CEAC-2021-04-April

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News
“Aspirating technology allows maintenance and annual testing
to occur at a central unit like the VEA with two smoke
chambers on the ground — eliminating the need for special
equipment and extra effort,” says Van Loan.
He adds that the system is self-cleaning and able to automatically
detect and eliminate clogs in the tubes or ports caused
by dust or debris.
“The really nice thing about the VEA is that it is self-cleaning.
It calibrates and looks for an equal intake on all the sampling
ports and determines if there is a difference like a clog in a
sampling port or tube. If it detects a clog, it performs automatic
self-cleaning maintenance,” says Van Loan. Essentially,
the pump draws any dust or debris from the sampling points
back through the unit’s filtration system to perform cleaning.
While the aspirating technology can be customized to
achieve code-compliant coverage in a wide range of high
ceiling open space settings, it is flexible enough to adapt
to remodels to increase occupancy in a hotel room, floor or
tower by providing earlier smoke detection.
“With aspirating technology, early smoke detection allows
hospitality managers to put more occupants in a given
indoor space. In the event of a fire, its earlier notification
capabilities allow guests to exit the building faster, which is
what performance-based fire protection designs using the
VEA is all about,” says Van Loan.
According to Van Loan, when the resort considered remodeling
the grand atrium lobby to enlarge it for guests, the VEA
already accommodated the increased occupancy load by default
as long as the open space above remained unchanged.
Aesthetically, for hotels and resorts such aspirating systems
air sampling points are typically smaller and less visible than
larger spot detectors. The quarter-sized sampling points are
unobtrusive and can blend in with its surroundings or be
concealed entirely.
Given that large resorts often include water features such as
indoor pools, Jacuzzis, and even waterparks, the aspirating
smoke detecting system’s design can also minimize disruptive
false alarms that are prone to occur when conventional
equipment is used in moisture laden areas.
“Air sampling smoke detection provides a lot of value in indoor
settings like water parks, where the high concentration
of humidity and water condensation can often cause false
nuisance alarms for traditional fixed type smoke detection,”
says Sandler.
For special architectural features such as atria and large open spaces,
advanced smoke detection technology like VESDA VEA minimizes costs and
detects smoke at the earliest possible stage using flexibly placed, concealable
sampling points.
He adds that when enhanced environmental detection is
warranted to protect health and indoor air quality, another
modular unit, called VESDA Sensepoint XCL by Xtralis, can
be added to detect a variety of odorless gasses, which could
nevertheless pose significant safety and liability hazards, such
as chlorine, chloride, ammonia, carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide.
Aspirating technology can help the hospitality industry
simplify the inspection and maintenance of smoke detectors
while bolstering safety. Doing so will help to facilitate
a more secure, relaxed environment with less intrusive, less
labor-and-equipment-intensive inspection, testing and maintenance
— which can boost the bottom line.
For more information, contact: Honeywell Building Technologies
at 1-800-289-3473; email
Nicole.deschler@honeywell.com or visit: bit.ly/VESDA-EVEA.
Contact ADT Commercial @ (833) 238-4314; email:
bvanloan@criticalsystems.us; ryansandler@adt.com; or visit:
adtcommercial.com.
Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, Calif.
“Aspirated systems like VESDA can remove water condensation
in the sampled air and reduce the humidity level before
it is tested to eliminate nuisance alarms,” he explains. “As
the air sample is transported through the pipe network, water
traps can be incorporated to pull the water out of the air
before it reaches the sensing or detection unit.”
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| Chief Engineer