Sprinkler fire extinguishing system: the principle of operation

Man has always striven to achieve perfection in almost everything. A real confirmation of this is the progress in the technical field. Today, a completely different level, a higher one, has been extinguished. Modern methods of eliminating fire can save lives of people who are in certain rooms, as well as protect their property. One of the options to combat fire was the sprinkler system, which eliminates the inflammation immediately after its occurrence. If the facility is equipped with such a way of extinguishing an open flame, then one does not have to wait for the arrival of special services, as well as use fire extinguishers.

Varieties of fire water supply

Today, public buildings are sprinkler and deluge systems. The first are air, water and mixed. These systems are designed for installation in rooms with or without heating. In water installations, the pipelines are completely filled with liquid. Therefore, such systems are used only in heated rooms. In air installations, water enters the pipeline only after the activation of the control valve. They can be used in unheated rooms. Pipelines initially filled with compressed air, so only after its release begins extinguishing the fire with water. Also for premises that do not have heating, mixed systems are used. In such installations, the pipelines are filled with water in the summer, and in the winter they contain compressed air, since the liquid freezes at low temperatures.

Deluge systems have heads that are equipped with holes of 8, 10 and 12.7 mm in diameter. Such elements are used not only to extinguish a fire, but also with their help water curtains are created. They are designed to isolate fires. Such systems can be activated by manual and automatic methods.

Features of application sprinkler type

This type of fire extinguishing occurs completely automatically. Sprinkler system is created on large objects. A feature of these installations is the localization of an open flame in enclosed areas, where the spread of fire is accompanied by a large amount of heat. Most often this way of extinguishing fires is used in places of large crowds of people, in parking lots, having a closed type, in numerous offices, commercial and industrial premises.

Principle of operation

Any water sprinkler fire extinguishing system consists of water supply networks. The principle of operation is that the unit is always ready to feed the substance, which contributes to the elimination of fire. This can be water or special composition. The system is operated under high pressure. Over the entire area of a certain room, sprinklers are distributed, which are normally closed with sprinklers. They are special nozzles made of light alloy material. When a fire arises, the valve is exposed to a high temperature, with the opening of the seal and the supply of a means to extinguish the flame.

Design Features

Sprinkler fire extinguishing system can consist of several separate sections. Each of them is equipped with an individual control and alarm valve. Also, a separate section can be equipped with special devices that supply compressed air. This is necessary in order to increase the pressure in the pipelines. Such features of the design of fire extinguishing systems depend on the area of the object, as well as its configuration.

Types of installed equipment

Any sprinkler system has thermal locks. In most cases, they work when the temperature reaches 79, 93, 141 or 182 degrees. The first two values refer to low-temperature systems. Their operation should occur no later than 300 seconds after the occurrence of a fire. Such a requirement is specified in GOST R 51043-2002. The two following values refer to high temperature systems. For them, the thermal lock should be activated no later than 600 seconds after the ignition in the room started.

Design and installation of sprinkler fire extinguishing system

Initially it is always necessary to execute a project. It will be needed to properly place the equipment and pipelines of the fire-extinguishing system at the facility. When the development of drawings is carried out, the area of a certain room is always taken into account. It is also necessary to take into account the consumption of the substance required to extinguish the fire. Depending on the type of room, the location of each element of the system is determined, which are sprinklers, pipelines, as well as the pumping station and the control unit. The height of the ceilings, the existing ventilation and the parameters at which the water is supplied will be taken into account.

Installation of the sprinkler system consists of several stages. The object is first supplied with all necessary materials and components. Then, the cables and the pipelines themselves are laid. Further installation of other elements that are part of the fire extinguishing system is carried out. At the last stage, commissioning tests are carried out.

The main element for fastening pipes

Pipelines of sprinkler systems are suspended to horizontal surfaces. They are mainly ceilings of premises. To simplify the installation of pipes, use a collar for sprinkler systems. The appearance of such a device has a drop-shaped shape. Clamps are made, as a rule, made of galvanized steel. They have a different diameter, depending on the size of the pipes used in the systems. In the clamps there is a special hole, which is designed to fix them on the ceiling. To perform such a process, you need to insert a threaded rod, which will be fixed with a nut. With this method of installation, it is possible to regulate the level of the pipeline. Normally, the required number of clamps on the ceiling is initially installed, after which the installation of the system itself is carried out. Thanks to the use of such elements, installation of pipelines is very quick. Clamps can be fastened with various means - it can be pins or threaded studs.

Plant maintenance

Sprinkler system, like any other engineering network, needs a regular service. It is of great importance for maintaining the installation in working order. One of the main elements are sprinklers, which must be constantly checked for damage of a physical nature. It is necessary to ensure that they do not have leaks, and also such elements should not contain traces of corrosion and destruction. If the defects are still detected, then it is necessary to replace the thermal locks, and a full discharge of the liquid is carried out. After all the work is done, the system is restarted. Also the owner of such installations needs to know that their trouble-free operation is possible for 10 years after installation.

The effectiveness of sprinkler systems

At present, to obtain reliable information about the operation of any equipment, the collection of information from which statistics are generated is performed. According to the latest data, the sprinkler firefighting system effectively performs its tasks, if at least 10-40% of the possible cases occur at least one sprinkler. Up to 80 percent of the fires can be eliminated with the simultaneous activation of 10 valves. In this case, such efficiency is observed in a large area. After installing the sprinkler system on the site, the owner of the premises will spend the minimum amount of money. As a result, he will receive a fire extinguishing system that will fully operate in automatic mode. At the same time, it does not depend on the connection to the electrical network. All these advantages allow the sprinkler installation to occupy a leading position among all existing for today fire extinguishing systems.