INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM

Prepared by:
Industrial Safety and General Mercantile Ltd
Upanga Rd,
Crescent Building, Plot No. 2290-7/13
P. O. Box 7468
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255 787 833 338
+255 776 833 338
Email: info@isgmtz.com
isgm54@yahoo.com
Website: www.isgmtz.com

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 3
2. WHY FDAS ....................................................................................................................................... 3
3. TYPES OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM ........................................................................... 3
Manually Operated Alarm System .............................................................................................. 3
Automatic Operated. .................................................................................................................... 4
3.1.1. Stand Alone FDAS ........................................................................................................ 4
3.1.2. CONVENTIONAL/ NON ADDRESSABLE FDAS ................................................... 5
3.1.3. ADDRESSABLE FDAS ................................................................................................ 5
3.1.4. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AN ADDRESSABLE AND A CONVENTIONAL
FDAS 6
4. CATEGORIES OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM................................................................. 7
Category M Systems ..................................................................................................................... 7
Category L Systems ...................................................................................................................... 7
Category P ..................................................................................................................................... 8
5. COMPONENTS OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM ............................................................. 9
Smoke Detectors ............................................................................................................................ 9
Heat Detector ............................................................................................................................... 10
Flame Detectors ........................................................................................................................... 12
Multi-Sensor Detectors ............................................................................................................... 13
Manual Call Point ....................................................................................................................... 13
Sounders....................................................................................................................................... 13
Beacons......................................................................................................................................... 13
Sounder Beacon ........................................................................................................................... 13
Fire Alarm Control Panel (Facp) .............................................................................................. 13
Repeater Panel ............................................................................................................................ 15

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
1. INTRODUCTION
Fire detection system is a fire service installation (FSI) commonly provided in buildings for
life and property protection, for practical purposes, detection has to have signaling capabilities
(Alarm devices)

2. WHY FDAS
Most fire cases occurrences the building occupants are not aware of the situation in early stages,
until the fire develops and visible by the outsiders.
These delays in fire discoveries and further alerting the fire brigade contributes to heavy fire
losses
In general fire alarm systems are installed to:
i. To provide for the safety of occupants in buildings, and to make provision for their
evacuation or refuge during a fire or other emergency,
ii. To provide fire department with early notification of a fire in a building and to
direct them to the area of risk,
iii. To reduce loss of property;
iv. To reduce building damage; the building may be unoccupied for periods where
equipment is still powered and the owner wishes to ensure that if anything goes
wrong the fire department is called to the scene in a timely manner.
v. Minimize risk to the public who attend unfamiliar properties.
NOTE:
 For quick and efficient firefighting and adequate fire protection it is necessary
that fires are detected at the early stages
 IN A FIRE EVENT , EVERY SECOND COUNTS

3. TYPES OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM

Fire detection and alarm system can be
 Manually operated (purely Manual, Manual Electric)
 Automatic Operated

3.1. Manually Operated Alarm System

Purely manual
Involves a person manually noticing a fire and raising the alarm manually. This can be done
by VOCALLY or the use of basic devices such as;

 Rotary Gong: Sounded simply by rotating the handle around the rim of
the gong
 Hand Strikes eg. Iron triangles suspended from a wall accompanied by
a metal bar used to strike the triangle producing a loud clanging sound
 Hand bells
 Whistles
These devices are normally found in walls of corridors, entrance halls and stair case landings

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
A person is required to operate the alarm, continuous alarm cannot be guaranteed for as long
as may be necessary making their use unlikely and mostly undesirable. Hence, cannot be the
only means of raising the alarm except in low risk areas.

Manual electric systems

These are systems that operates as part of an electric circuit but needs to be set in motion
manually
Mostly done by the use of manual call points, these are invariably small wall mounted boxes

3.2. Automatic Operated.

These system have automatic detection devices that detects a fire event using different stimulus
(smoke, heat, flames and initiate the alarm)
i. Stand alone
ii. Conventional/Non- Addressable FDAS
iii. Addressable/Intelligent FDAS

3.2.1. Stand Alone FDAS

Designed for use in;
 building sites and temporary structures
 Domestic kitchens
 Simple and Small residential structures and
 Where permanent fire alarm system isn’t in place or feasible to install.
They are cheaper, easier to use and battery-powered

Called STAND ALONE as it comprises with an input (detector) and output devices (sounder
or a sounder beacon)

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
3.2.2. CONVENTIONAL/ NON ADDRESSABLE FDAS
Best utilized for smaller applications;
• Small Schools
• Stores
• Restaurants
• Apartments

Characteristics
i. Detection of smoke or a fire is done by zone
ii. Conventional systems are not able to provide exact details or position of the fire/where
the device has been activated
iii. A conventional fire alarm system uses one or more circuits (zones), connected to
sensors wired in parallel at the end with an EOL resistor.

Detectors are devised to decrease the circuit’s resistance (Increase current) when the
environmental influence on any detection exceeds a predetermined threshold.

3.2.3. ADDRESSABLE FDAS

Addressable systems uses digital technology transfers information from the connected devices
to the main control panel as binary code –ones and zeros. Enabling user to give an address to
every device.

Provide the location of every device on the system to the control panel, hence tells you exactly
where the fire is or where the device has been activated

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Utilizes a loop configuration containing all the fire alarm devices, including sounders and
beacons

3.2.4. Differences between an Addressable and a Conventional FDAS

Aspect Conventional FDAS Addressable FDAS

Connection Done is parallel circuit making up of Done in a ring circuit (Loop) that can
a zone with an EOL resistor contain multiple zones

Detection Done in zones, hence does not Locates the specific area of the fire or
indicate the specific area of fire where the device has been activated
Size of Project Suitable for small size projects Suitable for any size of Project

Cost of Low cost devices Higher cost devices

devices
Installation Higher as more wiring is required Lower, less wiring is required
Cost
Functionality • Not effective • More advanced and therefore
• Limited when it comes to the allow for more control and
scope of protection they can flexibility.
offer. • More when it comes to false
alarms

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
4. CATEGORIES OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM
Fire alarm systems may be installed in buildings to satisfy one, or both, of two principal
objectives, namely;
1. Manual Connection
2. Protection of life and
3. Protection of property.

The objectives may differ in time or place. Hence FDAS can be categorized into three major
categories;
• Category M Systems
• Category L Systems
• Category P systems

Category M Systems
Category M systems are manual systems and, therefore, incorporate no automatic fire detectors.
The system involves only Manual Call Points/ Break Glass
Category L Systems
Category L systems are automatic fire detection systems intended for the protection of life.
They are further subdivided into:
i. Category L1
Systems installed throughout all areas of the building
THE OBJECTIVE: To offer the earliest possible warning of fire, so as to achieve
the longest available time for escape
Here, IT IS MANDATORY THAT, an automatic fire detection device is placed at every
room/space with a volume of (or greater) than 1cubic meter with the exception of bathrooms
and toilets.

ii. Category L2
Systems installed only in defined parts of the building.
A Category L2 system should include the coverage necessary to satisfy the recommendations
of this standard for a Category L3 system;
THE OBJECTIVE: identical to that of a Category L3 system, with the
Additional objective of affording early warning of fire in specified areas
of high fire hazard level and/or high fire risk.
Areas of high fire risk may include (but not limited to)
• Storage rooms
• Electrical rooms
• Kitchens and Pantry
• Printing and copier rooms

iii. Category L3:

Covers escape routes and all rooms leading onto escape routes

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 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND GENERAL MERCANTILE LTD
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
OBJECTIVE: systems designed to give a warning of fire at an early enough
stage to enable all occupants, other than possibly those in the room of fire origin,
to escape safely, before the escape routes are impassable owing to the presence
of fire, smoke or toxic gases.

iv. Category L4:

Systems installed within those parts of the escape routes comprising circulation areas and
circulation spaces, such as corridors and stairways.
OBJECTIVE: system is to enhance the safety of occupants by providing warning
of smoke within escape routes;

v. Category L5:
Systems in which the protected area(s) and/or the location of detectors is designed to satisfy a
specific fire safety objective
Often the design is based on a fire risk assessment or forms part of a fire engineering solution.
OBJECTIVE: provided to compensate for some departure from normal guidance

Category P
Systems are automatic fire detection systems intended for the protection of property.
This is to protect buildings that are rarely occupied (parking structures, godown), unoccupied
buildings (especially at night, weekends and holidays) Further sub-divided into:
i. Category P1:
Systems installed throughout all areas of the building.
OBJECTIVE: to offer the earliest possible warning of fire so as to minimize the time
between ignition and the arrival of fire-fighters;
ii. Category P2:
Systems installed only in defined parts of the building.
OBJECTIVE: to provide early warning of fire in areas of high fire hazard level, or
areas in which the risk to property or business continuity from fire is high.

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

5. COMPONENTS OF FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM

A fire alarm system consists of many components, we can categorize them into;
1. Initiating/Input devices
i. Automatic - Smoke Detectors
- Heat Detectors
- Multi Sensors
- Flame Detectors
ii. Manual - Manual Call Point/ Break Glass

2. Control/Processing devices
- Fire Alarm Control Panel
- Repeater Panel

3. Output/Notification Devices
- Sounder
- Beacon/Strobe
- Sounder Beacons

5.1. Smoke Detectors

A smoke detector is a device that initiates an alarm signal when it senses smoke.
There are two classifications of these devices, depending on the type of sensor they use to
detect smoke particles.
• Ionization detectors:
• Photoelectric detectors:

Ionization Smoke Detectors:

Generally more sensitive to flaming fires
Flaming fires result from the ignition of flammable liquids, gases or open flames that
ignite other items. These fires produce large quantities of flames with smaller amounts
of smokeThese detectors contain tiny traces of radioactive material between two
electrically charged plates. Ions flow between these two charged plates, but smoke
particles disrupt this. If this happens, the smoke detector goes off.

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Photoelectric Smoke Detectors:
More responsive smoldering fires
Smoldering fires These fires produce a large amount of thick smoke, which can
contain toxic chemicals like carbon monoxide
Smoldering occurs on the surface of the solid rather than in the gas
Photoelectric detectors emit LED light beams in their detection chamber.
The detection chamber contains a light source (Infrared LED) and a photodiode (light detector)
perpendicular to each other

When smoke particles come into this chamber, they scatter the beam of light, deflecting part
of it on the detector’s photoelectric sensor. When the sensor detects this light, the alarm goes
off.

5.2. Heat Detector

Fire increases the temperature of a room
Heat detector is a device that can sense heat in a room. It responds when the converted thermal
energies of a fire increases
They respond when the heat reaches its a predetermined fixed temperature (60◦C)
They are practical in certain areas where smoke detectors aren’t suitable, like an environment
where there are too many airborne particulates due to
- Moisture,
- Temperature,
- dust, such as in garages, industries, elevator machine rooms,
warehouses, attics, and storage rooms.
Designed exclusively to save properties, not lives
There are 2 types of heat detector
- Rate of Rising Heat Detectors and
- Fixed Temperature Heat Detector

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Rate of rising heat detector
A temperature increase at the sensor of 15F (9C) or more per minute activates the rate-of-rise
feature. This closes the contacts in the sensor to transmit the alarm condition to the fire alarm
control panel.

It contains an air chamber that expands due to the raise in the rate of heat.

After a fire element the sensor is self-restoring.

Fixed Temperature Heat Detector

Contain a bimetallic switch element that closes at a specified temperature limit. The switch is
normally composed of two metals, each having a different temperature coefficient of expansion
As this bimetallic heats the metal with higher coefficient of expansion, it causes the switch to
bend or curve, closing the switch; thus indicating an alarm condition.

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Fixed temperature element are mostly non-restorable and, when activated, the detector might
need to be replaced.

5.3. Flame Detectors

Is a type of detector that is used to detect as well as react to the occurrence of a fire or flame.
Flame sensor frequently responds faster & more precisely as compared to a heat or smoke
sensor because of the mechanisms it utilizes to notice the flame.
Use Ultraviolet (UV) or Infra-Red (IR) technology to identify flames meaning they can alert
to flames in less than a second.
This quality also limits the flame detector as not all fires have a flame.
Typical applications for optical flame detectors are;
- Wherever highly combustible materials are involved
- Where there is a need for instantaneous response to flame
- Wherever unsupervised areas require automated fire protection
- Where there is a large capital investment to be protected

Example; Gasoline transport loading terminals, Pipeline pumping stations, Refineries,

Aircraft hangers, Automotive paint spray booths, Jet engine test cells, Offshore drilling and
production platforms
Types of flame detectors are;
- Infrared (IR),
- Ultraviolet (UV)
- Ultraviolet/Infrared (UV/IR)
- Multi-spectrum infrared (MSIR

They have filter to screen out unwanted wave lengths of UV hence, they are solar blind, false
alarms due to sun radiation won’t occur
Despite that they respond fires rapidly, they also responds to welding at long range, and they
may also respond to lightning, sparks

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

5.4. Multi-Sensor
Use a combination of more than one type of sensor – smoke, heat or carbon monoxide – to
detect the presence of a fire.

5.5. Manual Call Point

A fire alarm call point (also referred to as a red manual call point or a break-
glass call point). Essentially a small box, mounted on a wall which contains
a button or a lever that allows you to manually trigger the fire alarm in a
building.

Depending on the model of the call point you may or may not have to break
a glass to reach the button that activates the fire alarm.
Latest designs have been adapted to use depressible plastic instead of glass
to reduce the possibility of injury to the user.
Once the manual call point has been used, it has to be reset manually, using a safety key to
revert it back to its original state.
Designed to trigger Fire Alarm manually in case of any emergency or if fire/smoke is visible.

5.6. Sounders
 A notification device in a FDAS that produces sound
/ Siren in case of a fire event
 It is an Audio/Sound

5.7. Beacons
 Also a notification device that produces light flashes
incase of a fire event
 It is a visual notification device

5.8. Sounder Beacon

 A notification device in a FDAS that produces
both sound and light flashes in case of a fire event
 Have both Audio and Visual notification capabilities

5.9. Fire Alarm Control Panel (FACP)

This is the processing component of a fire detection and alarm System
Also referred as the Brain of a FDAS
The panel receives information from devices designed to detect and report fires, monitors
their operational integrity and provides for automatic control of equipment, and transmission
of information necessary to prepare the facility for fire based on a predetermined sequence.

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Panel also supply electrical energy to operate any associated initiating device, notification
appliance, control, transmitter, or relay

Main Components of a Panel

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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Component Function

Power Supply Provides power to the Panel

Main Back Board The Main Back Board contains slots circuit boards, where the panel
modules are placed (fitted) including Panel Modules, Dual Loop
Panel Module(s), and various optional panel modules.
LCD Main Processor The LCD* Main Processor Board provides operation of the panel
Board GUI**.
Ground Cable(s) Ground cabling is green and yellow, insulated wire containing
connecting lugs. Ground cabling provides common electrical
grounds of the cabinet to the lid, fascia, and Back plate
Conductor PSU*** Cables Connects from the power supply to the Main Back
Board.
Conductor Cable Conductor Cable connects the Main Back Board to the LCD Main
Processor Board.
*
* Liquid Crystal Display
**Graphical User Interface
*** Power Supply Unit
**Graphical User Interface

5.10. Repeater Panel

Also known as an annunciator.

Generally they are small panels installed in a location that is remote to the fire alarm control
panel.
It gives information of the state of the panel that is at a distant location enabling more
accommodation of devices in the same FADS spread over a large area.
There are mainly 2 types of repeater panels;
- Passive
- Active
Passive repeater panel
Passive Repeater Panels
Passively display the fire alarm panel's state.
It does not have buttons and hence you cannot control the fire system using it.
Unit
Active Repeater panel
Has control buttons, or a screen
The fire alarm system can also be actively controlled by it.

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