With most modern buildings being multi-level, lifts (or elevators) are a critical part of a buildings operation, forming an essential part of a life safety strategy. It is vital that lifts and lift shafts are considered critical for fire protection and evacuation strategy and therefore it is vital that a lift and lift shaft are equipped with a suitable fire detection system.
Lifts, Lift Shafts and Their Role in Fire Safety and Evacuation Strategy
Although some countries still require lifts to be shut down in the event of a fire some larger, more sophisticated buildings rely on on lifts as a primary source of evacuation and are used to complement the building stairwells.
Lift shafts can also provide valuable ventilation, acting as a chimney to prevent smoke from reaching other floors and helping to avoid the risk of fire spreading and causing panic and injuries during evacuation.
The Challenges with Protecting Your Lift and Lift Shaft from Fire
There are a number of fire detection challenges to overcome when designing a fire system to protect lifts and lift shafts:
- Access to spot detectors for maintenance, testing and replacement can be difficult.
- There is a risk that heat and friction created by the lift will create smoke.
- There are likely to be a number of oiling and greasing products present in the lift shaft.
- Humidity and high temperatures can cause corrosion.
- There is likely to be large amounts of electrical wiring and switch gear present.
- Downtime must be kept to a minimum during installation and maintenance to avoid disruption to the operation of the building.
- Air travels quickly within lift shafts (acting as a chimney) and moving lifts adding to the acceleration of the air.
- With lift shafts being deep with many obstacles and moving parts, spot detector maintenance can be difficult with added risk of injury.
It is for these reasons, amongst others, that an aspirating fire detection system such as the EF-ASD can play a vital role in protecting your building from fire, providing an early detection warning and triggering actions such as shutting off or opening air vents and closing down electrical devices.
About the EF-ASD Aspirating Smoke Detector
The EF-ASD from Eurofyre is the perfect solution to the complications that lifts and lift shafts present. It is designed to complement conventional and analogue addressable system technology, by combining standard field-serviceable smoke detectors with a stand-alone air-sampling solution. The EF-ASD aspirating smoke detector is ideal for the protection of difficult to access, environmentally demanding and aesthetic or architecturally restricted areas. The EF-ASD is rugged and easy to install and requires no special tools or software to configure. External filters can also be installed for use in areas with excessive dust and dirt or to weatherproof the unit.
It is these features that make the EF-ASD the perfect solution to the challenges which are posed when designing a detection system to protect the lift and lift shaft areas of your building.
How The EF-ASD Aspirating Smoke Detector can protect a lift shaft
The EF-ASD works by drawing air from the protected area through one or two perforated 25mm pipes. A powerful fan together with sophisticated air-flow monitoring and control circuitry ensures that transport delays are minimised and air-flow is kept within working limits. System status and flow control is continuously displayed (per channel), with on-board fault relays allowing remote fault monitoring. Power management ensures that operating current is kept to a minimum, allowing superior performance and optimisation of external power supply and standby battery resources.
The sampling hole for each pipe is typically located at the top of the lift shaft. The EF-ASD is placed outside the machine room and shafts ensuring that it is accessible and safe for testing and maintenance work without the need to stop the lift and disrupt the operation of the building
For more information on the EF-ASD or any of the products provided by Eurofyre, please feel free to contact us either by email at info@eurofyre.co.uk by telephone on 01329 835 024 or by using our Online Enquiry Form.
