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Data center fire suppression

Flames and smoke can irreversibly damage a facility and its data processing systems. Designing
critical facilities for survivability is key. Minimize the risk of fire damage by maximizing detection
and suppression with the right systems.

By Sam Salwan, PE, Senior Associate, Environmental Systems Design Inc., Chicago -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 5/1/2008

The average 14,000-sq.-ft data center pushes a 2,400 kW load and 700 tons of heat daily. Generated by small blade servers and
overcrowded racks, loads of this size burden the data center’s electrical circuits—which may not be properly grounded—causing
equipment to overheat in areas without proper cooling.

A simple equation applies: Large loads + combustible scenarios = the greatest threat to the data center’s 24/7/365 existence: a
computer room fire.

Flames and their smoke cause irreversible damage to a facility and its data processing equipment, often forcing the facility to close its
doors. According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md., as many as 93% of companies that
lose their data centers for 10 days or more due to a disaster file for bankruptcy within one year.

Designing today’s critical facilities for their survivability is key. Minimizing the risk of fire by maximizing detection and suppression with
the right systems will mitigate the threat that large loads and combustible scenarios pose to any data center’s uptime.

Fire detection systems

The unique airflow patterns within a data center create a challenge for smoke and fire detection systems. Unlike a typical commercial
building, the data center is outfitted with hot and cold aisles and underfloor and overhead spaces, each separated to contain airflow
within the space. For this reason, conventional detection methods don’t meet the data center’s needs. Instead, additional fire detection
strategies need to be considered concurrently to achieve reliable protection.

The architectural and mechanical layout of each data center will determine whether the facility needs an Early Warning Smoke
Detector (EWSD) or a Very Early Warning Smoke Detector (VEWSD). The EWSD system provides detection typically at the first sign of
smoke, while a VEWSD will expose an incipient fire smoldering for hours or days before a flame ignites.

Automatic spot-type detectors are the most common form of EWSDs, available in ionization and photoelectric types. Using ceiling
sensors, these passive detectors rely heavily on high airflow for their optimal performance. Duct detectors are installed in the supply
and return ducts of HVAC systems to prevent smoke spread by initiating control of fans, dampers, etc. As they sense particles of
combustion, they transmit a supervisory alarm to the fire alarm panel urging it to shut down the air handling unit. The International
Building Code requires high-rise buildings with air in the return and exhaust air plenums with a capacity greater than 2,000 cfm to have
a duct smoke detector in a serviceable area downstream of the last duct inlet.

An aspirating smoke detection system, on the other hand, is an active VEWSD, constantly sampling particles of air for the presence of
visible or invisible smoke, with its piping network, an aspirating fan and a highly sensitive detector. Less dependent on the airflow in the
room to transport smoke to the detector, the VEWSD carries extremely low accidental discharge rates, with a maximum transport time
from the most remote sampling port not to exceed 120 seconds. Air sampling systems are specified where very early detection is
crucial, in data centers and other high-tech communications facilities.

After evaluating EWSD and VEWSD systems, a critical facility should consider employing its smoke detectors as part of a cross-zoned
scheme, which requires the installation of two smoke detectors in the same area that are run on separate circuits. In this case, when a
fire is detected, the panel will require activation of both circuits before the release of a fire-extinguishing agent. Cross-zoned detection

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systems minimize possibility of accidental discharge due to false alarm and may provide an additional opportunity for on-site personnel
to eliminate an impending risk factor. (Note: In a data center, only smoke detectors should be cross-zoned, heat detectors need not
be.)

Fire extinguishing systems

While detection is crucial to alerting personnel in the room, fire damage can be minimized where an effective extinguishing system is
installed and properly maintained. Both water and gas-based fire suppression systems can be found in today’s data centers.

Water-based suppression systems

Water-based extinguishing systems fight fires in two dimensions, both in the air and on the equipment, but not underneath equipment
cabinets and other computer room fixtures. Ideal for structural protection, water-based extinguishing systems are available in either wet
or pre-action configurations.

Pipes in a wet system are filled with water at all times, discharging it over the fire when the sprinkler head fuses due to heat build-up.
Although the accidental discharge rates of a wet sprinkler system are minimal, an accidental discharge due to a damaged sprinkler
activation pipe or fitting leak could cause considerable damage to information technology equipment, possibly resulting in a large or
even fatal loss in data processing.

The more appropriate water-based extinguishing system for a data center is a pre-action system, available in both single and double
interlock options, as its pipes remains dry until a reliable fire condition is detected. The single interlock pre-action system requires the
activation of heat or smoke detectors before water enters the piping, discharging it over fire upon fusion of a sprinkler glass bulb or
solder link due to heat buildup in the space. Loss of air due to a damaged sprinkler will transmit a supervisory alarm at the control
panel. With the double interlock system, water again enters the pipes upon heat detection and loss of air due to fusion of glass bulb or
solder link. In both cases, when the sprinkler is merely damaged or there is a simple pipe leak, the pre-action system will transmit the
supervisory alarm signal, but keep the piping networks dry.

Recently developed very fine fire spray or a water mist system provides another option for fire suppression systems. Requiring less
water to suppress a fire than traditional sprinkler systems, the water mist method extinguishes a fire by absorbing its heat and by
discharging very fine droplets (100 to 120 micron) of water. Water mist systems require unique hardware such as steel pipes, water
container, pump, gas, nozzles, strainers, detection, and a panel. Water mist may provide a similar level of protection as a sprinkler
system. Underwriters listed water mist systems for data centers using stainless steel pipes to mitigate micro biologically-influenced
corrosion (MIC), which causes the development of pin leak holes in sprinkler piping.

Gaseous suppression systems

Gas-based fire suppression systems fight fires in three dimensions, in the space itself and under the equipment cabinets. Designed to
protect the equipment and data in process, gas-based systems do not leave a residue or require any clean up of the equipment after it
discharges. Clean agent extinguishing systems suppress fire in the incipient stage.

Similar to the pre-action system, clean agent extinguishing pipes contain no gas. Gas will discharge upon activation of the cross-zoned
detection system and subsequent mechanical and electrical systems shut down, flooding the room in 10 sec (with the exception of inert
gases, which are required to discharge in 60 sec). Although it takes under two minutes to suppress the flames, done by absorbing the
fire’s heat, gas in the room is specified to maintain concentration for as long as 10 min to obliterate smaller fires in any hard-to-reach
places.

In order for gaseous systems to be effective, though, the space has to be air-tight, with all door, floor, and ceiling openings sealed. The
gases used, including FM-200 (HFC 227), FE-25 (HFC-125), 1230 Novec, and inert gasses including inergen (IG-541) and argon, are
odorless, non-toxic, non-corrosive, electronically non-conductive, and environmentally-friendly. (Note: Venting of the space is required
when high-pressure inert gasses are used.) Once a gas discharge has taken place, however, its storage tanks need to be refilled. Very
often, depending on the location of the data center and its proximity to a vendor, it can take as long as 24 to 48 hours to replace the
gas agent needed to suppress another fire. For this reason, some mission critical facilities are now reserving back-up tanks,
maintaining twice as much gas storage at all times.

Integrated systems

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Most local jurisdictions require water-based fire extinguishing systems, while gaseous systems often provide the preferred protection
for computer room equipment. In order to satisfy each requirement, a typical data center will be outfitted with both. Here’s how it works:
if the fire isn’t suppressed by the gas system, the sprinkler system will subsequently activate, but is otherwise maintained as the official
back-up extinguisher.

Specifying the appropriate fire detection and suppression systems for each data center will increase its survivability. Most fires in
mission critical facilities can be prevented if fire detection and suppression systems are properly designed, installed and commissioned
in accordance with applicable standards.

Author Information
Salwan is a registered PE in both Illinois and California as well as a technical committee member for NFPA Standards 14, 24, 72, 75,
291 and a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. As a senior associate at ESD, Salwan supervises the design and
implementation of fire suppression and life safety systems in a variety of mission critical, residential, healthcare, education,
commercial, and industrial projects.

Data center fire codes

A number of NFPA fire codes are applicable to the data center environment. Each governing a different aspect of the facility from
design through maintenance, these standards work in concert to protect your mission critical facility from the threat of a fire.

1. NFPA 10 – Standard for portable fire extinguishers. This code requires the installation of portable fire extinguishers throughout the
premises. The use of a portable extinguisher will suppress a fire in its incipient stage and preserve activation of the fixed
extinguishing system, conserving resources and expenditure. Hand-held, clean agent fire extinguishers should be used because of
their colorless, odorless, non-conductive suppression agent.

2. NFPA 25 – Standard for inspection, maintenance and testing of water-based fire protection systems. This code specifies which
tests and frequency of tests need to be performed weekly, monthly and yearly. For example, water flow switches are tested once a
year, while control valves are inspected weekly.

3. NFPA 72 – National Fire Alarm Code. This standard outlines the requirements for spacing detection systems, including how many
are needed and where they are to be installed as well as the locationand installation of audible and visible appliances, addressing
their frequency and maintenance requirements. For example, manual pull stations are required within 5 ft. of each exit, while the fire
alarm panel must annunciate all the suppression, detection and notification zones.

4. NFPA 75 – Standard for protection of information technology equipment. This code governs data center construction, in regard to
the requirements of its fire protection and detection systems, its HVAC equipment and power supply requirements, including
disconnecting and grounding. The Standard requires the installation of automatic detection devices both above the suspended ceiling
(plenum) and below the raised floor, with a spot type detectors or air sampling system.

5. NFPA 76 – Standard for fire protection of telecommunications facilities. This standard governs the fire protection of
telecommunications facilities where telephone, data, cellular, internet, voice over internet protocol and video services are rendered to
the public.

For a complete list of NFPA standards, visit www.nfpa.org

Commissioning fire detection and suppression systems

Commissioning a data center’s life safety system can be just as crucial as its initial design. Documenting and validating the system’s
viability throughout the project assures both the specifying engineer and the owner that building operations match projected
performance criteria.

The following is a short list of life safety systems that need to be commissioned and their appropriate testing criteria:

1. Underground fire mains shall be tested in accordance with NFPA-24 by flushing before backfilling, performing a hydrostatic test,
inspecting the location of thrust blocks, and completing contractor material and test certificate.

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2. Sprinkler system commissioning includes a pneumatic test of the dry and pre-action systems, the valve supervisory devices, and a
hydrostatic test of the wet, dry, and pre-action systems; a trip test of the dry system and detection devices; a loss of air test and a
solenoid release of the pre-action system.

3. The clean agent extinguishing system shall be evaluated in accordance with NFPA 2001 by testing smoke detectors at the ceiling
and under the raised floor by activating manual pull stations and abort switches, sampling the power shut to the equipment and by
performing a flow (puff) test to make sure that pipes and nozzles are free of obstructions, a pneumatic test of piping and by verifying
trouble and alarm status at the building fire alarm panel.

4. The fire alarm system shall be tested in accordance with NFPA 72 by verifying the monitoring of fire suppression trouble and alarm
zones, testing alarm initiating devices, activation of duct smoke detectors, air handling shut down, activation of notification appliances
verifying the sound levels of audible devices, elevator recall and the tie in of fire alarm panels to the UL-listed central station; verifying
the sound levels of audible devices.

5. The VEWSD shall be tested for the travel time of its smoke alarm (maximum of 120 sec), verifying alert, action fire 1 and fire 2
status as well as trouble and alarm status at the building fire alarm panel and verifying flow pressure of sampling holes.

Additional references:

• International Code Council: www.iccsafe.org

• Society of Fire Protection Engineers: www.sfpe.org

• Fire Protection Handbook: www.NFPA.org

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© 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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