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Project

On this page general project information and job parameters are entered.

The buttons on the Tool Bar for this page are:

Help on the current tab page.

Project Header and Comment Lines

  • Project Header Lines: The first four lines of input data provide details of the project for which the analysis is being carried out. The entered information is printed at the top of each page of the printed results as a header and prefixed with the titles listed below. Users may enter any information they desire on any of the lines. If information is not required on any line it may be left blank.
    - DESIGNER Designer's name and telephone number
- CLIENT  Client name and associated details
- PROJECT  Project details, building name and/or number, floor etc.
- JOB NO.  Job Number (in the first 12 columns) followed by any other information such as plan numbers.

The information in each may be up to 80 characters. On the fourth line the job number must be confined to the first 12 characters, however, additional information such as plan numbers can be entered in characters 13 to 80. Entered information can contain alphabetic characters, numerals, blanks or any other keyboard character.

Should the user wish, the titles for these lines can be changed in System Configuration accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Comments: When this button is selected, a form appears in which the user can enter comments or notes relative to the project or program run. These comments appear on the front page of the results.

Design Data

The five items are design data that the user can enter. None of this data is used in the calculations but is displayed on a face page in the results.

  • Occupancy (Classification)
  • Density
  • Total Area (Protected)
  • Coverage (per sprinkler)
  • Orifice Size

Units

This controls whether Metric, US, US mixed or British Imperial units are displayed in the specific units drop down lists. US mixed is provided for users who require a mixture of US and metric units for example length in feet and pressure in bar. A default value can be set for new projects under Configuration - Set Default accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Length: This sets the units of pipe length. A Drop down list allows the user to select:

    - mm (millimetres) or m (meters) if the units are metric (or US Mixed).
- ft (feet) or 1000ft (thousands of feet) if the units are US, or US Mixed or British Imperial.

    A default value can be set for new projects under Configuration - Set Default accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Diameter: This sets the units of pipe diameter. A Drop down list allows the user to select:

    - mm (millimeters) if the units are metric (or US Mixed).
- in (inches) if the units are US, or US Mixed or British Imperial.

    A default value can be set for new projects Configuration - Set Default from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Pressure: This sets the units of pressure. A Drop down list allows the user to select:

    - kPa (kilopascals) or G/CM2 (grams per square centimetre), mbar(millibar) or bar if the units are metric (or US Mixed).
- PSI (pounds per square inch) if the units are US, or US Mixed or British Imperial.

    A default value can be set for new projects under Configuration - Set Default accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Flow: This sets the units of flow. A Drop down list allows the user to select:

    - L/MIN (litres per minute) or L/SEC (litres per second) if the units are metric (or US Mixed).
- GPM (US gallons per minute), MGD (US megagallons per day), or CFS (cubic feet per sec), if the units are US, or US Mixed.
- IMGD (imperial megagallons per day), IGPM (imperial gallons per minute), CFS (cubic feet per sec), if the units are British Imperial.

    A megagallon is one million gallons. A default value can be set for new projects under Configuration - Set Default accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Elevation: This sets the units of elevation. A Drop down list allows the user to select:

    - MM (millimetres) or M (metres) if the units are metric (or US Mixed).
-FT (feet) if the units are US, or US Mixed or British Imperial.

    A default value can be set for new projects under Configuration - Set Default accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

Other Parameters

  • Calculate Input Point Flow/Pressure

    • If the user wishes to calculate the required flow and pressure at the input point to the system such that the water flow at each discharging nozzle or sprinkler is not less than the minimum specified quantity, Calculate Input Flow/Pressure is selected. The entered discharge at each sprinkler, nozzle and hydrant is then the minimum design quantity and the entered pressure at the input point (either as a constant pressure or a characteristic curve) is only used in evaluating the first estimate of the flow throughout the network.
    • Input Point Node Number: The node number (between 1 and 9999) in the network where the water supply or fire pump is connected.

  • Calculate Discharge Flow for Given Input

    • If the user wishes to calculate the required flow and pressure at the input point to the system such that the water flow at each discharging nozzle or sprinkler is not less than the minimum specified quantity, Calculate Input Flow/Pressure is selected. The entered discharge at each sprinkler, nozzle and hydrant is then the minimum design quantity and the entered pressure at the input point (either as a constant pressure or a characteristic curve) is only used in evaluating the first estimate of the flow throughout the network.

  • Booster Pump Flow/Pressure

    • If this radio button is selected, the program calculates the minimum required flow and pressure of the operating point of a booster pump located in the nominated pipe number. The calculated pressure includes any nominated “Margin” This is required by most sprinkler Codes, typically 50kPa or 10 %

    • The units for the Margin can be selected as Pressure or Percent.

    • The pipe number is only required if there is more than one Booster pump in the system OR if there is no booster pump already entered.

    • The program calculates the required minimum flow and pressure of the entered booster pump (in the nominated pipe if there is more than already entered) or a booster pump in the nominated pipe.

  • Fittings to: This is the Sprinkler Code on which the equivalent lengths of fittings (entered on the Pipes Tab Page) are to be based viz.

    -NFPA  National Fire Protection Association (USA) Installation of Fire Sprinklers

- AS2118 Australian Standard 2118 Part 1 Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems

- NZ4541 New Zealand Standard 4541 Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems

- SSCP52  Singapore Standard CP52 - Code of Practice for Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems

- AS4587 Australian Standard 4587 (1999) for Water mist fire protection systems

- NFPA750 National Fire Protection Association (USA) for Water mist fire protection systems

- GB50084 Chinese Standard Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems

- NFPA750 and AS4587 are for mist systems. In both these codes, equivalent lengths for copper fittings are listed and used by the program. However fitting equivalent lengths, as listed in the User Guide for stainless steel pipe (SS40 and SS10) and any user defined stainless steel tubing are also available.

In North America the program only allows NFPA, NFPA750 and GB50084. In other locations a selection between NFPA, NFPA750, AS2118, AS4587, NZ4541, SSCP52 or GB50084 is available.

For fire hydrant or hose reel installations the fitting equivalent lengths of NFPA may be used. These values agree, within a few percent, with the data published in the Crane Company Catalogue No. 41. For hydrant mill cocks it is suggested that an angle valve (NV) be used.

A default value can be set for new projects under Set Defaults under System Configuration accessed from the Menu Bar on the Main Screen.

  • Commercial/Domestic A selection between Commercial and Domestic (or NFPA13D for NFPA) for the fitting equivalent lengths to be used.

For NZ4541, GB50084 and SSCP52 Domestic is not available because these Codes only have fitting equivalent lengths for Commercial fittings.

  • Check Valve Operation
    A check valve is a special fitting in that if the user elects to invoke check valve action the program checks if water is flowing backwards through the pipe in which the check valve is located. If so the pipe is removed from the calculation.

    Therefore, if Check Valve Operation is selected, the check valve must be placed in the first pipe leading away from an input point and the node numbers must be in the direction of flow. Check valve operation is normally only used when there is more than one input point.

    Care should be taken in using this option as inappropriate location of the check valve can cause a disconnected network, because the program deletes the pipe in which the check valve is located.

    The check valves that the check valve operation is applied to when selected are:

    • KC and JC in copper pipes for Mist systems
    • DC, XC and MC for Domestic systems
    • PSWCH, PWDCH and PLIFT in HDPE pipes
    • SSTC In Stainless Steel Tubing
    • CV in all other pipes
      Back Flow Preventers always prevent reverse flow

  • Warning if Velocity Exceeds
    The program prints warning messages for all pipes in which the velocity exceeds a given value. The program has preset values depending on the sprinkler code selected, but these can be overwritten by the user here

    The required value is in m/sec for metric units, or in ft/sec for US or British Imperial units. The allowable ranges in the program are:

    AS 2118 3 to 10 m/s NFPA NSZ 4541 and SSCP52 3 to 15 m/s (10 to 50 ft/sec)

    Although most Sprinkler Codes do not stipulate a maximum limit on velocities, some insurance companies do.

    Note: In AS2118 Amendment 3, the VELOCITY IN VALVE SETS IS LIMITED TO 6 M/S. The program does not check for this.

  • Include Velocity Pressure
    The inclusion of velocity pressure normally has very little effect on the hydraulic calculations, however certain approving authorities require velocity pressure to be included. Checking this check box will cause the program to include velocity pressures.

    According to NFPA:

    • There are two methods of calculation of pressures throughout sprinkler/hydrant systems;- the Total Pressure method or the Velocity Pressure method. The term Velocity Pressure method is something of a misnomer in that this method utilizes the “Normal” pressure to determine the flow through a sprinkler. In order to find the normal pressure, the velocity pressure needs to be calculated and subtracted from the Total pressure.

    • Hydraulic calculations of sprinkler systems using the Total pressure method are the most common. This method simplifies the calculations and in most cases, builds a safety factor into the calculations because the assumption is made that the total pressure (which is always higher than the normal pressure) is responsible for pushing the water through the sprinkler.

    • When using the velocity pressure method of calculation, the normal pressure is used to determine the flow through the sprinkler except at the last sprinkler on the branch. For these sprinklers the total pressure is used because in these situations the velocity pressure will be acting in the same direction as the normal pressure.

    • In the program, Sprinklers connected directly along a pipe (but not at the end) with opposing flow into the sprinkler, it is assumed that the flow through the sprinkler is based on total pressure.

      NFPA further states that:

    • NFPA 15, Standard for Water Spray Fixed Systems for Fire Protection requires the use of the Normal pressure method of calculation in many situations because of the possibility of long runs of small diameter pipe to the end nozzle and because it is common for large flow demands to discharge from the side of a tee.

    • Whether this applies to Mist systems is not stated.

Calculation Method

  • Hazen Williams or Darcy Weisbach
    This provides a choice between the Hazen-Williams and Darcy Weisbach formula for the hydraulic calculations. The Darcy formula should be in Mist systems when the velocity exceeds 7.5m/s (for NFPA750) and 6m/s (for AS4587) and should be considered for other than fresh water e.g. salt water or water with additives including anti-freeze as required by NFPA.

  • Density
    The density of the fluid in the sprinkler system. Typical values for water in kg/m3 are:

Temperature °C
5101520253035
Water999.9999.7999.0998.2997.4995.9994.5
Sea Water1028.41028.01026.91025.81024.81023.01021.3

Typical values in lb/ft3 are:

Temperature °F
405060708090100
Water62.4262.4062.3662.2962.2162.1161.99
Sea Water64.2064.1764.1064.0263.9563.8063.70

*Source - U.S.Coast Guard - Chemical Hazards Response Information System (CHRIS)

  • Viscosity
    The absolute or dynamic viscosity of the fluid in units of centipoise. Viscosity describes a fluids internal resistance to flow and may be thought of as a measure of fluid friction. For example water has a low viscosity whereas treacle has a high viscosity. It is a function of temperature. Typical values are:
Temperature °C
5101520253035
Water1.481.301.120.970.860.780.70
Sea water1.591.401.231.090.960.860.77

NFPA

  • Altitude
    This is the altitude above sea level in the units of elevation, of the water level in the tank. The altitude is used in the calculation of NPSH from:

    NPSH =The pressure at the input point minus the total pressure drop (static plus friction loss) on the suction side of the pump plus atmospheric pressure minus the vapour pressure. This is the Available NPSH. The atmospheric pressure is the atmospheric pressure at the nominated altitude above sea level (101 kPa) minus 0.0104 kPa for every 1 meter altitude above sea level.

    The pump is assumed to be at the downstream end of the pipe and all the fittings in the pipe are assumed to be on the suction side of the pump. If there are valves etc on the downstream pipe they must be entered in the next downstream pipe.

  • Vapour Press
    The vapour pressure at sea level

    • At 20 °C, it is 2.34 kPa, 23.4 milibar, 0.0234 bar or 0.34 psi.
    • At 30 °C, it is 4.23 kPa, 42.3 milibar, 0.0423 bar or 0.61 psi.
    • At 40 °C, it is 7.36 kPa, 73.6 milibar, 0.0736 bar or 1.07 psi.
    • At 50°C it is 12.35 kPa, 123.5 millibar, 0.1235 bar or 1.79 psi.
    • At other altitudes above sea level the program decreases the entered values by approximately 3% per 1000 metres. The vapour pressure is used in the calculation of NPSH from:

    NPSH = the total pressure drop (static plus friction loss) on the suction side of the pump plus atmospheric pressure minus the vapour pressure. This is the Available NPSH.

    The pump is assumed to be at the downstream end of the pipe and all the fittings in the pipe are assumed to be on the suction side of the pump.

Results

  • Benchmark Adjustment
    In the program the zero elevation can be at any position. For example the zero elevation can be at ground level, the level of the input point or any other point. All entered elevations are then relative to this chosen zero elevation point.

    The Benchmark Adjustment is an adjustment (in units of metres or feet) to all the elevations in the results to convert the entered input values to, for example, RL levels (which may not be known at the initial design stage).

  • System ID
    Although node numbers may be between 1 and 9999, and only up to 2000 nodes can be entered in any one run, for very large jobs with multiple systems requiring analysis, it is often convenient to reuse node numbers in different runs. To differentiate between the systems a different letter may be appended to all nodes in the printed results for each of the systems analysed. This is achieved by entering a single letter for System I.D. on the Project Screen, this being the letter to be appended for this particular run.

    The entered value is displayed as "System I D : A" (where A is the entered I.D) on the Tool Bar on the Pipes, Discharges, Reference and Grid Display Numbering Tab Pages

  • GRID Plot
    If this check box is selected a plot of the GRID with node numbers, pipe numbers, etc is included in the printed results. This is in the form of a page of text with symbols for pipe, nodes, sprinklers etc, and node/pipe numbers and flows annotated. It was in the original program and has been largely supersceded by the GRID Graph in the results screens.