New technology and its impact on industry captured attention, as expected, at the June biennial meeting of FM Approvals' Combined Advisory Council in Vienna. The combined council represents manufacturers in Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas. Many of the manufacturers who are members of councils are leading the way in developing and promoting new technologies and new forms of property loss prevention solutions.
"We felt it was appropriate to wrap up the meeting with a quick look at some of the new technology," said Jim Marquedant, vice president and manager of FM Approvals electrical systems area. "It's a software-driven world, and this is increasingly true in loss prevention, particularly in fire protection systems." Marquedant focused on emerging technologies—e.g., IoT, robotics, AI, and other software-centric devices—and how FM Approvals is both encompassing these new technologies within existing standards and developing new standards to accommodate them. (Fig. 1)
Marquedant started with a look at the history of the electric car to illustrate "the evolutionary path we are on." The first electric car—the 1884 Parker—had a top speed akin to a walking pace and range of significantly less than 100 miles. Today's Tesla Model S, by stark comparison, has an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph and a range of 370 miles on a single charge. "The Model S has more than 60 microprocessors, operating millions of lines of code; and with its Autopilot feature, the car can drive itself. It's really an autonomous robot!" he observed. "What you really see is an evolution from hardware-centric systems to software-centric systems and that is just what we see playing out today with property loss prevention systems." (Fig. 2)
Like the electric car, many systems that were once primarily mechanical are now hybrid systems that blend software, sensors, computer power, and automation to achieve various benefits, including improved speed, greater accuracy, better protection and flexible or autonomous operations.
He noted some of the applications where these new technologies are being deployed:
- Remote equipment supervision
- Condition monitoring
- Liquid leak detection
- Hazardous operations—e.g., inspections in confined or toxic spaces
He also provided several specific examples of new loss prevention products. The first is the so-called smart sprinkler valve monitoring device that can automatically detect and report sprinkler valve state changes both wired and wirelessly to prevent unintentionally closed valves. FM Approvals introduced Approval Standard 3135, Sprinkler Valve Supervisory Devices—Standard Security and Enhanced Security, in 2017 which encompasses a new category of enhanced security valve monitors (ESVMs) to cover these "smart" devices.
FM Approvals continues to study the possibilities and benefits of sprinkler systems that use multiple types of detectors to provide early fire detection and sprinkler activation in challenging environments such as warehouses. Also underway is a new FM Approvals' Standard (FM 6510) that will provide certification requirements for continuous monitoring systems for electrical switchgear. The systems use sensors to continuously measure temperature, humidity and partial discharge levels.
"Going forward," Marquedant related, "we will be evaluating the cyber security of software-controlled property loss prevention products. We also anticipate performing assessments of the manufacturer's software development process to assure that the manufacturer can effectively maintain the quality and security of products and systems over their effective life in the field."