New era of neutron research
European Spallation Source
From 2023, thousands of scientists will be researching the secrets of matter in the ESS research laboratory. Parallel to the construction of the world's most modern particle accelerator, Schrack Seconet is implementing a flexible fire safety concept that will allow the systems to grow successively. The latest solutions ensure reliable detection even under the most difficult environmental conditions.
"It's a special challenge to find solutions for this extreme environment."
Project Manager for Fire & Safety at ESS, installation company Assemblin EL AB
Big Science
The world's most modern and largest laboratory for neutron research is currently being built in the south of Sweden. Since 2014, this major European project has been under construction near the city of Lund, and European Spallation Source (ESS) will start operating in 2023. The entire complex will be built from scratch, starting from the drawing board and consisting of the research facility with the linear proton accelerator and several laboratories, offices and other buildings. The neutron beam research in Lund will study the smallest structures in materials. ESS is therefore a big step forward – for research into materials from our daily lives, but also on topics such as black holes and antimatter.
State-of-the-art preventive fire protection
Parallel to the construction of the research area, preventive fire protection is currently being implemented. Special requirements have to be met for the security of ESS staff and visitors. Integral EvoxX proved to be the optimum choice here. "The greatest advantages of Integral EvoxX are the high scalability, the special control options and the high level of quality,"stresses Mikael Rundberg. He is Project Manager for Fire & Safety at ESS at the installation company Assemblin EL AB.
Integral EvoxX's intelligent detectors constantly monitor all factors in the environment. This ensures a quick response to the smallest changes and enables preventive measures to be taken. There is an increased risk of false alarms in laboratory facilities. This is precisely where the combined smoke and heat detectors of the CUBUS series prove their worth. They minimise false alarms and thereby expensive evacuations and interruptions of research series.
Smoke aspiration systems in a radioactive environment
The disturbance source in the research facility are enormous, the highest energy flows have to be managed, extremely cold gases are used and in some areas radioactive emissions are generated. It is precisely here that special safety precautions must be taken: Detection is carried out with the smoke aspiration systems ASD, which are made with stainless steel pipes. The evaluation unit is located outside the risk area and can therefore be easily maintained. In dangerous situations the smoke aspiration systems are automatically shut down. This prevents radioactively contaminated air from penetrating into other areas.
The fire alarm systems are interconnected via Integral WAN. This network can connect large areas via optical fibre, RS-485 and LAN without external converters or amplifiers.
Rapidly growing research institution
ESS is a project beyond common dimensions. The site already has an electricity demand of 265 GWh and employees from around 50 countries are already working at the site. Parallel to the rapid growth of the area, fire alarm systems are also developing.
"We do not yet know when the project will actually be completed and what the scope of the fire alarm systems will eventually be. Whatever the future holds, with Integral EvoxX, we are well prepared – our concept allows flexible, successive expansion," says Mats Höxter.
For the protection of people and values.
Systems in use
for the European Spallation Source
Further topics
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