- Author
- Gott, J. E. | Notarianni, K. A.
- Title
- Analysis of High Bay Hangar Facilities for Detector Sensitivity and Placement.
- Coporate
- Department of the Navy, Alexandria, VA National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). Honors Lecture Series. Proceedings. May 20, 1996. Engineering Seminars: Fire Protection Design for High Challenge or Special Hazard Applications. Proceedings. May 20-22, 1996, Boston, MA, 1-8 p., 1996
- Keywords
- fire protection engineering | fire protection | hangars | aircraft fuels | heat release | large scale fire tests | flame detectors | sprinklers | fire research | draft curtain | optical flame detectors
- Identifiers
- aircraft hangars; summary of full-scale experiments; heat release rates and maximum ceiling temperatures; effects of draft curtains; optical flame detectors; sprinkler response in the 15m hangar; sprinkler response in the 22m hangar; 33 full-scale fire experiments in two Navy high bay aricraft hangars - one in a cold climate and one in a warm climate
- Abstract
- Existing building and fire codes in the United States offer little or no guidance in the design of fire protection systems in high bay spaces due to the lack of scientific data. Timely detection of a fire is more difficult in large spaces due to the distance heat and other products of combustion must travel to sprinklers or detectors. Possible stratification poses an additional challenge in selecting the optimal location of detectors. The focus of this paper is on the full-scale experiments conducted by NAVFAC and NIST which were designed to assist the Navy in reevaluating its criteria for the protection of high bay aircraft hangars. Previous studies conducted in 15 m and 30.5 m hangars used isopropyl alcohol, involved only one fire size, and were conducted with the hangar doors only in the closed position. The NAVFAC/NIST experiments included numerous fire sizes, aviation fuels, and both open and closed doors. Also participating in these experiments were five fire protection industry sponsors representing the fire alarm and automatic sprinkler industries, representatives from each branch of the U.S. Department of Defense, and representatives from select NFPA technical committees.