http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire04/PDF/f04017.pdf

here is something that would make even the most die-hard geek cry uncle :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Cahill, Christopher [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:25 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Over pressurizing Heads

Yep but if the wet stuff is mist and can't drop through the plume in these
high challenge fires you aren't getting the wet stuff on the orange stuff.
I can have a camp fire in humid weather or even in fog but not as easy when
it's actually raining.

Chris Cahill, PE*
Associate Fire Protection Engineer
Burns & McDonnell
Phone:  952.656.3652
Fax:  952.229.2923
[email protected]
www.burnsmcd.com
*Registered in: MN


Proud to be #14 on FORTUNE's 2014 List of 100 Best Companies to Work For

-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:18 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Over pressurizing Heads

Anytime you get more of the wet stuff on the orange stuff it has to be good,
right?  ;)


Craig L. Prahl, CET
Fire Protection Group Lead
CH2MHILL
Lockwood Greene
1500 International Drive
Spartanburg, SC  29303
Direct - 864.599.4102
Fax - 864.599.8439
CH2MHILL Extension  74102
[email protected]



-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Cahill, Christopher
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 12:05 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Overpressurizing Heads

The fire goes out with 1-3 heads is the answer.  I hear you in that is a
great question I have thought of many times. Success rate of sprinklers
tells us not to worry.  I think the better question is to focus on the high
challenge fires like high piled storage where drop size is more important. I
wonder with a 20 psi EFSR that sees 80 psi?  Correct me if I'm wrong but all
the testing labs control the sprinkler pressure at the head to the minimum
required during the fire tests?  For example has there ever been a test with
a 120 psi pump with pipe sized as it would be in the field so the first head
sees basically 120 - elevation?

Chris Cahill, PE*
Associate Fire Protection Engineer
Burns & McDonnell
Phone:  952.656.3652
Fax:  952.229.2923
[email protected]
www.burnsmcd.com
*Registered in: MN


Proud to be #14 on FORTUNE's 2014 List of 100 Best Companies to Work For




-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Richard Mote
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 10:38 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Area/Density Method and Walls

HydraCALC has a box you can check on the calculation menu for doing a source
calc. That brings up a question I have been asking for years. I know from
direct observation when I was testing sprinklers for Star that increases in
pressure can materially affect droplet size and distribution pattern. If we
have a system designed to work a 50 psi @ 250 gpm. What happens to the spray
pattern and droplet size when the fire department come along and starts
pumping 500gpm @ 100 psi into the system. Part of the reason for the minimum
pressure requirements for Residential sprinklers is that, that was the
minimum pressure required to pass all the UL testing. If you do the math the
pressure required does not always matchup with sqrt of P = Q/K. So what
happens to the distribution and droplet size when you install residential
sprinkler in residential portions of a 13 occupancy and give it two or three
times the minimum starting pressure.


Richard Mote ET
Designer
Rowe Sprinkler Systems, Inc.
PO Box 407
Middleburg, PA 17842
P- 877-324-ROWE
F- 570-937-6335
[email protected]
www.rowesprinkler.com





-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Steve Leyton
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 11:09 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: RE: Area/Density Method and Walls

I think most software can do that.  We've been using FPE for a long while
and the software has a toggle feature between "Demand" and "Supply"
calculations.   The later being a model of system performance at 0 psi
remaining at Source.

SL






-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 7:38 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: RE: Area/Density Method and Walls

I don't know if Hydracad or SprinkCad has the same option as HASS but HASS
puts out a secondary calc called Full Flow.  We looked at this and were a
bit surprised of the results.  Basically when we calculate a system all we
are doing is proving that we can achieve the required minimum flow and
pressure within the hydraulically remote area.  When you're done you end up
with a comparison of REQUIRED versus AVAILABLE pressure and flow.  AS long
as the REQUIRED is less than the AVAILABLE all is good.

What you don't see is what actually could be discharged based on the ACTUAL
pressure and flow.  For example if you have a 250 gpm sprinkler demand with
a required BOR pressure of 50 psi and the water supply can provide 1000 gpm
at 125 psi, your FULL FLOW conditions will discharge MUCH more than the 250
minimum required.

So when there is a robust water supply your LH system can easily discharge
rates closer to an EH system.

Also consider the statistical data of most fires being controlled by one to
three sprinklers and we're calculating more than that so you can see where
the difference between physics and reality come into play.

Craig L. Prahl, CET
Fire Protection Group Lead
CH2MHILL
Lockwood Greene
1500 International Drive
Spartanburg, SC  29303
Direct - 864.599.4102
Fax - 864.599.8439
CH2MHILL Extension  74102
[email protected]



-----Original Message-----
From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Brad Casterline
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 9:54 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Area/Density Method and Walls

"The designed system has little to do with physics or reality."

Roland, I did not want to take your statement out of context completely,
because I know how much that hurts sometimes, so I did not trim this thread.

I am always trying to quantify things as best I can so here is my shot:

At the time calculations were being accepted into NFPA 13 the 'reality' was
that pipe scheduled systems had worked for 90 years.
In order for proposed changes to be accepted (then and now I guess) an
equivalency of some sort had to be shown, and that is where the 'physics'
came in, along these lines: given a certain water supply, what flows will a
scheduled system produce? Now, for the sake of economy, how much can we beef
it up here and slim it down there and still get equivalent results; mix a
little fluid mechanics theory with a lot of water flow measurements and...
BOOM! the density/area curves where born.

So calculated systems using the density/area curves are nothing more than
reconfigured pipe scheduled systems at their roots.

This is just my current understanding, and if it is mostly correct, it makes
real and perfect physical sense (to me anyway) ;)

Brad Casterline, SET

ps- I think calcs were a quantum leap in fire sprinkler design, and I think
the future WILL involve 'fire having something to do with it'.


-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Casterline [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 12:12 PM
To: 'Roland Huggins'; 'SprinklerFORUM'
Subject: RE: Area/Density Method and Walls

Three people took NFPA 13 from pipe scheduled to calculated:
Jack Wood, Lin McCool, and Hasu Doshi.
The Density/Area Curves "had nothing to do with fire" according to Hasu, the
only one of the three still alive.
The calculations were performed to see if they could get mains from 8" to 6"
by making the lines a little bigger and still get the same total flow.
So Chris, if you were pipe scheduling your set-up you would ignore the
walls, right? So there is your answer.
When I said I would consider any barrier I mean I would see in full color 3D
the flames and smoke and sprinkler spray of what I think would probably
happen, but what I would calc and print and walk the 40 feet to where my
supervising FPE of ~35 years, Hasu Doshi, is, I will have ignored the walls.
Hope that helps Cecil.

Brad Casterline
Designer Member, AFSA

-----Original Message-----
From: Roland Huggins [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 10:41 AM
To: SprinklerFORUM
Subject: Re: Area/Density Method and Walls

Actually a good question.

Generally speaking you ignore the walls (exception the room design of course
and others like small systems where you simply add additional water to the
calc).  The designed system has little to do with physics or reality.  I've
yet to see a pendent sprinkler discharge water in a 10X13 rectangle, the
amount of water hitting the flow is NOT equal to the assigned density (even
IF it did flow uniformly throughout the pattern which it doesn't), friction
loss through fittings is not well accounted for from an academic standpoint,
if you move the sprinkler an additional 6" off a wall it will greatly
increase the required pressure but do you think it will really affect the
performance, unbounded fires do burn in a relative circle but the design as
never been based on that etc etc.  The reality of the design is that it is a
well defined process whereby different people get relatively similar results
AND IT WORKS to control the fire.

As such, for a new design, the approach ensures that a fire located anywhere
will be controlled by assigning the remote area in the most hydraulically
demanding location regardless of walls.  When modifying a system, you will
not find anything that relaxes this conservative approach.  So if you are
looking for a get out of jail card, get comfortably because you're staying
in jail.  Now as an engineer evaluating a modification, one could challenge
the conventions of the standard and I believe still have an adequate system.
If one is thinking to avoid lawsuits, don't be an engineer (or contractor
for that matter).  I know of a case where the building burned down and the
control valve was known to be closed and RECORDED as such for 6 months
before the fire.The contractor is still being sued - UFB.

Somewhat what Cecil said with a touch of my opinion that is not I say not
(think of the big chicken from Looney Tunes Foghorn Leghorn pronouncing
that) to be considered an interpretation for NFPA 13 or any other NFPA
standard (with a few less THE's).

Roland Huggins, PE - VP Engineering
American Fire Sprinkler Assn.       ---      Fire Sprinklers Saves Lives
Dallas, TX
http://www.firesprinkler.org





On May 20, 2014, at 5:12 PM, Cahill, Christopher <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I can't believe I'm asking this question after all these years.
> Anyway,
swallowing pride and asking.
>
> 2010 NFPA 13 strict Density/Area method 11.2.3.2 and 22.4.4.1.1.
> Great
big room being subdivided. Existing system with a new wall added between
heads on a BL.  Contractor had to add a head on one side to preserve the
existing spacing (area) of the heads.  Without head over 130 sq.ft.  I take
the 1.2 ^.5 of the area and get 46.5' required along the BL.  Original
system lets say calc'd 5 heads on the BL.  But now in the same 46.5' there
are 6 heads on the BL.  Do I ignore the wall and require a new calc?  What
if the wall is rated 1 hour do I ignore it?
>
> I looked all over and can't seem to find anything definitive. Room
> design
is out so not a consideration.  22.4.4.1.1.1 simply says all the heads in
the 46.5'.  I can't find anything that says either to count the wall as a
break so measure 46.5' from the wall in each direction and still see if
there are 5 head or ignore it and there are now 6 heads.  I find 11.1.2 that
clarifies to extend the density or not.  I don't think that's applicable
exactly. The question is not about whether to extend the density on either
side. Let's just say it's all OH.
>
> It gets a little more complex as on the one side of the wall they cut
> a
head in on the BL but on the other side there is a perpendicular new wall
and they come off same BL and arm over to two more head so if I ignore the
walls there are now 8 heads off the 1 BL.
>
> Prefer a code section or written reference 'cuz this is going to be a
> big
deal if we ignore the walls.  Ordinarily with unrated walls they are ignored
in density/area (of course can't find that reference).  I think I'm getting
tripped up with the rated portion? Or maybe I'm just tired????
>
> Chris Cahill, PE*
> Associate Fire Protection Engineer
> Burns & McDonnell
> Phone:  952.656.3652
> Fax:  952.229.2923
> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
> www.burnsmcd.com<http://www.burnsmcd.com/>
> *Registered in: MN
>
>
> Proud to be #14 on FORTUNE's 2014 List of 100 Best Companies to Work
> For
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sprinklerforum mailing list
> [email protected]
>
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