Detecting and minimizing potential impacts from valve hall fires

Methods for detecting and minimizing potential impacts from valve hall fires are discussed. Comparisons are made between commercially available valve hall fire detection and suppression systems. The fire detection and suppression system installed at the Sandy Pond HVDC Converter Terminal is described. It is noted that valve fires can occur due to a variety of valve component failure modes; therefore a thorough understanding of all valve component material properties is essential. All plastics used in thyristor valves should be subjected to fire tests. Tests should measure properties of the material. such as heat release rate, flame spread, and ease of ignition and self-quenching. The results should be independent of the configuration of the material. Since many modern thyristor valves contain large quantities of highly flammable material, a program to investigate and install methods to detect and minimize impacts of valve fires may be appropriate