Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

Register Log in

Sprinkler fire protection system for cigarettes manufacturing and storage facility

Status
Not open for further replies.
Rohitha Rathnaweera

Rohitha Rathnaweera

Industrial
Oct 15, 2023
6
0
0
LK
Good day Elites!

I'm having a challenge in updating the sprinkler fire protection system of a 50 year old cigarettes manufacturing and storage facility and have faced some challenges.

Dimensions of each storage - 20 x 22 meters, Roof height 7.5 meters and sprinklers mounted here.

Storage rack type - Drive in, continues racks with dimensions of -

L- 15 m, Depth - 12 m, triple row up to exact 5.9 m height to the top

Longitudinal flue space - 30 cm

Transverse flue space - 10 cm

Finished cigarettes boxes (corrugated cardboard) placed on "Fully closed boarded deck" wooden pellets which could delay the fire from going upwards. No any other mix of commodities.

My challenges -

Original system including piping and pneumatic tank were designed to cater for Grinnell 5.6K sprinklers (over 3800 heads). An insurance auditor visited recently has informed to change the system to deliver a density of 21.24 lmp/m2 using K8 sprinklers and upgrade pipe schedule and pumps which is not financially viable. (No explanation how this figure was reached).

In my understanding with NFA 13(2019),

Tobacco and finished products are Class III commodities (20.4.3.1).

Since the height to top of the boxes are 5.9 meters, can I use "Class III Density requirements up to 6.1 m" - 21.2.2.1 graphs with "Density vs storage height" 21.2.2.3 graph?

Current K5.6 sprinklers operating at 5 bar (at pump) delivering 150 l.p.m with a density of minimum 14.5 l.p.m. /m2 on ground and as per the 21.2.2.1 graphs, this should be sufficient.

If not sufficient by any mean, I propose to add "In-rack sprinklers" if it really needed.

Appreciate comments and advice. All comments and suggestions are welcome!
20230606_125659_m3iasp.jpg
20230606_125731_fjvteu.jpg
20230606_125601_b9sj4q.jpg
20230606_125741_c9qu4k.jpg
20231013_144036_zqlr4o.jpg

Thanks a lot in advance.
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

Sort by date Sort by votes
Have you checked 21.1.4?

Also, for a flow of 150 lpm and a density of 14.5 mm/min, the area of coverage results to 150/14.5 = 10.34 m² which seems it does not satisfy 10.2.4.2.1(d).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote
You can slide up the curve III in Fig. 21.2.2.1 but you can't reach 8.2 mm/min since the curves are trimmed. So I don't see how you can get away without utilizing K115 heads unless you have high temp. heads already which this would enable you to use Fig. 21.2.2.2 with K80 (sliding up to reach 8.2 mm/min). If not, you should consider change the heads and run hydraulics to see if only this change would be enough.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I am not an engineer or designer

1. I take it you are calling the storage,,, Solid Shelves?

Change those to open grate wire shelves, should help some???

2. Hire a Fire Protection Engineer,,, that has dealt with High Piled Storage,,, have them look at all aspects of the project….

The money you spend on the FPE, will save you time and money in the long run.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi UFT12!

This is not in USA, In Sri Lanka. There's no any qualified people around to get them to visit and see.
I'm trying with Chapter 25 now to try and combine In-rack with it.

Individual flow, when tested after opening 8 sprinklers at the same time, the lowest was delivering 138 l.p.m. and with the number of sprinklers available, the floor has a density of 13.5 l/m2 minimum. (11.4 l/m2 is from a OH location)


Untitled_md9nzo.png


Dr. Rohitha Rathnaweera
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Have you reached out to the property insurance company for guidance? I worked for a global insurance carrier in the loss prevention department for many years and provided the details you are looking for to our clients as part of our services. We also reviewed fire protection plans, made site visits to confirm the work matched the plans, etc. Ask who the insurance carrier is and or who is the “lead insurance carrier” it maybe via a insurance agent who places the coverage. Maybe worth a phone call or email.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rohitha,

My guess the insurance company visited the site and noted the condition and submitted a “recommendation” to upgrade the sprinkler system. I developed 1000s of recommendations during my career. Before you do the work get the insurance company to sign off on the work that it meets the recommendation. The last thing you want is the insurance company visiting the site in 6 months and not agreeing with what you did and resubmitting the recommendation. I have been down this road many times and have been at meetings where a lot of finger pointing takes place between contractors ie it’s not their fault! As I have said many times in these meetings all could have been avoided by a letter from the insurance company with agreement on what was planned.

Tom

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

VVhope
  • Locked
  • Question
Combined system sprinkler system Approach
Replies
0
Views
10
VVhope
VVhope
JoeH78
  • Locked
  • Question
Minimal requirements and demands for basement Storage
Replies
6
Views
7
LCREP
LCREP
Jeng84
  • Question
Redundant fire pumps for campus setup
Replies
4
Views
61
ProSafPlant1
ProSafPlant1
Aaron-Engineering
  • Locked
  • Question
Sprinkler Obstruction and Radiant Heating Panels
Replies
6
Views
7
Aaron-Engineering
Aaron-Engineering
khaled eltaweel
  • Locked
  • Question
sprinkler flow rate
Replies
7
Views
14
khaled eltaweel
khaled eltaweel
Back
Top