At LondonBuild Expo 2025 TROX will be exhibiting its latest product ranges for fire safety in buildings, including the EKA2-EU smoke control damper which will be shown in the UK for the first time.
Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review (Building a Safer Future, May 2018) contributed findings on fire safety which have been incorporated into the new Building Safety Act 2022. These reforms, and resulting secondary legislation, have changed the way custodians of buildings must think during design, and after construction, of buildings. As a leading supplier of fire and smoke dampers, TROX has taken a prominent role in research and development, and can help customers to meet the stringent requirements necessary for Building Safety Act 2022 compliance.
UK launch of the EKA2-EU smoke control damper
Smoke control dampers are used in mechanical smoke extract systems to remove smoke gases and provide additional supply air to one or more fire compartments. The new EKA2-EU has been designed to meet the highest European and UK requirements for smoke dampers, and is being released to the market following extensive testing and certification. It complies with product standard BS EN 12101-8 and is classified in accordance with BS EN 13501-4. Its classification is EI 90/120 (vedw,how i<->o) S 1000/1500 Cmod AA multi, and its pressure levels are 2 (-1000 Pa – 500 Pa) and pressure level 3 (-1500 Pa – 500 Pa) depending on usage.
EKA2-EU units can be used in smoke extract systems or in heating and ventilation systems, or in a combination of these, where automatic release (AA) is required. They are suitable for restricting extract air volume flows, provided that the damper blade throttle position is not adjusted while the smoke extraction unit is running. This facilitates installation for a wide range of applications for fire compartment separation. The EKA2-EU is for both single and multi-compartment smoke extract ducts made of sheet steel or independent smoke extract ducts from 35 mm wall thickness and for installation in air shafts. It features single-blade room partitioning with mechanical resistance, and is constructed in sheet steel for a lightweight design. Integrity of each unit is assisted by silicone-free design, with no stop bars, creating a large free cross-section. Its leakage tightness class is at least 3C for casing and damper tightness, in accordance with BS EN 1751.
A particular strength of the new EKA2-EU is its ability to be integrated into management and control equipment using TROXNETCOM or various control bus systems. TROX has made significant investment in research and development to create advanced connectivity for this and other fire protection products in their portfolio.
Focus on TROX fire dampers
Also on show at LondonBuild Expo 2025 will be models from TROX’s fire damper range. TROX supplies four fire damper variants to meet the requirements of varying system designs, all of which conform to the harmonised product standard (BS EN 15650), have been tested to BS EN 1366-2 / BS EN 15882-2 and classified for integrity (E), insulation (I) and leakage (S) to BS EN 13501-3. TROX can assist those specifying dampers by providing proven, declared performance within an extensive range of supporting constructions and with multiple penetration seal options. The full accompanying installation details for the specific applications are available, and specifiers and contractors can be provided with the information necessary to ensure accurate selection and installation of TROX fire protection dampers. This is essential to enable those designated as Dutyholders or Accountable Persons to achieve and maintain regulatory compliance, and to safeguard building safety.
TROX has one of Europe’s most modern fire protection laboratories, the International Centre for Fire Protection Technology (ICB), and has developed its range of fire dampers for a wide range of supporting constructions encountered in modern buildings from solid walls and floors to lightweight partition walls (metal and wooden stud), solid wood / CLT walls and floors, sandwich panel walls, asymmetric shaft wall, ribbed concrete, composite ceilings and hollow deck, among others. This has resulted in 3rd party Notified Body testing and certification of TROX fire dampers for over 400 damper installations.
Connectivity with TROXNETCOM
During the event TROX will be running live demonstrations of its TROXNETCOM control system, explaining how this can be used to control fire and smoke dampers, as well as other components such as smoke extract fans classified to BS EN12101-03. Where smoke extraction is required in a building, for example, TROXNETCOM AS-i can be configured to control smoke control dampers compliant to BS EN 12101-8 which form part of a larger smoke and heat control system as described in BS ISO 21927-9. The TROXNETCOM AS-i system continuously polls all connected dampers on a 5ms cycle time and detects faults extremely quickly to meet today’s stringent testing requirements. Faults are displayed on the user interface and at the BMS and can’t be cleared until the faults are resolved. This is a centralised system located in the fire control centre with separate isolated transmission paths for each smoke extract zone providing both power and data to the dampers in that zone. The centralised control panel is provided with a user interface with touchscreen for managing the system. It comes with a BMS interface for status monitoring with BACnet IP or Modbus TCP protocols, and control panels are configured to suit the needs of each project.
TROX personnel look forward to welcoming you to stand N24 in the National Hall, where you can find out more.
www.troxuk.co.uk
