AutomistTM FAQs
Questions
1. Will the system go off when I’m cooking?
2. Can high pressure water mist be a danger to people?
3. Can water mist fight fires in areas with draught or ventilation?
4. Can you use Automist on chip pan / deep fat fires?
5. How does water mist work?
6. How is Automist triggered?
7. How do you install Automist?
8. Can water mist systems wash out smoke?
9. How big a problem are fires in the kitchen?
10. Where did the idea come from?
Answers
1. Will the system go off when I’m cooking?
Unlike smoke alarms (optical and ionisation), a heat alarm won’t be set off by normal cooking activities as
its trigger point of 57˚C is some 20˚C above the warmest ambient temperature likely to be encountered in a kitchen. The majority of domestic fires start in the kitchen and this is why Heat Alarms were added to the Building Regulations, Approved Document B.
2. Can high pressure water mist be a danger to people?
No. Automist's high pressure water jets are somewhat abrasive at close range, but are harmless even a few centimeters away from the nozzle.
3. Can water mist fight fires in areas with draughts or ventilation?
Yes, depending on the room layout. Automist has been successfully tested in areas with draughts. However water mist systems should only be installed in locations and conditions for which they are designed and tested. Automatic door closers may be required to increase the effectiveness of the system. Please refer to our room compatibility guide for more information.
4. Can you use Automist on chip pan / deep fat fires?
Automist is well suited to these fires. It is well known that pouring water onto an oil fire is dangerous, as the water sinks and then boils. The same is not true of water mist, however, as the updraught from the flame and the evaporation of the droplets prevents water from reaching and collecting in the pan. High-pressure water mist is in fact the preferred method of protecting deep fat fryers and has been used for this purpose for many years.
Water mist is created by forcing water through a specialised nozzle at high pressure (in the case of Automist, 80 to 85 atmospheres). The fire creates a draught, with low pressure at its base drawing in air and now entraining the water droplets. As the droplets are rapidly turned to steam, a substantial portion of the fire's output heat is used up providing the latent heat of vaporisation for this process. At the same time, the volume of the droplets expands by a factor of 1600 upon boiling, driving out oxygen and suppressing the fire. Water droplets also screen radiative heat transfer across the room. This combination makes high-pressure water mist unique.
The system can be activated in various ways. Automist is triggered by an industry standard 57ºC heat alarm as is already used to detect fires in kitchens (based on British Standard BS5839-6:2004, Building Control requires the use of fire alarms in homes). Automist can also be connected to a conventional detection and alarm system, acting as just another actuator in the system; the control unit has a 9-24V DC input line designed for use with a fire alarm panel. It can also be activated by pushing a button or with a wireless manual call point.
7. How do you install Automist?
Automist is easy to install and can be fitted in a similiar way to installing a tap. Installing the control unit and connecting power to the pump requires a Part P Electrical qualification (plumbers commonly have this qualification). To ensure that the system will function correctly in the event of an electrical fire, Automist must not be connected to an electrical circuit that also supplies kitchen appliances. Normally, Automist should be connected via a 100mA time-delayed RCD as per domestic fire alarms; in operation the product draws approximately 5A. Click here for more details.
8. Can water mist systems wash out smoke?
Fire tests have shown that water mist, in the right conditions, is able to scrub smoke particles from air.
9. How big a problem are fires in the kitchen?
In the UK alone there are 300,000 dwelling fires each year: 60% of these start in the kitchen. Little real impact has been made in reducing domestic fire property losses despite public and private sector fire safety campaigns. Student housing, care homes for the elderly, sheltered accomodation and flats with shared kitchens are all high risk categories. UK Government research suggests that socially deprived households are 31 times more likely to suffer fires than households in general.
10. Where did the idea come from?
Automist evolved from a research project at the Royal College of Art in 2005. It went on to win the Imperial Business School Ideas Challenge, Business Challenge, the Helen Hamlyn Lord Snowdon Award, and the James Dyson Award 2009. Automist was designed and developed by a multi-disciplinary team of designers and engineers at Plumis Ltd. within the Design London Business Incubator at Imperial College London.
