Evaluation of Sprinkler Activation Prediction Methods.
Evaluation of Sprinkler Activation Prediction Methods.
(440 K)
Madrzykowski, D.
Interscience Communications Limited. ASIAFLAM '95.
International Conference on Fire Science and
Engineering, 1st. Proceedings. March 15-16, 1995,
Kowloon, Hong Kong, 211-218 pp, 1995.
Keywords:
fire science; fire protection engineering; sprinklers;
evaluation; experiments; compartments; large scale fire
tests; sprinkler activation
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability
of sprinkler activation models to predict activation
time. Large scale compartment fire tests were used to
obtain activation times for four different types of
sprinklers. The tests were conducted in an 18.9 m by
9.1 m by 2.35 m high compartment using floor based, gas
burner fires with constant heat release rates of 115,
155, 215, 290 and 520 kW. Non-dimensional sprinkler
radial position, r/H, of 0.67 and 1.3 were evaluated.
In addition to sprinkler activation times, ceiling jet
temperature, velocity and radiation measurements were
made. The study included: (1) a review of public
domain, personal-computer based, single-compartment
thermal-detector activation models, (2) an analysis of
predicted vs. experimental sprinkler activation times
and (3) a method to determine the applicability of
current sprinkler activation models.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899