TÜYAK Seminar 2017
High Pressure Water Mist
Systems
State of the Art Fire Fighting
Technology with Benefits for the User
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TÜYAK Seminar 2017
Presentation Content
• Motivation for Water Mist System Development
• Water Mist Principles
• Technology Benefits
• Standard and Approval Process
• High Pressure Water Mist Components
• High Pressure Water Mist Applications
• Hospital Case Study
• Conclusion
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Drawbacks of Conventional Technologies
Sprinkler Systems
• Large water discharge, thus potential water damages
• Two dimensional fire fighting effect
• Large pump, piping and storage requirements
Gas Extinguishing Systems
• Enclosure essential for efficiency
• Pre-warning times required
• Large cylinder storage requirements
• Minimal cooling effect / difficulties with smouldering
fires
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Water Mist Technology Principles
• Cooling by heat absorption via large surface
• Inerting by local oxygen displacement
Droplet Reaction surface
diameter per litre of water
1mm 2 m² (Convent. Technologies)
0,1mm 20 m²
0,01 mm 200 m² (High Pressure Water Mist)
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Cooling / Heat Attenuation Effect
• Safe environment for people
• Protection of nearby objects from radiant heat
• Prevention from flash over
Energy binding potential of 1 l of water:
• 335 kJ heating from 20°C to 100°C
• 2257 kJ by transition from liquid to gas
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Local Inerting Effect
Local interting by displacement of oxygen at the fire source
Volume enlargement of 1 litre Oxygen reduction only
of water by evaporation: at the source of the fire
1 l, liquid 1650 l, gaseous
22
21
20
O2 [%]
19
18
17
16
0 120 240 360 480 600
time [s] ACT IVAT IO N
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Benefits of Water Mist Technology
High Pressure Water Mist
• Safe for people / No pre-warning time required
• High cooling effect / Reach of hidden fires
• Negligible effect on electric components
• Minimal water consumption, thus consequential water
damages
• Minimal operation interruptions / Minimal down-times
• Space saving installation and retrofit with small bore
pipes
• Small pump rooms and water storage tanks
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System Design and Approval Process
• Water mist systems are designed and installed
based on NFPA 750, CEN TS 14972, FM 5560,
VdS 3188 and IMO standards
• Full scale fire tests are essential to verify
system performance and generate system
layout parameters
• Standards define fire test scenarios for each
individual applications concerning
• Fire load
• Arrangement of fire load
• Ventilation conditions
• System pass / fail criteria
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Fire Tests for Industrial Risks
Test Scenarios Based On
• CEN TS 14972
• VdS 3188
• FM 5560
• IMO MSC 1168
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System Certification for Industrial Risks
• Cable tunnels
• Generators
• Turbines
• Transformers
• Flammable liquid
storage areas
• Paint booths
• Machinery spaces
• Deep fat fryers
• Machinery local
protection
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Fire Tests for Ordinary Hazard Risks
Test Scenarios Based On
• CEN TS 14972
• VdS 3188
• IMO A 800
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System Certification for Ordinary Hazard Risks
• Offices
• High rise buildings
• Hospitals / Care homes
• Laboratories
• Hotels
• Libraries / Archives
• Heritage buildings
• Museums
• Data centres
• Car parks
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High Pressure Water Mist System Components
Nozzles
• Nozzle spray pattern must be adapted
to the risk
• Open nozzles in deluge systems
• Glass bulb operated nozzles in wet,
dry pipe or pre-action systems
• Filtration is of great importance
Wall Hydrants
• Manual water mist fire fighting gun
• Effective fire fighting at strategic places
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High Pressure Water Mist System Components
Pipework
• Small pipe diameters (12 to 50 mm)
• High durability due to stainless steel
pipes and fittings (AISI 316)
Section Valves
• Section valves for deluge, wet, dry pipe
or pre-action systems
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High Pressure Water Mist System Components
Pump Systems
• Modular and compact design
• Pressure ranges from 100 to 140 bar
• Low water flow rates
• Small break tank sizes
• Electrically and diesel driven units
Cylinder Systems
• Stand alone systems
• Low refilling cost
• Nitrogen as propellant
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High Pressure Water Mist Applications
• Flammable Liquid Storage
• Paint Booths
• Hydraulic Areas
• Machinery Spaces
• Turbines
• Generators
• Deep Fat Fryers
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High Pressure Water Mist Applications
• IT Rooms
• Data Centres
• Telecommunication Areas
• Cable Tunnels
• Underground Stations
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High Pressure Water Mist Applications
• Heritage Buildings
• Museums
• Theatres
• Hospitals
• Laboratories
• Care Homes
• Libraries
• Archives
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Modern Building Structures
• Modern buildings are often designed openly
and transparent with preference of exposed
glass and steel structures
• Fire protection becomes a challenge due
to wide spread open connections between
parts of the building
• Though conventional sprinkler systems are
used to compensate missing fire partitions,
water mist technology is valued to offer
extended cooling, thus preventing fire
propagation and securing escape conditions
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Hospital Case Study
Protection of the Hospital LKT Baden
near Vienna (Austria)
• One of the most modern and advanced
hospitals in Europe located next to Vienna
• 6 operation rooms, 450 beds
• Overall hospital floor area is 60.000 m2
• 3 connected buildings (pavilions) each
having 3 levels
• 6 years construction time with completion
in 2016
• 190 Mio. Euro investment
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Hospital Case Study
Fire Protection Requirements
• Missing compartmentation
between entrance hall and
pavilions to be compensated by
an automatic fire fighting system
to prevent fire propagation
• Control and suppression of fires
in the entrance hall (e.g. cafeteria,
meeting areas)
• Protection of exposed glass
facades and steel structures to
avoid structural fire protection
measures
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Hospital Case Study
Protection Concept
• Protection concept based on a wet high
pressure water mist system for all areas
adjacent to the entrance hall
• System design based on OH1 risk
classification with 72 m2 operational
area (room + ceiling void) for 60 minutes
operation time
• Challenge due to ceiling height up to
12 m in the entrance hall
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Hospital Case Study
Protection Concept
• Nozzle layout based on sprinkler
alternative fire test results up to 5 m
ceiling height
• For ceiling heights up to 12 m, specific
fire tests have determined the nozzle
layout
• Wet system in the entrance hall
ceiling with reduced nozzle spacing
along all glass facades
• Wet system in all rooms and false
ceilings (3 levels) adjacent to the
entrance hall in the 3 pavilion buildings
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Hospital Case Study
Protection Concept
• System design to operate up to 14
nozzles along glass facades (26 m)
in the entrance hall respectively 72 m2
operational areas in the adjacent
buildings (820 nozzles)
• High pressure pump with 4+1 x 120
l/min at 120 bar (one redundant pump
unit)
• 2 x 2000 l break tank with infill from
town‘s main water supply for 60
minutes system operation
• 1 alarm valve and 10 zone valves
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Conclusion
• High pressure water mist allows for architecturally pleasant
solutions for buildings with extended cooling potential to
prevent fire propagation and additional protection of
exposed glass and steel structures to secure safe escape
routes for people
• System design must be part of the overall fire safety
concept of the building and be evaluated by fire experts and
authorities having jurisdiction based on full scale fire test
results
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Dipl.-Ing. Ruediger Kopp
General Manager Fixed Systems
ruediger.kopp@fogtec.com
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