Notifier is pleased to announce the launch of its latest range of detectors: Opal - the future of fire detection.
Notifier’s pioneering approach to fire safety has formed the basis for much of its historic success. By talking to our customers and identifying their specific needs Notifier has been able to apply technologies to solve those issues in a practical and flexible way. This approach has allowed us to create a range of detectors specifically designed to meet the needs of installers and users of fire detection and alarm systems.
Opal detectors build on Notifier’s well-earned reputation for robustness and reliability and respond directly to identified customer challenges in tougher, more competitive markets. The detectors in the Opal range are designed both to reduce the cost of ownership and improve the efficiency of fire detection but also address a number of other key customer demands moving the technology of fire detection and the capabilities of an addressable fire system to a new level.
Avoiding false alarm
A key demand from today’s end-users is to cut the incidence of unwanted alarms. At the same time, Opal builds on Notifier’s experience in understanding fires, including a recognition that one size does not fit all. As a result, the Opal detector range has been designed to suit the individual environment or level of risk. Each detector incorporates a deeper chamber, together with multi-criteria variants to improve detection across multiple fire types and enhance resilience to dust particles and insects. This reduces the risk of false alarms, yet at the same time provides better protection for life and property.
Maintaining reliability
Though keen to benefit from the functionality of the latest technologies, customers are rightly concerned that reliability should not be compromised. In providing a consistent, fast response to fires, Notifier responds to this demand in two ways:
• Independent approval: As with all Notifier products, the new Opal devices are fully approved to the relevant parts of EN54 by independent test houses. In addition, Notifier has carried out extended pre-launch testing, with more than 50,000 devices already installed and providing superior protection to buildings throughout Europe. And Notifier’s confidence in the Opal devices’ effectiveness is reflected in the fact that these test sites have included all Notifier operating sites across the region.
• Enhanced peripherals: The Notifier range of complementary loop devices including call points, audio visual alarms and interface modules have all been enhanced to support the Opal protocol.
Improving appearance
Aesthetics are also important, and here Notifier’s cutting-edge development extends to the design of the new device. Opal detectors are manufactured in pure white, to complement modern building design. They also deliver a shallower profile to the multi-criteria units to ensure the devices remain unobtrusive. The detectors offer longer-lasting colour stability and resistance to discolouration and staining from atmospheric contamination. An ivory version is also available if required to support existing installations.
Simplifying installation
Ease of use is matched with ease of installation to provide end-to-end benefits throughout the life of the system:
• Increased loop capacity results in the need for fewer loops, enabling simpler and cheaper installation. The new Opal detectors also incorporate automated loop mapping, which cuts installation time through improved fault finding. The option of an isolator within the Opal detector adds further resilience to cable faults, as well as simplifying the design stage of the project.
• Enhanced diagnostic capabilities can help to reduce the time spent installing and commissioning the loop and will be a significant help during planned maintenance.
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Notifier's Opal detector range |
Creating a platform for future developments
The launch of the Opal detector range heralds the introduction of the Opal protocol. This new digital protocol is the first in a planned series of next generation products designed to keep Notifier at the forefront of fire safety development. This inherently more efficient system offers Notifier customers the ability to incorporate more devices on the loop and power them more easily. This has become especially important with the increased use of more power-hungry beacons as a result of the Disability Discrimination Act.
The full benefits of reduced costs and enhanced efficiency will be realised by using the Opal detector with the new digital protocol. However, the Opal detector can co-exist on the same systems as existing Notifier devices, enabling some of the performance improvements to be realised. Devices can also be mixed on the same system, as part of any programme of phased upgrade or improvement.
The result of these developments reflects Notifier’s continuing commitment to its established customer base. It forms part of Notifier’s broader approach to product development: a future-proof solution that is fully backward compatible.
All about the Opal detector range
The advantages offered by the new Opal detector series for both the end-user and installer represent a major step forward in fire detection. The benefits which come with these improvements will be maximised if the Opal detector and digital protocol are fitted at the same time. However, benefits can still be achieved if Opal detectors are fitted to an existing system, and as other elements of the Opal-based solution are phased in, their full potential can be realised.
The family consists of the following new detection devices each designed to meet a specific fire detection requirement:
• Optical smoke detector;
• Optical smoke and heat detector (SMART2);
• Optical smoke and heat detector with infra-red (SMART3);
• Heat detector, fixed 58ºC;
• Heat detector (A1R), rate of rise and +fixed 58ºC;
• Heat detector, fixed 78 ºC;
Integral isolation
Installation costs, which typically account for up to 40 per cent of a total fire protection implementation project, are significantly reduced with the introduction of devices with in-built isolation. As isolation can be controlled, the commissioning engineer can save significant time identifying earth faults that would otherwise take several hours to find. In addition, loop mapping, fault finding and system reconfigurations will be quicker and simpler to implement.
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| Inside the detector |
New optical chamber design
The design of the new optical chamber with single emitter/receiver detection follows extensive technical research. Together with the adoption of multi-criteria variants it is designed both to detect fires more quickly and reduce the risk of false alarms.
Backwards compatibility
Opal detectors are fully electrically and mechanically backwards compatible. Existing Notifier systems will also derive some of the benefits from the improved stability, speed of response and false alarm immunity of the new devices, even without any panel or protocol upgrades.
The Opal series devices are fully compatible with all existing bases, so there will be no problems with legacy and new products operating together within an existing installation. However, the full benefits of the new extended functionality can only be fully achieved if the new Opal digital protocol has been ported to the control panel.
Advanced base design
The new base has been designed to make installation quicker and simpler and is compatible with both flush and surface mounting cabling. Small stand-offs on the back of the device also make for easier installation on uneven surfaces. The base also has a break-off label to indicate the detector address.
Improved LED
New twin tri-colour LEDs provide red, amber and green local status indication. This is a key advance over existing single colour red LEDs, for users that interpret a red LED as a fire indication and not as a ‘normal’ or fault indicator.
Reduced installation and lifetime costs
The improved base design does away with the requirement to install separate isolation modules. This cuts both the costs and time typically associated with installation.
The digital Opal protocol optimises maintenance intervals, so maximising uptime. The panel can also collate a greater level of data concerning the status of each device, so it enables much more information to be collected. This reduces the incidence of failures and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance scheduling.
Notifier is committed to meeting its broader environmental obligations by reducing its corporate carbon footprint wherever possible. A typical example is that Opal detectors fully conform to the RoHS and WEEE Directives. Even though these directives are currently not applicable to fixed installation fire systems, because the new devices fully conform, their environmental impact is reduced and end-of-life disposal is simplified. In addition, with pressure growing in some countries for fire systems to be brought within the scope of the environmental protection legislation, the Opal detectors are future-proofed against the introduction of any new regulatory demands.
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| Opal's PTIR detector |
Improved system configuration and control
The device level monitoring and control provided by the Opal digital protocol enable system-wide, fire zone specific and individual detectors to be configured to match the location, the occupation levels and the time of day. This advanced level of fine-tuning will also ensure peak performance in the detection of an actual fire and offers a high threshold to common causes of nuisance and false alarms.
Robustness and control
The new Opal digital communications protocol is extremely robust and allows the designer and integrator of each fire safety system greater control over its ongoing operation. The new digital protocol eliminates the system-slowing variable pulse widths of the previous direct polling protocol. The 24V power duty cycle is also increased from around 50% to in excess of 80%.
As a result, the number of devices and modules per loop will, in the future, be increased to 159, representing a 60 per cent increase over existing devices. This will not only increase design flexibility but may also cut the cost of installation if fewer loops are required.
All output devices are fully controllable from the panel. This ensures that tone selection and output levels can be set in line with the status of each alarm, with all sounders on an individual loop automatically synchronised. Group polling, which replaces the previous direct polling, substantially improves system performance, cutting the response time for an alarm to be detected to less than 2.5 seconds. Even when highly complex cause and effect programming is in place, the time for all output devices to be initiated is under ten seconds. Group polling also meets all the requirements of BS5839 Part 1, where warning devices local to the call point in question must operate within three seconds.
Maintenance and upgrades
The inclusion of unique device serial numbers improves the ease and efficiency of ongoing maintenance, fault detection and upgrade management. Regular device polling means that pre-emptive maintenance can be undertaken, minimising the need for costly unplanned site visits at short notice in response to fault alarms. A software revision code also enables the central panel to identify the build status of each device, making replacement quicker and simpler.
About Notifier
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Providing first-class support
Notifier’s record of product innovation has been matched by an equally strong legacy of providing robust, reliable solutions, resulting in a low lifetime cost of ownership so enabling the end user to get on with their core business. Supporting this, Notifier by Honeywell is committed to the highest standards of service quality, in line with the needs of a life protection business. This is reflected in a number of ways:
• Open systems: Backed by a trusted global brand, the company has a strong reputation for its high level of service and support. This makes Notifier ‘an easy company to do business with’. A flexible open systems approach ensures Notifier fire protection systems have maximum interoperability, making them ideally suited to a wide variety of applications and in conjunction with other building management systems such as lighting and security solutions.
• Managed protocol: In addition, Notifier’s managed protocol approach offers customers the best of both worlds, by providing the flexibility of an open protocol offering and the manufacturer control of a closed protocol system. This allows customers freedom of choice in selecting the most appropriate and cost-effective installation option, yet in each case provided by a well-established Notifier ESD (Engineered System Distributors) employing only factory-certified and trained engineers.
A history of innovation
Notifier by Honeywell has been involved in the manufacture and distribution of fire detection and alarm equipment for more than 50 years. Part of Honeywell International Inc, a Fortune 500 company and global technology and manufacturing leader, Notifier is one of the world’s top manufacturers of analogue addressable control equipment, with more than 400 fully-trained and accredited Engineered System Distributors (ESDs) around the globe.
Notifier has a long and illustrious history of successful product innovation. Recent examples include the SMART range of plug-in multi-criteria detectors combining separate sensing elements in one device – including optical smoke, thermal sensing and infra-red – to create an intelligent device which can detect different kinds of fire faster. Similarly, the new ONYXWorks package provides a comprehensive view of connected fire alarm systems in a simple, easy-to-use manner: this gives security staff a clear view of a complete site, including the precise location of each device, enabling them to respond quickly in the event of an alarm.
The Opal detector series represents the latest step forward in fire detection technology. It is also in line with the broader trend towards greater convergence of building management systems in cutting the cost and improving environmental performance of building ownership.
The result is faster detection speed coupled with reduced risk and incidence of false alarms. In increasing the effectiveness of addressable fire systems in commercial environments, it provides occupants and visitors alike with greatly improved life safety protection.
For more information on the Notifier Opal range please contact Gregg Bushell at Gregg.Bushell@honeywell.com or visit www.notifierfiresystems.co.uk
