takes place (for example, moving at high speed towards the exit) without special harm to health. Sometimes they also ask, especially in the form of devices for manual start-up of the system or “automatic disconnected” signs, for which manual fire extinguishing is needed. I explain: monitoring of the equipment operation is carried out according to the mass of parameters, and the monitoring system records the fire or its potential possibility much earlier than optical smoke detectors or fire temperature sensors can do. Therefore, it is more convenient to start in manual mode, personally verifying that there is a real reason and not trusting such an important matter in automation.
Due to the fact that there are two tight areas in our data center, we acquire an additional level of protection. The fact is that gas is started from one point either to one or to another circuit. At the same time, the amount of gas in cylinders is sufficient for conducting fire extinguishing in both hermetic zones. The probability of simultaneous ignition in two hermetically separated hermetic zones is vanishingly small, but re-ignition in the same germozone, after the system has triggered, is more likely. Therefore, the ability to re-start gas in the same pressure zone gives us an advantage over other serious data centers where AUGPT is installed, but there is no possibility of a re-start. Plus, re-equipment of the system after start-up, as a rule, takes several days: while cylinders are ordered, brought, until they are installed and re-armed the system, it can take a long time. We have spare cylinders already placed in the data center, so that the rearmament period is reduced to several hours. This practice, of course, costs a lot of money, but it adds a few points in the eyes of potential partners.
But enough text, let's move on to the photos.
Terminal manual start system.
Information boards.
The speaker sound alerts the staff and visitors about the occurrence of fire. From it sounds the sacramental phrase "Everybody leave the room."
Cylinders connected to two circuits.
Pressure gauge on one of the cylinders.
Gas supply pipe.
Ceiling nozzle. From here, under pressure, gas is injected into the room. Maintains only metal.
Floor nozzle. Gas is injected into the space under the raised floor (ignition can theoretically occur there) and is also fed up through perforated tiles.
Signal.
Management and control systems.
Spare cylinders.
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Where there is a lot of electricity and high-performance equipment, there is always a small, but the likelihood of fire. It doesn’t matter why it can happen, due to a manufacturing defect or human factor - it is important that it can be quickly eliminated without damaging the equipment. In this case, traditional methods are not suitable. Do not extinguish fire with water or fire extinguisher mixture - this may irreparably damage equipment and potentially lead to data loss. This can not be allowed, even in the most extreme case. Of course, if we are talking about people's lives, the fire can be extinguished even with vintage champagne, but if you can avoid such extremes, you should avoid it.
For this purpose, and serves as a gas fire extinguishing system. In short, its principle is as follows: when a fire occurs, a manual or automatic system start-up takes place. In seconds, the internal volume of the room where something caught fire is filled with a special gas. In our case, this is freon 125. Gas radically reduces the concentration of oxygen in the air, after which combustion becomes simply physically impossible. For greater efficiency, gas is supplied immediately above and below, the nozzles are located above the rows of racks and below the raised floor. After the cessation of fire, the gas is removed from the room through a special hood, air conditioners resume their work, and the containment zone returns to normal operation. In the process of fire extinguishing, all the equipment continues to operate normally, since it does not require the presence of oxygen for its operation. The room temperature automatically decreases with gas. And after its removal, heat removal is performed with the help of air conditioners returned to normal operation.
Naturally, when a fire alarm is triggered, all electric locks are unlocked, and even those who happen to be in the area where the system is working can easily leave the room. Anticipating questions, I will inform you that the gas itself is not toxic, and, holding your breath, you can stay for some time in a room where fire extinguishing takes place (for example, moving at high speed towards the exit) without special harm to health. Sometimes they also ask, especially in the form of devices for manual start-up of the system or “automatic disconnected” signs, for which manual fire extinguishing is needed. I explain: monitoring of the equipment operation is carried out according to the mass of parameters, and the monitoring system records the fire or its potential possibility much earlier than optical smoke detectors or fire temperature sensors can do. Therefore, it is more convenient to start in manual mode, personally verifying that there is a real reason and not trusting such an important matter in automation.
Due to the fact that there are two tight areas in our data center, we acquire an additional level of protection. The fact is that gas is started from one point either to one or to another circuit. At the same time, the amount of gas in cylinders is sufficient for conducting fire extinguishing in both hermetic zones. The probability of simultaneous ignition in two hermetically separated hermetic zones is vanishingly small, but re-ignition in the same germozone, after the system has triggered, is more likely. Therefore, the ability to re-start gas in the same pressure zone gives us an advantage over other serious data centers where AUGPT is installed, but there is no possibility of a re-start. Plus, re-equipment of the system after start-up, as a rule, takes several days: while cylinders are ordered, brought, until they are installed and re-armed the system, it can take a long time. We have spare cylinders already placed in the data center, so that the rearmament period is reduced to several hours. This practice, of course, costs a lot of money, but it adds a few points in the eyes of potential partners.
But enough text, let's move on to the photos.
Terminal manual start system.
Information boards.
The speaker sound alerts the staff and visitors about the occurrence of fire. From it sounds the sacramental phrase "Everybody leave the room."
Cylinders connected to two circuits.
Pressure gauge on one of the cylinders.
Gas supply pipe.
Ceiling nozzle. From here, under pressure, gas is injected into the room. Maintains only metal.
Floor nozzle. Gas is injected into the space under the raised floor (ignition can theoretically occur there) and is also fed up through perforated tiles.
Signal.
Management and control systems.
Spare cylinders.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/90797/
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