BERMAD Fire Protection

In fire protection, every second is crucial, especially in high-risk infrastructure buildings, such as power plants. They need fire protection systems that are autonomous and not dependent on unreliable municipal water pumps or electricity supplies. Therefore many industrial buildings have their own water reservoirs with piping and pumps located a fair distance away from the area they are serving to protect.

Providing maximum safety against fire for one of the largest oil drilling facilities in the world, Shell’s FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico, was an extremely challenging task. With drilling up to a depth of up to 9 km and a production rate of 50,000 barrels of oil, the rig is a high-risk fire zone.

The June 2019 explosion at the Philadelphia Refinery was described as being like a nuclear eruption. Fires at refineries are, unfortunately, all too common often taking a tragic toll in human life.

Pressure surges can occur in fire protection systems as the result of sudden velocity or flow direction changes such as the quick opening or closing of a valve or the sudden starting or shutting down of a pump.

The design of fire protection systems is a complicated process that requires an integrated approach and a high level of expertise. System designers and engineers need to take a large number of factors into account while also understanding and complying with stringent local, regional, and international standards. 

Fire pumps are used to supply fire protection systems with pressurized water to ensure the smooth operation of the system's extinguishing devices. Because the fire pump's performance has a direct impact on the performance of the entire system, it is crucial to ensure it is functioning correctly.

Water surge or water hammer is a pressure wave in a piping system caused when a fluid in motion is forced to stop or change velocity or direction suddenly. Pressure surges in fire water systems can be caused by a number of different factors, such as a valve closing or opening too quickly or a pump starting or shutting down suddenly. This momentum change can create a significant and potentially damaging pressure rise.

In municipal fire pump applications, a water booster pump system is often used to take water from a public service main or private use water system. The booster pump serves the purpose of increasing the existing water pressure to one suitable for the fire protection system. When designing or installing such a water booster pump, it is important to consider certain critical issues specific to water booster pumps.

This video presents the basic installation and the initial priming instructions for a BERMAD 7BM pre-action valve from the time you receive it, through to the installation and initial operation.

Deluge valves are a critical part of many industrial fire protection systems, and often referred to as ''the heart of the system'', as they take a major role in protecting life and property.

A fire event can cause untold damage to property. But sometimes the extinguishing water can do as much damage to protected items as the fire itself. This includes such places as computer rooms, film archives, museums and other moisture-sensitive areas. In such areas where a false alarm can be catastrophic and the deployment of water should be restricted to the fire area alone, rather than the whole building or room, it can make sense to use a preaction fire protection system.

When selecting a deluge valve for your fire protection system, one of the most important things to consider is flow capacity with low head loss. In a fire protection situation, every second is critical. It is essential for water/foam to reach the fire as soon as possible after the detection system is activated . Even a short delay can be catastrophic, especially where flammable materials are present. A valve’s specific design will affect both the volume and speed with which fluid can pass through the unit. These in turn have a significant effect on system performance, and on the eventual outcome should a fire event occur.   

They say knowledge is power. And that is certainly true in fire protection. Knowing exactly what is going on in your fire protection system at any given time gives you vastly greater control. Reliable indication of the state of a valve can help diagnose problems, reduce system maintenance time, and improve performance and response time during a fire event.

During a fire event, the need for efficiency in a fire protection system is absolute. Time is of the essence; even a slight delay in fire water delivery could spell the difference between a contained event and one that spirals out of control.  

A fire event is a crisis that calls for fast and forceful response from both human and mechanical defenses. Unlike a conventional water works or irrigation scenario where there is plenty of time to start a hydraulic system up slowly, a fire emergency calls for rapid and immediate engagement of the system.

Use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the modern economy is growing strongly, with LNG production expected to reach 10% of the global crude production by 2020. Like all fuels, LNG is highly flammable, making your fire protection system a critical consideration when developing new LNG infrastructure.

Thankfully, tunnel fires don’t happen very often. But when they do, they can be catastrophic.

Fires can occur inside a tunnel, or be brought into the tunnel by a vehicle (for instance, due to friction, faulty electrical connections, or spontaneous combustion of cargo.) Tunnels are also sensitive to terrorist sabotage. Both roadway tunnels and train tunnels present the ideal conditions for a fire to get dangerously out of hand: