Foam Discharge System Test at Apache Helicopter Hangar

AAC Middle Wallop is the home of the Army Air Corps. One of the most potent weapons in their arsenal is the Apache Longbow helicopter manufactured by Boeing and Westland. The MOD spent £3.1 billion on 67 aircraft.

One of the hangers at Middle Wallop used to store the Apache helicopters is protected by a foam discharge system which uses 10 fixed monitors to discharge foam to either half of the hanger when required. The system is activated when two or more flame detectors located around the hanger are themselves activated.
The foam used is 3% AFFF and is contained in a 3200ltr bag tank. The water is pumped into the system by either an electric or diesel pump. The water pressure squeezes the bag tank which in turn ports the foam into the system at the correct ratio.

The system has been installed for over 10 years and the client requested that a functional test of the system be carried out to prove the functionality.

We were unable to discharge (all of) the monitors directly onto the hanger floor as it had to be kept functional for the helicopters; also the discharged foam had to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner, and not allowed to enter the drainage system.

It was therefore decided to isolate all but one of the fixed monitors. A hose was connected to the remaining monitor and run to a 1000 litre IBC which would be used to collect the discharged foam.

The system was initiated by activating two flame detectors. The hose was held by members of the Middle Wallop Fire Service and once foam started to be produced the hose was directed (with some difficulty!) into the IBCs. Once sufficient foam had been produced it was isolated and the system flushed through with water.

Carrying out this procedure enabled us to prove that the system is fully functional and would discharge foam from the monitors in the event of a fire. What we were not be able to confirm is the foam/water ratio as the flow rate produced by one monitor is different to that of five.

To see more photographs of the system test visit our gallery of shots from the day.

Blyth Workcats Marine Fire Alarm Systems

Firecrest Services were contacted by Simon Salkeld of Blyth Workcats about supplying a fire alarm system to be installed on boats they manufacture.

Blyth Workcats manufacture commercial catamaran workboats in the construction, passenger, survey and dive sectors. They are in use all over the world. They range in size from 10 to 14 meters in length. Recently they have taken orders for boats which are used to carry passengers and these are required to have fire alarm detection in the engine compartments.

Their requirements were to provide fire detection in the engine compartments when the boats are in use and electronic sounders in the wheelhouse.

We investigated products for use in the marine sector as this is an area new to us. We were keen to maintain our companies’ policy of using open protocol systems and therefore decided to use the following products:

Precept, marine, conventional 2 zone panel. This panel is available in both 240v and 24v variants; which is useful as the boats electrical systems vary.
Apollo Marine conventional heat detectors.

The latest system we supplied was for a vessel to be used in Gibraltar. This boat had a 12v DC electrical system. We therefore used a 24volt control panel with a 12v – 24v converter. The fire alarm system is only required when the boat is in use and when the boat is not in use its electrical system is isolated. This required us to remove the battery backup as they would constantly drain down leading to constant faults. The system was installed by Blyth Workcats and commissioned by ourselves.

Following our collaboration with Blyth Workcats they are now able to offer fire detection as an option on all their boats.

www.blythworkcats.co.uk

Morley IAS “Building your Business” Roadshow

Morley Prize Back in April a series of four roadshow events was held around the country for Morley-IAS customers. The events were aimed at helping to build the businesses of customers of Morley-IAS in two main ways. Firstly from a commercial perspective, a focus was put upon winning new and incremental business using PA/VA and Visualeyez Graphics management products. This was followed by sessions exploring the capabilities of Morley-IAS DX and ZX panels from a technical point of view, including an "Ask the Expert" session.

Each event culminated in a short quiz on the content covered during the day with the chance of winning a Morley-IAS DX2e panel. Eddie Forsyth from Firecrest Services Ltd came out top of his event! As a winner, Eddie was recently presented with his prize, a Morley-IAS DX2e intelligent multi protocol fire alarm panel.

Firecrest Services are now a Haes Systems Approved Partner

Established in 1973, Haes Systems is a leading manufacturer of fire detection control panels and distributor of major brands of detectors, sounders, call points, emergency lighting, cabling, batteries - anything required to complete a professional installation and maintain a system.

In becoming an approved Partner, Firecrest have demonstrated a detailed knowledge of fire detection and alarm products and services, and have proved that our staff are qualified to carry out system installation and maintenance