The food production site at Sommacampagna, Italy, which required an update to its fire detection system, appointed Hochiki to supply the new life safety system and devices.
Within food production sites, the temperature and humidity inside the environment must be carefully controlled to comply with food hygiene laws, and because of this, these sites can be notoriously complex buildings to design and install fire safety systems for.
The customer was looking for a high-performance fire detection system that would not be affected by these environmental factors, and, most importantly, would avoid false alarms which can halt production and cost the company thousands of Euros for every minute the site is not fully operational.
The installation team also needed to pay particular attention to the installation of cables and piping. As a specialist in aged cheese production, it was imperative that the delicate work of the cheese wheels and the hot marking of the upper layer of the Parmesan rind was not affected during the installation process.
The installer, NET Technologies, chose Hochiki’s L@titude fire detection technology to produce a system that was sophisticated, yet simple to use and understand via a graphical interface.
Mirko Corsini, Project Manager at Hochiki Italia, said: “The installer chose Hochiki’s L@titude panel, together with our SPC-ET beam smoke detectors, which are characterised by low power consumption at rest and incorporate a sophisticated algorithm of automatic compensation to environmental changes.
“The technical features of these products make them perfect for meeting the needs of this type of food processing environment. The flexibility of the Hochiki EPS protocol made it possible, through the CHQ-SZM2/SCI Zone Modules, to integrate conventional detectors (SPC-ET) as if they were addressable devices, without having to use auxiliary power supplies that would have required additional cables and batteries.”
Detectors with short circuit isolators were installed to ensure the system complied with the requirements of UNI EN 9795, which states that a short-circuit isolator must be installed for each room/compartment.
Commenting on the project, Fabrizio Begamin, Technical Coordinator at NET Technologies srl, said: “We chose Hochiki devices and system because of the technical characteristics and reliability that this brand offers, as well as a wide range of products that fully meet market demands.
“Post commissioning of the project, the operating conditions envisaged in the design phase have been amply met. Over the course of the next year, there will be further implementations of the fire detection system at the Parmareggio production site, with distributed intelligence solutions or with several autonomous and networked L@titude control panels.
“During the project, we have had to deal with several technical design studios to solve various kinds of system problems; a fundamental role, together with the products they offer, is played by the Hochiki Italia technical support. They have responded competently to regulatory and design aspects, as well as proposed solutions for particular applications.”
If you’d like to find out more about Hochiki’s fire safety solutions and range of products, be sure to visit stand FI1640 at FIREX International this 17-19 May at London’s ExCeL! Register for your free ticket, here >>
