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MDM Publishing Ltd
Abbey Manor Business Centre,
The Abbey, Preston Road,
Yeovil, Somerset
BA20 2EN
England
Tel: +44 (0)1935 426428
Fax: +44 (0)1935 426926
E-mail: mark.seton@apfmag.com
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High Sensitivity Aspirating Smoke Detection
Sewage treatment areas and control buildings in one of the most densely populated cities in the world are being protected from fire by a Stratos-HSSD® (High Sensitivity Aspirating Smoke Detection) system from AirSense Technology.
During the 20th Century the population of Hong Kong increased 13-fold to almost 7 million. This dramatic population growth has continued into the 21st Century, bringing with it a corresponding increase in economic activities, a natural consequence of which is the placing of extra demands on the city's sewage treatment system. An interesting, if somewhat toe-curling statistic, is that every day the people of Hong Kong produce some 2.6 million cubic metres of sewage - enough to fill more than 1,400 Olympic-size swimming pools!
Against this background, the Hong Kong Government (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of PRC) is placing significant investment (over $20 billion in Stage 1 of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme alone) into upgrading and improving the sewerage network which features more than 1,500 km. of pipes and some 260 plants, bringing the services for the older urban areas into line with the more modern infrastructure enjoyed by the towns in the New Territories.
Part of this redevelopment process is to ensure effective protection from fire for the sewage treatment facilities. Following trials with different types of detection - including conventional, heat and beam detectors - Stratos-HSSD aspirating smoke detection was selected as the most reliable and fastest responding, resulting in contracts to initially protect five plants operated by the Hong Kong Drain Service Department.
The environment of the treatment plants is particularly demanding with high levels of dust, humidity and temperature variation. This caused problems with many of the fire detection technologies considered, as did the high ceilings in the atrium areas of the plants. When tested, the Stratos-HSSD system proved most reliable in terms of providing the all important early smoke warning without incidences of false alarm. This was due to the system's unique and patented 'ClassiFire' Perceptive Artificial Intelligence (PAI) technology which allows the Stratos detectors to accurately 'condition' themselves to suit the environment they are protecting. ClassiFire automatically discriminates between 'dirty' and 'clean' operating periods, such as day and night, automatically applying optimum system sensitivity without the need for external input or adjustment.
Six or seven Stratos-HSSD detectors were employed in each of the facilities to protect the screening plant, the primary and secondary treatment plants and the chemically enhanced primary treatment plant room, with the detectors installed in the areas being protected with a remote display unit located in the main control room.
Stratos-HSSD has provided a solution which not only allows for the high background pollution levels while still providing effective and false-alarm free detection in what is a very unstable environment, but also one in which ease of maintenance is ensured.
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