The range of fire detection equipment we specify, supply and install includes aspirating smoke detectors – designed for environments where the requirement is for more sensitive and rapid smoke detection than would be provided by normal point detectors. This is because with point detectors, the smoke may not reach the ceiling fast enough to be detected before serious damage has occurred.
This makes aspirating smoke detectors ideal for areas such as clean rooms, electronic rooms and areas where highly flammable liquid and gases are stored. Because they can be easily concealed, aspirating smoke detectors are also widely used where point detectors would detract from the appearance such as offices, apartments, hotel rooms and listed buildings. This also makes them suitable for locations where other types of detectors could be tampered with or vandalised.
In an aspirating smoke detection system, air samples are drawn by pump or fan through sampling points (holes in the pipe work) within the protected area to a central ionisation or optical detector. The amount of air entering each sampling point is small enough not to affect air or smoke flows within the protected space. In general, each sampling point has equivalent sensitivity to a point type smoke detector. It it is now possible to provide aspirating detection for not just smoke, but specific types of gases as well.