Fire sprinkler
History
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Henry S. Parmelee of New Haven, CT created and installed the first closed head fire sprinkler in 1874 to protect The Mathusek Piano Works. At the time he was the president of piano company. Parmelee invented the closed head sprinkler in response to exorbitantly high insurance rates. Parmelee patented his idea and had great success with it in the U.S. Parmelee called his invention the “automatic fire extinguisher”. He then traveled to Europe to show people that there was finally a way to help stop a building fire before everything was destroyed.
His invention did not get as much attention as he had planned. Most people could not afford to install a sprinkler system. Once Parmelee realized this, he turned his efforts on educating the insurance companies about his system. He talked about how the sprinkler system would reduce the loss ratio, thus saving money for the insurance companies. He knew that he could never succeed in obtaining contracts from the business owners to install his system unless he could at the same time ensure for them a reasonable return in the shape of reduced premiums.
In this connection he was fortunate enough to enlist the sympathies of two men, who both had connections in the insurance industry. The first of these was Major Hesketh, who, in addition to being a cotton spinner in a large business in Bolton, was Chairman of the Bolton Cotton Trades Mutual Insurance Company. The Directors of this Company and more particularly its Secretary, the late Peter Kevan, took an interest in Parmelee early experiments, and eventually it was to Major Hesketh, its Chairman, that Parmelee owed his first order for the Sprinkler Installations which were installed in the Cotton Spinning Mills of John Stones & Company, at Astley Bridge, Bolton, to be followed soon afterwards by the Alexandra Mills belonging to Mr. John Butler of the same town.
Although he got a contract through his efforts, the Bolton Cotton Trades Mutual Insurance Company was not a very big company outside of its local area. Parmelee needed a wider influence. He found this influence in James North Lane, the Manager of the Mutual Fire Insurance Corporation of Manchester. This company was founded in 1870 by the Textile Manufacturers’ Associations of Lancashire and Yorkshire as a protest against high insurance rates. They had a policy of encouraging risk management and more particularly the use of the most up-to-date and scientific apparatus for extinguishing fires. Even though he put tremendous effort and time into educating the masses on his sprinkler system, by 1883 only about 10 factories were protected by the Parmelee sprinkler.
Back in the U.S., Frederick Grinnell, who was manufacturing the Parmelee sprinkler, designed a newer and more effective version which became known as the Grinnell sprinkler. He increased sensitivity by removing the fusible joint from all contact with the water, and, by the ingenious method of seating a valve in the center of a flexible diaphragm, he relieved the low fusing soldered joint of the strain of water pressure. By this means the valve seat was forced against the valve by the water pressure, producing a self-closing action, so that the greater the water pressure, the tighter the valve. The flexible diaphragm had a further and most important function. It caused the valve and its seat to move outwards simultaneously until the solder joint was completely severed. Grinnell got a patent for his version of the sprinkler system. He also took his invention to Europe, where it was a much bigger success than the Parmelee version. Eventually, the Parmelee system was withdrawn, which left an open path for Grinnell and his invention.
US regulatory requirements
Fire sprinkler application and installation guidelines, and overall fire sprinkler system design guidelines, are provided by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 13, (NFPA) 13D, and (NFPA) 13R.
Fire sprinklers can be automatic or open orifice. Automatic fire sprinklers operate at a predetermined temperature, utilizing a fusible element, a portion of which melts, or a frangible glass bulb containing liquid which breaks, allowing the plug in the orifice to be pushed out of the orifice by the water pressure in the fire sprinkler piping, resulting in water flow from the orifice. The water stream impacts a deflector, which produces a specific spray pattern designed in support of the goals of the sprinkler type (i.e., control or suppression). Modern sprinkler heads are designed to direct spray downwards. Spray nozzles are available to provide spray in various directions and patterns. The majority of automatic fire sprinklers operate individually in a fire. Contrary to motion picture representation, the entire sprinkler system does not activate, unless the system is a special deluge type.
Open orifice sprinklers are only used in water spray systems or deluge sprinklers systems. They are identical to the automatic sprinkler on which they are based, with the heat sensitive operating element removed.
Automatic fire sprinklers utilizing frangible bulbs follow a standardized color coding convention indicating their operating temperature. Activation temperatures correspond to the type of hazard against which the sprinkler system protects. Residential occupancies are provided with a special type of fast response sprinkler with the unique goal of life safety.
Operation
Each closed-head sprinkler is held closed by either a heat-sensitive glass bulb (see below) or a two-part metal link held together with fusible alloy such as Wood’s metal and other alloys with similar compositions. The glass bulb or link applies pressure to a pip cap which acts as a plug which prevents water from flowing until the ambient temperature around the sprinkler reaches the design activation temperature of the individual sprinkler. Because each sprinkler activates independently when the predetermined heat level is reached, the number of sprinklers that operate is limited to only those near the fire, thereby maximizing the available water pressure over the point of fire origin.
The bulb breaks as a result of the thermal expansion of the liquid inside the bulb. The time it takes before a bulb breaks is dependent on the temperature. Below the design temperature, it does not break, and above the design temperature, it takes less time for higher temperatures. The response time is expressed as a response time index (RTI), which typically has values between 35 and 250 ms, where a low value indicates a fast response. Under standard testing procedures (135 C air at a velocity of 2.5 m/s), a 68 C sprinkler bulb will break within 7 to 33 seconds, depending on the RTI. The RTI can also be specified in imperial units, where 1 fts is equivalent to 0.55 ms.
Maximum Ceiling Temperature
Temperature Rating
Temperature Classification
Color Code (with Fusible Link)
Glass Bulb Color
100F / 38C
135-170F / 57-77C
Ordinary
Uncolored or Black
Orange (135F) or Red (155F)
150F / 66C
175-225F / 79-107C
Intermediate
White
Yellow (175F) or Green (200F)
225F / 107C
250-300F / 121-149C
High
Blue
Blue
300F / 149C
325-375F / 163-191C
Extra High
Red
Purple
375F / 191C
400-475F / 204-246C
Very Extra High
Green
Black
475F / 246C
500-575F / 260-302C
Ultra High
Orange
Black
625F / 329C
650F / 343C
Ultra High
Orange
Black
From Table 6.2.5.1 NFPA13 2007 Edition indicates the maximum ceiling temperature, nominal operating temperature of the sprinkler, color of the bulb or link and the temperature classification.
Sprinkler types
ESFR
ESFR, or ESFR Sprinkler, denotes a special type of fire sprinkler. Early Supression Fast Response sprinkler heads were developed in the 1990s to take advantage of the latest fast-response fire sprinkler technology to provide fire suppression of specific high-challenge fire hazards. The sprinklers are specifically designed to fully suppress a fire that is within the design limits of the piping system. Prior to the introduction of these sprinklers, protection systems were designed to control fires until the arrival of the fire department.
See also
Active fire protection
Piping
Victaulic
Building code
Fire Safety Equivalency System
Automatic Fire Suppression
References
^ metal Wood’s metal definition at Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved May 17, 2008
^ Low Melting Point Bismuth Based Alloys. Alchemy Castings product information.
^ Firefighter course on sprinklers, Houston Firefighter department, 1999.
^ Sprinkler bulb specifications, Day Impex Ltd.
^ SFPE (NZ) TECHNICAL PAPER 95 – 3: Sprinkler response time indices. Society of Fire Protection Engineers, New Zealand Chapter.
^ JOB bulbs technical data
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fire sprinklers
The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada
American Fire Sprinkler Association
National Fire Sprinkler Association
National Fire Protection Association
British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association
Armstrong priestley – History of Sprinklers
Fire Sprinkler News
Fire sprinkler general information
Bundesverband Technischer Brandschutz e.V.
Canadian Automatic Sprinkler Association
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Categories: Firefighting equipment | Fire suppression | Active fire protection | American inventionsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from March 2008 | All articles needing additional references
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