Fire Sprinklers in an Electrical Room?

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Categories: Fire Protection Services by admin In terms of code intent and interpretation, youll have to scratch your head to find a room that has comprised a grayer area over the years than that of the electrical room in a commercial building. If the building is sprinklered, should the Electrical room contain a fire sprinkler or not? This question has been posed to authorities having jurisdiction around the country for decades, resulting in diametrically opposite answers for at least as long. The City of Chicago Fire Prevention Bureau, as one example, flip-flopped on this issue so many times that fire sprinkler contractors routinely designed their sprinkler systems without a fire sprinkler shown in the electrical room or closet, but with one-inch piping extended to just beyond the rooms exterior, terminating in a 1 threaded cap- just in case the Bureau changed their tune at the last minute and demanded the inclusion of a sprinkler.

At the seat of the ongoing controversy is the old maxim that water and electricity dont mix. Echoing this reality, insurance companies have long disallowed the presence of any fire sprinkler piping inside electric control rooms, citing good safety and fire prevention practices. The only time this has not been a tough call for AHJs it seems, is when the building in question did not have a fire sprinkler system. Tiring of endless RFI requests, many jurisdictions eventually put their intent down in writing. Sec. 15-16-350 of the Chicago Building Code now reads that sprinklers shall be provided throughout the entire premises, except in rooms used solely as electrical equipment rooms containing generators, transformers, or switchboards (unless such equipment is located in a public utility structure). Sprinklers may be omitted from rooms or areas containing materials which react violently to the application of water.. Sprinklers shall be installed throughout telephone exchanges except in rooms housing switching, toll, main distribution frame, power, auxiliary power or switchboard equipment.

In contrast, many cities that outline their requirements either online or in a published text simply mimic the NFPA 13 verbiage, which states that sprinkler protection shall be required in electrical equipment rooms, unless (Sec. 8.15.10.3) all of the following conditions are met: (1) the room is dedicated to electrical equipment only, (2) only dry-type electrical equipment is used, (3) equipment is installed in a 2-hour fire-rated enclosure including protection for penetrations, (4) no combustible storage is permitted to be stored in the room. And where sprinklers are installed, Sec. 8.15.10.2 adds that hoods or shields installed to protect important electrical equipment from sprinkler discharge shall be non-combustible. Several firms manufacture preshaped flat tiles to cover conduits and cable trays for protection of electrical cables and equipment in the event of a fire. The core of the NFPA Technical Committee concern is that over time, generator and/or transformer rooms frequently become places to store combustible materials. Any accrued buildup of dust, oil or grease, or the presence of trash containers, only serves to compound the problem. The intent of NFPA 13 is to avoid the omission of sprinklers in a room just because electrical equipment is present.

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Its not so much a debate as it is a problem rife with complications. Regulatory mandates notwithstanding, the generally understood safe advisory is to never put water on an electrical fire (ideally, use a multipurpose fire extinguisher). When the electrical room must be sprinklered by code, an engineering design firm will normally require a (fixed-temperature) heat detector for the room, and a manual pull station in close proximity, separately zoned at the fire alarm control panel. These passive fire protection measures serve to alert occupants of a fire at an early stage. The design firm will also call for the sprinkler(s) to be 212- or 286-degree temperature rated, to avoid sprinkler discharge in the event of a high (closed room) temperature increase. Since any accidental discharge of water is to be averted, headguard protection should also be specified for the sprinklers.

Electricity travels in a closed loop, or circuit, and flows easily through conductors, taking the quickest path to the ground. Since water is an excellent conductor and the human body is mostly water, a body becomes electricitys path to the ground if that person contacts water that touches electricity. Electricity will jump out of its intended circuit where convenient, injuring or killing thousands of people each year.

Many fires result from faults in the power delivery system itself. Causes of these defects may arise from faulty installation, degradation due to aging, physical damage, or overloading. Electrical devices also pose a fire risk due to bad switches or internal wiring failures. When fire arrives from another source, electrical equipment is very susceptible to damage from the heat and smoke (containing corrosive products of combustion) produced by that fire. Many electronic components begin to fail at approximately 174 degrees, with major component failure arising when temperatures exceed 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The ideal scenario, of course, is when a Class C (or A-B-C) fire extinguisher exists in the electrical room, and is used effectively on a small fire. No one should attempt to extinguish a large fire with an extinguisher. If none is available, the only course of action left would be to evacuate, attempt to shut down the main power source (by experienced personnel, and assuming that power supply is not uninterruptible), and when calling 9-1-1 be sure to let them know that this is an electrical fire.

There are several options concerning suppression system choice. An automatic CO2 flooding system discharging CO2 gas into an electrical room will stop any fire. However, this gas is lethal at use concentrations in confined spaces. Also, equipment damage can still result due to the toxicity and conductivity of carbon dioxide. A clean agent fire suppression system, such as Inergen, FM-200, or Sapphire would be the safer alternative. In either case, the room volume is calculated to determine exactly how much agent (or percent of C02 gas) will be required for (normally) ten minutes of total flooding. Inergen is a blend of argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide that extinguishes a fire by safely lowering oxygen content below the level necessary for a continuation of combustion. The primary purpose of a fire sprinkler (or preaction) system is to douse or confine the fire through the application of water to its area or room of origin in order to protect the structure. With a gaseous clean agent system, the primary function is to provide protection for the sensitive (and probably valuable) assets within the enclosure being protected. In addition to high system cost, the downside of clean agent systems for these applications is the stringent requirement of intact enclosures with doors shut and external ventilation completely sealed prior to agent discharge.

If the electrical or utilities room takes up less than 800 cubic feet, with a ceiling height not exceeding 12 feet, a single self-contained Cease Fire overhead fire extinguishing system unit (see photograph) may be installed. Formerly referred to as halon balls, these EPA- and FM-approved cylinders are designed for single-room protection, activate automatically, and flood the room with a non-toxic blended powder and gas agent or Halon 1301 (the halon type which is still environmentally safe). They are rechargeable and require no piping. This type of protection is endorsed under the Other Automatic Extinguishing Equipment section (7-7.3) in NFPA 101.

A high-pressure water mist system may also be implemented for fire protection. Its extinguishing action is accomplished by diluting oxygen in the fire area with steam resulting from the evaporation of small discharged water droplets. The water mist system employs much less water than a conventional sprinkler system and certainly less than would be received from firefighting operations. The ability of a water mist system to stop a fire actually increases with the size of the fire due to the extent of evaporation. While that provides a clear security, problems can arise if the fire is small. First of all, there will be a limited evaporation of water droplets in a small room. Secondly, since water mist does not provide total flooding, system discharge cannot navigate around cabinet doors or other potential obstructions.

Applicable codes to reference for protection include NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 10 Portable Fire Extinguishers, NFPA 75 Protection of Information Technology Equipment, NFPA 2001 Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems, and NFPA 70 National Electrical Code. Requirements for fire-resistive enclosures in rooms containing circuit breaker panels, transformers, and the like, as well as additional fire protection requirements for special high-voltage electrical equipment, can be found in NFPA 70. The fuel load in a typical electrical room will include electronic equipment and the conduits and wiring necessary to supply power to various electronic equipment contained within the structure. To minimize risk, no additional unnecessary fuel loading should exist in the electrical room. Prevention and suppression of any fire occurring around electrical systems is realized primarily through careful planning and the resourcefulness of the engineer. Depending on room size, equipment voltage, and the overall degree of the hazards involved, a logical system design choice must be ascertained to provide a viable working solution to service the fire protection needs of any facility.

a video wordpress plugin for Wordpress blogs rocks. This post has no tag 1 ping 1. Electrical Fire Extinguisher- How to Use It Properly? | Electrical Fire Extinguisher March 22, 2013 at 6:46 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment Reply [...] News About Electrical Fire Extinguisher: How to Use a Fire Extinguisher Fire Extinguishers Guard Services Fire Sprinklers in an Electrical Room [...]
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