VESDA-E VES

Four Sectors From One Detector

A four pipe aspirating detector normally samples all four pipes into one chamber. It tells you smoke is present somewhere across the whole network.

The VES adds a valve mechanism to the inlet manifold and the software to control it. That lets the detector isolate and sample each pipe individually. So the four pipes become four sectors, and one detection zone becomes four addressable sub-zones.

The example Xtralis use is a data room, where each pipe covers a separate aisle. That is the case where knowing the zone is not enough. Responding means walking down the right aisle rather than searching all of them.

How The Scan Works

The sequence is worth understanding, because it explains why the VES does not lose the continuous monitoring that makes aspirating detection valuable.

In normal operation the detector draws air from all four pipes simultaneously, exactly as a standard four pipe detector does. Nothing is given up in sensitivity or response.

When the smoke level crosses an adaptive scan threshold, the detector initiates a Fast Scan of each sector individually. The sector with the highest smoke concentration is designated the First Alarm Sector and signalled to the user.

Once the scan is complete and the source identified, the detector returns to sampling all four sectors and continues to monitor them, reporting separate alarm levels for each. So it tells you where the fire started, then how it is spreading. That is more useful than either alone.

Alarm indication per sector is retained until a reset is applied.

Four Alarm Levels Per Sector

Each sector carries its own Alert, Action, Fire 1 and Fire 2 thresholds, individually configurable.

That matters where the four sectors are not the same. In a mixed building one pipe might cover a server aisle and another a plant space, and those need different thresholds. Setting them per sector means one detector covers both without a compromise that weakens either.

Flow fault thresholds are also set per port. So a busy sector and a still one are each monitored against what is normal for them, rather than against one detector wide figure.

The Same Detection As The VEP

The VES is built on the VEP platform, so the detection performance is the same and the sector capability is added rather than traded for.

Flair is the detection chamber at the core of it, using CMOS imaging, multi-directional light scattering and characterisation algorithms. Rather than only measuring how much light is scattered, it images the particles and characterises them. That is what separates smoke from dust, steam and exhaust. Multi stage filtration with clean air barriers protects the optics, and absolute calibration keeps performance consistent across the detector’s life without drift compensation.

Total pipe length is up to 560 metres and area coverage up to 2,000 square metres.

Two Models

The display version is worth more on this detector than on the others in the range, because there is more to show. It presents smoke levels as a bar graph and indicates fault conditions. When the adaptive scan threshold is exceeded it transitions automatically to a sector status page showing smoke and alarm levels for each sector.

That means the person standing at the detector during an event sees which sector is affected without needing software or a panel to tell them.

Replacing A VLS

The VES is compatible with existing VESDA installations and occupies the same mounting footprint and the same pipe, conduit and electrical connector positions as the VESDA VLS.

It also works on existing VESDAnet installations alongside legacy detectors. So an ageing VESDA system can be upgraded progressively rather than as one project, reusing the pipe network already in place.

Connectivity

Ethernet and WiFi are standard, allowing a tablet or PC running Xtralis monitoring and configuration software to connect wirelessly through the corporate network. VESDAnet provides bi-directional communication with redundancy, so the network keeps operating through a single point wiring failure. Alarms can be signalled by relay, by VESDAnet, or both.

AutoConfig provides out of box operation, with AutoLearn smoke and flow setting thresholds from the conditions in the building. ASPIRE handles pipe network design and Xtralis VSC covers configuration, commissioning and maintenance.

Where It Is Used

Data centres and server rooms, with one sector per aisle. Switchrooms and electrical infrastructure. Warehouses divided into bays or racking runs. Manufacturing floors with distinct process areas. Cold stores with separate chambers. Archives and record storage. Telecommunications facilities. Any single zone large enough that responding to an alarm means searching, and divisible into four areas worth identifying separately.