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POWER SUPPLY
DIESEL ENGINE OR ELECTRIC MOTOR
FOR YOUR FIRE PUMP DRIVER?
What are advantages and disadvantages of diesel-engine and electric motor
driven fire pumps, and when is each the appropriate choice?
ASSUMPTIONS
For this study, it is assumed that the appropriate
pump size is known. Cost of fire pump maintenance
and operation is factored into this analysis, while
requirements for fire pump maintenance are beyond
its scope. Discussions of reliability are based on the
following assumptions:
• Fire pumps are installed according to NFPA 20,
Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps
for Fire Protection.
• Fire pumps are maintained according to NFPA 25,
Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems.
• Emergency generators are installed according to
NFPA 110, Standard for Emergency and Standby
Power Systems.
SELECTION
Primary considerations in selecting a fire pump
driver are:
• Reliability
• Initial cost
• Maintenance cost
• Operating cost
• Design
• Safety
RELIABILITY
Causes of most fire protection system failures can
be eliminated by installing fire protection systems
and components according to NFPA standards,
maintaining fire protection systems according to
NFPA 25, and providing remote supervision
according to NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code.
Reliability of Fire Pump Diesel Engine Drivers
Diesel-engine-driven fire pumps are not affected by
power outages, and are designed to be more reliable
than automotive, truck or standby diesel generator
set engines. Most of the reasons that engines fail
to start are minimized or eliminated in a fire pump
installation. The fire pump diesel engine isn’t
subjected to cold temperature, backup batteries are
part of every fire pump installation, batteries are
monitored, and the engine is tested weekly for 30
minutes. The fuel level is supervised.
5. It should be noted that some events that cause a
Reliability of Single-Source Electric Power
for an Electric Motor
NFPA 20 requires power supply to electric-motor-
driven fire pumps be reliable, but doesn’t define
reliable. Reliability of electric power is affected by
many things including natural disasters, transformer
or substation failure, utility grid maintenance, etc. In
August 2003, much of the northeastern grid covering
parts of New York, New Jersey, New England,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and several Canadian
provinces was blacked out up to several days.
Hurricane Isabel caused massive blackouts the
following month, up and down the East Coast. Since
1999, the utility serving Chicago, IL, experienced
various outages, some lasting 3 to 4 days. Downtown
Chicago recently experienced outages involving
multiple substations.
Loss of power and the start of a fire cannot be viewed
as entirely independent events, i.e. there is a higher
likelihood of fire during an outage. Storms, lightning,
tornados, hurricanes and terrorism may cause both a
power outage and fire. Reaction to a power outage
may result in a fire, too, as when using candles.
Failure Probabilities and Expected Losses With Different Pump Drivers
Item
Power Supply Reliability
Power from Single Utility
Power from Two Substations
Failure Probability
1.0%1
0.5%1
Emergency Generator 1.0%1
Pump Reliability 0.1%1
Pump Driver Reliability
Diesel Engine Fire Pump Driver 0.10%1
0.010%1
Electric Motor Fire Pump Driver
Electric Motor Driven Fire Pump
Single Utility 1.1089%
Two Substations 0.6094%
Utility and Emergency Generator 0.1200%
Diesel Engine Driven Fire Pump 0.1999%
Dual Electric Motor Driven Pumps
With emergency generator backup 0.0101%
One Diesel and One Electric Pump
Without emergency generator backup 0.0022%
Dual Diesel Engine Driven Pumps 0.0004%
1. Failure Probability based on author’s best estimate.
2. Expected loss for a single fire, assuming a negligible loss if the fire pump operates and a total loss if the fire pump fails to operate.
The expected loss is presented to aid in evaluating reliability issues. The exposed value includes the value of the building and
contents, but also business interruption potential and liability exposure.
Lastly, electricity demand charges have significant
When the site’s transformer is installed and owned
by the utility, the cost is built into the rates charged.
power outage, may also cause a fire (ex. lightning,
tornados, hurricanes). This effect is not factored
impact on yearly maintenance and present value cost
for electric fire pumps. In general, in areas with
If the owner must pay for the transformer, it’s likely
that a diesel engine fire pump will cost less than
into this analysis. In areas that may be subjected to
prolonged power outages, increased reliability may
significant demand charges for electricity, present-
value cost for a diesel engine is less than for an
the total cost of the electric-motor-driven fire pump be justified at significantly lower exposed values electric-motor-driven fire pump when the pump’s
with transformer. than identified in this article. electrical demand exceeds electrical demand for other
uses, and when weekly pump testing is conducted
DIESEL VS. ELECTRIC 6. Increased reliability should also be provided when-
during peak demand hours.
Gayle Pennel, P.E. ever there are significant life safety considerations.
Diesel-engine-driven fire pumps are more reliable
Schirmer Engineering Corp.
than electric-motor-driven fire pumps with power Many health care facilities, i.e. nursing homes and This study is adapted from the Schirmer
from a single utility, or two substations. The reliability assisted living facilities, have immobile patients who Engineering White Paper on Diesel vs.
Reliability of Electric Power from Two
of a diesel-engine-driven fire pump is slightly less are difficult to evacuate. Assembly occupancies have Electric. To request a copy of the complete
Substations for an Electric Motor
than an electric-motor-driven fire pump with power high population densities where crowd control and white paper, call 614.764.1224 or
Providing backup power can increase reliability of
available from both a utility and an emergency evacuation issues necessitate increased reliability, e-mail diesel@clarkesystem.com.
electric-motor-driven pumps. Backup power can be
from a different substation or an onsite generator. generator. The simplified expected loss shown in the
Theoretically, if one power source is 99% reliable, accompanying table provides a way of evaluating
two totally independent power sources would be reliability. When exposed values exceed $10 million,
When
99.99% reliable. However, while backup power from increased reliability (diesel-engine-driven fire pump
a second substation improves reliability, substations or electric-motor-driven pump with emergency
aren’t totally independent. Events causing loss of generator backup) is clearly justified. A more
power at one substation may cause loss of power sophisticated analysis is included in the complete
at other substations, as with the northeast outage. white paper to compare cost and reliability.
Reliability of Electric Power from a Utility
and an On-Site Emergency Generator for
an Electric Motor
Properly installed and maintained emergency
1. In general, when the transformer is supplied by the
utility and the feeder is not too long, electric-motor-
driven pumps with a single utility power source and
utility-furnished transformer can be installed for less
Electric
is out...
than diesel-engine-driven pumps. The cost differential
generators increase reliability of an electric-motor-
driven fire pump. However, there are significant is less when a reduced voltage starter is required for
differences between NFPA 20 diesel engine fire pump the electric-motor-driven fire pump. The other
drivers and NFPA 110 emergency generator drivers. significant variable in the total installed cost of an
Then too, differences in installation and testing electric-motor-driven fire pump is the length of the
requirements make diesel engine fire pumps more electric feed from the transformer to the electric
Clarke
reliable than emergency generators. motor. This can quickly make the electric-motor-
driven fire pump more expensive than the diesel-
driven fire pump. When the exposed value is low
(less than $10 million) the decreased reliability of
Reliability
99.00%
99.50%
Expected Loss
with $10,000,000 Exposure 2
an electric-motor-driven fire pump with power from
a single utility may be acceptable (expected loss
increases by $90,899).
2. Diesel-engine-driven pumps provide better
Diesels Work.
99.00%
value when considering installed cost and expected
When the electricity to your property goes out – whether because
99.90%
loss when exposed value is moderate ($10 million of downed or cut power lines, power brownouts or blackouts –
99.90% to $100 million).
CLARKE DIESEL ENGINE DRIVEN FIRE PUMPS WORK.
99.99%
3. Installed cost of diesel-engine-driven pumps
98.8911% $110,889 is less than for electric fire pumps with a dual Let a Clarke diesel work for you.
99.3906% $60,944 power source (i.e. an emergency generator or two
99.8800% $11,998 Call Clarke at 1.800.513.9591, or 513.771.2200 today.
substations), and provides nearly the equivalent
99.8001% $19,990
reliability to a system with an emergency generator Visit us online at www.clarkefire.com.
99.9899% $1,012 and greater reliability to two substations.
99.9978% $222 4. For high exposed value (>$100 million), dual TM
99.9996% $40 pumps (two diesel-engine-driven or one diesel-
engine-driven and one electric-motor-driven) with
independent water supplies are needed to provide
Fire Protection Products, Inc.
suitable reliability.