Regular testing and maintenance ensure a most service life and functional and failure-related safety of technical home equipment. The similar applies to foam-based fire extinguishing systems and the foam proportioners put in in them.
Up to now, such testing and upkeep have required the presence of personnel on-site. However, it would be easier and extra cost-efficient for extinguishing system operators if this was attainable in a completely automatic and remote-controlled method. For instance, this may additionally make common maintenance personnel journey to remotely positioned proportioners redundant. In addition, this is in a position to ensure that requirements by the producer, requirements and units of regulations are observed without any practical deviations and unsuitable time intervals.
The distant testing system inside the ‘Smart Proportioner’ improvement framework has been created just for this objective. It is an development of the remote monitoring system.
Brief overview of the distant monitoring system
The distant monitoring system is used for proportioner monitoring in testing mode during upkeep and stay firefighting operations.
In the course of remote monitoring, the proportioning fee and different operating parameters are decided, recorded and forwarded to the system operator if necessary. Thus, the smooth performance and operational readiness of the system are monitored and ensured this way.
A remote monitoring system consists of a management system, together with an elective native display unit (HMI) if applicable, and sensor expertise. The sensor technology contains, at the least, the possibility to discover out the water motor’s variety of revolutions and to determine the froth agent circulate fee. These values are used to calculate the proportioning fee. This figure is the core characteristic in the course of the operation and testing of a foam proportioner. Further sensor expertise is on the market on an elective foundation.
The distant monitoring system helps the operating and service personnel on-site. It is also suitable for distant monitoring of the foam proportioner.
However, it’s a basic fact that personnel are always needed to hold out the upkeep work or the proportioning price testing on-site as the system plays a monitoring position solely. It doesn’t actively interact with the functioning of the proportioner.
In the course of distant monitoring, the proportioning price and other operating parameters are decided, displayed and forwarded. Images supplied by Author / Contributor
Evolution – from remote monitoring to distant testing
The query is the method to additional reduce the maintenance effort on foam proportioners.
The answer lies in the distant testing system, the following step of the clever FireDos proportioners. The distant testing system permits monitoring of the proportioner and individual upkeep, together with proportioning fee testing.
The condition of the proportioner may be checked with out having to begin out up the fireplace extinguishing system. No personnel are required on-site. Proportioners in a distant place or which might be solely not often inspected by personnel on-site could be checked with out maintenance staff and associated expenses, such as journey expenditure. In specific, rising the testing interval is possible without further efforts. The instruction handbook for FireDos proportioners requires common starting-up, utilizing the service crank manually as a minimum. This is intended to stop deposits contained in the gear, impairing its ease of motion and thus conserving the proportioner’s performance. The remote testing system can undertake these regular movements and test the proportioning fee, growing the service life and functional safety of the proportioner.
What is the design of a remote testing system?
The distant testing system is mostly based mostly upon the remote monitoring system. It is, nevertheless, significantly prolonged by way of actuators. This is as a result of they enable the utterly unbiased operation of the remote testing system; i.e., the proportioning fee of the proportioner is tested with out activating the water pumps of the fire extinguishing system.
The core parts include a central management system, with an optional HMI, sensor expertise, 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 in order that the electrical drive will have no interference with the proportioner’s functionality within the case of a fireplace. This way, the advantages of the mechanical proportioning precept are preserved.
How does the remote testing system work, and how can the proportioning rate be checked without activating the water pumps?
If in ready-to-operate mode, the proportioner is always in the proportioning place. Upon initiation of an automated testing course of, regardless of if after an outlined 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 just isn’t combined into the extinguishing water however returned to the froth agent tank. At the same time, it opens the electrically actuated ball valve within the bypass line past the water motor. Next, the electrical drive of the proportioner is activated, driving the entire proportioner at its start-up move rate. The start-up flow fee is the lowest operating point of a proportioner to succeed in its nominal proportioning fee.
Due to the external electrical drive, the water motor works like a pump and generates a water flow through the bypass from the water motor’s outlet to the water motor’s inlet. The operation causes no change of pressure within the extinguishing water line. The hearth extinguishing system is subsequently not influenced when the proportioner is tested.
As the extinguishing water circulate price simulated by the external drive is also identified because of the identified ratio of the water motor’s variety of revolutions and the water flow rate, simply the foam agent move price should be determined to allow the following calculation of the proportioning fee. This is completed by a volumetric circulate meter between the proportioning pump’s outlet and the ball valve, which switches between returning and proportioning mode. This allows dedication of the foam agent move rate, each in testing mode and while proportioning in case of an alarm.
The proportioning price is set based on the formulation as required in the requirements and rules EN 13565-1, NFPA 11, FM 4-12, and the Nordtest NT Fire 042 method.
Foam agent flow rate [l/min]
(Extinguishing water circulate price x a hundred = proportioning rate %+ foam agent circulate 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 technology put in as an additional possibility or inside the electrical drive permits obtaining additional data and conclusions concerning the state and condition of the respective unit. It is checked, for instance, whether or not the ball valves are of their right positions or adequate oil is in the crankshaft housing of the proportioning pump. In addition, the stress values on the pump inlet/outlet and the stress on the water motor are recorded. Finally, measuring the complete system’s torque and the circulate rate contained in the bypass line allows checking the final situation of the proportioner.
The knowledge could be displayed locally or through a cloud solution. Controlling the maintenance operation is also potential by way of each interfaces.
What if there is an alarm during a testing process?
An essential query is: Does the proportioner work without any limitations and as usual if there is an alarm? The answer is: Yes!
The remote testing system is designed in such a method that extinguishing water can circulate by way of the water motor and start it up at any time, even if the electrical drive is working at the same time. In addition, a singular, totally computerized and purely mechanical decoupling mechanism ensures that the electrical drive does not intervene with the proportioner’s functioning and readiness to operate.
In case of an alarm, the ball valves in the bypass line and people for switching between returning and proportioning are immediately switched in order that the proportioner is in proportioning mode for firefighting. Thus, the management system is put into alarm mode on this case. This alarm mode causes the disabling of all features not necessary at that second and all ball valves to be set to their appropriate place.
Therefore, in case of an alarm throughout testing operation, the ball valves switch to their appropriate position absolutely mechanically and the electric drive is switched off. Even if the electric drive continues to be operating or coming to a stop, the extinguishing water can flow via the water motor and drive the proportioning pump with out 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 distant testing system provide?
Compared with normal proportioners and people outfitted with a remote monitoring system, a remote testing system offers various advantages. They feature the next:
ν Proportione
Display view for testing operation of the FireDos remote testing system. Images provided by Author / Contributor
cian have to be on-site.
Regular proportioning rate testing: Regular proportioning price testing ensures optimum functioning of the proportioner in case of a fireplace. If the proportioning rate is too low, the extinguishing success can be compromised. Overdosing causes the foam agent to be consumed sooner than intended, resulting in the premature ending of the foam operation.
Increasing practical and failure safety because of increased testing intervals: An elevated take a look at interval causes the proportioner to be examined absolutely automatically at shorter intervals of time. This notably reduces the risk of a failure remaining undetected for a longer time period. In addition, more frequent testing prevents the formation of deposits contained in the water motor.
Early fault detection and diagnostics: Faults in the proportioner or components of the extinguishing system, immediately affecting the proportioner’s performance, may be recognized at an early stage of time. This includes, for example, pressure variations in the extinguishing water line or a jammed suction line.
Inclusion of all capabilities and advantages of the distant monitoring system: All features and advantages of the distant monitoring system are also present within the distant testing system, i.e. all relevant working parameters are recorded and processed continuously and appropriately as properly 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 method, upkeep and repairs can take place earlier than any more serious harm happens. The increased functionality and fault security of the proportioner ensures that the service lifetime of the proportioners is maximized and the chance of a failure is minimized. As a outcome, lowered service and working workforce on-site reduce costs significantly, significantly if the proportioner is positioned in a remote place. In addition, functional testing of the proportioner allows early identification, analysis and presumably limiting a fault remotely. This makes service visits more efficient and subsequently more cost-effective.
ที่วัดแรงดันน้ำ and prospect
The remote monitoring system already provides varied advantages and helps reduce prices, nevertheless it can not scale back the workforce required on-site.
The remote testing system is a solution for lowering maintenance necessities. It is the following evolution in the middle of creating intelligent FireDos proportioners.
The distant testing system allows lowering the workforce required on-site to a minimum, along with shorter testing intervals and elevated failure security. This increases the proportioner’s service life.
If the proportioner is in a fault-free state, no further maintenance by personnel on-site is necessary, apart from an oil change. The oil change could be carried out by the operator’s personnel, too, easily and with none deeper data of the operating precept of proportioners. If a service visit or restore ought to still become needed, distant monitoring and early fault detection will make the planning and completion of such work more efficient.
Like the remote monitoring system, the distant testing system is an optimum symbiosis of mechanical proportioners and an intelligent digital upgrade. Thus, the benefits from each expertise fields are mixed with out compromising the functionality of mechanical FireDos proportioners.
For more data, go to www.firedos.com
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