Fire-Resistant Busduct Trunking System for High-Rise & Data Centers

The increasing pace of change in modern cities and technology is creating a need for more safety and efficiency. In today's environment, high-rise buildings and data centers require higher levels of fire safety to safeguard their assets, infrastructure and the lives of individuals. In order to meet the challenges associated with providing this level of protection, fire-proof Busduct Systems offer the ultimate solution to these challenges by providing superior levels of fire protection and continuity of electrical distribution in even the most extreme fire conditions.

What Is A Fire-Resistant Busduct?

A fire-resistance and durability rating is required to ensure that a fire-proof Busbar trunking system will not fail during a fire and that both the electrical and mechanical properties of the system will remain operational after the fire. Most standard busways will not survive extreme heat, but many fire-rated systems are tested in a fire environment at high temperatures and will provide continued operation of critical electrical systems in an emergency situation.

Uninterrupted power is essential to both high-rise buildings and data centers. When you invest in a busway that has an established fire rating of 180 minutes or longer, you are creating a system that will continue to function when under duress from a crisis event, such as a fire or natural disaster where your facility may lose power.

Fire-Resistant Busducts Offer Key Advantages

Choosing a bus duct product that meets fire-resistant certification codes give you many advantages, especially if you are designing or constructing a new high-rise building or data center:

• Increased Safety: Provides electrical continuity for devices that rely on electricity during a fire, such as fire alarms and sprinklers.
• Meets Fire Code Standards: Meets the requirements set forth in international testing standards like IEC 60331 and ASTM E119, ensuring you are compliant with all regulations, gives you peace of mind knowing it will pass inspection.
• Space Saving: Fire-rated busducts are designed to be compact in size and easy to install, making them ideal for urban high-rise buildings where there is limited service space available.
• Lower Maintenance Costs: Because of their durability, busducts that have been certified as fire-resistant are less likely to have electrical or mechanical failures due to overheating or prolonged exposure to a fire.
• Environmental Sustainability: The majority of the fire-rated busducts on the market are designed to emit little to no smoke or halogens (LSZH), thus greatly reducing the emission of toxic gases during a fire.

How Many Minutes Do Fire-Resistant Busducts Survive A Fire?

Most fire-rated busducts in commercial buildings are tested for fire performance for 120, 180 or 240 minutes. All fire-safe bus-duck systems provide to uphold their characteristics and functionality during the duration of testing has been determined to be at least 3 hours under severe heating conditions. This will provide critical time for evacuation and remediation of the fire.

Fire Rated vs Standard Busway

Although a standard busway will meet the needs of most electrical distributions, a fire-rated busway offers added assurance through its ability to withstand extreme heat and flame. The fundamental difference between them is related to their construction. A fire-resistant busway is insulated using fire resistant materials (e.g., ceramic, mica, fiberglass) to maintain the busway's integrity through combusting materials. As such, fire-rated busways offer an exceptional choice for critical infrastructures, such as hospitals, data centers, and high-rise buildings.

What Standards Apply to Fire Rated Busducts?

The fire-protected busway trunking must comply with international standards of which there are three main groups. These are the following:

• IEC 60331: This standard specifies fire-resistant testing of cable wraps and other electrical components when exposed to a flame.
• ASTM E119: This standard assesses the fire endurance of all construction materials, including apparatus within electrical applications.
• BS 6387: This standard outlines the fire endurance of systems when exposed to extremes in temperature and mechanical shock while maintaining event continuity.

Fires must provide proof of compliance with these standards at time of manufacture, thus certifying a provider that the fire-proof bus-bar trunking is compliant.

Applications for Fire Rated Bus Duct

Fire Proofed Bus Duct Systems cannot be overlooked when discussing notable high-risk industries/fields. Typical cases where fire-proof bus ducts are utilized include:

High Rise Buildings: High-rise buildings (skyscrapers) typically have thousands of people; therefore rigorous safety checks are paramount for fire safety systems. A 120-minute fire-proofed bus-bar will continue functioning, uninterrupted, during an evacuation.

Data Centres: Servers, which hold vital data, can cause extreme loss when there is a period of downtime due to a fire event. Ultimately, fire rated systems containing low smoke and halogen free bus ducts will reduce damage incurred and/or speed up recovery time.

Hospitals: Hospitals require the operational success of all life-supporting equipment, along with ensuring dependable operation of all HVAC equipment. The utilization of fire resistant trunking will ensure the operational continuity of such systems in an emergency event of this nature.

Choosing an Appropriate Fire Rated Busduct

When determining the most appropriate fire-rated bus duct for your facility there are many considerations, such as fire rated-duration, international standards compliance, custom fabrication to suit environmental applications (e.g., LSZH, etc.), and the use of a reputable manufacturer/authorized representative with laboratory approved fire proof bus-bar trunking system. Selecting the proper fire-rated bus duct will enable your facility to be fully equipped to manage potential unforeseen events.

Conducting an objective risk analysis of your facility will provide you with specific information relative to the fire rated parameters required. Many solutions are available; however, a fire rated bus duct for commercial applications can be custom manufactured to meet your specific performance and reliability requirements.

The probably most important aspect of using an appropriate system for your specific application is to not to compromise; high-performance bus duct systems are an investment in the overall safety of all persons and property within your facility.

Conclusion

Based on current safety needs regarding fire safety systems applicable to skyscrapers and data sites, it is now a mandatory requirement to utilize a compliant and durable fire rated bus duct trunking system. A compliant, manufactured, fire-resistant bus duct trunking system will deliver a reliable method of distributing power, while ensuring long-term fire resistance compliance to both the national and international fire safety regulations, thereby giving building owners and tenants peace of mind. Be prudent in your selection of components for fire-resistant bus bars; the design integrity of bus bar trunking will determine whether damage is limited or if damage turns into catastrophic damage.