With the fire safety strategy in place, how was the detection and alarm system going to fit into the risk assessed approach? Here we explain some of the advanced systems and products that went into T5.
With such a vast number of people to move through in safety and comfort, T5 needed evolutionary technology to improve, wherever possible, on safety systems and people management services found elsewhere. Even systems currently in service in some of the world’s newest and most innovative airports didn’t provide the airport operators with exactly the level of sophistication they were looking for.
BAA wanted a combined PA/VA system that was as adaptable as the building itself. They envisaged a system that could be used not only for emergencies, but also for passenger and flight announcements, background music and for security reminders. They also wanted a resource that was capable of simultaneously relaying different information to different parts of the complex.
The Epsilon system from Gent by Honeywell – specifically developed to satisfy T5’s requirements – integrates Vigilon’s detection technology with an addressable voice alarm system. This is controlled by a new panel that manages both fire and voice applications on four loops; two for fire and two for voice. There are two master panels for T5, networked to around 450 secondary panels. High speed Cobranet protocol is used to manage and control data flow between panels and stream digital MP3 audio throughout the whole system. The network connects on a fault tolerant Ethernet fibre and carries up to 64 channels at any one time to any of the panels. These can then route four of these channels to their unique addressable speaker loops, and then to individual speakers or groups of speakers as required.
New speaker technology
The discrete addressability of each speaker is at the heart of Epsilon and what BAA had been seeking for their system. The new technology provides each speaker with its own integrated amplifier, allowing for individual functionality and hence addressability, and also permitting separate sound levels to be set for each one. The addressable loop then carries the passenger announcements, background music, emergency voice alarms, live public address and power to up to 60 loudspeakers per loop. Each speaker is individually addressed and can be controlled independently from the rest of the speakers on the loop. Another advantage of this addressable loop architecture, when coupled with the presence of isolators in every speaker, is that any cable fault or disconnection will not cause the loss of any of the speakers.
In addition to the addressable speaker technology, thousands of S-Quad multifunctional sensors with voice capability have been used. Their audio response, however, is a limiting factor for voice alarm functionality in such a project, whereas the Epsilon speaker system is practically hi-fi, with response from 80Hz to 18KHz.
In addition to the 450 Epsilon panels installed at Terminal 5, the system is managing 2000 manual call points, 10,000 detector devices, 3,000 sounder/strobes and another 10,000 addressable speakers. The system will also communicate with the terminal’s building management system, using TCP/IP Ethernet, to control fans and fire dampers in air ducts and in air transfer openings in walls and partitions. With both fire and building management systems on a common TCP/IP Ethernet network, it was unnecessary to run countless hardwired links between the systems, so reducing the potential for error and making for faster installation and commissioning.
T5’s design and construction is fire engineered, combining the fire detection and alarm system with passive fire protection and material science. The compartmentation achieved is so good that one area – the luggage bay – has six hours fire protection and is also designed to withstand small explosions. And Epsilon’s addressable and multi-channel voice alarm facilities means that if a fire is detected in a particular area of the terminal, phased evacuation from that area can be carried out – without alarming or disrupting other passenger traffic. Even on the largest scale, if the emergency affects the whole check-in building for example, then the departures area need not be involved, while passenger transit into the affected area can be halted.
In addition, public address announcements in one area of the complex can be independently made and will not affect different announcements in other areas. Specific parameters of the system can be quickly changed. For instance, a departure area can be varied in size dependent on the size of the plane that is docking at the gate. If a Boeing 747 is using a gate that was previously used by a 737, clearly more passengers need to be accommodated and this is achieved by simply changing the number of speakers on the loop that are used to convey the relevant passenger flight information.
With the fire safety strategy in place, how was the detection and alarm system going to fit into the risk assessed approach? Here we explain some of the advanced systems and products that went into T5.
With such a vast number of people to move through in safety and comfort, T5 needed evolutionary technology to improve, wherever possible, on safety systems and people management services found elsewhere. Even systems currently in service in some of the world’s newest and most innovative airports didn’t provide the airport operators with exactly the level of sophistication they were looking for.
BAA wanted a combined PA/VA system that was as adaptable as the building itself. They envisaged a system that could be used not only for emergencies, but also for passenger and flight announcements, background music and for security reminders. They also wanted a resource that was capable of simultaneously relaying different information to different parts of the complex.
The Epsilon system from Gent by Honeywell – specifically developed to satisfy T5’s requirements – integrates Vigilon’s detection technology with an addressable voice alarm system. This is controlled by a new panel that manages both fire and voice applications on four loops; two for fire and two for voice. There are two master panels for T5, networked to around 450 secondary panels. High speed Cobranet protocol is used to manage and control data flow between panels and stream digital MP3 audio throughout the whole system. The network connects on a fault tolerant Ethernet fibre and carries up to 64 channels at any one time to any of the panels. These can then route four of these channels to their unique addressable speaker loops, and then to individual speakers or groups of speakers as required.
New speaker technology
The discrete addressability of each speaker is at the heart of Epsilon and what BAA had been seeking for their system. The new technology provides each speaker with its own integrated amplifier, allowing for individual functionality and hence addressability, and also permitting separate sound levels to be set for each one. The addressable loop then carries the passenger announcements, background music, emergency voice alarms, live public address and power to up to 60 loudspeakers per loop. Each speaker is individually addressed and can be controlled independently from the rest of the speakers on the loop. Another advantage of this addressable loop architecture, when coupled with the presence of isolators in every speaker, is that any cable fault or disconnection will not cause the loss of any of the speakers.
In addition to the addressable speaker technology, thousands of S-Quad multifunctional sensors with voice capability have been used. Their audio response, however, is a limiting factor for voice alarm functionality in such a project, whereas the Epsilon speaker system is practically hi-fi, with response from 80Hz to 18KHz.
In addition to the 450 Epsilon panels installed at Terminal 5, the system is managing 2000 manual call points, 10,000 detector devices, 3,000 sounder/strobes and another 10,000 addressable speakers. The system will also communicate with the terminal’s building management system, using TCP/IP Ethernet, to control fans and fire dampers in air ducts and in air transfer openings in walls and partitions. With both fire and building management systems on a common TCP/IP Ethernet network, it was unnecessary to run countless hardwired links between the systems, so reducing the potential for error and making for faster installation and commissioning.
T5’s design and construction is fire engineered, combining the fire detection and alarm system with passive fire protection and material science. The compartmentation achieved is so good that one area – the luggage bay – has six hours fire protection and is also designed to withstand small explosions. And Epsilon’s addressable and multi-channel voice alarm facilities means that if a fire is detected in a particular area of the terminal, phased evacuation from that area can be carried out – without alarming or disrupting other passenger traffic. Even on the largest scale, if the emergency affects the whole check-in building for example, then the departures area need not be involved, while passenger transit into the affected area can be halted.
In addition, public address announcements in one area of the complex can be independently made and will not affect different announcements in other areas. Specific parameters of the system can be quickly changed. For instance, a departure area can be varied in size dependent on the size of the plane that is docking at the gate. If a Boeing 747 is using a gate that was previously used by a 737, clearly more passengers need to be accommodated and this is achieved by simply changing the number of speakers on the loop that are used to convey the relevant passenger flight information.
