Measurements and observations made during residential sprinkler demonstrations

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Measurements and observations made during residential sprinkler

demonstrations

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S e r T H l

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National Research

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Construction construction

Building Research Note

Measurements

and Observations Made during

Residential Sprinkler Demonstrations

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by

I. Oleszkiewicz

Fire Research Section

Institute for Research in Construction

BRN

243 ISSN 0701-5232

Ottawa, April

1986

@Kational Research Council Canada.

1986

MEASUREMENTS A N D OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING RESIDENTIAL

SPRINKLER DEMONSTRATIONS

*?

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ABSTRACT

Measurements and observations made during demonstration tests of

resideri~ial

sprinkler systems, conducted in Charlottetown, Prince Edward

Island,',in June 1984, are presented.

'+2

Ce document fait 6tat des mesures et observations faites lors dPessais

de d6monstration d'extinct~urs

automatiqyes pour habitations men& en juin

1984

3

Charlottetown,

3 1'Ile-du-Prince-Edouard.

INTRODUCTION

Statistics show that most fire fatalities occur in residential fires.

The low ceiling heights and the small size of compartments in the typical

home cause the hot fire gases to descend quickly to below eye level. An

obvious solution to the problem is the early detection and suppression of

the fire. The use of smoke detectors has decreased the number of

residential fire fatalities, but detection alone is not sufficient. It

cannot save lives if the occupants of the building are incapacitated due to

age, disability or other factors.

Traditional sprinklers have proven unsuccessful, due to their slow

response time, in providing life safety for the occupants of the compartment

of fire origin. Fast response is important, but so is the capability of the

sprinkler to discharge a sufficient quantity of water in the right spray

pattern from an ordinary household water supply.

A

new type of sprinkler,

referred to as the residential sprinkler, has been developed to meet the

needs of residential buildings.

The Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council

o$ Canada, agreed to participate in two demonstration tests of residential

sprinkler systems in Charlottetown, P.E.I.,

in June 1984. The tests had

been devised jointly by manufacturers of fire protection equipment and by

fire protection authorities.

The objectives of the demonstration tests were:

i) to show the ability of residential sprinklers to extinguish

a

fire

before conditions in the room of fire origin became untenable;

ii) to demonstrate the suitability of plastic piping for use in residential

sprinkler systems;

iii) to demonstrate the operation of an "intelligent" fire alarm system.

Although the tests were primarily for demonstration purposes, useful

data were collected concerning the performance of residential sprinklers.

TEST FACILITY

The test facility consisted of two rooms built adjacent to the Fire

Fighters Training Tower (Figure

1).

The interiors of the rooms were

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.: ?

o SPRINKLER

8

_{PRESSURE GAUGE} 2 THERMOCOUPLE

THERMOCOUPLE LOCATION ROOM NO. 1

1

-

AT THE SIDEWALL S PR I NKLER

2

-

0.9 m ABOVE THE FLOOR 3

-

0.075 m BELOW THE CEILING 5 - AT THE SIDEWALL SPRINKLER

ROOM NO. 2

1 TO 4

-

AT THE PENDANT SPRINKLERS

5

-

0.075 m BELOW THE CEl L l NG 0

-

1.5 m ABOVE THE FLOOR, 0 . 1 m

FROM THE WALL

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3

f i n i s h e d w i t h gypsum board p a i n t e d w i t h l a t e x p a i n t ; t h e f l o o r s were b a r e c o n c r e t e .

A c ; l o s e d - c i r c u i t TV w i t h m o n i t o r s was i n s t a l l e d i n t h e tower and a n e a r b y t + a i n i n g c e n t r e . V

SPRINKLER INSTALLATIONS

Two t y p e s of s p r i n k l e r s , b o t h h a v i n g a t e m p e r a t u r e r a t i n g of 60°C (140°F) were i n s t a l l e d : h o r i z o n t a l s i d e w a l l r e s i d e n t i a l s p r i n k l e r s i n Room 1, and pendant r e s i d e n t i a l s p r i n k l e r s i n Room 2. F i g u r e 1 shows t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of t h e s p r i n k l e r s . P l a s t i c p i p i n g of 25.4 mm ( 1 i n . ) nominal d i a m e t e r , made from e i t h e r c h l o r i n a t e d PVC ( p o l y ( v i n y 1 c h l o r i d e ) ) o r Poly B

( p o l y b u t y l e n e ) , was used. The p i p e s were exposed.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM

The f i r e a l a r m s y s t e m c o n s i s t e d of 8 a d d r e s s a b l e i o n i z a t i o n - t y p e smoke d e t e c t o r s i n e a c h room ( g i v i n g a t o t a l of 16 d e t e c t o r s ) w i t h a

m i c r o p r o c e s s o r - c o n t r o l l e d c e n t r a l u n i t . The s e n s i t i v i t y of t h e d e t e c t o r s c o u l d be a d j u s t e d i n d i v i d u a l l y from t h e keyboard of t h e c o n t r o l u n i t .

INSTRUMENTATION

During t h e t e s t s , t h e a i r t e m p e r a t u r e and CO l e v e l i n t h e room, and t h e p r e s s u r e and w a t e r f l o w r a t e i n t h e s p r i n k l e r p i p i n g were measured.

The v e r t i c a l d i s t r i b u t i o n of t e m p e r a t u r e was monitored by b a r e

' t h e r m o c o u p l e s f i x e d a t 915 mrn ( 3 f t ) , and 1525 mm ( 5 f t ) above t h e f l o o r and 7 5 mm ( 3 i n . ) below t h e c e i l i n g . Other thermocouples were l o c a t e d c l o s e t o t h e s p r i n k l e r s .

The CO l e v e l was measured u s i n g a s a m p l i n g s e t w i t h a n a i r pump and a Draeger d e v i c e (chosen because of i t s p o r t a b i l i t y ) . Air samples were t a k e n 1525 mm ( 5 f t ) above t h e f l o o r .

Water p r e s s u r e was measured w i t h a p r e s s u r e gauge a t a p o i n t j u s t b e f o r e t h e burn room. The f l o w r a t e and t o t a l q u a n t i t y of w a t e r were measured u s i n g a S i g n e t p a d d l e - w h e e l flowmeter/accumulator.

The flowmeter and a l l t h e thermocouples were a u t o m a t i c a l l y r e a d and r e c o r d e d by a d a t a l o g g e r . Other d a t a , t o g e t h e r w i t h s p r i n k l e r a c t i v a t i o n t i m e s , were r e c o r d e d manually. The smoke d e t e c t o r s were n o t monitored i n d i v i d u a l l y because of t h e l i m i t e d s c a n n i n g speed of t h e d a t a l o g g e r .

FIRE SCENARIOS

S i x t r i a l and two d e m o n s t r a t i o n b u r n s , s i m u l a t i n g f i r e s i n h e a l t h c a r e and h o t e l rooms, were c a r r i e d o u t . The t r i a l f i r e s were conducted i n o r d e r t o e s t a b l i s h p r o p e r s c e n a r i o s f o r t h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n tests.

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4

To r e d u c e t h e t e s t i n g t i m e , f l a m i n g f i r e s w e r e chosen. A waste-paper b a s k e t f i l l e d w i t h crumpled newspaper was u s e d a s t h e s o u r c e of f i r e . The f l a m e s i s s u i n g from t h e b a s k e t i g n i t e d a n e a r b y p i e c e of f u r n i t u r e (bed o r

*

The arrangement of f u r n i t u r e d u r i n g t h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n t e s t s i s shown i n F i g u r e 1: i t i s a r e p r o d u c t i o n of t h e arrangement used d u r i n g T r i a l

RESULTS

T r i a l T e s t 1 i n Room 1 and T r i a l Test 1 i n Room 2 were conducted b e f o r e t h e i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n was completely i n s t a l l e d .

F i g u r e s 2 t o 7 show a i r t e m p e r a t u r e vs. t i m e a t t h e thermocouple l o c a t i o n s d u r i n g t h e two d e m o n s t r a t i o n tests and t h e f o u r t r i a l tests f o r which i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n was a v a i l a b l e . A c t i v a t i o n times f o r t h e s p r i n k l e r and

t h e f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r are i n d i c a t e d on t h e t i m e a x i s . T r i a l T e s t 2, Room 1 ( F i g u r e 2)

The f i r e was v e r y s m a l l . The s p r i n k l e r a t l o c a t i o n 5 a c t i v a t e d 48 s e c o n d s a f t e r i g n i t i o n and e x t i n g u i s h e d t h e f i r e a l m o s t immediately. The a i r t e m p e r a t u r e remained low d u r i n g t h e test. The CO l e v e l , however,

r e a c h e d 8000 ppm one minute a f t e r i g n i t i o n . The w a t e r p r e s s u r e w a s 290 kPa (42 p s i ) and t h e f l o w r a t e was 1.37 L/s (21.7 U.S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 17 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n .

"

1 2 0 W C C 0 20 40 6 0 8 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 180 200 T I M E , s F i g u r e 2. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. t i m e ; T r i a l T e s t 2, Room 2 l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l

-

v SPRINKLER

-

_v SMOKE DETECTOR

-

1 - 5 THERMOCOUPLE LOCATIONS

-

- v 2 v 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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T r i a l Test 3, Room 1 ( F i g u r e 3 )

The f i r e grew b i g g e r and l a s t e d l o n g e r t h a n i n t h e p r e v i o u s t e s t . The s p r i n k l e r a t l o c a t i o n 5 a c t i v a t e d 101 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n . The gas temperature was h i g h e r t h a n d u r i n g t h e p r e v i o w t e s t , b u t n o t s u f f i c i e n t l y h i g h t o cause f l a s h o v e r . The CO l e v e l remained low. The w a t e r p r e s s u r e was

160 kPa (23 p s i ) and t h e flow r a t e was 1.981 L / s (31.5 U.S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 107 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n . l ~ l [ ~ ~ Il I ,I I l I I 1 l l i

-

v S P R I N K L E R - - v _SMOKEDETECTOR

-

₁

_-

₅ _THERMOCOUPLE _- LOCATIONS

-

T I M E ,

s

F i g u r e 3. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. time; T r i a l Test 3, Room 1

$ r i a l T e s t 2, Room 2 ( F i g u r e 4 )

Because of t h e arrangement of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s and t h e i r h i g h

c o m b u s t i b i l i t y , and t h e u s e of s p r i n k l e r s w i t h a t e m p e r a t u r e r a t i n g h i g h e r t h a n t h a t r e q u i r e d , t h e f i r e was v i g o r o u s and g a s t e m p e r a t u r e s were high. The s p r i n k l e r a t l o c a t i o n 3 a c t i v a t e d 128 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n and

promptly e x t i n g u i s h e d t h e f i r e . The CO l e v e l was n o t recorded. The w a t e r p r e s s u r e was 290 kPa (42 p s i ) and t h e flow r a t e was 1.4 L/s (22.2 U.S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 20 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n .

T r i a l T e s t 3. Room 2 ( F i g u r e 5)

The arrangement of t h e f u r n i s h i n g s was modified. A h i g h l y combustible p r i v a c y c u r t a i n , used i n t h e p r e v i o u s t e s t , was n o t r e i n s t a l l e d . S p r i n k l e r s w i t h a t e m p e r a t u r e r a t i n g of 60°C were used. The f i r e developed more s l o w l y t h a n d u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s t e s t . Two s p r i n k l e r s a c t i v a t e d ( l o c a t i o n s 2 and 3) and suppressed t h e f i r e b e f o r e t h e eye-level g a s t e m p e r a t u r e

(thermocouple 6) reached 75OC. The s p r i n k l e r a t l o c a t i o n 2 a c t i v a t e d

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? v SPRINKLER r _{SMOKE DETECTOR} 1-7 THERMOCOUPLE 0 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2 0 0 T I M E , s F i g u r e 4. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. t i m e ; T r i a l T e s t 2, Room 2 1 8 0 16 0 14 0 v SPRINKLER 1 2 0 SMOKE DETECTOR 1 0 0 1 - 7 THERMOCOUPLE 8 0 6 0 4 0 2 0 T I M E , s F i g u r e 5. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. t i m e ; T r i a l T e s t 3 , Room 2

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l o c a t i o n 3. The f o l l o w i n g CO l e v e l s were recorded: 0 pprn a f t e r 30 seconds, 0 pprn a f t e r 2 m i n u t e s , 500 pprn a f t e r 3 minutes, and 300 pprn a f t e r 4 minutes. The w a t e r p r e s s u r e was 324 kPa (47 p s i ) and t h e flow r a t e was 1.57 L/s

(24.8 U;S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 30 seconds a f t e r

i g n i t i o n . X‘

Demonstration T e s t , Room 1 ( F i g u r e 6 )

The f i r e development was s i m i l a r t o t h a t d u r i n g T r i a l T e s t 3 i n Room 1 e x c e p t f o r a s l o w e r s t a r t which was caused by a d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e randomly a r r a n g e d i g n i t i o n s o u r c e (waste-paper b a s k e t w i t h crumpled p a p e r ) . The s p r i n k l e r a t l o c a t i o n 5 a c t i v a t e d 3 minutes a f t e r i g n i t i o n . The f o l l o w i n g CO l e v e l s were recorded: 0 pprn a f t e r 1 minute, 150 pprn a f t e r 3 m i n u t e s , and 300 pprn a f t e r

4

minutes. The w a t e r p r e s s u r e was 269 kPa (39 p s i ) and t h e flow r a t e was 1.63 L/s (26 U.S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 34 seconds a f t e r i g n i t i o n .

S e v e r a l p e o p l e remained i n s i d e t h e room u n t i l t h e f i r e was e x t i n g u i s h e d . They r e p o r t e d no u n t e n a b l e c o n d i t i o n s , a l t h o u g h t h e y e x p e r i e n c e d some d i s c o m f o r t due t o smoke and w a t e r s p r a y . They s t r e s s e d t h a t they d i d n o t f e e l h o t , a l t h o u g h t h e t e m p e r a t u r e reached l l l ° C a t t h e 1525 mm l e v e l ( F i g u r e 6, thermocouple 3). 0 0 20 40 6 0 80 100 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2 0 0 T I M E , s l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ l ~ ~

-

v _SPRINKLER

-

- v _SMOKE

_DETECTOR

1

-

5 THERMOCOUPLE LOCATIONS _-

-

v v 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l 1 ~ ~ ~

F i g u r e 6. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. time; d e m o n s t r a t i o n t e s t , Room 1

Demonstration T e s t , Room 2 ( F i g u r e 7 )

The f i r e development was s i m i l a r t o t h a t d u r i n g T r i a l T e s t 3 i n Room 2. Only one s p r i n k l e r a c t i v a t e d ( a t l o c a t i o n 3 ) , 2 minutes a f t e r i g n i t i o n . The f o l l o w i n g CO l e v e l s were recorded: 0 pprn a f t e r 1 minute, 200 pprn a f t e r

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2.5 m i n u t e s , 400 ppm a f t e r 3.5 m i n u t e s , and 300 ppm a f t e r 5 minutes. The w a t e r p r e s s u r e was 324 kPa (47 p s i ) and t h e f l o w r a t e was 1.6 L/s

(254 U.S. gpm). The f i r s t smoke d e t e c t o r a c t i v a t e d 19 s e c o n d s a f t e r i g n i t i o n .

u

0 0 20 4 0 6 0 80 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 200 TIME, s V SPRINKLER SMOKE DETECTOR 1

-

7 THERMOCOUPLE v F i g u r e 7. Air t e m p e r a t u r e vs. t i m e ; d e m o n s t r a t i o n t e s t , Room 2 SUMMARY

The purpose of t h e tests was t o d e m o n s t r a t e new s p r i n k l e r t e c h n o l o g y i n a c t i o n . The t e s t c o n d i t i o n s were chosen t o be a p p r o p r i a t e f o r d e m o n s t r a t i o n p u r p o s e s r a t h e r t h a n t o y i e l d i n f o r m a t i o n f o r r e s e a r c h . N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t i s c o n s i d e r e d d e s i r a b l e t o r e p o r t what was measured and o b s e r v e d a s t h e r e i s l i t t l e p u b l i s h e d i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e e a r l y s t a g e of f i r e development c o u p l e d w i t h t h e dynamic r e s p o n s e of r e s i d e n t i a l s p r i n k l e r s .

The r e p o r t s f r o m p e o p l e exposed t o t h e f i r e environment i n Room 1 i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e N a t i o n a l F i r e P r o t e c t i o n A s s o c i a t i o n t e n a b i l i t y c r i t e r i o n f o r t e m p e r a t u r e , s e l e c t e d a s 65OC ( l ) , i s c o n s e r v a t i v e f o r s h o r t e x p o s u r e s .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

These tests were c a r r i e d o u t u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n of F i r e C h i e f s . P a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e s e tests i n c l u d e d t h e

Canadian Automatic S p r i n k l e r A s s o c i a t i o n , Canadian F i r e Alarm M a n u f a c t u r e r s A s s o c i a t i o n , Bow P l a s t i c s Ltd., B.F. Goodrich Chemical Group and G r i n n e l l F i r e P r o t e c t i o n Systems Co. Ltd.

The a u t h o r g r a t e f u l l y acknowledges t h e t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e p r o v i d e d by J.W. MacLaurin and R.C. Monette, who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e tests i n

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C h a r l o t t e t o w n , and J.E. B e r n d t , who p r o c e s s e d t h e d a t a a n d p r e p a r e d t h e g r a p h s .

1. Cot6, A r t h u r E., " F i e l d T e s t and E v a l u a t i o n of R e s i d e n t i a l S p r i n k l e r Systems: P a r t 11", F i r e Technology, Vol. 20, No. 1, F e b r u a r y 1984, p. 48.