Applications

Elevator shafts are a permanent compartment breach with the potential to spread flames and smoke vertically through a building very rapidly. While most, if not all elevator doors provide a degree of fire integrity this is not the same for smoke sealing. 

BLE Smoke & Fire are able to offer a recognised “Smoke Seal” curtain that can be discreetly installed into the surround facing the elevator door, rendering the curtain invisible when retracted. Once deployed it permits a greatly reduced level of smoke leakage falling inside the international leakage requirements.

While BLE can offer a sealed curtain for the immediate face of any elevator door, this may not suit the building fire strategy. There may be a requirement to create a protected lobby in front of a bank of elevator doors. 

Where this would previously have required the construction of a physical fire and smoke rated partition, a three sided lobby can now be produced using smoke sealed curtains. Again, when not in use there is no physical impediment or restriction but once required a full integrity and, if required, smoke sealed lobby can be created.

Both these items create a permanent breach in the compartment between floors. Using BLE smoke and fire curtains this can be tackled in several ways depending on the strategy requirements. There is the option of using smoke curtains around the lower level to create a deeper reservoir depth or fully fledged fire curtains to seal off the escalator or stair well completely. 

In conjunction with intelligent control systems allowing control to be linked to the escalator operation to facilitate escape as well as escape buttons this provides a tested and well used solution.

Fire doors are a necessary but cumbersome item. They are required in a great deal of situations however they are by nature heavy and restrictive to movement. They are difficult for small children, the elderly or disabled to open, and awkward if carrying bags, pushing prams or operating wheelchairs. It is therefore commonplace to see these vital parts of a building's fire strategy wedged open, breaching all compartmentation requirements. 

A BLE fire curtain can be specified as an alternative, offering the same levels of integrity and, if required, additional smoke sealing. The curtain can be recessed within the ceiling and walls, or face fixed depending on customer requirements. It will then remain there hidden, always ready to deploy in a fire situation due to its gravity fail-to-safe method of operation, even when all forms of consumable power are unavailable.

Smoke compartments are formed to prevent smoke spreading throughout a building. They must be impermeable to smoke leakage, within set criteria, but also offer a level of resistance to heat. In particular protection must be provided to the rapid build up in heat caused by hot smoke hitting the barrier, a scenario in which some types of glass will shatter. BLE curtains provide excellent levels of smoke containment as well as high heat resistance. 

It is often desirable to direct smoke into certain zones for extraction. This is achieved by using small, rapid drop and often, zone controlled banks of curtains. The major requirement for this type of curtain is fast deployment, minimum deflection and a high degree of tolerance to hot smoke. Smoke channels should be installed with consideration given to their intended use in conjunction with large extract systems.

Although all BLE's automatic smoke & fire curtains can be easily retracted to allow for quick evacuation during an emergency, there is always the need to develop new ways to save time and eliminate delays.

BLE's latest innovation, the Egress curtain, allows for even quicker emergency evacuation through a deployed fire curtain. By using a split bottom bar, this allows the curtain to include an 'egress door' which can be used to safely pass through once deployed - saving time that would usually be required to retract the curtain.