Backup Power for Seismic Gas Isolation — Keeping the MK6 Live Through an Outage

An earthquake that's strong enough to threaten gas infrastructure is often strong enough to take out mains power at the same time. If your seismic shutoff system depends on grid power to detect and trigger, a widespread outage is exactly the moment it can't afford to fail. Backup power for seismic safety systems isn't a nice-to-have — it's part of what makes the system dependable when it matters most.

Why mains power and earthquakes don't mix well

Substations trip, transformers fault, and distribution lines fall during significant seismic events. Power companies prioritise restoration by network segment, not by which building has a gas main running through it. That means a building could lose grid power for minutes, hours, or longer — right as the shaking that damaged the network is also the event your gas isolation system exists to respond to.

A shutoff system that only runs on mains power is vulnerable to the exact scenario it's designed for.

How the MK6 handles a power outage

The Solid State Seismic Shutoff — MK6 — is available in an AC variant for standard mains supply, and a DC variant built for continuity. The DC variant accepts 12, 24, 110, or 230V DC, drawn from a no-break power supply rather than mains directly. There's no internal battery to maintain, test, or replace — the no-break supply handles that, keeping the unit powered through a mains interruption without any switchover delay or manual intervention.

Because detection and triggering are handled electronically, the unit's response time and sensitivity are unaffected by the power source. The same 10-millisecond trigger response and 8-second relay hold apply whether the unit is running on mains or on a no-break DC supply. Every activation — mains-powered or not — is logged by the built-in event counter, so there's a record of exactly when the system fired, regardless of what the grid was doing at the time.

Where this matters most

Backup power is worth specifying wherever an outage during an earthquake is a realistic scenario — which, on most networks, is most buildings. It's a particular priority for gas network operators, hospitals, and other sites where continuity of gas isolation can't depend on the state of the local grid. Facilities managers specifying a system for a site with known power reliability issues, or an engineer designing for a critical facility, should treat backup power as a baseline requirement rather than an add-on.

Specifying the DC variant with a no-break supply is a straightforward way to close this gap without adding maintenance overhead. Read more about the requirements for gas network operators, check the full specification on the MK6 product page, or get in touch to talk through power options for your site.