Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

A sprinkler with a shield designed to mitigate drop impingement from nearby operating sprinklers is shown experimentally to reduce skipping as compared to the same sprinkler without a shield. As described in a companion article, a model for the response time of a shielded sprinkler has been developed and validated with a Plunge Tunnel apparatus. In this article, results from intermediate-scale spray fire tests employing Froude modeling principles with a 1 : 3 scale ratio are used to evaluate sprinkler performance both with and without the shield. By comparing the operation times of adjacent shielded and unshielded sprinklers, the intermediate-scale tests can identify test arrangements where the shielded sprinkler operates while the unshielded sprinkler does not operate. The identified arrangements are then used in a full-scale environment where a series of pan fire tests serve as a proof-of-concept that proper shielding of a sprinkler can reduce skipping in terms of both the sprinkler operation pattern and total number of sprinkler operations. This study successfully demonstrates that proper shielding of a sprinkler can significantly reduce skipping.

Keywords

sprinkler skipping sprinkler shield Froude number modeling.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Croce, P.A. , Hill, J.P. and Xin, Y. , ‘‘An Investigation of the Causative Mechanism of Sprinkler Skipping,’’ Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2005, pp. 107-136.

Nam, S. , ‘‘Fire Protection at High Ceiling Clearance Facilities,’’ In: Proceedings of the 7th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science & Technology, Hong Kong, September 2007.

Ruffino, P. and di Marzo, M. , ‘‘Measurement of Temperature in a Hot Gas Laden with Water Droplets,’’ NIST GCR 01-827, Gaithersburg, MD USA, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, August 2001.

de Ris, J. , Ditch, B. and Yu, H.-Z. , ‘‘The Skip Resistant Sprinkler Concept - Theoretical Evaluation,’’ Journal of Fire Protection Engineering , Vol. 20, No.1, 2010.

Heskestad, G. and Bill Jr, R.G. , ‘‘Quantification of Thermal Responsiveness of Automatic Sprinklers Including Conduction Effects,’’ Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 14, 1998, pp. 113-125.

The Approval Guide, Norwood, MA USA, FM Approvals, FM Global, 2008.

Heskestad, G. , ‘‘Physical Modelling of Fire,’’ Journal of Fire and Flammability, Vol. 6, 1975, pp. 254-273.

Yu, H.-Z. , ‘‘Froude-modeling-based General Scaling Relationships for Water-spray-fire-plume Interactions,’’ In: Proceedings of the 7th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology, Hong Kong, September 2007.

Jayaweera, T. and Yu, H.-Z. , ‘‘Scaling Water Mist Fire Suppression Under Low Drop Reynolds Number Conditions,’’ Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 43, 2008 , pp. 63-70.

10.

Yu, H.-Z. , Zhou, X. and Ditch, B. , ‘‘Experimental Validation of Froude-modeling-based Physical Scaling of Water Cooling of Enclosure Fires, Fire Safety Science,’’ In: 9th ‘‘Fire Plumes, Flame Height, and Air Entertainmen’’, Symposium, London, International Association for Fire Safety Science , 2008.

11.

Heskestad, G. , Fire Plumes, Flame Height, and Air Entertainment , In: DiNenno, P.J. ed., SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 3rd edn, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA USA, 2002, pp. 2-1-2-17.

The Skip-resistant Sprinkler Concept — An Experimental Evaluation

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References