ISTANBUL KULTUR UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

ARC 5024 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL 2

Dr. H. Nur KIZILYAPRAK

FIRE CONTROL SYSTEMS

what is FIRE?*

…is the heat energy released

during a chemical reaction, in
particular a combustion reaction.
how are we protected from Fire?

• Passive Fire Protection

• Active Fire Protection
Passive Fire Protection

from starting

• Controlling settlement places in the city

• Controlling distances between buildings

• Providing necessary road to reach the building

• Proper building design according to the function of the building

• Designing building with minimum combustible building envelope surface areas.

Passive Fire Protection

Proper building form which helps fire protection

Passive Fire Protection

Protecting the structure of building

Passive Fire Protection

Protecting the roof from the fire

Passive Fire Protection

• Controlling building materials combustibility with which buildings may be

built.
• Inspecting building periodically to see whether any unsafe concentrations
of combustible matter have accumulated in them.
• Heating devices, chimneys, electrical systems, electrical devices are
especially controlled.
• Smoking is prohibited by law in many kinds of places, such as gasoline
stations, certain types of industrial plants, and auditoriums.
Passive Fire Protection

from spreading
• Compartmentation of buildings
Passive Fire Protection

• Stairways and corridors used as

escape routes must be isolated
from the rest of the buildings by
fire-resistant walls and self-closing
fire-resistant doors.
Passive Fire Protection

• Isolation of different places which have different functions (Boiler

rooms, woodworking shop, dry cleaning establishment)

• Buildings with large horizontal spread must be subdivided into smaller

areas by means of fire-resistant walls and doors.
Passive Fire Protection

• Open vertical shafts of any kind, whether

for stairs, elevators, ductwork, electrical
wiring or piping, must be enclosed with
fire resistant walls and self-closing fire-
resistant doors at each floor, to prevent
the convection of fire and combustion
products through the building.
Designing properly escape routes to the outdoors
Passive Fire Protection

Properties of the escape routes:

• A maximum permissible distance from the door of any room to the farthest
protected exit is specified; it is usually 10 m. to 30m.

• The width of escape routes is usually 80 cm to 120 cm.

• Illuminated exit signs must identify escape routes

• The corridors and stairs of each escape route must be protected from fire and
smoke by fire resistant partitions and self-closing doors.
Passive Fire Protection

Properties of the escape routes:

• Exit doors must open in the direction travel from indoors to outdoors

• Exit doors must be provided with panic hardware

• Exit stairs must be properly designed

• Nothing may be stored in exit corridors or stairs

Passive Fire Protection
The widths of exit corridors, doors and stairs must be determined in accordance with
building-code formulas ensuring that they are adequate to allow a clean escape of the
maximum expected population of the building within a short period.
Passive Fire Protection

“Areas of refuge” must be provided adjacent to a protected exit

stairway for small children, patients, old peoples and disabled peoples.
Passive Fire Protection

Staircases and lobbies may be

pressurised to clear smoke and thus
provide an easy escape route.
Active Fire Protection

• Fire detection
• Alarm output devices
• Fire sprinklers
Active Fire Protection*

• Fire Detection

The fire is detected either by locating the smoke, flame or heat,

and

an alarm is sounded to enable emergency evacuation as well as to

dispatch the local fire department.
Active Fire Protection

Automatic detectors are meant to imitate one or more of the human senses
of touch, smell or sight.

• Thermal detectors are similar to our ability to identify high temperatures,

• Smoke detectors replicate the sense of smell, and

• Flame detectors are electronic eyes.

The properly selected and installed automatic detector can be a highly

reliable fire sensor.
Active Fire Protection

Thermal Detectors
Active Fire Protection

Smoke Detectors
Active Fire Protection

Flame Detectors
Active Fire Protection

• Fire Sprinklers
• For most fires, water represents the ideal extinguishing agent.

• Fire sprinklers utilize water by direct application onto flames and heat, which causes
cooling of the combustion process and prevents ignition of adjacent combustibles.

• They are most effective during the fire's initial flame growth stage, while the fire is
relatively easy to control.

• A properly selected sprinkler will detect the fire's heat, initiate the alarm, and begin
suppression within moments after flames appear.
Active Fire Protection

• Fire Sprinklers
There are three basic types of sprinkler systems:

• Wet pipe system

• Dry pipe system
• Pre-action system

In large multifunction facilities, such as a major museum or library, two

or more system types may be employed.
Components:

• Pipes and fittings

• Gauges

• Valves

• Pipe support and stabilization

assemblies

• Automatic sprinkler heads

Active Fire Protection

Wet Pipe System

• Wet pipe systems are the most common sprinkler system.
• As the name implies, a wet pipe system is one in which water is constantly
maintained within the sprinkler piping.
• When a sprinkler activates this water is immediately discharged onto the
fire.
• This is used where there is no risk of the water in the system freezing.
Active Fire Protection*

Advantages

• System simplicity and reliability.

• Relative low installation and maintenance expense.

• Ease of modification.

• Short term down time following a fire.

Disadvantages

• These systems are not suited for subfreezing environments.

Active Fire Protection*

Dry Pipe System

• A dry pipe sprinkler system, is one in which pipes are filled with pressurized air or
nitrogen, rather than water.
• This air holds a remote valve, known as a dry pipe valve, in a closed position.
• The dry pipe valve is located in a heated area and prevents water from entering
the pipe until a fire causes one or more sprinklers to operate.
• Once this happens, the air escapes and the dry pipe valve releases.
• Water then enters the pipe, flowing through open sprinklers onto the fire.
Active Fire Protection*
Advantages

• Their ability to provide automatic protection in spaces where freezing is possible.

Disadvantages

• Increased complexity. Dry pipe systems require additional control equipment

• The added complexity impacts the overall dry pipe installation and maintenance cost.

• Lower design flexibility

• Increased fire response time. Up to 60 seconds

• Increased corrosion potential. Following operation, dry pipe sprinkler systems must be completely
drained and dried.
Active Fire Protection

Pre-action System

• Pre-action system employs the basic concept of a dry pipe system in that water is
not normally contained within the pipes.

• The difference, however, is that water is held from piping by an electrically

operated valve, known as a pre-action valve.

• First, the detection system must identify a developing fire and then open the pre-
action valve.
Active Fire Protection*

Pre-action System

• This allows water to flow into system piping, which effectively creates a wet pipe
sprinkler system.

• Second, individual sprinkler heads must release to permit water flow onto the fire.

• These systems are frequently employed in water sensitive environments such as

archival vaults, fine art storage rooms, rare book libraries and computer centers.
Pre-action System
Active Fire Protection*

Advantages
• Dual action required for water release: the pre-action valve must operate and
sprinkler heads must fuse. This provides an added level of protection against
inadvertent discharge.
Disadvantages
• Higher installation and maintenance costs.
• Modification difficulties.
• Potential decreased reliability.
Sprinkler Heads
Active Fire Protection

Basic Fire Sprinkler Water Source Criteria :

• The source must be available at all times.

• The system must supply adequate sprinkler supply and pressure.

• The supply must provide water for the anticipated fire duration.
Distribution of Sprinklers
Portable Extinguishers