Regular testing and upkeep guarantee a most service life and practical and failure-related security of technical home equipment. The similar applies to foam-based fire extinguishing systems and the foam proportioners installed in them.
Up to now, such testing and maintenance have required the presence of personnel on-site. However, it might be simpler and extra cost-efficient for extinguishing system operators if this was attainable in a totally automated and remote-controlled method. For instance, this may also make regular upkeep personnel journey to remotely situated proportioners redundant. In addition, this is ready to be certain that requirements by the manufacturer, requirements and sets of laws are noticed without any functional deviations and unsuitable time intervals.
The remote testing system inside the ‘Smart Proportioner’ improvement framework has been created just for this objective. It is an development of the distant monitoring system.
Brief overview of the remote monitoring system
The remote monitoring system is used for proportioner monitoring in testing mode during maintenance and live firefighting operations.
In the course of distant monitoring, the proportioning fee and different operating parameters are decided, recorded and forwarded to the system operator if essential. Thus, the sleek performance and operational readiness of the system are monitored and ensured this manner.
A distant monitoring system consists of a control system, including an optionally available native show unit (HMI) if relevant, and sensor expertise. The sensor technology includes, at the least, the possibility to determine the water motor’s number of revolutions and to discover out the froth agent flow price. These values are used to calculate the proportioning price. This determine is the core attribute through the operation and testing of a foam proportioner. Further sensor know-how is out there on an elective basis.
The distant monitoring system supports the working and service personnel on-site. It can be suitable for remote monitoring of the froth proportioner.
However, เกจวัดแรงดันลม ‘s a fundamental fact that personnel are all the time essential to hold out the upkeep work or the proportioning rate testing on-site because the system performs a monitoring position solely. It does not actively work together with the functioning of the proportioner.
In the course of distant monitoring, the proportioning rate and other operating parameters are determined, displayed and forwarded. Images supplied by Author / Contributor
Evolution – from distant monitoring to remote testing
The query is how to further reduce the maintenance effort on foam proportioners.
The answer lies within the remote testing system, the next step of the intelligent FireDos proportioners. The distant testing system allows monitoring of the proportioner and individual upkeep, together with proportioning rate testing.
The condition of the proportioner may be checked with out having to start up the fireplace extinguishing system. No personnel are required on-site. Proportioners in a distant place or which may be only hardly ever inspected by personnel on-site could be checked without upkeep staff and related expenses, such as journey expenditure. In explicit, rising the testing interval is feasible without extra efforts. The instruction manual for FireDos proportioners requires regular starting-up, using the service crank manually as a minimum. This is intended to stop deposits contained in the gear, impairing its ease of movement and thus conserving the proportioner’s functionality. The distant testing system can undertake these common actions and check the proportioning fee, growing the service life and useful security of the proportioner.
What is the design of a distant testing system?
The remote testing system is usually based mostly upon the distant monitoring system. It is, nonetheless, notably prolonged by the use of actuators. This is because they allow the utterly independent operation of the distant testing system; i.e., the proportioning price of the proportioner is tested without activating the water pumps of the fire extinguishing system.
The core elements embrace a central control system, with an optionally available HMI, sensor technology, electrical ball valve drives, an electrical drive for the proportioner and a bypass line past the water motor.
The connection of the electrical drive and the proportioner is designed so that the electrical drive will have no interference with the proportioner’s performance in the case of a fire. This way, some great advantages of the mechanical proportioning precept are preserved.
How does the remote testing system work, and the way can the proportioning fee be checked without activating the water pumps?
If in ready-to-operate mode, the proportioner is always within the proportioning position. Upon initiation of an automatic testing course of, regardless of if after a defined time interval, upon request through a cloud answer or from the fire extinguishing system/a native operator, the proportioner is put into testing operation. Specifically, the control system places the proportioner into testing operation using an electrically actuated ball valve drive while the froth agent isn’t mixed into the extinguishing water but returned to the froth agent tank. At the same time, it opens the electrically actuated ball valve in the bypass line previous the water motor. Next, the electric drive of the proportioner is activated, driving the entire proportioner at its start-up flow price. The start-up circulate fee is the bottom operating point of a proportioner to achieve its nominal proportioning rate.
Due to the exterior electrical drive, the water motor works like a pump and generates a water flow by way of the bypass from the water motor’s outlet to the water motor’s inlet. The operation causes no change of pressure in the extinguishing water line. The hearth extinguishing system is due to this fact not influenced when the proportioner is examined.
As the extinguishing water flow rate simulated by the exterior drive can also be known due to the known ratio of the water motor’s number of revolutions and the water circulate fee, just the foam agent circulate fee should be decided to permit the following calculation of the proportioning rate. This is done by a volumetric flow meter between the proportioning pump’s outlet and the ball valve, which switches between returning and proportioning mode. This permits willpower of the foam agent move rate, both in testing mode and whereas proportioning in case of an alarm.
The proportioning rate is set according to the method as required within the standards and laws EN 13565-1, NFPA eleven, FM 4-12, and the Nordtest NT Fire 042 technique.
Foam agent flow price [l/min]
(Extinguishing water move price x a hundred = proportioning price %+ foam agent move rate) [l/min]
After completion of the testing process, the electric drive of the proportioner stops, the bypass line is closed, and the proportioner is returned to proportioning mode.
Sensor expertise installed as an extra option or inside the electrical drive allows acquiring additional information and conclusions in regards to the state and situation of the respective unit. It is checked, for instance, whether or not the ball valves are in their appropriate positions or sufficient oil is in the crankshaft housing of the proportioning pump. In addition, the strain values at the pump inlet/outlet and the stress on the water motor are recorded. Finally, measuring the entire system’s torque and the circulate rate contained in the bypass line permits checking the final situation of the proportioner.
The knowledge can be displayed domestically or by way of a cloud answer. Controlling the upkeep operation is also potential by way of each interfaces.
What if there is an alarm during a testing process?
An necessary question is: Does the proportioner work without any limitations and as usual if there’s an alarm? The reply is: Yes!
The distant testing system is designed in such a way that extinguishing water can circulate by way of the water motor and begin it up at any time, even when the electrical drive is working on the same time. In addition, a unique, totally automatic and purely mechanical decoupling mechanism ensures that the electrical drive does not intrude with the proportioner’s functioning and readiness to function.
In case of an alarm, the ball valves in the bypass line and those for switching between returning and proportioning are immediately switched so that the proportioner is in proportioning mode for firefighting. Thus, the management system is put into alarm mode in this case. This alarm mode causes the disabling of all capabilities not essential at that second and all ball valves to be set to their correct position.
Therefore, in case of an alarm during testing operation, the ball valves change to their right position absolutely mechanically and the electrical drive is switched off. Even if the electric drive remains to be working or coming to a stop, the extinguishing water can move through the water motor and drive the proportioning pump without limitations. The alarm mode of the control system prevents re-activation of the electric drive or any unintended ball valve switching.
What advantages does a remote testing system provide?
Compared with commonplace proportioners and those equipped with a remote monitoring system, a distant testing system supplies various benefits. They function the following:
ν Proportione
Display view for testing operation of the FireDos distant testing system. Images equipped by Author / Contributor
cian have to be on-site.
Regular proportioning price testing: Regular proportioning price testing ensures optimum functioning of the proportioner in case of a fireplace. If the proportioning price is too low, the extinguishing success may be compromised. Overdosing causes the foam agent to be consumed quicker than intended, resulting in the untimely ending of the foam operation.
Increasing practical and failure security as a outcome of increased testing intervals: An elevated take a look at interval causes the proportioner to be examined fully automatically at shorter intervals of time. This notably reduces the chance of a failure remaining undetected for a longer period of time. In addition, extra frequent testing prevents the formation of deposits contained in the water motor.
Early fault detection and diagnostics: Faults within the proportioner or parts of the extinguishing system, immediately affecting the proportioner’s performance, may be recognized at an early stage of time. This includes, for instance, stress variations in the extinguishing water line or a jammed suction line.
Inclusion of all features and advantages of the remote monitoring system: All functions and advantages of the distant monitoring system are also present within the remote testing system, i.e. all relevant operating parameters are recorded and processed repeatedly and correctly as nicely as documented in a log file. In addition, all knowledge are displayed by a visualization.
Reduction of prices: Regular functional testing makes it attainable to detect faults even earlier. This means, upkeep and repairs can take place earlier than any more severe injury occurs. The elevated functionality and fault security of the proportioner ensures that the service lifetime of the proportioners is maximized and the probability of a failure is minimized. As a outcome, decreased service and operating workforce on-site reduce costs considerably, significantly if the proportioner is positioned in a remote place. In addition, practical testing of the proportioner permits early identification, evaluation and possibly limiting a fault remotely. This makes service visits extra efficient and therefore cheaper.
Summary and prospect
The remote monitoring system already offers various benefits and helps reduce prices, however it can’t cut back the workforce required on-site.
The remote testing system is a solution for lowering upkeep necessities. It is the subsequent evolution in the course of creating intelligent FireDos proportioners.
The distant testing system allows lowering the workforce required on-site to a minimal, along with shorter testing intervals and elevated failure safety. This will increase the proportioner’s service life.
If the proportioner is in a fault-free state, no additional upkeep by personnel on-site is critical, aside from an oil change. The oil change could be carried out by the operator’s personnel, too, simply and with none deeper information of the working precept of proportioners. If a service go to or restore should nonetheless turn out to be essential, remote monitoring and early fault detection will make the planning and completion of such work extra efficient.
Like the distant monitoring system, the remote testing system is an optimum symbiosis of mechanical proportioners and an intelligent electronic upgrade. Thus, the benefits from each expertise fields are mixed without compromising the performance of mechanical FireDos proportioners.
For extra information, go to www.firedos.com
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