Every year, fires cause an enormous amount of damage to all kinds of facilities, social and private possessions. It can lead to life-threatening incidents and huge losses because of material damage to assets, power supply interruption, production loss and business opportunity costs. Global statistics show that around 30% of fires are caused by electrical faults.

These electrical faults often arise from poor connection, improper selection of circuit breakers and switches, old wiring or overloads. Identifying these weak points is paramount to fire prevention. One natural indicator of faulty wiring is the presence of heat. IPD expands its Fire Prevention solutions by incorporating Streamer’s FIPRES products into its portfolio. This is a preventative solution which operates on the principle of early detection with the use of unique thermo-labels and special gas detection relays. 

Typical scenario of fire inside electrical cabinets is shown below: 

FiPRES operates at the earliest stage of an issue, preventing fires and damage before they can occur.

Fires within electrical switchboards typically commence with the melting of cable insulation, which is the weakest point in terms of withstanding temperature. There are two critical temperatures for cable insulation:

• 200°C, when insulation starts to deteriorate, and
• 280°C, when insulation material starts to melt and smoke. 

FIPRES operates well below these temperatures, providing detection of overheating in a range 80-130 °C, which are abnormal temperatures for electrical equipment, but still months before any dangerous situation. 

Visual Fire Prevention Thermolabels (vFPT)

Streamer’s vFPTs are self-adhesive thermal indicator stickers made of composite material that irreversibly change colour when the threshold temperature is reached. Thermolabels continuously monitor temperature, signaling when an electrical installation's contact or connection exceeds certain temperatures during operation.

vFPT helps maintenance personnel understand the condition of the equipment, not only at the time of inspection, but can also inspect if the equipment has reached a certain temperature during the maintenance period. Unlike using a thermal imager, vFPT provides a clear picture of what has happened since the last check. These labels are extremely easy to install for any configuration of electrical equipment.

Single-temperature Thermolabels

Four-Temperature Thermolabels

Remote Fire Prevention Thermolabels (rFPT)

IPD also offers Steamer’s Remote Fire Prevention Thermolabels (rFPTs) along with their special detection FPA relays. This rFPT technology is a self-adhesive thermolabel placed at the contact connection points, on electrical wires and/or some parts of electrical equipment that are potentially prone to overheating. When heated to activation temperature, a signal gas is emitted from the rFPT and is detected by Streamer’s Fire Prevention Alarm (FPA).

1. rFPT must be wrapped around 

   cables/busbars close to the contact points. A gas sensor (FPA) should be installed within the same volume (ie: container or enclosure)

2. Each rFPT has thermo-indication dots with 3

   levels of indication. With the rFPT 100 range, when a contact is heated above 50°/70°/90 °C, the thermo-indication dots irreversibly change their colours to black. This gives a clear indication to the inspection team if the monitored contacts are increasing through concerning temperature levels since the time of installation of the label.

3. In emergency situations when the 

   Temperature rises above their activation temperatures 80°/100°/130 °C in the rFPT 100 range for instance, the sticker releases signal gas which is detected by the FPA special relay

The signal gas emitted by the rFPT thermolabels  is non-toxic and non-flammable  which is detectable by Streamer’s specialised gas sensor (Fire Prevention Alarm) located in the same compartment. Subsequently, the FPA transmits an ALARM signal to SCADA or the BMS system by Modbus communications or to any other external system via dry contact output.

Scope of application

FIPRES can be used in:

• Low/medium voltage electrical panels
• Switchgear cells
• Any electrical equipment, including equipment in explosion-proof housings. 

Watch the below video to see how the FIPRES solution helps to prevent overheating:

For more information, contact IPD at 1300 556 601 and visit IPD’s range of Streamer FIPRES Thermolabels