Overview

HYENA HYDRANT

A computer program for the analysis of Fire Sprinkler and Hydrant Systems

Contents

The Help for the program is sub-divided into the following Topics:

Viewing the Calculation Results

Internal Pipe Diameters

Fitting Equivalent Lengths

Tips and FAQ

Purpose and Application of the Programs

This program was originally developed by Municipal Hydraulics in Canada but is now owned and maintained by ACADS-BSG Pty Ltd in Melbourne Australia. It is called SPRINK-1000 in the USA and Canada and called HYENA in Australia and other locations mainly because of the different pipe materials and sprinkler codes used. The program may be used to analyse and cost automatic fire sprinkler systems with a simple end, side or center fed configuration or more complicated looped and gridded systems. It may also be used to analyse fire hydrant and hose reel installations or combined sprinkler, hydrant and/or hose reel systems or indeed any hydraulic system handling water where the discharges can be expressed as a k factor.

HYDRANT is a cut down cheaper version of the program that is restricted to only one discharge with a k Factor but any number of fixed discharges and hence is designed for analysing hydrant systems only. It does not include the GRID or XPAN capability but does provide for estimating quantities for Costing.

With a given sized network the program performs a complete hydraulic analysis determining the water flow in, and pressure drop through, each pipe in the network taking account of all fittings entered by the user. The user may provide for outflow from the network through operating sprinkler heads, hose or hose reel nozzles or standpipes (constant discharge points). With the facility to allow for outflow from standpipes the program can also be used for the static hydraulic analysis of open circuit piping networks other than sprinkler or hydrant systems. For example, given the demands at any given point in time the program can be used to hydraulically analyse domestic water supply systems. Another example of its use is in the analysis of irrigation systems. The program cannot however be used to undertake a dynamic analysis.

AutoHYENA

The computer programs AutoHYENA is a separate program that provides an interface between HYENA and AutoCAD®. It enables the user to enter the data graphically in centerline diagram form and from this produce the ASCII text input data file required by the main calculation program. The program is an alternative to the WINDOWS data entry program in HYENA. After analysing the network, AutoHYENA will then convert the center line diagram into a final drawing inserting the users own drawing symbols for sprinklers, hydrants, hose reels, etc. AutoHYENA must be separately licensed. It requires a full version of AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT can be run in a program called Toolkit which may be obtained from DRCAuto in Sydney.

Warranties

ACADS-BSG, nor any of it's employees or it's agents makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of the documentation or function or performance of the programs. The responsibility for the accuracy and validity of all conclusions drawn from the use of the program or the documentation rests with the user.

Features of the program

The main features of the program are -

The program is capable of analysing looped and gridded systems as well as the more conventional tree configurations
The calculations are very efficient and fast because:

The hydraulic analysis is carried out using Newton's method for solving a system of simultaneous non-linear equations for the whole piping network. This is a much more accurate method of analysis than the Hardy-Cross method which applies Newton's method to the solution of a non-linear equation in one unknown for each individual loop or node;
The analysis is oriented towards loops rather than nodes and this reduces the number of equations to be solved and hence reduces computer-processing time:
Piping loops are automatically numbered within the program so that a positive definite banded symmetric matrix is produce thereby reducing computer memory requirements and processing time considerably.

The program is WINDOWS based and data entry is fast and efficient with range and consistency checks invoked during data entry.
For a standard gridded system, the program is capable of generating the whole network with just a few input entries via a series of "GRID" Screens. Furthermore, a "remote region" calculation can be carried out and a printer plot is produced for the grid.
An option is available to automatically number pipes as they are entered.
When the GRID feature is used the pipes and nodes are automatically numbered.
The program can be used to carry out a sprinkler system analysis in accordance with NFPA, AS2118 (Australia), NZS4541 (New Zealand), SSCP52 (Singapore) or GB50084 (China) using the Hazen Williams formula for water filled systems or the Darcy Weisbach formula for systems filled with other than water.
The program can be used to carry out an analysis of sprinkler misting systems in accordance with NFPA750 or AS4587 (Australia) using the Hazen Williams or Darcy Weisbach formula.
The program can be used to carry out an analysis of hydrant systems (with or without hoses) or hose reel systems (with or without hoses) using the Hazen-Williams pressure loss formulae.
The program can work in a range of units including British or US Imperial and Metric.
Provision is made for copying pipes of the same length with the same fittings, and for setting default values for sprinklers, nozzles and reference nodes. Data for these latter components can also be edited collectively. This, along with a number of other features, makes the preparation of input data even on very large jobs relatively quick and easy.
Internal pipe diameters are stored in the program for a range of piping materials complying with a range of pipe codes including Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and American, the user only having to nominate the appropriate pipe material and the nominal pipe sizes. The user can also enter internal pipe sizes directly and enter and store, for future use, additional pipe materials and the associated internal diameters.
A wide range of fittings are provided for with equivalent lengths stored in the program. A facility is also provided for the user to enter his own equivalent lengths and identify these "special" fittings in the results. The user can also enter and store for future use additional fittings and the associated equivalent lengths for each pipe diameter.
Check valve action is catered for so that if water is flowing back-wards through a pipe containing a check valve that pipe is deleted from the analysis
Back flow preventers and booster pumps can be included with their flow vs pressure characteristic.
The program can be used to determine the design point (required flow and head at the input point to the system) given the sprinkler heads or hose and hose reel nozzles discharging and the minimum discharge. Alternatively a pump characteristic, water supply characteristic or a fixed pressure can be entered and the program will then determine the water flow from the discharging heads or nozzles and the operating point on the entered water supply pressure-head curve.
Velocity pressure can be accounted for in the calculations if required.
The program calculates the total volume of the pipes in the system for use in designing dry pipe systems.
The program determines quantities in terms of length of pipes, number of fittings and number of sprinklers/nozzles to assist with the preparation of a budget cost estimate.
Graphs are provided throughout to provide visual checks on the input and to assist in entering data.
Input points can be specified with a Fixed input pressure, a linear or polynomial curve for a pumps at the input, a linear or a curve with pressure proportional to flow to the power 1.85 to represent a water supply.
The results including graphs for input points, backflow preventers and booster pumps, can be selectively viewed and printed

Limitations of the program

The major limitations of the program are -

Although the program can be used to analyse hydraulic networks for other than sprinkler systems or hydrant and hose reel installations, however it can only perform a static analysis
The size of network that can be handled by the program is limited to-
3300 pipes
3300 nodes
1100 operating sprinkler heads,Hydrants and/or hose or hose reel nozzles
20 pumps at input points and 20 booster pumps
The number of loops times the bandwidth of the matrix is limited to 256,000 (these two values are printed in the results) .

These limits in practice impose very little restriction on the designer and quite large and complex systems can be analysed.

Preparatory Information

Before entering the input data in the various screens, it is advisable to prepare a sketch of the piping network and assign node numbers to all the pipes to be analysed. Pipe numbers can also be annotated however the program has an option to automatically number pipes if required by the user.

The following information should also be prepared: -

The nominal sizes (unless special piping materials are to be used in which case internal diameters are used) for all pipes in the network
A list of all valves, tees, bends and other fittings in each pipe in the network together with the size of these fittings.
The sprinkler heads and hose and hose reel nozzles that are to be regarded as operating and the minimum discharge rate and K factor for each, or for a hydrant system the flow at the hydrants and the pressure at the most remote hydrant.
Details of the water supply or the pump supplying water to the system (unless the flow and head required by the system is required to be determined).
Details of any booster pumps in the network.
Details of any back flow preventers in the network.
The elevation of all points in the network.

Water flow from any standpipes or other out-flow points in the network are entered as constant and fixed flows at specified reference nodes.

It is only necessary to enter those pipes which carry water to the nodes in the system that are discharging. Thus, branch lines with no discharging sprinklers on them or hose or hose reel nozzles that are not discharging are usually not entered because they do not contribute to the flow. When the system is gridded however, those parts of any branch lines which form part of the grid should be included. The simplest rule is that if a path from the supply to any discharge point passes along a given pipe, that pipe should be included.

The network is specified by a series of nodes with interconnecting pipes. For hydrant or hose reel systems the actual hose can be entered if required and included in the analysis. In this situation the hose is entered as a pipe. Normally however the hose is not entered and the hydrant or hose reel is modeled as a nozzle with a specified k factor at the connection point.

Each node is assigned a unique number between 1 and 9999 by the designer. A node for the purpose of specifying the network is defined as all points in the network where -

(a) three or more pipes come together or

(b) two or more pipes of different size or material come together or

(d) a discharging hose or hose reel nozzle is located or

(e) an input point is located or

(f) there is a constant discharge, i.e. a stand pipe or hydrant

The piping connecting any two of these nodes is, for the purposes of calculation, considered as a single pipe even if it comprises more than one section of pipe. They are each assigned a "pipe number" either by the designer or if desired, automatically by the program and are henceforth referred to as "pipes". The length of these pipes is the total length of all the pipe sections which it comprises.

To use the program to analyse a particular system the relevant information must now be entered into the various screens and a data input text file in the format required by the calculation program generated.

To get the feel for how the data is entered before learning all the details it is suggested that the first time user loads one of the sample input data sets provided and calls up each of the screens and views the data.