Sprinkler/Vent Interactions

What people think,

what we know,
and what we don’t.

Dr. Craig Beyler

 Claims in Favor of Vents

! Improved visibility (and reduced heat

and toxic gases)
- life safety/egress
- firefighter access
! Reduced ceiling temperatures,
possibly preventing roof collapse.
! Eliminates the need for manual
venting by the fire department.
 Claims in Favor of Vents

! Vent opening indicates the location

of the fire to arriving firefighters.
! Reduces smoke and heat damage to
building contents.
! Vents limit damage and assists FD in
the event sprinklers don’t operate.
 Claims Against Vents

! Added cost of installation.

! Initial sprinkler activation times may
be delayed, reducing sprinkler
system effectiveness.
! More sprinklers may be activated.
 Claims Against Vents

! Increased burning rate due to

introduction of fresh air.
! Sprinklers will render the smoke
vents ineffective.
Smoke and Heat Venting
Sprinklers Alone
Combined Sprinklers and Vents:
Ideal Scenario
Combined Sprinklers and Vents:
Worst Case Scenario
 But What Do We Really Know?
Tools to Understand the Issues
! Full scale fire tests
! Reduced scale fire tests
! Simplified or component fire tests
! Mathematical modeling
 Sprinkler/Vent Fire Tests

! 1956 FM , 120’ X 60’, spray fire

! 1970 FM , full scale, rack
commodities, wall vents
! 1974 FM Reduced Scale (1:12.5),
20’ X 16’, vertical tri-wall cardboard
array, ganged spray nozzles
! 1977 IITRI, 75’ X 25’, pallet fires
 Sprinkler/Vent Fire Tests

! 1992 FRS/Colt, 150’ X 60’, controlled

pool fire
! 1994 FM, large scale, rack
commodities, partial draft curtains,
no vents
! 1997 NFPA RF, 100’ X 100’, UL
ventilated facility, spray fires and
rack commodity fires
 1956 FM Fire Tests
(six tests)
! Building area = 7200 ft2
Curtained area = 2280 ft2,
Vent area = 16 or 32 ft2
! 10 MW spray fire
! Curtains, vents/curtains, increased
sprinkler density ALL reduced
number of sprinklers activated.
! Vents improved visibility in bays
remote from fire.
1974 FM Model Study
 1974 FM Model Study

! Sprinklers- spray nozzles activated in

“rings” by simulated sprinkler link.
! Fuel- vertical array of tri-wall
cardboard ( no aisles)
or a heptane pool fire.
! Modeling methods are widely
accepted for smoke and heat
movement, but cannot model fire
growth and extinguishment.
 1974 FM Model Study
(cardboard)

Vent/Curtain Obscuration Sprinklers

(# Tests) (min) Avg(Range)
N/N (7) 15 44 (37-54)
1:50/N (9) 16 48 (37-59)
1:50/Y (4) 20 69 (54-88)
1:100/Y (4) 18 44 (37-47)
1:25/Y (3) 20 56 (47-68)
 1974 FM Model Study

! Cardboard — 0.45 gpm/ft2 – 15 heads

open, no vents open.
! 16 vents open at first sprinkler, no
loss of visibility, 44 –> 60 heads.
! Fire directly under vent, 28 –> 17.
! Heptane pool — vents reduce
sprinklers operating from 112 to 92.
 1974 FM Model Study

! Vents tended to increase the number

of heads operating and increased the
fuel consumption.
! Vents delayed loss of visibility
! “Unambiguous overall benefits of
venting could not be read into the
results obtained through this stage”.
1977 IITRI Fire Tests
 1977 IITRI Fire Tests

! Propane burners and wood pallet

tests.
! Propane tests — no effect of vents
on time to first sprinkler or total
activated heads.
! Pallet tests — initial testing showed
vents reduced # heads open!
 1977 IITRI Fire Tests
(Pallet Tests)
! Performed 10 replicate tests (5/5).
! No vents — 7 to 22 activations
17 sprinklers activated (avg).
! With vents — 12-20 activations
17 sprinklers activated (avg).
! No systematic effect on oxygen
16 to 21%.
 1977 IITRI Fire Tests

! Vents showed no impairment of

sprinkler performance.
! Full-scale sprinklered fire tests are
not very reproducible.
 1992 FRS/Colt Fire Tests

! Vents were permanently open,

0, 10, 20 4’X4’ vents.
! Fires were heptane pools,
5 MW steady or
rapidly growing (10 MW in 2.5 min).
! 3.2 m deep curtains in all tests.
! Sprinklers were 15 mm, 68° C.
1992 FRS/Colt Fire Tests
 1992 FRS/Colt Fire Tests

! No effect of vents on first sprinkler

activation time in either fire type.
! Vents cooled both ceiling jet and hot
layer.
! Sprinklers only caused local pull
down of smoke.
1994 FM — Partial Draft Curtains

! Motivation for partial draft curtain

tests is unclear.
! Partial draft curtains represent
obstruction effect of curtains only.
! Draft curtains without vents can
degrade sprinkler performance when
fire starts very near the corner of the
curtains.
1994 FM — Partial Draft Curtains
1994 FM — Partial Draft Curtains
 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests

! Fires: 5 MW heptane spray,

10 MW heptane spray
Plastic commodity rack
! Sprinklers: 0.64”, 165° F (ELO)
0.5 gpm/ft2, not 0.6 gpm/ft2
per NFPA 13
! Vents: 4’ X 8’, 165° F
1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
5 MW Heptane Spray Fires
! Except when fire was directly below
a vent, draft curtains increased the
number of sprinklers activated from
about 4–6 to 8–13 heads.
! Vents had little effect on the number
of heads operating and never
affected the time to first sprinkler
activation.
 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
10 MW Heptane Spray Fires
! Only performed with vents and draft
curtains.
! No effect of vents on the time to first
sprinkler activation, even with vents open
at ignition.
! Sprinklers operating ranged from
12 to 28, depending fire location.
! Fire
• Central: 23-28 sprinklers
• Under or near vent: 12-16 sprinklers
• Near draft curtain: 19-23 sprinklers
1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
Plastic Commodities

Plan View Side View

 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
Plastic Commodities
Test # 1 2 3 4 5
Curtains No No Yes Yes Yes
Fire Position C V DC C C
Vents Opened 0 1 1 0 4
(Time) 6:04 4:11 1:14
Sprinklers 20 23 19 5 7
Damaged 117 127 184 103 81
Boxes
 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests
Plastic Commodities
! Draft curtains/vents had no overall
effect on sprinkler performance.
! The fire adjacent to the draft curtain
increased fire damage but performed
adequately.
! Tests were not designed to be able to
show benefits of smoke and heat
vents.
 1997 NFPA RF Fire Tests

! Vents had no effect on:

- early sprinkler activation times,
- number of sprinklers activated, or
- sprinkler performance.
! No clear evidence that draft curtains
increase the number of sprinklers
activated. More sprinklers activated
in 5 MW heptane fires and less for
rack fires.
Validation of LES Against 5 MW
Spray Fire Tests with Sprinklers
! Prediction of first four sprinklers to
within about 5 – 10 seconds
! Next ring of sprinklers predicted to
within about 15 – 30 seconds
! Total number of sprinklers activated
- Exp. range = 4 to 12
- Average error = 0.3 heads
- Std. Dev. = 2.5 heads
 NFPA RF Conclusions

! Vents have no effect on sprinklers

when the fire is not directly below the
vent
! Fires directly under a vent yield
slower activations and fewer
activations of sprinklers (not a
problem)
 NFPA RF Conclusions

! Fires which start directly beneath a

draft curtain may result in increases
in the number of heads activated and
an increase in the number of cartons
damaged due to obstruction effect
! Vents may not be activated due to
sprinkler cooling and flow rates from
vents may be reduced
 NFPA RF
Issues Not Addressed
! Effect of vents on visibility
! Effects of vents on smoke and heat
damage
! These could not be addressed due to
the limitations of the UL test building
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Vents Improve Visibility?
Yes
! FMRC 1956, IITRI, and FRS report
improvements in visibility
! FMRC model study shows 5 minutes
of additional visibility
 Eliminates Need
for Manual Venting? No
Locates Fire? Sometimes
! Vents don’t always open and never
open as many as might be wanted.
! FM model study, RF study show that
when sprinklers are very effective
vents may not open.
! All tests were performed with 165 F
vent links, indicating that lower not
higher link temperatures are
desirable.
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Reduces Heat and Smoke Damage?
Unknown

! No hard data available.

! Generally true, but it is not known if
it is significant.
! Needs study.
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Vents Delay
Initial Sprinkler Activations?
No
! There is no evidence for this claim!
! IITRI, FRS, and NFPA RF show there
is no effect of vents on initial
sprinkler activation.
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Vents/Draft Curtains Cause More
Sprinklers to Activate? No
! 1956 FM- less activations (sprays)
! FM model study- up to 50% more for
cardboard, less for heptane- no basis
for model burning rates!
! IITRI- no effect for propane or pallet
! NFPA RF- 5MW heptane fires caused
more sprinkler activations, but in
commodity tests there were fewer
activations.
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Vents Increase Burning Rate?
No
! We have only indirect oxygen
measurements.
! FM model study- vents increased
oxygen from about 18% to 20%.
! IITRI- vents had no systematic effect
on oxygen concentration.
 WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Are Vents Useful?
! Venting improves visibility
! Venting has no negative effect on
sprinkler performance
LES Modeling of Smoke and
Heat Venting in Sprinklered
Facilities
Javier Trellis
Craig Beyler
 Goals of the LES Modeling

! Extend the NFPARF work to include

a actual building configuration
! Building on the LES modeling
capability demonstrated in the
NFPARF work
! Determine the effect of S&HV’s on
the conditions in a typical
sprinklered warehouse
Plan View of the Modeled Building
Section View of the
Modeled Building
 The Source Fire
! Source fire and smoke production
was based on NFPARF work
! t-squared fire to 10 MW in 75
seconds
! Fire remains constant for 10 min and
decays to zero over the next five min
! Based on the available testing this is
representative of a challenging, but
controllable fire.
 Other Inputs to LES
! Sprinklers- per NFPA-RF work
50 gpm, 165 F, RTI=148 (m s)1/2
! Vents- uniformly spaced, 4’ X 8’
165 F, RTI=170 (m s)1/2
! Draft Curtains- 6’ deep
! Inlet vents:
24’ X 6’ on each wall in vented tests
3’ X 1.5’ on each wall in unvented
tests
 Simulations Performed
! Fire with no S&HV’s or DC’s
! Fire in center of curtained area- four
vents operate
! Fire in center of curtained area- 16
vents operate at first sprinkler
operation
 LES Results

! Outputs of smoke were converted to

visibility distance using the back-lit
sign correlation of Jin.
! Typical temperature and visibility
results follow.
No Smoke and Heat Vents
Sprinkler Activations
 No Smoke and Heat Vents
Visibility Distance at 600 sec.
Four S&HV’s Operating
Sprinkler Activations
 Four S&HV’s Operating
Visibility Distance at 600 sec.
 16 S&HV’s Operating
Visibility Distance at 600 sec.
 Engineering Issues

! Current design practice is designed

to prevent vent operation prior to
sprinkler operation
! Not only is the fear of early operation
not founded, current design practice
will likely lead to 0-1 vents operating
! Revised design methods for early
operation of vents are needed
 Engineering Issues

! Fires starting directly below a draft

curtain can lead to degraded
sprinkler performance
! Draft curtains should be placed in
the aisles, not over stock
 Engineering Issues

! There is a movement to use smoke

vents without draft curtains
! There is no R&D basis for this
approach
! Preliminary modeling indicates it
may be possible to increase
curtained areas- work needed
 Ongoing Work

! NFPA 204 task group will be

addressing vents and draft curtains
in sprinklered buildings
! Issues include: vent activation,
curtain areas, general engineering
methods for sprinklered buildings
! AAMA research program: modeling
and full scale building testing is
being planned.