Come learn more about these fundamental equipment to ensure that risks and damage are avoided or at least minimized.
(Carlos Augusto Longo – Electrical Engineer Production Coordinator)
It is not uncommon to see news of fires occurring in residential and commercial buildings. Whether due to recklessness or negligence in prevention and combat measures, fires can take on the proportion of a disaster by resulting in loss of property and, much worse, of lives.
In Brazil, great tragedies of this category have already occurred, such as the nightclub Kiss, which resulted in 242 deaths and around 650 injuries. The fire at the nightclub, located in the city of Santa Maria/RS, happened after the lead singer of a band lit an outdoor flare and the sparks caused by the flare hit the foam on the ceiling. In about 3 minutes, the club was filled with dense smoke filled with cyanide, the lethal substance that caused most deaths. As an aggravating factor, in addition to being overcrowded, the establishment had expired its operating license and did not have a fire prevention and firefighting plan.
Other cases such as the Joelma Building (190 fatalities), the Flamengo accommodation (10 teenagers killed) and the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro (no deaths, but with irreparable damage to the historical heritage) could have been avoided if the norms, the correct facilities or equipment had been adopted.
Many can be the causes that generate fires, which can be caused accidentally, by combustible or flammable materials, sabotage and criminal actions, electrical failures and even by misuse of equipment or materials.
Regardless of the cause of the fire, it is important to emphasize that prevention and combat measures are essential to guarantee property and life safety, especially in places with large circulation and concentration of people.
Within this context, motor pumps represent a fundamental part, whether in systems with hydrants or in systems with automatic showers, called sprinklers. It is about the types of motor pumps that make up the firefighting sets that we are going to discuss from now on.
Are you ready to understand a little more? So let's go!
Pumping systems for firefighting are generally composed of 3 types of motor pumps:
- Main motor pump, usually driven by an electric motor;
- Auxiliary (or reserve) motor pump, which can be driven by an electric motor or a combustion engine; It is
- Pressurization motor pump or jockey.
Both the main and auxiliary motor pumps are essential equipment for pumping water to fight the fire and, therefore, need to be able to start operating whenever necessary, in any accident situation.
The main motor pump, as already assumed, is the one that, once activated, will supply the flow and pressure demand to fight the fire. To guarantee its operation, regardless of the cause of the incident, it must be connected directly to the electrical power grid, in an independent power supply circuit.
As it is possible to assume from its name, the auxiliary motor pump has the function of helping the main motor pump when it is unable to supply the pumping need. This can occur if there is a need to use more open fire hydrants than expected or even due to a lack of energy. It is precisely for this last reason – lack of energy, that auxiliary motor pumps need to be connected to a generator. When the installation does not have a generator available, another option is to adopt a combustion motor pump as an auxiliary in the firefighting system.
Even though it is not a mandatory item, the pressurization motor pump, called jockey, maintains pressure in the network, preventing the main pump from being triggered unnecessarily. It controls the pressure in the water outlet tubes, avoiding changes in the fluid flow, thus maintaining the ideal level of water pressure, which improves the performance in putting out the flames. Compact equipment, automatically turned on when the fire-fighting system is activated, it is capable of working even if there are small leaks along the piping.
Another interesting item to be installed in a fire-fighting system is the expansion tank, whose purpose is to maintain the pressure in the system until its usable volume is exhausted, avoiding an excessive number of starts of the jockey pump in cases of small leaks in the installation. .
The activation of the motor pumps, main, auxiliary and jockey it is done through pressure switches, which are basically pressure switches. The main function of a pressure switch is to send (or not) an electrical signal to activate the motor pump(s) according to the current situation. The pressure switch is designed so that it has a characteristic pressure point, both to send the start and stop signal for each pump. Generally, according to each pressure switch manufacturer, it is still possible to regulate these pressures according to the needs of the installation.
For a fire-fighting system to function correctly and for the necessary reliability and efficiency to exist, fire-fighting equipment must comply with the most rigorous manufacturing, inspection and testing procedures. And that you know you will always find in all FAMAC products!
In our wide range of products you will find all line for fire fighting, with pumps jockey, electric motor pumps and motor pumps driven by internal combustion engines.
On our website you will also find the Pump Selector, a tool that will help choose the best pump options for firefighting, having access to hydraulic performance curves and other relevant information.
The concern with the reliability of fire-fighting motor pumps is something of fundamental importance and that must be considered very carefully by professionals who will design prevention and combat systems. If you are not an expert, but you are the owner or responsible for a place with this type of system, you also need to be aware of all this.
And more: in addition to implementing and ensuring the quality and correct installation of the equipment, it is necessary to have an action plan and ample signage indicating the procedures and escape routes in case of accidents of this type.
Stay tuned, always prevent yourself and until next time!
