As data center construction and expansion continue to rise, so do the demands for life safety solutions within these evolving environments.
But why? Everyone knows data is backed up multiple times as well as in the cloud, so what role does fire protection serve in protecting customers’ data?
“These are all integrated systems across the world holding our personal data, the pictures of everything we look at on Facebook, Google and Instagram, and all the other forms of digital media,” says Mark Kendall, Director of the Fike Solutions Group (UK & Europe). “That cloud is a physical thing somewhere storing all of this data. And as technology continues to advance, such as what we are seeing in AI, that becomes even more important when we look at those changing dynamics and with life safety.”
Furthermore, maintaining business continuity is the ultimate objective of any data center operation and fire is one of the more unpredictable events that could result in downtime. For this reason, special hazard fire protection is a major component of any modern data center.
Data centers do, however, vary greatly from one another in their fire protection systems because of variability in their size and capacity, in their infrastructure (different levels of backup power, cooling systems, security measures and network connectivity) and in their goals of detecting and suppressing a fire as early as possible.
Many of today’s data centers opt for a “layers of protection” approach, meaning different methods of detection and suppression are called upon for certain situations, with the goal of ensuring the sprinkler system never activates.
For example, an extremely small electrical fire would likely not warrant sprinkler discharge because of the resulting water damage, cleanup and significant downtime. Instead, an early warning detection system will identify the small fire and power may be temporarily shut down while trained personnel suppress it with a portable extinguisher.
If the fire were instead obscured and couldn’t be reached by a portable extinguisher, a water mist or chemical agent system might be activated to suppress the fire, as the sprinklers remain on standby to serve as a last line of defense to control the fire and the building’s structural integrity.
Advanced fire protection is an integral system in new data center construction and usually implemented in the planning and designing phase alongside mechanical, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and remaining infrastructure requirements. This is why a trusted fire protection professional is included early in the process to meet the safety goals of the project as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
This is particularly important today as advancements and investments in emerging AI infrastructure have led to aggressive data center growth, with the goal of getting new ones built and operational faster than ever before – which has only increased the importance of the fire protection professional with the ability to solve problems as quickly as the ones currently faced by today’s data centers.
“There is a big trend that we have noticed to expedite data center construction: replacing the traditional UPS with prefabricated power modules that are often built off-site and installed externally from the data hall,” says Kevin Montgomery, Senior Manager of the Fike Solutions Group (US).
“These modules include UPS cabinets, switchgears and controls, as well as lithium batteries to provide temporary and instantaneous backup power when called upon. With these converging components in a relatively tight space, a reliable and scalable fire protection system across potentially dozens of units is essential.”
These power modules are a great example of emerging types of data center infrastructure that present new hazards and may require unique solutions to ensure asset protection and uptime.
For example, a number of factors may cause a lithium battery within the UPS to malfunction and experience an exothermic chemical reaction known as “thermal runaway.” The excessive heat causes nearby cells to go into thermal runaway, which then causes adjacent battery racks to also experience thermal runaway. As this domino effect continues, an overwhelming amount of flammable gas and heat is produced and often results in fire and even a deflagration.
Gas detectors such as Li-ion Tamer or InfraSensing are often used in power modules to identify the earliest stage of thermal runaway and activate water mist systems or sprinklers. However, while water will cool the batteries and the interior of the power module, the chance for reignition is still possible.
New technologies such as Fike Blue have been tested and patented to not only suppress the fire but also to stop the thermal runaway propagation between battery cells. With a boiling point much higher than that of water, Fike Blue fills the battery module and absorbs the heat without breaking down.
“The first thing is understanding what the risks are in these applications,” says Kendall. “When we look at lithium batteries and thermal runaway, a lot of data exists that proves it’s not actually the batteries that create the problems, but rather it’s the subsystems. It’s the HVAC, the switchgear or the inverters – these often create the original problem that then triggers the batteries into thermal runaway.”
Therefore, chemical agents such as SF 1230 Fire Protection Fluid or FK-5-1-12 in combination with an early warning detection system such as Xtralis air sampling are ideal for fast-acting protection of an electrical fire before it can affect the batteries.
“That’s very similar when we look at issues in AI processing chips and data centers,” adds Kendall. “In a lot of instances, it’s not the servers or the processors that are causing the problem – again, it’s the subsystems. So, understanding all of the possible risk areas is the most important area to start with.”
Advancements in AI are changing how data center owners think about fire protection, not necessarily because the probability of fire has increased dramatically, but because the consequences have become more severe. A single data hall may contain hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of computing equipment and processors, so many owners have begun to restrategize how to ensure sprinklers aren’t activated.
Similar to the power modules, most data halls use multiple layers of protection including Xtralis and chemical agents. In recent years, water mist systems have begun to be included to supplement sprinkler systems as yet another layer of protection. For instance, water mist nozzles for data centers are able to focus suppression on specific cabinets, racks and equipment, while sprinkler systems will usually affect a much broader area.
Furthermore, water mist is also far safer to use for electronics than sprinkler systems due to their much smaller water droplet size, lack of pooling effects and greatly reduced water consumption.
Water mist systems may also be extended into the other areas. For example, Fike DuraQuench Pro is a pump-skid water mist system that attaches to the building’s water main, providing an unlimited supply of water mist throughout the facility.
Finally, safety solutions in today’s data centers aren’t exclusive to fire protection.
Therefore, a Hazard Mitigation Analysis may be recommended to identify potential failure modes, assess their consequences and verify that the design includes adequate safeguards to ensure the reliability and survivability during a thermal runaway propagation or single failure event.
A Deflagration Hazard Study may also be performed to analyze lower flammability limit (LFL) and variables such as pockets of gas and air mixture that may result in partial volume deflagration and calculate data against existing documentation to determine whether the enclosure can withstand deflagration pressure.
These reasons are why fire protection and life safety systems must evolve as quickly as data centers themselves. New technologies bring new types of potential hazards and therefore research, development and testing must continue to ensure these mission-critical assets remain protected.
Fike Corporation is a global provider of industrial safety solutions for fire, explosion, pressure and lithium battery-related hazards. For more information on date center fire protection, visit fike.com.
