Fire alarm systems

A Fire alarm system is a combination of a interlinked electric /electronic devices integrated to detect and alert on any incident of fire /smoke immediately on occurrence so that the measures for extinguishing the fire is taken at the earliest possible time to prevent loss of human life / material loss.

Fire alarm systems are mainly of 2 major types namely the conventional and the addressable systems. Some of the major differences are given below for better understanding of the 2 types of FAS.

Fire Alaram System Components

Control Panel:

An FAS main and core component is the Control panel which continuously monitors the signals inputs from various initiators /detectors integrated in the system and controls outputs and relays information as per the configuration done in the system. Depending on the type of the FAS selected the features / configuration options available / capacity of the control panel differs. So the exact requirement of the complete FAS should be taken into consideration before product selection.

An FAS in general consists of the following :

– Contains programming and operating electronics and user interfaces
– Fed by standard branch-circuit wiring and contains replaceable circuit cards – zonewise
– An alphanumeric display showing the state of the system and providing troubleshooting information
– A touchpad for silencing an alarm or trouble signal, resetting the system following an event and reprogramming,

Initiators

The initiators are also one of the most critical components of FAS as these are the devices which give the necessary input signals to the fire alarm based on which the control panel monitors the whole system.

The initiators can be actuated either manually or automatically depending on the requirement on the particular area /location of the site.

Manually actuated initiators – Manual pull stations, Break glass stations, call points / Buttons.
Automatically actuated initiators – Smoke Detectors, Gas leakage detectors, heat detectors etc.

Indicating /notifying Appliances

The FAS notifies /generates alerts based on the inputs from the initiators and the configuration of the control panel. The device used to perform this action of notification is done by the Indicating /notifying appliances. This act as an output to the FAS control panel and has the main function as listed below:

-Announce to building occupants or a remote location when the system enters alarm state
– Appliance types include hooters, strobe lights chimes, bells, or a combination of all as per the requirement.
– Available in weatherproof and hazardous location versions.