Estimating the Suppression Performance of an Electronically Controlled Residential Water Mist System from BS 8458:2015 Fire Test Data
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Background
1.2. Literature Review
1.3. Research Overview and Purpose
1.4. An Electronically Controlled Water Mist System
2. BS 8458:2015 Fire Tests
2.1. BS 8458:2015 Annex C
2.2. Enclosure Arrangements
2.3. Fire Locations and Fuel Package
2.4. Thermocouple, Nozzle, and Detector Locations
2.5. Fire Test Results
3. Representing the Fire Tests in a Zone Model
3.1. Modelling Tool and Methodology
3.2. Water Mist Suppression Performance
3.3. Defining the Fire Parameters
3.4. Enclosure Surface Properties
3.5. Ventilation and Enclosure Openings
3.6. Estimating the Thermocouple Temperature
4. Zone Model Simulation Results and Discussion
4.1. Estimated System Activation Times
4.2. Estimated Layer Heights
4.3. Estimated Temperatures and Suppression Performance Comparisons
4.4. Limitations
- The BS 8458:2015 fire tests represent a limited range of fire scenarios, albeit with a fire growth rate on the more ‘severe’ side of potential residential fires (in the range of a fast to ultra-fast growing fire). In comparison, Hopkin et al. [39] estimate that a medium growth rate sits close to the 95th percentile of residential fire incidents. Spearpoint et al. [21] noted that the harmonisation of test standards (such as BS 8458:2015, BS 9252:2011 [40], and BS EN 12559-14:2020 [41]) for ‘legacy hazards’ can lead to erroneous assumptions that a system is suitable for a broader range of hazards.
- The enclosure dimensions for the tests were 8 m long by 4 m wide by 2.5 m high, with the nozzles spaced at a distance of 4 m apart. The electronically controlled water mist system is currently designed to protect an area within 6 m of each nozzle for a 90° radius [25], and therefore a greater number of nozzles would need to be incorporated to achieve adequate coverage for larger enclosures.
- By representing the water mist nozzles as equivalent to sprinkler heads which are mounted at the ceiling, there are limitations in how these assumptions can then be applied in enclosures with different ceiling heights, e.g., tall and double height spaces. The electronically controlled water mist system incorporates nozzles which are positioned within the enclosure walls at a height of approximately 1.45 m from floor level, and it is designed to discharge water in the direction of the fire rather than in the upper smoke layer. It could be hypothesised that taller ceilings would not significantly slow the system’s activation, or alter its performance, when compared to ceiling-mounted sprinkler heads. However, this would need to be verified through further experimentation.
- The fire tests and modelling methods do not consider the reliability of the system, i.e., it is assumed the system activates and operates as intended. A common criticism levied against ‘novel’ fire safety systems is the lack of knowledge or availability of data for their reliability and performance. However, it can be difficult to identify a system’s reliability in a practical sense without their frequent inclusion in buildings, since reasonable quantification of reliability usually requires that a system is subject to a number of ‘real’ (i.e., non-experimental) incidents to build an adequate dataset of events. In an attempt to address this issue, preliminary work is underway which considers fault tree analyses and reliability targets for adequate performance of the system in specific applications, such as for open plan apartments and loft conversions.
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
Symbols | |
Heat release rate, kW | |
Heat release rate at the time of system activation, s | |
Decaying heat release rate following system activation, s | |
Time, s | |
Time of system activation, s | |
Water spray density, mm/s | |
α | Fire growth rate, kW/s2 |
Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms | |
BBRAD | Boverket’s building regulations general recommendations on the analytical design of a building’s fire protection |
BRANZ | Building Research Association of New Zealand |
BS | British Standard |
C factor | Conductivity factor |
CFD | Computational fluid dynamics |
CO | Carbon monoxide |
C/VM2 | Verification method for New Zealand building code clauses C1–C6 |
FDS | Fire Dynamics Simulator |
HRR | Heat release rate |
IR | Infrared |
LLT | Lower layer temperature |
NFPA | National Fire Protection Association |
PD | Published Document |
RTI | Response time index |
TC | Thermocouple |
UL | Underwriters Laboratories |
ULT | Upper layer temperature |
VDI | Verein Deutscher Ingenieure |
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Thermocouple Location (Relative to the Ceiling/Floor) | Maximum Allowable Temperature [°C] |
---|---|
75 mm below the underside of the ceiling | 320 |
1.6 m above the floor | 95 |
1.6 m above the floor | 55 (for not more than any 120 s interval) |
Test Number | Fire Location | Room Enclosure | Nozzle Arrangement | Fan Ventilated | Detector Activation Time [mm:ss] | Nozzle Activation Time [mm:ss] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A-01 | Corner | Four walls | Arrangement 1 | No | 00:39 | 01:24 |
A-02 | Centre 1 | Four walls | Arrangement 1 | No | 00:31 | 01:08 |
A-03 | Centre 2 | Four walls | Arrangement 1 | No | 00:29 | 00:54 |
A-04 | Centre 1 | Four walls | Arrangement 1 | Yes | 00:28 | 01:06 |
A-05 | Corner | Four walls | Arrangement 2 | No | 00:35 | 01:14 |
A-06 | Centre 1 | Four walls | Arrangement 2 | No | 00:27 | 00:58 |
A-07 | Centre 2 | Four walls | Arrangement 2 | No | 00:33 | 00:52 |
A-08 | Corner | Four walls | Arrangement 2 | Yes | 00:37 | 01:06 |
A-09 | Centre 1 | Two walls | Arrangement 3 | No | 00:29 | 02:12 |
A-10 | Centre 2 | Two walls | Arrangement 3 | No | 00:26 | 02:16 |
A-11 | Corner | Two walls | Arrangement 3 | No | 00:33 | 00:53 |
Test Number | Nozzle Activation Time [mm:ss] | Zone Model Nozzle Activation Time [mm:ss] | Zone Model Maximum HRR [kW] |
---|---|---|---|
A-01 | 01:24 | 00:44 | 208 |
A-02 | 01:08 | 01:03 | 309 |
A-03 | 00:54 | 01:39 | 185 |
A-04 | 01:06 | 01:04 | 316 |
A-05 | 01:14 | 00:18 | 118 |
A-06 | 00:58 | 00:50 | 239 |
A-07 | 00:52 | 00:59 | 293 |
A-08 | 01:06 | 00:18 | 118 |
A-09 | 02:12 | 01:20 | 692 |
A-10 | 02:16 | 01:16 | 551 |
A-11 | 00:53 | 00:21 | 125 |
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Hopkin, C.; Spearpoint, M.; Muhammad, Y.; Makant, W. Estimating the Suppression Performance of an Electronically Controlled Residential Water Mist System from BS 8458:2015 Fire Test Data. Fire 2022, 5, 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050144
Hopkin C, Spearpoint M, Muhammad Y, Makant W. Estimating the Suppression Performance of an Electronically Controlled Residential Water Mist System from BS 8458:2015 Fire Test Data. Fire. 2022; 5(5):144. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050144
Chicago/Turabian StyleHopkin, Charlie, Michael Spearpoint, Yusuf Muhammad, and William Makant. 2022. "Estimating the Suppression Performance of an Electronically Controlled Residential Water Mist System from BS 8458:2015 Fire Test Data" Fire 5, no. 5: 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5050144