Fire Sprinkler Coverage Area Calculation

There are two main criteria for determining the location of sprinkler heads.

Fire sprinkler coverage area calculation. This is important read it carefully. We can now calculate the minimum flow rate from the fire sprinkler to provide the required design density this can be found from the equation. 15 mm min x 7 5m 2 112 50 l min. The first step is to calculate the minimum flow which will be required at the most remote sprinkler which in this case is at node 130 this is a two step process as will need to calculate the minimum flow required to satisfy the 7 50 mm min design density and then find the flow rate from the sprinkler given the sprinklers minimum pressure requirement whichever is the greater flow will.

Q flow rate from the fire sprinkler d design density a area of coverage for the fire sprinkler. A single fire sprinkler can cover an impressively large area with modern fire codes allowing a single head to protect more than 200 square feet in some environments. Extended coverage sprinklers have a water distribution radius of a little over 10 feet so they can be spaced approximately 20 feet apart. Placing sprinklers too close to walls to each other or to obstacles can make a fire much more likely to spread.

This overlap may seem like a waste at first but it is a very important necessity. Sprinkler head location and coverage. Automatic sprinkler systems are subject to nfpa 13 national fire protection association in the usa while the the international. Q d x a.

This means they cannot be blocked. Other sprinklers have to be determined by taking the density times the protection area per sprinkler in section 8 5 2 1. Sprinklers must be quick response standard or extended coverage and pendent or uprights nfpa 13 2016 8 15 24 2 1 extended coverage sprinklers cannot be more than 16 ft x 16 ft spacing nfpa 13 2016 8 15 24 2 1 1 maximum ceiling height cannot exceed 20 feet nfpa 13 2016 8 15 24 2 2. Hydraulic calculations are a very important step when designing fire protection systems since they ensure the flow rate established through the piping network will be enough to control fires effectively.

But there s more to sprinkler placement than square footage. Residential extended coverage cmsa and esfr sprinklers start with a beginning pressure and flow. In these cases extended coverage sprinkler heads can be installed to increase the spacing between heads. Calculation procedures are established in model codes.

Sprinkler heads must be unobstructed to provide maximum flow to the areas that need it. Because fire sprinklers are heat activated sprinkler heads must be located high up on or near the ceiling. Obviously if the sprinkler has enough pressure to deliver the design density to one wall it s going to have to deliver the same density in all directions. The area watered by each sprinkler must overlap substantially the area watered by the adjacent sprinkler.

It can t be used to reduced the area of coverage for a hydraulic calculation without the sprinkler being required to be over spaced off of one wall.