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Issue 76: Risk Considerations for Data Center Fire Protection

By Richard W. Bukowski, P.E., FSFPE

The NFPA 75 Technical Committee (TC) in its 2013 edition of the Standard 1 permits a
fire risk analysis to be used to determine the construction, fire protection and fire
detection requirements for a facility.  As defined in the standard, fire risk analysis
is,

"A process to characterize the risk associated with fire that addresses
the fire scenario or fire scenarios of concern, their probability, and
their potential consequences.” 1

Risk factors to be considered include life safety and (direct or indirect) economic
losses from loss of function (capacity) or data, loss of professional reputation, and
the costs of redundant systems. Some guidance on the thermal sensitivity of typical
equipment is provided, but data on design scenarios and their probabilities
necessary for a fire risk analysis are not.  The NFPA 75 TC, in conjunction with the
NFPA 76 2 TC, has formed a task group to develop additional guidance for the 2016
editions.  This activity is being supported by a fire protection research foundation
project to identify and validate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that
can be used to assess the performance of detection systems in the challenging data
center environment for a range of design fire scenarios.
To conduct the risk analysis for IT equipment or facilities as envisioned by the
technical committees, engineers need to consider the range of design fire scenarios
that may be expected to occur over the facility's operating life that could result in
failure to meet the performance objectives for the center.  These design fire
scenarios, weighted by their likelihood, quantify the risk of loss due to fire. 

Fires Originating in Digital Equipment

The risk of fires originating in digital equipment (servers, storage units) is very low
because there is little energy available to any fault and little combustible material
within the equipment, 3 especially when listed.  Some internal components run hot
due to high component densities and fast clocking rates, with most of these
mounted on heat sinks or other devices and some including individual fans to
improve cooling. 

In many cases, these components incorporate on-board temperature measuring

devices such as thermistors that can shut down the equipment before excessive
temperatures cause the component to malfunction.  Since these approaches would
result in equipment shutdown before any fire could be ignited (if there was
combustible material present), they virtually eliminate fire risk.  Many equipment
manufacturers now employ smokeless design procedures that minimize smoke
potential under any fault condition.

The exception is power supplies (including UPS) that contain much higher fault
energy potential.  Most power supplies are operated from 240 VAC and are designed
to be operated near maximum rated output power for optimum efficiency.  Power
supplies (including UPS) can utilize smokeless design procedures and can be
equipped with internal temperature sensors capable of shutting down equipment
that is overheating, but the energy available can lead to a fire under some
conditions.  Power supply sections of servers or similar equipment, especially those
listed to UL 60950, 4 are separated by internal enclosures or other barriers to
prevent a fire from spreading within the unit.

Internal temperature sensors arranged to shut down overheating equipment are

sometimes configured to provide a warning message to operators so that
appropriate steps can be taken prior to an orderly shutdown.  These arrangements
are intended to protect the equipment and to prevent fires, but, because they are
not connected to the fire alarm system, they do not fall under NFPA 72 5 jurisdiction
and are not subject to approval by the AHJ.

Wire and Cable Fires

Data centers and telecommunications facilities contain large quantities of wire and
cable.  Data cables do not carry sufficient energy to result in a fire under any fault
condition, so they only represent potential fuel if exposed to an external fire
source.  Power supply cables do carry sufficient energy to represent both a fire
source under fault conditions and potential fuel when exposed to an external fire
source.  Linear heat detectors run within bundles of power cables are used by the
nuclear power industry to provide overheat warnings and more rapid fire detection
without the need for additional detectors in the cable space. 

Wire and cable run in spaces used for environmental air (plenum spaces as defined
in NFPA 90A 6 ) are required to be plenum rated, meaning that they are low flame
spread and low smoke producing.  Wire and cable run in spaces not used for
environmental air do not need to be plenum rated, but products listed to suitable
reaction-to-fire tests 7 can minimize fire risk from wire and cable products.

Fires Originating in HVAC Equipment

HVAC equipment in data centers (often referred to as computer room air

conditioning or "CRAC" units) extract heat and move large volumes of air by means
of large fans pushing air past chillers and through filters. 8   The fan motors and
filters are potential fire sources, but the cooling units, whether operating on
gaseous refrigerants or chilled water, are unlikely to burn.  Smoke detectors located
downstream of the filters are traditionally used to detect fires in the filters to shut
down the fans, limiting distribution of smoke. 

A source of nuisance alarms involves economizers which introduce outside air into
the air stream. 9   These can pull in smoke from a fire outside the facility, so smoke
detectors in the intakes may be needed to switch the economizer to recirculation
mode.  Airside economizers typically use high efficiency (HEPA) filters to keep the
cooling air clean.  These filters will remove smoke particles from fires, preventing
activation of smoke sensors located downstream of the filter. 
Fires Originating under Raised Floors or Above Suspended Ceilings

Where these spaces are used for environmental air, they are treated as plenum
spaces.  Those above suspended ceilings are subject to specific regulations in NFPA
90A 6 to limit combustible materials.  Those below raised floors are subject to the
requirements of NFPA 75 1 and the National Electrical Code. 1 0 Materials used in
plenums to construct or line the spaces and all materials contained within the
spaces (including wire and cables, which must be specifically rated for use in
plenums) must exhibit low flame spread and smoke production properties, and have
limited potential heat.  Accessible abandoned wire and cable must be removed in
accordance with the National Electrical Code. 

Thus, in the absence of significant ignition sources, such as power cables or heat
producing fixtures, the fire risk in these spaces is low.  Piping carrying liquids
(chilled water or refrigerant) even if constructed of plastic materials, cannot be
ignited even by large sources due to the heat sink provided by the liquid, so they do
not contribute to fire risk.  Where such spaces are not used for environmental air,
they are not subject to these regulations, but if the same material restrictions are
followed, fire risk is similarly low.

Fires Originating in Other Combustibles

By far, the greatest risk of fires in data centers comes from the presence of
miscellaneous combustible materials in the space.  These may be cardboard boxes
and packaging materials from equipment coming into or going out of the facility,
papers related to facility operations, "temporary” storage of construction materials
related to facility modifications, or even coffee cups.  Fires in such materials are
usually detected by "open area” smoke detectors mounted on the ceiling because
smoke rises by buoyancy.  But in these facilities, the high airflows and powerful
cooling systems will carry the smoke in the airstream while diluting its
concentration. 
In many cases, "special application” detectors that exhibit much higher than normal
sensitivities or the ability to operate in higher temperatures or air velocities may be
used where conditions dictate.  Strict enforcement of housekeeping rules can have
a significant impact on this risk.

Risk-based Protection

Based on these observed fire risks, appropriate strategies for detector selection and
placement, extinguishment system types and objectives across a range of design
fires can be developed for specific data center configurations in accordance with
the intent of NFPA 75 and 76.  The full paper to be presented at the SFPE's Annual
Meeting will discuss such appropriate strategies and the use of CFD models
validated under the current FPRF project to support the engineering analysis.

Richard Bukowski is with Rolf Jensen and Associates

1. NFPA 75: Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment,
National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2013.
2. NFPA 76: Standard for the Fire Protection of Telecommunications Facilities,
National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2012.
3. Mangs, J. and Keski-Rahkonen, O., "Full Scale Fire Experiments On Electronic
Cabinets," VTT Building Technology, Publication 269, Espoo, Finland, 1996.
4. UL 60905, Information Technology Equipment - Safety, Underwriters
Laboratories, Northbrook, IL, 2013.
5. NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, National Fire Protection Association,
Quincy, MA, 2013.
6. NFPA 90A, Standard for the Installation of Air-Conditioning and Ventilating
Systems, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2012.
7. Babrauskas, V., Peacock, R., Braun, E., Bukowski, R., and Jones, W., "Fire
Performance of Wire and Cable: Reaction-to-fire Tests - A Critical Review of the
Existing Methods and of New Concepts," NIST TN 1291, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 1991.
8. Patterson, M. and Fenwick, D., "The State of Data Center Cooling: A Review Of
Current Air and Liquid Cooling Solutions," INTEL White Paper, Intel Corp.,
Santa Clara, CA, 2008.
9. Scofield, C. and Weaver, T., "Using Wet-Bulb Economizers in Data Centers,"
ASHRAE Journal, August 2008.
 10. NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, National Fire Protection Association,
Quincy, MA, 2014.

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