The biggest problem with interior fire protection of a POD is that you have no assurance that the thing isn't packed wall to wall and floor to ceiling. The sprinkler won't do any good when stuff is jammed up against it. Also, no guarantee that the sprinkler wouldn't get damaged or broke off altogether. Interior sprinklers in these things is impractical and I sure don't see every franchise retrofitting their pods to include this option.
Remember unlike other modular assemblies and mobile home plants, these things are not opened in the warehouse and there is no assembly or other work done inside of them. They are a storage container, a box, plain and simple. The could be stacked and stored outside for al it matters but for security or whatever other reason, they are stored in warehouses. For all intents and purposes you might as well treat one stack as a solid entity because there are no huge gaps between the units. They almost stack together like Legos. An overhead ceiling sprinkler system is the only practical and sensible system for this commodity. If you are protect it as if you had Class A plastics in stacked wooden crates, you should have it covered. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Group Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.lg.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of George Church Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 5:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: POD Storage Why couldn't you install a couple heads, even HSW with pipe strapped to the wall, and have the POD equipped with a quick-release connection or even a grooved connection. Have drops coming down from the overhead system with flex-head style connection to match the quick-connect, or an 1 -1/4" grooved coupling. Stack em up, slap on the spkr feed, and presto- IPAS (In Pod Auto Sprinkler) ready to fight an otherwise shielded fire. Have done some modular boxes (some call them houses, but they're often dorm rooms, hotel rooms, apts these days) where we do the in-box rough-in in the local plant and others (or if we're stupid enough to prolong our duration of agony with the modular guys, we could go to the site and) connect all the stub-outs from the various modular boxes, tie it to a water supply, and presto- a sprinklered apt building, dorm, whatever. While you're sure to have some obstructions and the like, if you had 2 HSW's in an 8x8x12 or 16 enclosure, one would think you'd get a pretty early alarm and a chance at control if not extinguishment by envelopment. Can we do that without being accused of drowning our victims? glc -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 2:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: POD Storage You cannot internally sprinkle the POD units. If you haven't seen them they are for lack of better description, a shipping container. Similar to what you see on ocean going freighters. Those are much larger of course but same basic principal. They are designed to be dropped off at your house and then packed with your household goods to be transported and stored in a warehouse. They are usually stacked one on top of another, in (3) high configurations. Once they are warehoused, they are no longer accessible to the public. Some are designed with a steel roof, some have a translucent plastic roof. Since the general use limits the type of objects stored to household furniture and clothing, (no flammables, liquids, etc), it would seem your internal ignition source would be very limited. So the question is what component are you using as the actual hazard, the container or the contents? Here is some food for thought from NFPA 13........... "NFPA 13, A.5.6.1.1 Commodity classification is governed by the types and amounts of materials (e.g., metal, paper, wood, plastics) that are a part of a product and its primary packaging. However, in a storage or warehousing situation, classification is also affected by such factors as the primary storage or shipping container material, the amount of air space, and the location of the more hazardous materials within the container. For example, a Group A plastic product enclosed in a five- or six-sided metal container can be considered Class II, while a ceramic product heavily wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a corrugated carton could be Class III." Just for reference: PODS Container Sizes: 8x8x12 and 8x8x16 Materials: Steel frame construction with a marine grade wood interior and aluminum skin exterior Weight: Empty weight is approximately 2,500 lbs Capacity: 7,500 lbs of material _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
