PIPENET

A UTOLAYOUT
A N EW T OOL FOR THE S PRAY /S PRINKLER M ODULE
T ECHNICAL N OTE

SUNRISE SYSTEMS LIMITED, MAY 2008

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1 SUMMARY
This note describes a new tool for the PIPENET Spray/Sprinkler module. The tools purpose is to automate part of the task of designing sprinkler systems for protecting storage/process vessels, areas or other objects/locations from the effects of fire.

2 INTRODUCTION
Defining the layout of a sprinkler system for a large vessel or area can be laborious even with the aid of a graphical tool such as PIPENET. Automating part of this design process will not only save time and effort, it will also allow fire-protection rules to be encapsulated within the software and thus help to ensure that the resulting design is compliant with fire-authority standards. This note begins with a statement of the problem and a discussion of an illustrative example, then goes on to give a brief description of the prototype autolayout tool. Finally, some details concerning the variations in spray and rundown density for vessel protection are discussed.

3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Given the size and shape of a plant vessel or area, design a sprinkler system to protect it from fire. The design must either comply with applicable fire-authority standards, such as those laid down in NFPA 15, or else satisfy a user-defined areal flowrate and spray distribution specification.

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4 FIRE-AUTHORITY STANDARDS
The autolayout tool is intended to handle a variety of fire authorities' standards and protection scenarios. By way of illustration, the application of NFPA 15 to the design of a vessel protection system is used as an example. 4.1 Example: NFPA 15 Applied To Vessel Protection

The following standards from NFPA 15 are applicable to the protection of plant vessels (reproduced from NFPA 15 Standard for Water Spray Fixed Systems for Fire Protection, 2007 Edition)

7.4 Exposure Protection. 7.4.1* General. A system for exposure protection shall operate as intended for the anticipated duration of the exposure fire. 7.4.2* Vessels. 7.4.2.1 Water spray shall be applied to vessel surfaces (including top and bottom surfaces of vertical vessels) at a net rate of not less than 0.25 gpm/ft2 [10.2 (L/min)/m2] of exposed surface. 7.4.2.2* Where rundown is contemplated, the distance between nozzles at different levels or elevations, protecting vertical or inclined surfaces, shall not exceed 12ft (3.7m) as measured along the surface. 7.4.2.3* The horizontal distance between nozzles shall be such that spray patterns meet or overlap at the protected surface. 7.4.2.4 Spherical or horizontal cylindrical surfaces below the vessel equator shall not be considered wettable from rundown. 7.4.2.5 Where projections (manhole flanges, pipe flanges, support brackets, relief valves, etc.) will obstruct water spray coverage, including rundown on vertical surfaces, additional nozzles shall be installed around the projections to maintain the wetting pattern that otherwise would be seriously interrupted. 7.4.2.6 All uninsulated vessel skirts and any uninsulated steel saddles greater than 12in. (305mm) high at the lowest point shall have water spray applied on one exposed (uninsulated) side, at a net rate of not less than 0.25 gpm/ft2 [10.2 (L/min)/m2].

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4.2

Interpretation

For the purposes of this application, the following assumptions are made a) For those surfaces which are not considered wettable from rundown, the spray pattern must be such that there is no part of the surface which receives less than the specified minimum areal flow directly from one or more nozzles. Since this is unlikely to be achievable without overlapping spray patterns, the average areal flow rate on such surfaces will generally need to be greater than the specified minimum. b) For those surfaces which are considered wettable from rundown, the system must be such that there is no part of the surface which receives less than the minimum flow directly from one or more nozzles, from rundown, or from a combination of the two. Again, practical considerations imply that the average flow will need to be somewhat greater than the specified minimum. c) With rundown, the water is depleted on its way down, ie the same litre of water cannot be considered to contribute to the minimum required areal flow for every square metre of surface that it runs down.

4.3

Fulfilling NFPA 15

In the context of the above standards, the proposal for the autolayout tool is that, based on some design information provided by the user, it will generate a sprinkler layout which is compliant with standards 7.4.2.1 to 7.4.2.4. Standard 7.4.1 can be handled by constraining the choice of pipe material, while 7.4.2.5 and 7.4.2.6 are addressed by allowing the user to change the design manually once the basic layout has been generated.

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5 USE OF THE AUTOLAYOUT TOOL

Use of the prototype autolayout tool is described in the following sections.

5.1 Tool Selection

Having selected pipe types and nozzle libraries, the user selects Autolayout from the Tools menubar item:

If an existing node is selected when the tool it launched, it will offer to join the new sub-network which is about to be generated to that node.

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5.2 Dimensions And Spray Requirements

In the first of two dialogue windows, the user specifies the shape and size of the object to be protected, spray density and nozzle layout requirements (which can be selected to be compliant with a built-in fire-authority standard), pipe parameters and component labels:

In this example the diameter and height of the vessel have been entered but all other parameters have been left at their default values.

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5.3 Nozzle Configuration

In the second dialogue the user can adjust the nozzle configuration (within the constraints imposed by the selected standard). Based on the information supplied together with the parameters of each nozzle in the library, values such as pressure, total flowrate and overlap are displayed for each nozzle type.

Having adjusted the nozzle configuration values interactively and selected the nozzle type from the list, the user then clicks on the Finish button.

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5.4 The Generated Layout

The generated sub-network is drawn on the schematic grid ready for further editing. Fittings are included on the pipes, and pipe-sizing can be performed in the usual way.

Note that the generation of this example involved seven mouse-clicks and the entry of two numbers: a further two mouse-clicks were involved in having it joined to the existing node automatically.

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5.5 Area Protection Example

The following screen-shots show the two dialogues and generated sub-network for an area protection scenario:

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6 SPRAY DENSITY CONSIDERATIONS

For surfaces which are not considered wettable from rundown, the choice of nozzle configuration depends on whether the flowrate requirement is an average or a minimum average flow requirement: the total required flow defines the number of nozzles, which are then distributed in a near-uniform arrangement such that, overall, the surface receives the correct areal flow; minimum flow requirement: the nozzles are distributed in a covering arrangement, such that no part of the surface receives less than the minimum areal flow directly from one or more nozzles. The autolayout tool will allow for either option. Note that meeting the second of these requirements is complicated by the fact that, even with uniform spray density within the spray cone, the areal flow striking the vessel surface will vary with angular distance from the centre of the cone. This is because, with increasing angular distance from the centre of a nozzles spray pattern the distance to the vessel surface increases, reducing the spray density in the diverging cone; the angle of incidence on the vessel surface increases, spreading the flow over a larger area of vessel. For surfaces which are considered wettable from rundown, there is an additional factor causing the rundown density to vary the height over which rundown is accumulated decreases with increasing horizontal distance from the centre of a nozzle's spray pattern. The variation in rundown density is illustrated below

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Again, the choice of nozzle configuration depends on whether the flowrate requirement is an average or a minimum.

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6.1 Calculation Of Rundown

The autolayout tool will calculate rundown as outlined in the following diagram, which shows (in elevation view) the spray patterns from nozzles N1 and N2 overlapping on the side of the vessel:

In the column from the top of the area protected by these nozzles to the point P, the areal flowrate including rundown is given by

RP =

1 hP

y = y P hS

F 1 x P , y F 2 x P , y . dy
y = yP

where Fn(x,y) is the areal flowrate at (x,y) from nozzle n. By handling the variation of spray and rundown density rigorously, the autolayout tool will allow the user to ensure that the minimum flowrate requirement is truly met at all points around a vessel where this is a design requirement, and to do so in the most economical way (minimizing total flowrate in order to keep supply piping and pumping costs to a minimum, for example).

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7 CONCLUDING REMARKS

The autolayout tool is not intended to produce a finished, certified design or to provide a substitute for the user's expertise and engineering judgement it is primarily a productivity aid. The autolayout tool will be extended to handle a variety of vessel shapes and other fire protection scenarios. The autolayout tool will be extended to support a variety of fire protection standards, with the user choosing which standard is applicable or else specifying the spray density and other requirements directly. The purpose of this note is to gauge opinion on the way in which the autolayout tool is presented to the user, and to invite further comments and suggestions. The information contained in this note is strictly confidential and is not to be shared with third parties without the express agreement, in writing, of Sunrise Systems Ltd.

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