User Manual

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3.2.5 Archives
Universities may have a number of archives containing important documents, manuscripts and valuable historical
books etc. These are risk areas that in certain cases may justify a high-tech protection solution, particularly with
regard to the danger of fire.
The high concentration of flammable and valuable objects implies that any incipient fire must be detected as early
as possible and effectively extinguished, without the extinguishing agent used causing any further damage to
those objects.
Aspirating smoke detection systems (ASD) are able to detect even the smallest aerosol concentrations and offer the
ideal solution for fire detection in archives. An alarm from such a system can be used to automatically activate an
automated extinguishing system. Extremely good results have been achieved with an extinguishing system that
uses a mixture of nitrogen together with a fine water mist. The nitrogen effectively reduces the oxygen content of
the room atmosphere and extinguishes the fire. The water mist provides additional cooling and eliminates any
danger of re-ignition, without causing damage to the stored objects.
More detailed information can be found in the application guide: “Fire protection in archives and storage vaults”