Automatic Sprinkler Systems

"Fundamental Design Procedure"

 1. Forward
• Sprinkler system piping are designed (sized) using either
"Pipe Schedule" or "Hydraulic Calculations".
• Hydraulically calculated systems are generally more
efficient and economical.
• The Design criteria is: Hydraulic calculation of the
operation area; i.e, piping is sized to deliver the required
flow and pressure for each head in the area, and sizing the
pipe back to the water so as to deliver the demand.
• The minimum flow pressure of any one sprinkler is 7 psi
above atmospheric.
2. Hydraulic Calculations and Sprinkler Design: General
Hydraulic calculations are based on the concepts and principles
of hydraulics and fluid mechanics expressed in the form of a
hydraulic model that incorporates a sequence of pre-defined
physical accounting procedures:
• Determine the type of hazard and select values for density
and area per sprinkler that are applicable to the design area.
• Density multiplied by area per sprinkler gives the flow
required at the most remote sprinkler.
• Use this value along with the sprinkler K-Factor to check
the minimum starting pressure, which should exceed 7 psi.
• Select the next point upstream, calculate the pressure due to
elevation and friction loss and add this to the minimum
starting pressure at the most remote sprinkler.
• Extend this process to each and every node all the way back
to the source node.
• If there are loops and grids along the way, route the flow
through all the pipe segments in accordance with the
principles of hydraulics and fluid mechanics.
• Add fixed pressure devices such as detector checks and
valves to derive the total sprinkler pressure and flow at the
source node.
• Compare the total sprinkler pressure and flow with what is
available on the water supply graph as determined by a
hydrant flow test.
• If the total sprinkler pressure exceeds what is available on
the graph, modify the design by increasing pipe sizes or
changing the geometry of the piping network and repeat the
calculation until the total sprinkler pressure is
accommodated by the graph.
 A Case Study
• It is required to design a fire sprinkler system for an office
building having 60 rooms configured as:
6 stories high, 5 rooms wide, and 2 rooms long.
Each room is 15 ft. wide x 30 ft. long x 10 ft. high

60 ft

60 ft

75 ft
 Design Procedure: Hydraulic Calculations

1. Sprinkler System Type

• Decide upon the type of the system: take wet system

2. Classification of Building Hazard

• Buildings are usually classified into different groups of
hazard according to their occupancy (Light hazard -
Ordinary hazard: groups I & II - Extra Hazard: groups I &
II). An office building is classified as light hazard
3. Piping Layout, Spacings of Sprinklers
• Layout is normally decided upon to achieve optimum
activation of sprinklers and economy. It is also influenced
by the building construction. The three common piping
layouts are Christmas-Tree, Gridded, and Looped patterns.
• Due to the type of building hazard, the spacings between
sprinkler heads and between lines are taken 15 ft.
Maximum Sprinkler Spacing
Light hazard occupancies 15ft.
Ordinary hazard occupancies 15ft.
Extra hazard occupancies 12ft.
4. Coverage Area of Sprinkler Head
• Also, the coverage area per sprinkler head is 225 ft2.

Maximum Coverage Area of a Sprinkler Head (sq. ft.)

Light Ordinary Extra
Unobstructed 225 130 100
Non-combustible,
225 130 100
obstructed construction
Combustible,
170 130 100
obstructed construction
5. Total Number of Sprinklers Required
Total no. of sprinklers = Total area/coverage area per sprinkler
= (15x30xl0 rooms)/225
= 4500/225 = 20 sprinkler heads
So, each floor requires 20 sprinklers installed ..
6. Layouts of Sprinkler Piping
15 ft

15 ft
22.5 ft

Plan View of one floor

 Riser

6th

5th 10

4th

3rd

2nd

1th

To water

Front View of the Building (Typical Layout)

“Note size reduction of the riser where possible”
7. Area of Operation of Sprinklers

• What is an area of operation ?

• An area of operation (area of application, or the design
area) is the maximum area a fire in that type of building has
the potential to cover.

area of operation

Total area
• This area establishes the number of sprinklers required
open to extinguish the fire within the area of operation. It
also establishes the number of heads to be hydraulically
calculated.
• The size of it depends on the building construction and the
degree of hazard.
• It can practically go up to 100% of the total area; as is the
case in the deluge system.
• According to NFPA 13, the design area should not be less
than 1500 ft2 (140 m2) for light & ordinary hazard, and
2500 ft2 (232 m2) for extra hazard.
• In all cases, 5 sprinklers are the minimum for the design
area.
• The area of operation, the area to be hydraulically
calculated, must be the most remote area from the source
of water supply ??

area of operation

Water supply
Total area

• The operation area in our case is selected as 1800 sq.ft.

(40%). The figure shows (6th floor layout) the operation
area selected as the most remote area from supply.
 Operation Area

15 ft

15 ft
22.5 ft
• The number of sprinklers in the operation area =
operation area/coverage area per sprinkler= 1800/225= 8
• So, 8 sprinklers are expected (as a maximum) to open in
case of fire. This is the only number of sprinklers which are
to be hydraulically calculated.
8. Flow of Water Required
• The flow density in our case is 0.09 gpm/sq.ft., see the flow
density chart below.
then, 0.09 gpm/sq.ft. x 225 sq.ft. (sprinkler coverage area) =
20 gpm
• This is to say that the furthest sprinkler head from the
supply must deliver 20 gpm

• The total flow required for this 6th floor =

flow density x operation area x 1.15
=190 gpm
• Note: the factor 1.15 is called the flow factor and this is to
account for the friction loss in pipes
• Now, the hydraulic calculations begin:

15 ft

4 8
Line #2 Line #4
22.5 ft
3 7
Riser

CM #1
2 6

Line #1 Line #3 15 ft

1 5

Plan for Hydraulic Calculations, 5th & 6th floors

1) Sprinkler head 1, the furthest from the supply, is required to
deliver 20 gpm.
2) What pressure at head 1 is needed to deliver 20 gpm ?

3) Using the flow characteristics formula; Q = K P

where Q = gpm , K = constant , P = psi and taking

a standard orifice (0.5 in diameter) in our example, with
K=5.6, we get P =12.76 psi.
i.e; it requires 12.76 psi at head 1 to deliver 20 gpm.

4) We select 1-inch pipe size for the supply pipe of head 1.

Note that we may have to change the pipe size if it turns out
 that the friction loss is large.

5) The friction loss in pipe 1 is calculated using the Hazen-

Williams Equation:
∆P 4.52 Q1.85
= 1.85 4.87
L C d
where:
∆P/L = friction loss pressure per unit length, psi/ft
Q = flow rate, gpm
d = pipe diameter, in.
C = friction loss coefficient, material dependent
 ∆P 4.52 (20)1.85
= = 0.164 psi / ft
L (120)1.85 (1)4.87
∴Total friction loss in the 15 ft. long-pipe =
0.164X15=2.46 psi

6) Now, the pressure at sprinkler head 2 =

pressure at head 1 + friction loss pressure

in the pipe supplying head 1
= 12.76 + 2.46 = 15.22 psi
7) The flow at head 2 is calculated from Q = K P ,

Q = 5.6 15.22 = 21.85 gpm

8) The second piece of pipe must, now, deliver a total of 41.85

gpm (20 gpm for head 1+21.85 gpm for head 2).
Select 1.25 inch pipe size, length is 7.5 feet to the tee.
The equivalent length of the tee (using equivalent pipe
length chart or table) under 1.5 inch-diameter pipe is 8 ft.
∴ The total length is 7.5 + 8 = 15.5 feet
∴ friction loss pressure in this 15.5 ft. length of 1.25 inch
 pipe size that is delivering 41.85 gpm =
0.217 psi/ft. (similar to step 5) x 15.5 ft.=3.37 psi

9) The total pressure at the centerline of the tee =

15.22+3.37 =18.59 psi

10) The same process is performed for line #2; it is identical to

line #1.

11) The cross main (CM #1) must supply line #1 & line #2, its
flow is then 41.85 gpm x 2 = 83.7 gpm
12) Select 1.5-inch pipe size for CM # 1, length is 15 ft. to the
tee connecting lines 3 & 4.
The equivalent length of the tee (using equivalent pipe
length chart or table) under 1.5-inch diameter pipe is 8 ft.
∴The total length is 15 + 8 = 23 ft.
∴friction loss pressure in this 23 ft. length of 1.5 inch
pipe size = 0.322 x 23 = 7.41 psi

13) The total pressure at the centerline of the tee =

18.59+7.41 =26 psi
14) Lines 3 & 4 are identical to lines 1 & 2. However, we need
to calculate the gpm lines 3 & 4 will receive at a pressure
of 26 psi.
To do so, lines 1 & 2 are reduced to a single orifice flow
having a certain K value : 83.7 gpm = K 18.59 .
From which, K= 19.41 .

15) Using This K value for lines 3 & 4 (since they are identical
to lines 1 & 2), the gpm to lines 3 & 4 can be determined
 from: Q = 19.41 26 = 98.97gpm
Note: The operation area requires 83.7 + 98.97 = 182.67
gpm, not 20 gpm x 8 heads, this is of course due to
friction, which justifies the flow factor of 1.15 used before.
16) and so on ...till you finish the hydraulic calculations for
riser all the way down to underground pipe connections
and the city main connection including all the necessary
valves and accessories.
17) Finally, we have the demand of the system:

Q gpm @ P psi.
 18) To check the demand vs. the city water main supply, plot
the demand on the city water supply graph (it is a straight
line representing the flow Q in gpm plotted as Q1.85 vs. the
Pressure P in psi). If the demand is below the supply, the
supply will satisfy the demand. But if the demand is above
the supply line, the supply will not satisfy the demand. It is
always recommended to have the calculated system
demand fall at least 10 psi below the supply line ??.

The graph below is a typical computer output of a supply

graph, with both the supply and demand curves shown. Note
the value of the pressure cushion
 Hydraulic Calculation Sheet
1/2" orifice K=5.6 0.09 GPM/S.F. over 1800 S.F. 225 S.F./Head
Nozzle Flow in Pipe Fittings Pipe Equiv. Friction Required Elev. Notes
Type& G.P.M. Size & Length Loss psi
Location Devices psi/ft
line #1 q LGTH 10 PT 12.76
1" FTG 0 TOT. 0.164 PF 2.46
1 Q 20
10 PE 0.0
2 q 21.85 LGTH 7.5 PT 15.22
1.25" T FTG 8.0 0.217 PF 3.37
Q 41.85
TOT. 15.5 PE 0.0

line #2 q 41.85 LGTH 15 PT 18.59

1.5" T FTG 8 TOT. 0.322 PF 7.41
CM#1 Q 83.7
23 PE 0.0
lines3&4 q 98.97 PT 26
2"
CM #2 Q182.67