Industry Background
In the era of digital transformation, data centers serve as the core hub for information storage and processing, and their importance continues to grow. With the widespread adoption of emerging technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, data centers are expanding in size, and the density of equipment is increasing, handling vast amounts of critical data and business systems. As a result, a fire in a data center not only causes massive financial losses but can also lead to business disruptions, data loss, and have a profound impact on enterprises and society at large. Moreover, the industry has raised higher demands for the security and reliability of data centers, making fire safety a key indicator of operational excellence. In this context, professional and efficient fire protection solutions have become an indispensable safeguard for data centers.
Main Fire Risks in Data Centers
UPS and Battery Hazards: UPS systems and backup batteries generate heat due to long-term charging and discharging. Poor heat dissipation can lead to thermal runaway. Battery aging increases internal resistance, exacerbating heat generation and raising fire risks. For example, in 2023, a financial data center suffered a fire after a UPS backup battery’s cooling fan malfunctioned, causing a fire when the power grid went down, resulting in substantial server damage and business disruption.
Overloaded Circuits: As the number of devices in data centers increases, so does the power demand. Overloaded cables generate heat due to electrical resistance, and aging insulation can lead to short circuits and fires. It is estimated that about 20% of data center fires are caused by overloading. For instance, a data center of an internet company suffered a massive loss when cables were not upgraded to handle increased power usage, causing a short circuit during peak electrical demand.
Air Conditioning Hazards: Electric heating components in air conditioning units can reach high temperatures and ignite nearby combustible materials. Water from humidifiers can overflow and short-circuit electrical components if the water level control fails. In 2022, a fire broke out in a data center when dust accumulated on an air conditioning unit’s electric heating pipe, causing ignition, and the fire spread along the air ducts.
Aging Equipment: Cables and servers in data centers, when under high loads for extended periods, can have aging insulation and reduced fan efficiency, increasing the risk of short circuits and overheating. A small data center experienced a localized fire due to cables that had not been replaced for over 10 years, leading to short circuits when the insulation was damaged during maintenance.
Severe Weather Impact: High temperatures can impair equipment cooling, increasing the risk of failure and fire. Lightning strikes and induced currents may damage electrical equipment and cause fires. In 2021, a lightning strike in a region caused damage to nearby data center circuits, leading to electrical fires.
External Fire Spread: Fires in nearby buildings can breach firewalls, doors, or windows, and ventilation ducts can become channels for the fire to spread. In 2020, a fire in a factory within an industrial park spread through ventilation ducts to a neighboring data center, damaging some equipment.
In-depth Application of Taihe'an Products
Precise and Comprehensive Detection: Taihe'an’s fire detection system for data centers uses advanced laser scattering and infrared sensor technology to detect even the slightest smoke changes within the data center. Whether caused by electrical faults or overheating devices, the system quickly senses early-stage smoke. Given the high equipment density and heat generation in data centers, the detectors also feature high-precision temperature monitoring, providing real-time alerts when temperatures rise abnormally, ensuring comprehensive monitoring of fire hazards.
Smart Anti-Interference Algorithms: The electronic equipment in data centers creates a complex electromagnetic environment that can interfere with alarm systems. Taihe'an's fire alarm system uses unique smart algorithms to deeply integrate and analyze multi-source data, including smoke, temperature, humidity, and electromagnetic signals. This helps effectively filter out interference from equipment operation or environmental changes, ensuring an alarm accuracy rate of over 99%, thus preventing false alarms from impacting the center’s normal operations.
Custom Gas Fire Suppression Solution: Given the high precision of data center equipment and strict environmental requirements, Taihe'an uses FM-200 gas fire suppression systems. These systems are tailored to each data center's layout, equipment count, and value. The system’s nozzles are carefully designed to evenly release FM-200 gas, rapidly reducing oxygen concentration in the protected area to below 12%, extinguishing flames through oxygen depletion without leaving any residue. This ensures no harm to servers, storage devices, and other critical equipment, maximizing asset protection.
Intelligent Integration and Rapid Response: Taihe'an’s fire suppression system integrates seamlessly with the fire alarm system. Once the alarm system confirms a fire, the suppression system activates automatically, closing ventilation and air conditioning systems that could fuel the fire’s spread. The response time is extremely short—fire suppression agents are released within 5 to 10 seconds from alarm confirmation, effectively halting the fire's spread and minimizing damage.
Key Technological Advantages
Redundancy and Fault-Tolerance Mechanisms: Taihe'an products feature dual power supply redundancy. If one power supply fails, the other switches seamlessly, ensuring continuous and stable operation. Critical components such as detectors and controllers are also fault-tolerant, so even if part of the system fails, it can still maintain basic monitoring and alarm functions, ensuring the data center’s fire safety.
Industrial-Grade Quality Assurance: The products are manufactured according to industrial-grade standards, using high-quality electronic components and durable casing materials. They have excellent shock resistance, vibration resistance, and corrosion resistance, ensuring they can operate in the harsh environment of a data center. The average time between failures is over 100,000 hours, significantly reducing fire hazards due to equipment malfunctions.
Real-time Remote Monitoring: Using IoT and cloud computing technologies, Taihe'an provides a real-time remote monitoring platform for data centers. Users can access the platform through mobile apps or computer clients to check the fire system's operational status at any time, including parameters for detectors and pressure statuses of fire suppression equipment. If any abnormal conditions arise, the system immediately sends alerts via SMS, voice, or other methods to relevant personnel, ensuring prompt identification and handling of potential fire risks.
Intelligent Diagnostics and Remote Maintenance: Taihe'an’s professional maintenance team can perform intelligent diagnostics through the remote monitoring platform to quickly pinpoint faults. For common issues, maintenance personnel can remotely adjust and repair the system, reducing on-site maintenance time and costs. The system also generates regular reports and maintenance suggestions, helping data center managers plan ahead for maintenance and ensure the fire safety system remains in optimal working condition.
Benchmark Case Studies
Project Overview: This data center serves world-leading enterprises in industries such as finance, insurance, culture, media, and high-tech. It aims to break away from typical industrial park designs, with a sleek and modern architecture reflecting a "tree" design concept. The project is located in Songzhuang Town, Yinge Village, Tongzhou District, Beijing, covering about 133,000 square meters with a total building area of approximately 402,940 square meters, including 18 office buildings, an underground parking garage, and civil defense facilities.
Products Used: Taihe'an Fire Alarm and Integrated Control System.
Project Results: Taihe'an’s fire alarm and integrated control system provided a comprehensive and efficient fire safety solution for the data center. With its precise detection and quick response capabilities, the system identified and addressed potential fire hazards, ensuring the safety of both personnel and equipment during various emergencies and supporting the stable operation of the data center.
Project Overview: The construction of this data center began in June 2017 in Guian New Area, Guizhou, and includes a cave-based data center, an external expansion center, and research and living facilities. It uses Tencent's fourth-generation T-block data center technology, characterized by high concealment, high protection, and high security. Upon completion, it will house over 50,000 servers, storing Tencent's global core data and offering highly secure and reliable cloud services.
Products Used: Taihe'an Fire Alarm System, Fire Door Monitoring System, and Electrical Fire Monitoring System.
Client Benefits: Taihe'an’s fire safety products significantly enhanced the fire prevention capabilities of Tencent’s Qixing Data Center. With intelligent early warning systems, potential fires were detected and addressed in their early stages, effectively reducing the likelihood and impact of fires. This greatly minimized potential harm to personnel and assets, providing strong fire safety assurance and supporting the safe and stable operation of Tencent’s data center, offering high-quality and reliable cloud services to global users.
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