Designing A Smoke Control System; Devising A Smoke Control Strategy - Andover Controls Infinity Manual

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Designing a Smoke Control System

What is the basic goal of the smoke control system? To maintain a
tenable environment. A tenable environment allows:
• The building's occupants to evacuate safely
• The fire fighters to get to the fire zone
The first step you take in designing your smoke control system is to lay
out the smoke control zones, as previously explained. After the smoke
zones are established, you have to address the following design factors:
• The zone-by-zone smoke control strategies to use
• The amount of pressure needed to contain smoke
• Proper separation between zones
• The fans and ductwork used in the smoke control system
• Dampers required for smoke control
• The air inlets and outlets used in the smoke control system
• Duct smoke detectors

Devising a Smoke Control Strategy

For each zone in your building, you have to establish a smoke control
strategy. The smoke control strategy is a series of steps the smoke
control system must take to contain the smoke. For each zone, you must
decide:
• Whether you should depressurize the zone if a fire occurs.
• If the zone is to be depressurized, by how much you should
depressurize it.
• Which adjacent zones should be pressurized and how much pressure
is required.
Some zones in your building may need special consideration. As
mentioned earlier, zones that have gas fire extinguisher systems should
not be vented (depressurized) and the zones surrounding the fire zone
with such a system should not be pressurized. You may not be able to
pressurize other areas, such as hospital or animal labs, due to the risk of
contaminating surrounding areas.
Consider the number of zones surrounding the fire zone that should be
pressurized. While in theory, all you need to do is to pressurize all of the
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The Fundementals of Smoke Control
Infinity Smoke Control Guide
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