Mercury, Korea's First IoT-Integrated 'Commercial Kitchen Automatic Fire Extinguishing System' Supply

Mercury, a specialized information and communication device company, and its subsidiary IJECS are supplying the nation's first commercial kitchen fire extinguishing devices combined with Internet of Things (IoT) technology to school cafeterias, mass catering facilities, and large-scale stores in Korea.

On the 12th, a Mercury official stated, "Following the revision of the Fire Safety Facilities Act at the end of 2022, we are supplying fire safety IoT solutions to local governments and general enterprises in collaboration with IJECS," adding, "IJECS has supplied 600 units to schools. The two companies expect to supply more than 4,000 units in total within this year."

Due to the revision of the Act on Installation and Management of Fire Safety Facilities, which legislated the installation of commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing devices, the supply of commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing devices combined with IoT developed by Mercury to general restaurants located in large-scale stores, school/military/public institution cafeterias is expected to continuously expand in the future.

The commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing device can send messages to managers when a fire risk occurs in commercial kitchens such as mass catering facilities, large-scale stores, and general restaurants, helping to prevent fires. In case of fire, it sounds an alarm, cuts off heat sources (electricity or gas), and automatically releases extinguishing agents, suppressing the fire early and preventing its spread faster and more accurately than humans. Additionally, by integrating IoT technology, the kitchen status can be monitored in real-time anytime and anywhere through smartphones and platforms.

In particular, by applying the digital hybrid temperature sensor patented by IJECS, device malfunctions can be significantly reduced. The digital hybrid temperature sensor has dramatically improved the temperature detection capability, which was previously vulnerable to vapor, and provides a safe cooking environment from fire by linking advanced platforms and sensors.

The installation of commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing devices is part of the Ministry of Education’s ‘School Cafeteria Cooking Environment Improvement Project,’ with six education offices scheduled to complete improvements by 2025 and aiming to complete installations in schools under the remaining 11 education offices by 2027. Additionally, in February this year, the Ministry of Education distributed installation manuals for commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing devices to 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education and is conducting installation projects.

A Mercury official said, “In collaboration with IJECS, we have introduced the nation’s first commercial kitchen automatic fire extinguishing device combined with industry-leading IoT technology,” adding, “We plan to continuously expand the development of equipment linked with innovative IoT technology to contribute according to various spaces and environmental changes.”

He continued, “The company is developing the smart IoT business as a major business sector, in addition to its existing communication equipment for telecommunications operators.”