F.F.

LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

Fire Fighting System

Lecture 1

The Fire Science related to Three Departments:

1- Fire Safety : Which Is Related To Architectural Department

Regards The Fire Rated Walls & Escape Corridors & Pressurization
Ducts &…. As per explained in lectures
2- Fire Alarm : Which Is Related To the Electrical Departement
Regards The Alarm System For the Fire Which IS Consists Of :
a- Inputs ( Smoke Detector – Pull Pin-………)
b- Controllers ( FACP ………)
c- Outputs ( Alarm Horn Bell – Fire Strope – Flasher )

3 – Fire Fighting : Which Is Related To the Mechanical Departement

Regards Fighting the Fire .

And TO Enter the Science Of the Fire We Must Know that it Depends On
the Fire Fighting Triangle ( Combustible Material – Oxygen –
Temperature ) and Then TO Make Fire Fighting We Must Break this
Triangle From Any Side :

1- Ignition Temperature Side : So we Use the Water To Do this Action

Either By a- Sprinkler System & b- Hazel System & c- Hydrant
System .
2- Oxygen Side : So we Use the Gaseous System & Foam System &
Fire Extinguishers As we will Explain .

1- Water Suppression Systems

a-Sprinkler System

WE Have Diferent Types OF Sprinklers :

1- Pendent & Upright Sprinklers .

2- Side Wall Sprinklers .
As per explained in lectures the Working Method For Each Type

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

WE Will Make Full Design For the Sprinkler System in the 2 Cases

2- Water Suppression Systems

b-Hazel System

WE Have Diferent Types OF cabinets :

1- Fire Hose Cabinet : Which Have Size 1 " or 1/1/2 "

2- Fire Department ConnecƟon : Which Have Size 2/1/2 "
3- Fire Hose Sta9on : Which Combine Between the 2 Types .
2- Water Suppression Systems

C-Hazel System

1- Street Fire Hydrant .

2- Siamese Connection .

2-Gaseous System
1-Co2 System

2-FM 200 System .

3-Fire Extinguishers System

Now We Will Start the Design For the First Fire Fighting System Which
Is Sprinkler System :

A- Pendent & Upright Sprinkers : To Make Design For this Sprinklers

WE Follow The Following Steps As per explained in lectures :
1- Determine the Building Hazard .
2- Enter NFPA And Get the Table For the Sprinkler Spacing
According to this Hazard ( Light Hazard & Ordinary Hazard &
Extra Hazard ) .
3- WE then Make the Design TO Apply the Following 4 Rules
a- Maximum Distance Between 2 Sprinklers
b- Maximum Distance Between Sprinkler & Wall
c- Minimum Distance Between 2 Sprinklers .

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

d- Minimum Distance Between Sprinkler & Wall .

To Apply this Rules :

1- Divide the Space Length By 4.6 mt .

2- Approximate the Result to the First Greater Number to Get the
Required Sprinkler Rows .
3- Divide the Space Width By 4.6 mt to Get the Required Sprinkler
Rows .
4- Approximate the Result to the First Greater Number to Get the
Required Sprinkler Rows in the Width .
5- To Get the Sprinkler Distribu9on We Follow the Rule OF X & 2X
Y & 2Y
As we discussed in Lectures Before We Have 3 Different Types OF Fire Hose
Cabinets :

1- Fire Hose Cabinets ( FHC ) :

Which IS Used By the Normal User ( 1 " or 1/1/2" )And Has the Following
Design Requirements

a- Flow : 100 GPM

b- Min Residual Pressure : 4.5 Bar
c- Max Residual Pressure : 6.9 Bar

The Hose Length is 30 MT And Has Projector 6 MT .

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

2- Fire Dipartement Connection ( FDC ) :

Which Is Used By the Civil Defense Department ( 2/1/2" ) And Has the
Following Design Requirements

d- Flow : 250 GPM

e- Min Residual Pressure : 6.9 Bar
f- Max Residual Pressure : 12.1 Bar

The Hose Length is 30 MT And Has Projector 6 MT .

3- Fire Hose Station ( FHS ) :

Which Is Combination between the 2 Types

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

g- Flow : 250 GPM

h- Min Residual Pressure : 6.9 Bar
i- Max Residual Pressure : 12.1 Bar

The Hose Length is 30 MT And Has Projector 6 MT .

For the Previous 3 Types We Will Face the 2 Following Problems :

- Low Pressure @ the High Levels . Which Is Solved By Raising the Pump
Pressure During the Design .
- High Pressure @ the Lower Levels . Which Is Solved By Using PRV
(Pressure Reducing Valve ) as per Shown in the Attached Sketch .

To Start Make the Distribution Of the Fire Hose Cabinets We Depend On

the 2 Following Points :

1- Travel Distance 30 Mt ( Take Care That this Is Travel Distance

And Not Cross Distance as Per Explained ) .
2- We Start Our Distribution as Follows :
- At the Main Exit Corridor.
- At the Main Escape Corridor.
- At the Car Ramp at the Main Inlet & Main Exit.

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

3- Fire Hydrant System

The Third System Which use the Water as a Suppression System is the Fire
Hydrant System Which Is Manual System But From Outside the Building.

The Fire Street Hydrant Is Used For Fire Fighting From Outside the Building
IT May Contain 2 Terminals or 3 Terminals Each Terminal is 250 GPM .

As Per Discussed that the Standard Length For the Hose is 30 Mt so the Street
Fire Hydrants IS Surronding the Building With Intermediate Distances 60 Mt
Each .

IS Used To Provide the System with Water From Outside the Building :

- The Siamese Connection IS Connected To The Discharge Side From the

Pump .
- The Siamese Connection Must Have Check Valve ( NRV ) TO Avoid
that the Water Get From the System TO The Street as per Explained .
- The Siamese Connection Must BE Installed in the Shown Locations in
the Wide Street Around the Building .
-

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

1- Tanks Design :
The FF Tanks Must Have Volume OF Water Which IS Enough TO
the Water Suppression System as Follows
1- Determine the Building Hazard .
2- From NFPA You Will Find the Following Tables :
a- Light Hazard 30-60 min
b- Ordinary Hazard 60-90 min
c- Extra Hazard 90-120 min
3- Calculate the Required Pump Flow From the Pump Hydraulic
Calculation
4- Multiply Calculated Flow By the Required Time To Get the
Required Volume .
V ( Volume In Gallon ) =Q ( Flow in GPM ) x T ( Time In Min )
Then we convert the volume From Gallon To M3 To Get the
required Height . ( X 3.785 / 1000 )
5- The Required Height For The FF Water as per Follows

H(required Height in Meter ) = V(Volume In M3)/A (Area In M2)

ThIs Calculated Height Determines the Height Of the Puddle

Flanges of the Other Trades in the Tank as per Explained .

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

2- Pumps Hydraulic Calculation

As per the Pumps System we Have 3 Types OF Pumps as Follows :
1- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Hazel System Only
2- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Sprinkler System Only
3- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Combined System

1- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Hazel System Only

A) To Calculate The Pump Flow we Follow the Following Steps :
1- First We Determine the Type OF the Cabinets ( Class I or III ) or ( Class
II ) .
2- For Class ( I or III ) We Give Flow for the Most Remote Riser 500 Gpm
and For the Other Risers 250 Gpm With Maximum Limit For the Pump
Flow 1250 GPM .
3- For Class ( II ) We Give Flow For the Pump 100 GPM .
B) TO Calculate the Pump Head We Must Determine the Pipe Size For the
Hazel System as per Explained and as per Shown in NFPA in the Lectures .
then We Calculate the Pump Head as per the Following Steps and as per
Explained :
1- Hp = Hst + Hres + Hf
2- To Calculate Hst we Measure the Height Between the Pump And the
Heighest Fire Hose Cabinet and Divide this Height By 10 To Convert it
into Meters .

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

3- To Calculate Hres as per the Cabinet Type ( Class I or III 6.9 Bar ) and (
Class II 4.5 Bar ) .
4- To Calculate HF we Determine the Longest Bath Between the Pump
and The Farthest Cabinet and Divide this Bath into Sections and then
Construct the Following Table AS PER EXPLAINED :

SR SEC GPM D hf Lpipe Leq Ltotal Hf

1 1-2 1250 4 6




2 2-3 1000 4 7




3 3-4 750 3 8

2- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Sprinkler System Only

Before Entering the Calculation we must for the pumps Which Serving
Sprinkler Systems Only we Must First Determine this 2 Values :
1- Most Demand Area : is the Area Which we Make Our Hydraulic
Calculation For It and it Is the Farthest Area From the FF Pump and
this Area IS Determined From NFPA Chart as Per Explained In the
Lectures .
2- SPRINKLER Density : IS the Water Flow Rate From the Sprinkler Over
Specific Area and It is Determined From NFPA Chart For Specific
Hazard & Specific MOST DEMAND Area as per Explained .
Then we Make Our Calculation By Following the Following Steps :
1- After Determining the Most Demand Area as Shown in the
Attached Sketch we Start Our Calculation From the Most remote
Sprinkler .
2- Q = A x sprinkler density q = A sp1 x sprinkler density
3- Q= K x √ 

Psp1 =

4- From Hazen Williams Formula we calculate the Pressure Losses

From the Most Remote Sprinkler and the Adjacent Sprinkler
Knowing the Diameter and the Flow
PL1 =

5- Psp2 = Psp1 + PL1
6- Q= K x √ 

Q sp2 =
Q2 = qsp1 + qsp2

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

7- From Hazen Williams Formula we calculate the Pressure Losses

From the this Sprinkler And the Following Sprinkler
PL2 =

8- Psp3 = Psp2 + PL2
9- Q= K x √ 

Q sp3 =
Q3 = Q2 + Q sp3

10- From Hazen Williams Formula we calculate the Pressure Losses

From the this Sprinkler And the Following Sprinkler
PL3 =

11- Psp4 = Psp3 + PL3
12- Q= K x √ 

Q sp4 =
Q4 = Q3 + Q sp4

13- From Hazen Williams Formula we calculate the Pressure Losses

From the this Sprinkler TO THE main Node Which Is Point X
PL4 =
PX = Psp4 + PL4
14- Now At Point X We Know Both the Flow (Q4 ) & the Head Which
is (Px ) WE Use This Point To Get the K Factor For the Network .

Q= K x √  Kpipe =

15- We Calculate PL5 Py = Px + PL5

16- Q= K x √ 

Q5 =
Q6 = Q5 + Q4

17- We Calculate PL6 PZ = PY + PL6

18- Q= K x √ 

Q7=
Q8 = Q7 + Q6

19- The Pump Flow = Q 8

20- For The Pump Head

Hp = Hst + Hres + Hf
21- For the Static Head it is the Height Between the FF Pump & Point
Z
22- For the Residual Head It is PZ

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 F.F. LECTURE NOTES (Part 1-2)

23- For the Friction Head we Divide the Path Between the Pump And
Point Z @ Each Change In Diameter ( Since the Flow Is Constant
as Per Explained in the Lectures ) .
24- And then we Get the Friction Head From the Following Table as
per Explained .

SR SEC GPM D Hf L pipe L eq Ltotal Hf

1 1-2 1250 4 6
2 2-3 1000 4 7
3 3-4 750 3 8

3- Hydraulic Calculation For Pumps For Combined System :

(a) Flow Calculation :
To Calculate the Flow For the Pumps Which serve the
Combined System we Follow the Following Steps as Per
Explained In the Lectures :
1- We Calculate the Flow Required For the Hazel System
Only .
2- We Add For This Flow (150 GPM For Light Hazard ) & (
500 GPM For Ordinary Hazard ) .
(b) Head Calculation :
To Calculate the Flow For the Pumps Which serve the
Combined System we Follow the Following Steps as Per
Explained In the Lectures :
1- WE Calculate the required Head For the Hazel System
Only .
2- WE Calculate the required Head For the Sprinkler
System Only .
3- We get the Larger From the 2 above Values .

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