PREPARED BY: Andrzej Zagórski Security Department The Royal Castle

PREPARED BY:Andrzej ZagórskiSecurity DepartmentThe Royal Castle

• Introduction• Installation of the fire protection system• Installation of the self-extinguishing system• Installation of the staircase desmoking

system• Installation of fire dampers• Modernisation of the systems over the years• System maintenance

INTRODUCTION

• The main task of fire protection systems in museums is to protect people's lives and health (visitors and staff)

• Another very important task of fire safety systems is, of course, to protect museum collections

INTRODUCTION

• The operation of systems and display of supporting elements such as emergency opening buttons and staircase desmoking will be demonstrated in the second, practical, part of our meeting

• In this section, as an introduction, I will try to discuss the theoretical principles of the operation of the fire-safety systems.

THE FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM (FAS)

• The purpose of a THE FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM is

to detect a fire hazard in a short time

and to alert the emergency services

• In addition, the system should actuate other

subsystems, such as the release of emergency exits,

staircase desmoking, alarm sirens, etc.



• In the Royal Castle there are five fire control units.

• All are connected to the integrating system MM8000.

• The units are controlled in the Security Systems

Centre

• All signals from the system are sent to the Security

Systems Centre and to the Shift Commander

responsible for the safety of the building



• Second-degree fire alarms are automatically

directed to the Fire Services

• Second degree fire alarms are triggered by

Manual Alarm Call Points MACP and

in the event of the first degree alarm not being

confirmed in the time required (3 min).


• An important element supporting the work of the response

group in the event of a fire alarm is the "Mother Key"

system implemented in the Royal Castle

• This solution allows the response group to access every

room in the Castle using one key

• It significantly reduces the response

time, which may result in extinguishing

the fire in its early stages.

THE SELF-EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM (SES)

• The system of fixed fire-fighting equipment not

only detects fire hazards, but also automatically

eliminates them (self-extinguishing).

• Fire extinguishing is done by NOVEC 1230 gas

• The gas, forced under pressure into the room,

absorbs oxygen from the air.


These are the facilities of the self-extinguishing

system



• As you can see, this is an excellent system that

detects and eliminates the risk of fire

• However, it has one major drawback - the price

• Due to the very high cost only a few rooms in the

Royal Palace are fitted with self-extinguishing

installation.


THE STAIRCASE-DESMOKING SYSTEM

• The staircase-desmoking system is a system typically

used to support evacuation in the event of fire

• The system is used only in the emergency-exit

staircases

• In the castle there are two ways of removing

combustion products: gravitational - through the

windows being automatically opened, and the use of

mechanical desmoking fans.

THE STAIRCASE-DESMOKING SYSTEM

• During a fire, a crucialaction is essential to cutting off ventilation

in the fire room

• The rooms of the Royal Castle are equipped with ventilation and

air-conditioning systems

• The inlet ducts are equipped with fire dampers controlled by the

fire-protection system

• During the second degree alarm

the fire control unit sends the command

to close the dampers in the ducts

serving the endangered area

THE FIRE-DAMPER SYSTEM

The Royal Castle in Warsaw was almost entirely

destroyed by the German army during World War II

The first damage had already been inflicted by

September 1939

This destruction was completed in 1944.

FIRE SYSTEMS IN THE ROYAL CASTLE OVER THE YEARS


The Burning

Royal Castle

after bombing.

Photograph taken in

September 1939


The ruins of

the Royal

Castle.

Photograph

taken in 1945

• The decision to rebuild the Castle was made in

1971

• The reconstruction plans involved the provision

of the fire alarm system as well

• However, the project itself and the

effectiveness of the system were not

satisfactory


• As a result, in 1984, when a fire broke out in technical rooms in the Castle Attic, the system did not work

• When the fire had developed to such an extent that it melted THE FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM installation, the system itself signalled a technical fault circuit break

• Of course, it was too late and the fire was already so large that several units of the Fire Services had to intervene


• Because the roof of the rebuilt Castle is made of a reinforced-concrete structure fire did not spread to the whole building

• The positive aspect of this incident was the subsequent decision to install a new FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM in the Castle


• In the second half of the 1980s design and

installation works began on a new system by

the Swiss company Cerberus, very modern for

its time

• The system was based on control

units CZ-10 and F910 detectors


• The system covered all the rooms of the Castle

• In selected areas, a self-extinguishing system based on HALON gas was installed,

• The new system was launched in 1991.


• In the subsequent years, other buildings belonging to

the Castle were renovated - the Copper-Roof Palace,

the Kubicki Arcades, buildings in Podzamcze

• Fire-alarm systems were installed in all these buildings

• The SIEMENS AlgoRex system was installed in the

Copper-Roof Palace and Kubicki Arcades


• As part of the modernisation, all CZ-10 control units

operating in the Castle were replaced by CS -1140

SIEMENS units

• The self-extinguishing system was also modernised, in

that the control units (now the XC-10 model) and

sensors (now Sinteso detectors ) and gas (currently

NOVEC 1230) were replaced


• As part of the modernisation, the already-mentioned

STAIRCASE-DESMOKING SYSTEMS and fire dampers

were deployed

• Currently, the following items are to be replaced:

-One CZ-10 control unit supporting buildings in the

Castle grounds

- F910 detectors still operating in the buildings of the

Castle and Castle grounds


• A special unit responsible for maintenance, and

also a technical support for security systems

(including fire-protection systems) was set up in

the Royal Castle.

• All system components are tested

and maintained on a quarterly basis

SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

• The overall security is enhanced through

exercises carried out in the Castle

in consultation with the Fire Service and the

Police

• The building security system is tested based on

a range of pre-conceived scenarios

SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

Documents

PREPARED BY: Andrzej Zagórski Security Department The Royal Castle