Travis, This product commodity falls within the same parameters as boat storage - there is no prescriptive requirement to follow. In fact, NFPA has issued a "statement" this particular type of storage arrangement is outside the scope of NFPA-13.
That being said, I have done a fair amount of research into the PODS type storage arrangements for my own education and can offer the following as a starting point (guidelines) for your consideration. (A) I spoke, at length, with Ms. Elley Klausbruckner at Klausbruckner and Assoc. regarding the general requirements for this PODS type storage and specifically about your particular type of storage arrangement. Ms. Klausbruckner is a fire protection engineer and specializes in HPR risk analysis and protection and has been involved in many warehouse storage arrangements of this PODS/Crate type storage, including the brand name PODS facilities. (B) In all cases except one, they have designed the fire sprinkler system as an Exposed, Unnexpanded, Group-A plastic commodity storage arrangement. (C) In all cases except one, they have designed utilizing ESFR sprinklers, unless the building construction prohibited the ESFR protection. In the scenario where the building construction would not allow ESFR, they designed utilizing the area/density method for the appropriate storage height. (D) In the one case where they did NOT protect as a Group-A plastic commodity the pods/crates were constructed entirely of wood. In this scenario they required a letter from the owner of the facility that the amount of Group-A plastics within the pods/crates at any time were less than 5% to 15% by weight or 5% to 25% by volume. The crate itself was treated as part of the unit load and the entire unit load was classified as a Class-IV commodity. (E) For reference, upholstered furniture is classified as a Class-IV commodity per the IFC 2303.5 (See IFC Figure 2303.7.4) (F) Tyco Fire Products, per their own internal technical document also indicates ESFR protection for PODS type storage that have plastic tops on the containers. (G) An analysis done by Rolf Jensen and Associates and written up in the 2006 Edition of Fire Protection Engineering Magazine suggests the use of ESFR sprinklers for the Group-A plastics scenario as well, but also indicates a dual design area/density as another design option. I know some of our esteemed colleagues are still not entirely comfortable with the determination of the protection schemes for this particular type of storage and there is NO prescriptive direction from NFPA on the subject. However, they have been and are being built all over the country and are being sprinklered in some fashion. We can only provide the protection scheme that is most consistant with the "experts" in our field, FP engineers with risk analysis experience, and provide the protection scheme as determined by them. The consensus from my personal research, at least at this point, is to protect as an Exposed, Unexpanded, Group-A plastic commodity and provide ESFR protection if the building construction allows. I implore those of you with the expertise above and beyond what Travis and I have to weigh in and provide your insights and experiences into this commodity storage. As always, have and AWESOME day! Ray Vance - SET Wayne Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. www.waynefire.com (407) 877-5563 office (321) 436-2184 mobile -----Original Message----- From: sprinklerforum-boun...@firesprinkler.org [mailto:sprinklerforum-boun...@firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of Travis Mack, SET Sent: 2009-03-30 5:30 PM To: sprinklerforum@firesprinkler.org Subject: PODs storage again I tried to search the archives, but keep getting a file not found error. I am looking at a PODs storage warehouse. There was a lot of discussion on the forums a while back, but I can't access all of it. The facility I am looking at has 24' storage. What is the general concensus of the protection req'd for these areas? Thanks in advance for your help. Travis Mack, SET _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: techsupp...@firesprinkler.org To Unsubscribe, send an email to:sprinklerforum-requ...@firesprinkler.org (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: techsupp...@firesprinkler.org To Unsubscribe, send an email to:sprinklerforum-requ...@firesprinkler.org (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
