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Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
Summary
Fire curtains and smoke curtains are very commonly mixed up and the terminology around them is often interchangeably and wrongly used. This white paper examines what a smoke curtain is and what a
fire curtain is, explaining how they are designed, the standards and test regimes that apply to each, and
how they are each expected to be applied.
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
Smoke and fire curtains look similar to each other, but they have very
different properties and uses!
A fire curtain is generally installed so as to replace a conventional fixed
element such as a door, shutter or even a wall. A fire curtain is always
movable: the reason it installed is simply because we want to make use
of an opening that is available for everyday use which can also be closed
off in the event of a fire.
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
So to make curtains above that 4.5 to 5.0m length, then multiple rollers
and overlapping curtains are installed; the rollers may be either side by
side or one above the other, and this simply depends upon what is most
convenient in terms of the space available.
1
Headbox assembly containing a
single roller
1 - Non-flammable glass fibre cloth
2 - Extruded aluminium bottom bar
3 - Weight profile
2
Series of rollers
mounted next
to one another
in a horizontal
configuration to form
a continuous run of
curtains set within a
headbox
The bottom bar has two principal functions. Firstly, it provides a weight
at the bottom of the fabric so that when the power is removed from
the roller motor then gravity acting on the bottom bar weight makes
the curtain drop. This assumes that the curtain is a gravity drop type,
which most curtains are actually are, though some curtains are driven
down to meet some unusual applications. The other function is to limit
the deflection of the curtain if it is subject to high pressure differentials
or air velocities. If the curtain flaps around excessively when it is in use
then it is less effective, so the heavy weight of the bottom bar actually
stops the fabric from deflecting too much.
Side guides are available for smoke curtains for some applications but
the vast majority of smoke curtains wont have any, since it is regarded
as acceptable for there to be a bit of smoke leakage around the edges
of the curtains. See page 8 onwards for details on the role of side guides
with fire curtains.
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
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Produkt:
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Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
So, by limiting the width of the spill plume, the size of the smoke
ventilation plant can be reduced with resultant reduction in costs. This
is done by dropping barriers across underneath the balcony; those can
be automatic smoke curtains or they can be fixed screens. It is quite
common for architects to make a virtue out of necessity and put in
fixed screens which are then used as advertising hoardings, and as long
as those are rated to withstand 600oC. Again, any material is perfectly
acceptable.
(d) The final common application for smoke curtains is for atrium
balcony protection. The image shows smoke curtains descending
right down to floor level, which basically protect people on the balcony
from smoke from within the atrium.
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
(a) Access for maintenance and repair. Since smoke curtains are
inevitably mounted at high level and architects normally want them
to be hidden away, they very often actually have all their mechanisms
above the ceiling. The bottom bar is the only component that is visible
in normal use; when the curtain is deployed then the curtain material
itself plus the bottom bar becomes visible, but the roller and headbox
are never visible.
If it is necessary to maintain or repair anything within the headbox,
then access to the headbox is required.Very often a curtain is installed
and then the ceiling installer simply plasters right up to the headbox
leaving no access for maintenance and repair at all, meaning that if there
is a problem in the future the ceiling has to be ripped out in order for
the system to be maintained. So it does make sense to look at where
maintenance access is going to be needed and to provide access panels
at that point.
(d) Another key consideration is the location of the smoke curtain. The
normal purpose of a smoke curtain is to control the smoke and keep it
within a single reservoir, so therefore if the curtain is directly above the
fire source then smoke from that fire source is probably going to move
into two reservoirs and so the smoke curtain is not going to do its job.
So therefore smoke curtains should always be above aisles or walkways
wherever possible, and if they cant actually be above a walkway then
certainly any major fire source (such as high bay racking or large pieces
of machinery) should not be located directly underneath the curtain.
(b) Location of the controls and the battery back-up. Ideally these
components are positioned close to the motor and the headbox, but
they themselves are generally not actually temperature-rated, so they
do need to be positioned somewhere which is protected and they
also, of course, need to be somewhere where they can be accessed for
maintenance in the future.
(c) Air movement can be an issue as well. If a fixed curtain is placed in a
location where there is regular and significant air movement, then that
curtain can flex, perhaps rip and cause a bit of noise and aggravation, so
it is necessary to consider where the curtain is located and whether it
is likely to be susceptible to excess air movement.
A billowing curtain
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
There are five typical applications that a fire curtain is used for:
Where a barrier is fire rated, then quite often there is a requirement for
the curtain to be rated for insulation and/or radiation. Insulation would
be the ideal rating for a fire curtain but unfortunately it is quite difficult
to test for insulation on a fire curtain.
The reason for this is twofold: one is that quite commonly insulation
is provided by the means of an intumescent coating on the curtain
material, and this will tend to grow during the fire and it is not easy to
be sure that the thermocouple which it is mounted on non-fire side
of the curtain will actually stay in place in the test. The other reason is
that even if the curtain does not have an intumescent coating, the fabric
normally has a coating which quite often heats and dissipates in case
of fire, and if the coating is destroyed, then it gets quite likely that the
thermocouple will fall off. Therefore it is technically quite difficult to test
a curtain for insulation.
(b) Fire curtains are also quite often used to protect lift doors. There is
an application where the lift doors themselves are not fire rated but we
need a fire rating at that location, then simply dropping in a fire curtain
in front of the lift doors is a common way of providing this.
(c) Another reasonably common application is where there is a relatively
large void being used as a smoke shaft, perhaps as an alternative to a
BRE Shaft or an ADB Shaft, then that void can be closed off using a fire
curtain. In normal circumstances such a shaft would be closed off using
a damper or ventilator of some type, but a void is being used then that
void would normally have quite a large opening, too big for a ventilator
or damper, and therefore a fire curtain could be employed to close off
the shaft on the levels where there is no fire.
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Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
16. Controls
There are a number of operational modes for
fire curtains and again these are all detailed
within BS 8524. It is quite possible to have
multiple position deployment: this could
involve a curtain which would drop part-way,
perhaps to provide smoke control in the early
stages of the fire, hold at that for a set period
and then dropped to provide fire protection at
a later stage.
11
Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
(a) Excessive velocities may cause the fire curtain to stick. In some cases
if the smoke extract fans operate before the fire curtain deploys, then
those extract fans can create quite a large pressure differential. Since a
fire curtain has to overcome friction within its side guide rails in order
to drop, it is possible for the curtain to actually stick part way down. So
if the scheme design allows this to be a possibility, it is important that
the curtain is made to close before the smoke extract fans start.
Table 6
Frequency
Daily
(b) Possible need to calculate the likely deflection. Since a fire curtain
always has side guides, deflection is much less likely to be an issue for
a fire curtain than for a smoke curtain. However where a curtain is
situated adjacent to an escape route, then it is necessary to know what
the deflection is and allow for that in the selection of the width of the
escape route to make sure that there is a suitable available width for
people to escape through.
Weekly
Monthly
(c) Access for maintenance and repair. Again, as for smoke curtains,
access and maintenance repair can be an issue, because the mechanism
is always at high level, and if it is necessary to maintain or repair anything
within the headbox, then access to the headbox is required. However
In general terms it seems much more acceptable for the headboxes to
be on display with fire curtains, but again if the fire curtain headbox is
mounted above ceiling level then consideration needs to be given to
access through the ceiling.
If the system is part of a smoke control system, then also there usually
is a 3 monthly check that it actually works properly in conjunction with
the smoke control system, and then every 6 months there is a check of
any smoke seals: if it is a smoke sealed unit, then just a general structural
check is needed to make sure that it is not damaged or bowed or
deformed.
(e) Timing of descent. The moment when the fire curtain should actually
close needs close consideration. If people are likely to be wanting to
escape through a route where the fire curtain is, then it makes sense to
deploy the fire curtain as late as possible, whereas in other applications
it makes sense to deploy the fire curtain early. So in some cases it will
be deployed from a signal from the general smoke detection system, in
other cases from a local smoke detector, and sometimes from a local
fire detector. BS 8524-2 provides a table which very clearly states which
systems are acceptable and under which circumstances.
So there is quite a lot more testing set out in the Standard for a fire
curtain as opposed to a smoke curtain, but since people never do more
than what is asked for and they quite often do less, it is better to err on
the side of safety rather than anything else.
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Colt whitepaper - Design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building
18. Summary
Smoke curtains and fire curtains have significant differences and are not
interchangeable. It is important to be sure about which one is needed,
and to specify it properly. To make it simple to decide, fire curtains
restrict the spread of fire, and smoke curtains only restrict the
spread of smoke, and this is a very important difference.
At the moment if you are buying a smoke curtain within the UK, it
should be CE marked to the European Standard; if you buy a fire
curtain, there isnt actually a Standard to CE mark it to the moment.
Both products basically are there to enhance architectural flexibility and
they do form important parts of the buildings fire safety strategy, so
it is important that they are applied properly and maintained
properly once they are in place.
See www.coltinfo.co.uk and
http://www.coltinfo.co.uk/fire-and-smoke-curtains-cpd-seminar.html
for further information.
About Colt
Since 1931 Colt has been harnessing the natural elements to provide healthy, comfortable and safe working and living conditions
in buildings. Colt is a specialist in smoke control, climate control and HVAC systems, industrial ventilation and solar shading, with a
presence in more than 50 countries.