Smoke Extraction for Production and Storage Halls
An important component of fire protection, with a role in preventing casualties and limiting material damage, smoke extraction is carried out according to the fire safety scenario, within clearly defined parameters. The fire scenario will specify (depending on the type of building, its importance, thermal load, processes carried out in the building, etc.) a certain Aerodynamic Area (Aa) that must be ensured in case of fire. Based on this value, depending on the project requirements, the optimal smoke extraction solutions will be chosen. KADRA specialists are always available to propose the optimal solution, compliant with current national and European regulations (P118, EN 12101), offering the best quality for the available budget.
Smoke Hatches for Industrial Halls
Most often, for production spaces, pneumatic smoke hatches are chosen for smoke evacuation outlets in case of fire. They are an economical, reliable solution, tested over time, and a correctly designed and implemented smoke extraction solution will increase the building’s fire safety level and guarantee obtaining the fire safety approval from IGSU.
Two of KADRA’s projects at the end of 2021 involved designing and implementing smoke extraction solutions for production and storage halls, based on pneumatic smoke hatches. Both projects are industrial halls, and each came with specific requirements that KADRA fully met.
Smoke Hatches for Storage Hall
For Electromecanica Ploiești’s storage hall, whose main activity is the production of complex equipment for military and civil purposes, KADRA supplied and installed 5 hatches, 1000 x 1300 mm, operated by a telescopic pneumatic cylinder with 3 segments (the last opening stage being with hydraulic fluid, to absorb shock). The movable dome of the hatch (made of thermoformed cellular polycarbonate, on an aluminum frame, with a thermal insulation coefficient of 1.8 W/sqmK) opens at an angle of 140 degrees, and the thermal safety fuse for opening is calibrated at 68 degrees Celsius.
For daily ventilation, the smoke hatches were equipped with an additional frame, operated by an electric motor with a 300 mm stroke.
The smoke hatches were mounted on a roof with corrugated sheet metal covering and, consequently, were produced with thermally insulated bases (plinths), profiled exactly according to the corrugated sheet metal used for the roof.
Each hatch was equipped with an external opening system, secured, for easy execution of inspection, revision, and maintenance operations, which must be performed regularly, according to law.
In a field as sensitive as arms production, the safety of equipment, products under construction or completed and stored, and people, is all the more important as any accident can escalate into an extremely serious situation with dramatic consequences.
Smoke Hatches for Production Hall
At Electroprecizia S.A. Brașov, a Romanian company with over 80 years of experience in electric motor production, KADRA supplied 28 pneumatic smoke hatches, 2000 x 2500 mm, which ensure a useful smoke extraction area of over 92 sqm, according to the fire safety scenario.
The stroke of the pneumatic actuator, with hydraulic anti-shock protection on the last opening stage, is 1600 mm. This ensures an opening angle of at least 140 degrees.
Given that thermal processes, which raise the ambient temperature, take place in the production hall, the thermal safety fuses were calibrated at 93 degrees Celsius, to prevent accidental opening of the smoke hatches.
The smoke hatches were mounted on bases (plinths) 300 mm high, made of 1 mm thick galvanized sheet metal, with thermal insulation.
Given the activity carried out in that hall (electric motor production, aluminum product casting, electrostatic painting), the safety of people and equipment, especially in case of fire, was a priority for the beneficiary.
Smoke Hatches – Geometric Area, Aerodynamic Area
A fairly common confusion when choosing smoke hatches is equating the Geometric Area (Av) and the Aerodynamic Area (Aa) of a smoke hatch.
In the fire scenario, the minimum smoke extraction area / useful smoke extraction area (the minimum area that smoke evacuation outlets must ensure) refers to the Aerodynamic Area of the smoke hatches, not the Geometric Area.
Each smoke hatch comes with conformity documents (Declaration of Performance) and a label that must clearly indicate the Aerodynamic Area ensured by that hatch. For example, a hatch with dimensions (opening) of 2 m x 1 m will have a geometric area of 2 sqm, and if it has an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.75, it will provide an aerodynamic area of 2 x 0.75 = 1.5 sqm. If the fire scenario requires an effective smoke evacuation area of 3 sqm, two hatches of 2 sqm geometric area (4 sqm in total), which have an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.75, will be needed. Avoiding this type of confusion ensures that you will not have problems with the authorization of the smoke extraction solution by IGSU. Along with the useful smoke extraction area, according to current regulations, the placement of smoke hatches (evacuation outlets) must be done judiciously, depending on the configuration of the space and the geometry of the roof structure, so that, in case of fire, smoke extraction is efficient.
Of course, attention will be paid to thermal insulation, the hatches will be made with plinths (bases) adapted to the roof covering, and the installation will be done respecting the rules that prevent water infiltration from rain and snow.
Regardless of the type of production or storage hall for which you need a smoke extraction solution, KADRA provides you with the complete service (consultancy, design, supply, installation, service, and maintenance), at a level of professionalism guaranteed by over 25 years of experience in the field.
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