Regular testing and upkeep guarantee a maximum service life and practical and failure-related safety of technical appliances. The same applies to foam-based hearth extinguishing systems and the froth proportioners installed in them.
Up to now, such testing and upkeep have required the presence of personnel on-site. However, it will be easier and more cost-efficient for extinguishing system operators if this was possible in a completely automatic and remote-controlled method. For instance, this would additionally make common maintenance personnel travel to remotely located proportioners redundant. In addition, this is in a position to ensure that requirements by the producer, standards and sets of laws are observed with none 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 advancement of the remote monitoring system.
Brief overview of the remote monitoring system
The distant monitoring system is used for proportioner monitoring in testing mode during maintenance and live firefighting operations.
In เกจวัดแรงดันน้ำ10บาร์ of remote monitoring, the proportioning rate and other operating parameters are determined, recorded and forwarded to the system operator if necessary. Thus, the smooth performance and operational readiness of the system are monitored and ensured this manner.
A remote monitoring system consists of a control system, together with an optional native show unit (HMI) if applicable, and sensor technology. The sensor know-how consists of, at the least, the chance to determine the water motor’s variety of revolutions and to discover out the froth agent circulate price. These values are used to calculate the proportioning rate. This figure is the core attribute in the course of the operation and testing of a foam proportioner. Further sensor expertise is available on an optionally available basis.
The distant monitoring system supports the operating and repair personnel on-site. It is also suitable for remote monitoring of the foam proportioner.
However, it’s a basic incontrovertible reality that personnel are all the time essential to carry out the maintenance work or the proportioning fee testing on-site because the system performs a monitoring function only. It doesn’t actively work together with the functioning of the proportioner.
In the course of distant monitoring, the proportioning price and other operating parameters are determined, displayed and forwarded. Images equipped by Author / Contributor
Evolution – from distant monitoring to distant testing
The query is tips on how to additional decrease the maintenance effort on foam proportioners.
The solution lies within the remote testing system, the subsequent step of the clever FireDos proportioners. The remote testing system permits monitoring of the proportioner and individual upkeep, together with proportioning fee testing.
The condition of the proportioner could be checked without having to begin out up the hearth extinguishing system. No personnel are required on-site. Proportioners in a distant place or which might be solely rarely inspected by personnel on-site may be checked with out maintenance staff and associated bills, corresponding to journey expenditure. In particular, increasing the testing interval is feasible without extra efforts. The instruction guide for FireDos proportioners requires regular starting-up, utilizing the service crank manually at the least. This is meant to prevent deposits contained in the tools, impairing its ease of motion and thus conserving the proportioner’s functionality. The distant testing system can adopt these regular actions and test the proportioning fee, rising the service life and useful security of the proportioner.
What is the design of a distant testing system?
The remote testing system is generally based upon the distant monitoring system. It is, nevertheless, significantly prolonged by means of actuators. This is because they allow the fully unbiased operation of the distant testing system; i.e., the proportioning rate of the proportioner is tested without activating the water pumps of the fire extinguishing system.
The core parts embrace a central management system, with an optionally available HMI, sensor know-how, 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 may have no interference with the proportioner’s functionality within the case of a fire. This way, some nice benefits of the mechanical proportioning precept are preserved.
How does the remote testing system work, and how can the proportioning price be checked without activating the water pumps?
If in ready-to-operate mode, the proportioner is always in the proportioning position. Upon initiation of an automatic testing process, no matter if after an outlined time interval, upon request via a cloud answer or from the hearth extinguishing system/a local operator, the proportioner is put into testing operation. Specifically, the management system puts the proportioner into testing operation utilizing an electrically actuated ball valve drive whereas the froth agent is not 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 complete proportioner at its start-up flow price. The start-up move price is the bottom working level of a proportioner to reach its nominal proportioning fee.
Due to the external electrical drive, the water motor works like a pump and generates a water move via the bypass from the water motor’s outlet to the water motor’s inlet. The operation causes no change of stress within the extinguishing water line. The fire extinguishing system is therefore not influenced when the proportioner is examined.
As the extinguishing water flow price simulated by the external drive is also identified because of the known ratio of the water motor’s variety of revolutions and the water move price, just the foam agent flow fee should be decided to allow the subsequent 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 froth agent circulate price, both in testing mode and whereas proportioning in case of an alarm.
The proportioning rate is decided according to the method as required within the requirements and regulations EN 13565-1, NFPA eleven, FM 4-12, and the Nordtest NT Fire 042 technique.
Foam agent circulate price [l/min]
(Extinguishing water flow rate x one hundred = proportioning price %+ foam agent move rate) [l/min]
After completion of the testing course of, the electric drive of the proportioner stops, the bypass line is closed, and the proportioner is returned to proportioning mode.
Sensor technology installed as an extra option or inside the electric drive permits acquiring further data and conclusions in regards to the state and condition of the respective unit. It is checked, for example, whether or not the ball valves are in their right positions or sufficient oil is in the crankshaft housing of the proportioning pump. In addition, the strain values on the pump inlet/outlet and the stress at the water motor are recorded. Finally, measuring the whole system’s torque and the circulate price inside the bypass line allows checking the overall condition of the proportioner.
The knowledge can be displayed locally or through a cloud solution. Controlling the maintenance operation can additionally be attainable via both interfaces.
What if there may be an alarm during a testing process?
An essential query is: Does the proportioner work with none limitations and as ordinary if there is an alarm? The reply is: Yes!
The remote testing system is designed in such a means that extinguishing water can move via the water motor and begin it up at any time, even when the electrical drive is working at the same time. In addition, a singular, fully computerized and purely mechanical decoupling mechanism ensures that the electrical drive does not interfere with the proportioner’s functioning and readiness to function.
In case of an alarm, the ball valves within the bypass line and people for switching between returning and proportioning are immediately switched so that the proportioner is in proportioning mode for firefighting. Thus, the control 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 correct place.
Therefore, in case of an alarm during testing operation, the ball valves change to their correct position fully mechanically and the electrical drive is switched off. Even if the electric drive is still working or coming to a stop, the extinguishing water can flow by way of the water motor and drive the proportioning pump without limitations. The alarm mode of the management system prevents re-activation of the electrical drive or any unintended ball valve switching.
What advantages does a remote testing system provide?
Compared with commonplace proportioners and people geared up with a distant monitoring system, a distant testing system provides various benefits. They characteristic the next:
ν Proportione
Display view for testing operation of the FireDos remote testing system. Images supplied by Author / Contributor
cian need to be on-site.
Regular proportioning fee testing: Regular proportioning fee testing ensures optimum functioning of the proportioner in case of a fire. If the proportioning price is too low, the extinguishing success may be compromised. Overdosing causes the foam agent to be consumed faster than meant, resulting in the untimely ending of the froth operation.
Increasing functional and failure safety due to elevated testing intervals: An increased take a look at interval causes the proportioner to be examined fully mechanically at shorter intervals of time. This notably reduces the chance of a failure remaining undetected for an extended time frame. 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 elements of the extinguishing system, immediately affecting the proportioner’s performance, may be recognized at an early stage of time. This contains, for instance, stress variations in the extinguishing water line or a jammed suction line.
Inclusion of all capabilities and advantages of the distant monitoring system: All functions and advantages of the remote monitoring system are also present in the remote testing system, i.e. all related working parameters are recorded and processed continuously and appropriately in addition to documented in a log file. In addition, all data are displayed by a visualization.
Reduction of prices: Regular practical testing makes it potential to detect faults even earlier. This means, maintenance and repairs can happen earlier than any more serious harm happens. The elevated functionality and fault safety of the proportioner ensures that the service lifetime of the proportioners is maximized and the probability of a failure is minimized. As a result, lowered service and operating workforce on-site scale back prices considerably, particularly if the proportioner is positioned in a distant place. In addition, functional testing of the proportioner allows early identification, analysis and presumably limiting a fault remotely. This makes service visits more environment friendly and therefore cheaper.
Summary and prospect
The remote monitoring system already provides numerous advantages and helps reduce costs, nevertheless it can not scale back the workforce required on-site.
The remote testing system is an answer for reducing upkeep necessities. It is the next evolution in the course of growing intelligent FireDos proportioners.
The remote testing system allows decreasing the workforce required on-site to a minimal, along with shorter testing intervals and increased failure safety. This will increase the proportioner’s service life.
If the proportioner is in a fault-free state, no additional maintenance by personnel on-site is necessary, aside from an oil change. The oil change may be carried out by the operator’s personnel, too, simply and with none deeper knowledge of the working precept of proportioners. If a service visit or repair ought to still turn into 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 clever electronic upgrade. Thus, the advantages from each know-how fields are combined without compromising the performance of mechanical FireDos proportioners.
For extra information, go to www.firedos.com
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