VACTEC_Responsive corrosion inhibiting Vacuum Technology-based fire protection system

Informations projet

VACTEC

N° de convention de subvention: 854419

DOI

10.3030/854419

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 19 Février 2019

Date de début 1 Mars 2019

Date de fin 30 Juin 2019

Financé au titre de

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Coût total

€ 71 429,00

Contribution de l’UE

€ 50 000,00

Coordonné par

EXEC
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VACTEC (VACTEC_Responsive corrosion inhibiting Vacuum Technology-based fire protection system)

Période du rapport: 2019-03-01 au 2019-06-30

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

Fires are a big safety and societal concern worldwide. On average, more than 5,000 fire incidents are reported each day only in Europe.
The fight against fire hazard in buildings is complicated by failures in fire protection systems, mostly due to corrosion and obstructions produced by sludge formation and/or freezing in the pipes. This causes false, delayed or failed activation of the system, causing severe infrastructure damage, destruction of heritage sites and, even worse, unrecoverable losses of lives. Fire losses in EU are estimated to cost as much as €153 billion annually.
To face this problem, we have developed a very efficient fire protection/suppression system based on vacuum sprinkler technology (Vactec), resolving the aforementioned issues inherent to the conventional fire sprinkler systems. Vactec’s technical, commercial and financial feasibility has been assessed in this study.

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

Our system uses a vacuum controller that keeps a negative relative pressure in the pipes, between -180 and -150 mbar, avoiding the inconveniences of the conventional solutions and their malfunctions. The first prototype of Vactec was developed in 1996. In 2017 we produced and certified the 6th generation of prototypes (V6). We are working to improve its performance in order to release a new version (V7). The improvements follow three different directions:
- further reduction of the corrosion and response time of the system by lowering the operating pressure at idle state, from -180 to -700 mbar (relative pressures) : hydraulic calculations confirmed the compliance with the sprinkler standards.
- qualification of the system to allow the use of any type of sprinkler head in the market (development of a new adapter) : a first prototype was built
- enlargement of the range of applications through the development of adaptors for water-mist and deluge systems.

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

The state of the art fire protection systems are clearly outperformed by the much higher reliability and performance of vacuum technology. These are the main improvements:
- Corrosion inhibited by removing oxygen and water.
- Water leaks avoided (no water in the pipes).
- Suitable for extreme environments (no risk of freezing).
- Faster water delivery.
- Any water source possible (not only drinkable water).
- Less maintenance and much lower operational costs.
- Pipeline lifespan extended.
Vactec can save billions of €, in Europe and worldwide. More importantly, it can save thousands of lives.