STATE-OF-THE-ART SAFETY CIRCUITS LIKELY TO STOP FUNCTIONING DURING A FIRE

PROPER METHODOLOGY FOR CABLE SELECTION AND SIZING PROVIDES SOLUTION

Safety equipment and safety circuits in commercial buildings are likely to stop functioning in the event of a fire, even if they are designed and installed according to state-of-the-art methods and current regulations. This is due to the increased resistance at the temperature at which these circuits are required to function, according to the findings of a case study of a modern shopping mall in Tarnovia, Poland. This paper summarizes the case study results and provides a framework for the proper selection and sizing of conductors supplying electrical equipment that must remain functional during a fire. INTRODUCTION The maintenance of safety services in a building during an emergency is vital. During a fire, cables are expected to retain their functionality and provide power to essential equipment. They must therefore be appropriately selected and sized. The designer must take into account the increased electrical resistance at elevated temperature and, thus, the correct sizing of the conductor. Special care should go into determining the current carrying capacity of the conductor if it is to supply electrically-driven fire pumps drawing high starting currents. The circuit protection should also be adapted to fire conditions. Currently, cables are specified in terms that reflect their normal operational conditions, but design parameters under fire conditions are rarely, if ever, specified. A graph from the Dutch Copper Institute (Nederlands Koperinstituut, Uitgave No 3, Koper en Koperlegeringen, 1964, p 3-12) shows that the conductivity of copper is a factor of 5 less during fire. However, this is not taken into account in the current fire safety standards for cables. Consequently, a simulation case study was carried out on safety cables during a fire based on the design data of an actual large buildingthe GaleriaTarnovia shopping mall in Tarnow, Polandin order to investigate cables properties in this situation and ensure future cable effectiveness.

Figure: The resistivity of copper is a factor of 5 greater and the conductivity of copper is a factor of 5 less during fire. This is not taken into account in current fire safety standards for cables.

CASE STUDY RESULTS The case study shows that under normal operating conditions (i.e. no fire), all the criteria are satisfied, and cable size selection is correctly made according to state-of-the-art methods and current regulationsfor example, the IEC standard 60364-4-41. However, for a maximum value of temperature in the standard fire temperaturetime curve: The maximum allowable times of automatic disconnection of supply may often be exceeded. The maximum levels of voltage drop along circuits are often exceeded as well, which results in large currents that cause induction motor overload but not enough for the activation of thermal protection in the investigated scenarios. Motor startup under fire conditions is often impossible, as currents are large due to a decrease in supply voltage, as well as motor stall. The large current results in circuit tripping (despite soft-starters being used).

This implies that problems with operation of fire safety equipment, as well as with fast disconnection of fire safety circuits by protective relays, may occur when the temperature of wires in the supplying circuits is high due to a fire. INCREASING THE CROSS-SECTION OF CABLE CONDUCTORS Insufficient cable cross-section in fire conditions may result in the resistance becoming so large that the voltage drop across it hampers proper operation of the electrical equipment that must remain functional during fire. Moreover, the safety circuits increased resistance causes fault currents to have lower amplitudes, which results in delayed disconnection of the circuit by a circuit breaker. This delay poses an increased electric shock risk for the people still present in the building and may also ignite fires in other, previously safe areas of the building. In order to ensure the correct operation of fire safety equipment during a fire, it is essential to: increase the cross-section of conductors of the supplying cables - to decrease voltage drop; increase the cable cross-section of the conductors of supplying cables, as well as of the protective conductor (or apply supplementary equipotential bonding) - to decrease phaseto-ground impedance and ensure sufficiently fast automatic disconnection of supply; set thermal protection current settings to no less than 1.1 times the rated motor current, in order to minimize the likelihood of circuit disconnection in cases of slight motor overloading.

CONCLUSION The conclusion and recommendations of this study are the following: It is essential to increase the cross-section of cable conductors to ensure the correct operation of safety equipment during a fire.

It is necessary to elaborate and evaluate standards and recommendations for fire safety circuits that include clear cable sizing criteria for the expected fire conditions. The longer the safety services remain operational, the better the chance of bringing a fire under control and reducing property damage.

MORE INFORMATION: Case study: Dynamic modeling of the performance of safety electrical circuits during a fire - case study based on data from an actual building. Application Note: Selection and sizing of conductors supplying electrical equipment that must remain functional during a fire.
Contact: Stefan Fassbinder (stefan.fassbinder@copperalliance.de)

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