Warehouses
Modern high-bay warehouses & storage facilities with their compact design, their height and densely stored goods create ideal conditions for rapid fire propagation. A common misconception is that a warehouse & storage facility full of non-combustible products does not pose a fire hazard. However, packaging materials commonly found in warehouses and storage facilities such as plastic wrapping, cardboard boxes, wooden crates, plastic, wooden pallets etc. all contribute to spread of fire. .
Refrigerated warehouses and cold storage facilities are temperature controlled environments that contain a wide range of inventory such as fresh and frozen foods, pharmaceuticals and pre-packaged product lines etc. The ultra dry environment and highly combustible nature of the insulation and packaging materials present a significant fire risk in these facilities.
In hazardous chemical storage facilities, the potential risks are substantial and conventional fire safety systems maybe inadequate
The threat of fire therefore should never be underestimated at warehouse & storage facilities.
Fire Protection of ASRS Facility
Fire Protection of Automatic Storage and Retrieval Facilities is critical in nature and presents unique challenges.
The biggest risk in an ASRS facility as compared to a regular storage facility is that they are unmanned and human intervention in the event of a fire is impossible as there is no access.
Also, ASRS facilities are designed to store much more material than regular storage facilities. Hence , the loss in the event of a fire is that much more and adequate and efficient fire detection and protection of ASRS facilities is non negotiable.
Current guidelines are primarily based on standard racks. However, ASRS rack geometry is substantially different than standard rack geometry. Ceiling Sprinkler Protection which is recommended for the protection of standard storage facilities is not suited for protection of ASRS facilities.
Areas to be Protected
- Storage Area
- Packaging Section
- Racks with Heights of up to 40 m
Kind of Protection Required
- Fire Hydrant System
- Automatic Sprinkler System
- Intelligent Addressable Fire Detection and Alarm System
- Smoke Aspirating Detection System (VESDA)
- Conventional Fire Detection and Alarm System
- Portable Fire Extinguishers