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What Role Do Pressure Sensors Play in Fire Water System Monitoring?
On April 15, 2019, the world-shocking fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris made countless people realize for the first time: no matter how glorious a cultural heritage, it is extremely fragile in the face of fire.
The same pain exists in China as well.
China has a large number of existing cultural heritage protection units and ancient building complexes mainly with brick-wood mixed structures. Once a fire occurs, it spreads extremely fast, while traditional fire facilities are aging, monitoring methods are backward, and management has blind spots that have long existed.
In this context, fire water system pressure sensors are gradually becoming one of the most silent yet most critical "sentinels" in the smart fire protection system.
Fire Water Pipeline Network Pressure: The First Signal of Early Fire and Success or Failure of Extinguishing
The working principle of the fire water supply system (especially the automatic sprinkler system) is actually very simple:
Normally, a certain static pressure is maintained in the pipeline (usually 0.1～0.3MPa);
Once a fire occurs, the temperature-sensing element of the sprinkler head activates and bursts → pipeline water flow starts → water flow indicator activates and alarms → at the same time, the pressure in the pipeline drops rapidly;
After receiving the signal, the fire control center starts the fire pump to replenish pressure, ensuring continuous water supply to the system.
Therefore, changes in pipeline pressure are almost the most direct and reliable physical evidence of whether the entire sprinkler system has been "awakened".
If the pressure sensor can:
Real-time, continuously, and accurately capture pressure drops (usually considered activated when falling from static pressure to below 0.05MPa)
Timely upload the signal to the fire control room or cloud platform
Trigger linkage to start the booster pump
Then it can greatly shorten the time window from fire occurrence to effective water supply, avoiding the fatal embarrassment of "having sprinkler heads but no water pressure".
In actual cases, the root cause of many delayed fire extinguishments is:
The sprinkler system activated, but the fire pump failed to start in time, or there was leakage in the pipeline network leading to insufficient water pressure, ultimately missing the best opportunity for initial fire extinguishment.
Why Traditional Pressure Gauges Can No Longer Meet Modern Fire Protection Needs?
In the past, many buildings relied on mechanical pressure gauges or simple electric contact pressure gauges, but these devices have several fatal shortcomings:
Require manual regular inspections, unable to achieve 24-hour unattended operation
Unable to transmit data remotely, information transmission lags during fire occurrence
Lack of data recording and trend analysis, unable to detect slow leaks or pipeline aging in advance
Poor anti-interference ability, easily leading to false alarms or failures in vibration, temperature difference, and humid environments
Modern smart fire protection has long upgraded the requirements for fire facilities to "measurable, knowable, controllable, manageable" — this puts higher demands on pressure sensors:
High reliability (small long-term zero drift, anti-overpressure)
Wide operating temperature range (-20℃～70℃ or even higher)
Multiple communication methods (4-20mA / RS485 / NB-IoT / LoRa)
Explosion-proof/waterproof design (Ex ia IIC T4 Ga or IP68)
Ultra-low power consumption (suitable for battery-powered wireless deployment)
Highlights of Nexisense Solutions in Fire Water Systems
Nexisense has launched a series of dedicated pressure monitoring terminals and sensor products for fire water system monitoring scenarios, with core features including:
Wireless + wired dual-mode access: Supports NB-IoT, LoRa, 4G as well as traditional RS485/4-20mA, adapting to different renovation needs of new and old buildings
Fire-dedicated range and accuracy: Focuses on optimizing the 0～1.6MPa range, more precise action threshold judgment, wider temperature compensation range
Ultimate protection and reliability: Stainless steel 316L isolation diaphragm + diffused silicon core, full IP67/IP68 protection, suitable for underground pipe corridors and humid pump rooms
Ultra-long battery life wireless solution: Battery-powered models can achieve 5～8 years maintenance-free, greatly reducing operation and maintenance costs after renovation of old buildings
Cloud platform linkage capability: Supports access to smart fire IoT platforms, realizing pressure anomaly alarms, water pump linkage, historical trend query, and pipeline network health assessment
Particularly outstanding in the following typical scenarios:
Ancient building complexes, museums, temples (brick-wood structures, high renovation difficulty)
Old communities, urban villages, rental houses (lack of fire facilities, difficult maintenance)
Large commercial complexes, hospitals, schools (complex pipeline networks, many monitoring points)
High-rise building fire stabilization systems (need real-time grasp of the most unfavorable point pressure)
After actual deployment, many projects report:
Slow pipeline leaks can be detected 1～3 months in advance;
Sprinkler false activation or man-made damage can be located immediately;
Fire pump startup success rate and response speed significantly improved.
Typical Installation Scenario Display
Below are actual application images of Nexisense pressure sensors at different positions in fire pipeline networks:
Fire pump room outlet main pipe pressure monitoring (key monitoring point)
Most unfavorable point (high-rise end) wireless pressure monitoring terminal (battery powered)
Underground pipe corridor/valve well IP68 high protection installation (humid environment)
Smart fire platform real-time pressure situation map (multi-point networking display)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can the pressure sensor determine whether the sprinkler head is actually spraying water?
Yes. After the sprinkler head activates, the pipeline pressure will show a significant and rapid drop characteristic (usually dropping from 0.25MPa to below 0.05MPa within tens of seconds). Combined with flow signals, it can achieve higher-confidence composite judgment.
Can the battery life of wireless pressure sensors really reach more than 5 years?
In typical configuration (reporting 4～8 times per day + immediate reporting on events), with industrial-grade low-power design and high-energy-density batteries, it can reach 5～8 years. There are already a large number of stable operation cases exceeding 4 years in actual projects.
What to do if wiring is difficult in old buildings?
Prioritize NB-IoT or LoRa wireless solutions, almost no wiring required, strong signal penetration, suitable for basements, pipe corridors, historical buildings and other places with high renovation difficulty.
Does the pressure sensor need regular calibration?
It is recommended to perform on-site verification once a year or every two years (especially for key monitoring points), but Nexisense products use high-stability diffused silicon + digital compensation, with extremely small long-term zero drift, and the calibration cycle can be appropriately extended.
Conclusion
The Notre-Dame Cathedral fire is a wake-up call, and the fire safety pressure faced by countless ancient buildings and old communities in China is equally heavy.
In today's emphasis on both "human defense + technical defense", reliable pressure monitoring has become the last line of defense for whether the fire water system can truly function.
Nexisense always believes: a good sensor should not just be a measurement tool, but a "silent guard" that protects life and civilization.
Through more precise perception, more reliable transmission, and smarter linkage, we hope that every building and every cultural relic can have a more solid fire safety foundation.
Sensing comes first, protection never stops.
May every pressure point in the fire water pipeline network become a signal of peace, rather than a sigh of regret.
