Analysis of High Bay Hangar Facilities for Detector Sensitivity and Placement.
Analysis of High Bay Hangar Facilities for Detector
Sensitivity and Placement.
(517 K)
Gott, J. E.; Notarianni, K. A.
Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). Honors
Lecture Series. Proceedings. May 20, 1996.
Engineering Seminars: Fire Protection Design for High
Challenge or Special Hazard Applications. Proceedings.
May 20-22, 1996, Boston, MA, 1-8 pp, 1996.
Keywords:
fire protection engineering; fire protection; hangars;
aircraft fuels; heat release; large scale fire tests;
flame detectors; sprinklers; fire research; draft
curtain; optical flame detectors
Abstract:
Existing building and fire codes in the United States
offer little or no guidance in the design of fire
protection systems in high bay spaces due to the lack of
scientific data. Timely detection of a fire is more
difficult in large spaces due to the distance heat and
other products of combustion must travel to sprinklers
or detectors. Possible stratification poses an
additional challenge in selecting the optimal location
of detectors. The focus of this paper is on the
full-scale experiments conducted by NAVFAC and NIST
which were designed to assist the Navy in reevaluating
its criteria for the protection of high bay aircraft
hangars. Previous studies conducted in 15 m and 30.5 m
hangars used isopropyl alcohol, involved only one fire
size, and were conducted with the hangar doors only in
the closed position. The NAVFAC/NIST experiments
included numerous fire sizes, aviation fuels, and both
open and closed doors. Also participating in these
experiments were five fire protection industry sponsors
representing the fire alarm and automatic sprinkler
industries, representatives from each branch of the U.S.
Department of Defense, and representatives from select
NFPA technical committees.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899