Autronica Fire and Security AS

As increasing investments are being made in renewable energy worldwide, Autronica is also supplying wind turbine fire safety equipment for two major offshore wind projects – Ocean Wind off the coast of New Jersey in the United States and Dogger Bank A off the coast of England. Together these projects will provide enough electricity to power more than 6.5 million homes across two countries. The wind turbines and their associated infrastructure will be protected by Autronica fire alarm systems, including Autronica’s latest detector, AutroGuard. Autronica is part of Carrier Global Corporation, the global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable, and intelligent building and cold chain solutions. Delivering advanced fire safety technology The combined projects are the largest in Autronica's 64-year history. Autronica fire safety solutions will protect a total of 282 wind turbines. Construction on the wind farms began late last year and will continue into 2023. Autronica designed a tailor-made solution suitable for large offshore wind projects and unmanned installations Securing these critically important clean energy projects demonstrates that Autronica is best-in-class in delivering advanced fire safety technology for the renewable energy industry. Autronica’s technical experts designed a tailor-made solution suitable for large offshore wind projects and unmanned installations.  Environmentally-responsible projects "We are very grateful for our customers’ trust in us by allowing us to contribute to the shift to renewable energy through the protection of their wind turbines," says Thor Egil Hafnor, Global Strategic Accounts Leader, Autronica. "These agreements are a big boost for us, and it is a pleasure to be able to protect these environmentally-responsible projects." AutroGuard Autronica fire alarm systems are developed and manufactured in Norway’s technology capital, Trondheim, where Autronica has led the way in technological innovation for a safer world since 1957. Autronica’s latest detector, AutroGuard launched in 2021, differentiates between various types of smoke, which in turn contributes to fewer unwanted alarms caused by smoke occurring naturally in the environment.

AutroGuard is a new range of multi-criteria detectors from leading detector manufacturer Autronica. As part of the introduction of this exciting new range, Detector Testers were asked to support the design of a customized removal tool designed specifically for the AutroGuard range. Functional testing With the Solo and Testifire solutions already approved for functional testing of existing Autronica detector ranges, developing a customized removal tool to meet the needs of this new range continues the strong relationship between Detector Testers and Autronica and is the latest example of the approvals and strategic partnerships they hold with global detector manufacturers. The AutroGuard range is designed to simplify installation and commissioning whilst increasing fire safety.  Suitable for use in a wide range of applications, the range has a number of standout features designed to reduce false alarms, maintain reliability and make for a cleaner look with reduced wiring and installation costs. Removal tool A specialist adaptor allows for the easy removal of dust covers fitted to the AutroGuard detectors The removal tool Detector Testers have developed, the Solo 220, has been designed to work with all detectors in the range and follows the same principles of our existing Solo products – focussing on intuitive design to deliver optimum use on-site.  Used during installation, the Solo 220 enables detectors to be easily mounted to their base and, during periodic maintenance visits, the tool allows for easy removal of detectors for inspection. The removal tool also features a specialist adaptor which, once fitted, allows for the easy removal of dust covers fitted to the AutroGuard detectors – a significant time-saver when it comes to system commissioning.

During the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 8 someone attempted to set fire to Nidaros Cathedral - the world’s northernmost medieval cathedral, built beginning in 1070, and Norway’s national sanctuary located in the city of Trondheim. Luckily, the fire was quickly detected by Autronica Fire and Security’s AutroGuard® protectors. The recently developed protector has technology that enables fast and reliable smoke detection. The Nidaros Cathedral is one of the first buildings where AutroGuard was installed. The fire was ignited on a wooden door from the outside of the Cathedral. It was in its early stages when two AutroGuard devices located in the sacristy quickly went into alarm. The Nidaros Cathedral fire alarm system has a direct connection to the local fire department and immediately alerted emergency first responders who extinguished the fire before it did any major damage. Technology that saves lives and invaluable buildings AutroGuard detector alerted the fire department quickly, so they could put out the fire and immediately start extracting smoke The new AutroGuard protector features a new MultiAngle/MultiWavelength optical chamber and two heat sensors as standard, and the chamber design allows smoke to enter the chamber faster than before. Together with advanced algorithms, the AutroGuard provides faster detection of fire while reducing nuisance alarms. Jan Tøndelstrand is the Operation and Security Manager at Nidaros Cathedral Restoration Workshop, the unit responsible for maintaining the Cathedral and its adjoining buildings. He was impressed by the speed of the protector and thankful the AutroGuard detector alerted the fire department quickly, so they could put out the fire and immediately start extracting smoke, preventing further damage to the historic Cathedral. Although the flame was small, the smoke had seeped into the sacristy within the Cathedral, where it was detected by the two AutroGuard devices at a very early stage. “Quick detection is the success factor for protecting the Cathedral, and I’m glad the fire was detected as soon as it was,” said Tøndelstrand. Positive Outcome Autronica’s Service Engineer, Lars Hammer, is also satisfied to see the result of years of development providing this positive outcome. “Naturally, we would prefer if the Cathedral fire alarm system was never put to the test, but when it happened, we were proud to see all the work we have put into this protector being so valuable.” “We have already replaced the protector, and our technology team is studying it in our lab to see if there are lessons from this incident that can provide even more secure fire detection in the future,” said Hammer. Outside fire protection an option  In addition to AutroGuard protectors, Autronica Fire & Security also offers another solution that provides rapid response to arson and external fire sources: façade protection. The Archbishop’s palace, an adjoining building to the Cathedral, utilizes this technology. It is especially beneficial for wooden facades. With this fire protection solution, a flame detector is placed directly on the façade and will alarm when it detects a flame, not waiting for the smoke to seep into the building. This solution is becoming more and more popular on historical buildings like churches and museums, as well as other buildings where arson is an increasing problem.