What is a fire/smoke damper?
A fire/smoke damper is a passive fire protection device placed within air conditioning and ventilation ducting. The damper is positioned where the ducting breaks a fire protected wall/floor and is designed to prevent smoke and/or flames spreading into the adjacent room or floor. Dampers can be either fire, smoke or combined fire and smoke dampers.
How does a damper work?
A damper is controlled by an actuator, which can be triggered by a fusible link or a smoke sensor. In the event of a fire the fusible link will melt at a certain temperature and the actuator will drive the damper shut. If the damper is triggered by a smoke sensor, the fire alarm system will send a signal to the damper control panel which then communicates with the damper which will operate, preventing smoke and/or fire spreading or providing air circulation.
What is a damper control panel?
A damper control panel allows all the dampers to be controlled, monitored and tested from a convenient location. It allows a person to see if a damper is closed, closing, open, opening or if there is a fault as well as providing start stop signals to the air handling units (AHU’s). The dampers can also be tested from the panel to check their function is correct or manually override their open/closed state during a fire alarm event and also can manually override the AHU’s.
Should you require further information regarding damper control systems, please feel free to contact Disys Technologies who will be happy to answer any queries.