by Lyda Durango
False alarms seem like a thing of the past. Thanks to constant advances in the fire detection industry, the hotel sector has more possibilities to ensure guest safety.
Until a few years ago, conventional detectors only allowed to detect the area where the alarm was generated, but the latest developments in this field account for a greater possibility so that each detector and each module can have their own reading of the situation.
Addressable analog detectors, so called because each detector has a unique address, have an internal processor where algorithms are programmed that allow to improve the response speed and reduce false alarms. In addition, each detector can be programmed to individually have a different level of sensitivity.
Individual programming ability is what has led them to make this type of technology known as intelligent fire detection. But since the challenge of early detection and avoiding false alarms is always constant, it seems not to be enough to have intelligent detection. For this reason, intelligent sensing has been reinforced to cope with the limitations of detectors.
Complementary sensitivity
Thanks to their ability to control different zones more accurately, addressable analog detectors are more recommended for large areas, while conventional ones are more suitable for small areas.
"In the hotel industry, people die in a fire because they're asleep or don't hear alarms or smell local smoke," says Carlos Zorrilla, regional sales manager for Notifier, Honeywell's fire protection systems brand, for Mexico. "With smart sensing we can share the information from the sensors to verify the veracity of an alarm or if it is actually a false alarm," he adds.
For large areas it is not enough that each sensor has its own information but that everyone can communicate with each other. The intelligent sensing allows "to share the information of the sensors and verify the veracity of an alarm or if it is actually a false alarm", explains Carlos Zorrilla. This is achieved by means of an algorithm that is loaded into the panels, through which the information of the sensitivity of several sensors can be shared "and through this algorithm verify the shared sensitivity," adds Mr. Zorrilla.
Cooperative sensing begins the moment a detector reaches its pre-alarm level and it asks the surrounding sensors what conditions they are in. If these have a positive tendency to reach the alarm level, then that's when the alarm goes off. The main benefit of this type of sensing is the decrease in false alarms.
"False alarms are reduced because we use all the information from the surrounding sensors to be able to make the decision regarding the alarm level. An example of this is the smoking areas, in this case we can request information from sensors that are outside the smoking area and share it, if there is no smoke outside this area then the system will not be alarmed, "explains Mr. Zorrilla.
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More benefits, more security
By sharing the information, the sensitivity of the sensors in this type of area can be increased without fear of generating more false alarms and being able to have a more accurate and anticipated detection (see cooperative census table). When there is no intelligent sense, detectors alone can give false alarms just by detecting, for example, cigarette smoke.
The case of kitchens is illustrative. If a sensor in the kitchen generates a smoke pre-alarm, it will communicate with the other sensors in areas where smoke is not generated, such as the dishwasher area. The sensors feature nine different levels of sensitivity and can be combined in any way. These levels are programmed on the panel according to the type of sensitivity you want to give to each area.
Compared to detectors, this type of sensing has other advantages in addition to those already mentioned. One of them has to do with the ability to generate a centralized report of alarms, a situation that local battery detectors cannot assume. In addition, the detectors do not have the ability to communicate with each other, they only share the information with the central panel, the detectors make their own decision as to the alarm level, transmit it to the panel and the panel is only used to activate the alarms required in its programming.
Market boundaries
Despite the benefits of increasingly effective fire detection systems, the low level of regulations in force in the region remains one of the main obstacles to its development. "In the hotel rooms what we find are the classic battery detectors that do not report to anyone," says Mr. Zorrilla. A form of detection that perhaps many hotels use but whose effectiveness seems to be falling between said to the extent is that the detection technology is perfected and it becomes possible to guarantee a true response, in time.
