If the machine room catches fire, will the jumper wires become a “fuse”?
When a fire occurs in a data center, ordinary fiber optic patch cords that have not undergone flame-retardant design will not only act as a “fuse” (flame propagation medium) for the fire, but also as an “invisible killer” for sensitive equipment.
From the perspective of optical engineering and material science, this mainly involves physical and chemical reactions at the following two levels:
1. Why do ordinary patch cords become “fuses” and “killers”?
- Physical Flame Propagation: Ordinary, inexpensive fiber optic patch cords typically use standard Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) as the outer jacket. PVC has a low ignition point, and once exposed to an open flame from overloaded cabinet components or electrical fires, the patch cord will ignite rapidly. Due to the often dense routing of patch cords in cable trays or cable racks, flames can quickly spread along the patch cord network to adjacent cabinets, servers, and entire rows of equipment.
- Corrosive Secondary Disaster: When PVC burns, it releases a large amount of dense black smoke and halogenated gases such as hydrogen chloride (HCl). Hydrogen chloride gas combines with moisture in the air to form highly corrosive hydrochloric acid mist. This acidic mist, carried by airflow, settles on the integrated circuit boards, gold fingers, and electrical contacts of all precision electronic equipment in the data center, causing rapid oxidation and corrosion of metals, rendering them unusable. Even servers and switches not directly hit by flames can suffer irreversible hardware damage due to acidic gases.
2. Data Center Cabling Prevention: Flame Retardant Rating Classification
To standardize fire safety, international and industry standards (such as NEC, UL, etc.) strictly classify the flame retardant ratings of fiber optic cables:
- OFN/OFNG (Optical Fiber Nonconductive / General Purpose): General-purpose non-metallic optical cable. It typically has only basic flame resistance, cannot prevent vertical propagation, and is not recommended for use in harsh or enclosed data center environments.
- OFNR (Riser): Riser grade. It has passed the UL 1666 burn test and can prevent flames from propagating upwards in vertical building shafts or vertical data center cabling.
- OFNP (Plenum): Plenum grade. It has the highest fire protection rating and has passed the UL 910 test. It exhibits strong self-extinguishing properties even under strong airflow and produces very low smoke density during combustion, making it suitable for use in air-handling spaces above ceilings or under floors.
- LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen): A material widely used in modern data centers and enclosed spaces. When heated or burned, it not only releases very little smoke but also contains no halogens. This means it does not produce highly corrosive acidic gases, minimizing the risk of secondary corrosive damage to equipment.
3. “Absolutely Non-Combustible” Physical Solutions for Extreme Industrial or Special High-Temperature Environments
In some industrial monitoring and sensing scenarios involving high temperatures and fire risks, such as in power, petrochemical, and metallurgical industries, plastic or LSZH outer jackets will still melt and carbonize at hundreds of degrees Celsius.
To achieve physical non-combustibility and excellent resistance to environmental interference, OFSCN® has introduced high-temperature fiber optic patch cords with a fully metal seamless steel tube armored structure. This series of patch cords eliminates all combustible plastic jacketing, replacing it with stainless steel tubing and special high-temperature resistant coated fiber, thereby structurally eliminating the presence of combustion media:
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OFSCN® 300℃ Fiber Optic Patch Cord
- Technical Parameters and Structure: Composed of fiber optic connectors (FC, ST, etc.), a 0.9mm seamless stainless steel tube, and 300℃ Polyimide (PI) high-temperature resistant single-mode/multi-mode fiber.
- Temperature and Flame Retardant Advantages: Operating temperature range from -270℃ to 300℃. No plastic outer jacket, completely non-combustible, smokeless, non-toxic, and no acidic gas release in fire and extreme high-temperature environments.
- Standard Images:
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OFSCN® 200℃ Fiber Optic Patch Cord
- Technical Parameters and Structure: Composed of a 0.9mm seamless stainless steel tube and 200℃ Polyimide fiber, with an operating temperature range of -200℃ to 200℃. Offers excellent mechanical protection (crush resistance, rodent bite resistance) and superior fire and flame propagation resistance.
- Standard Images:
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OFSCN® 120℃ Fiber Optic Patch Cord
- Technical Parameters and Structure: Composed of a 0.9mm seamless stainless steel tube and 120℃ high-temperature resistant polyacrylate fiber, with a temperature range of -40℃ to 120℃. Suitable for industrial-grade fire safety requirement scenarios with moderate temperature conditions.
- Standard Images:
