Have you specified or encountered a specification that asks for the pipe to be "as high as possible" in areas with exposed structure?
If so, does that mean we want to pipe through the open web of a structural joist? THEORY VERSUS REAL-WORLD This might be the most classic design versus real-world installation conundrum. Just because something might be possible doesn't necessarily mean it will fit. Well, for some years now, I've asked people I respect how they determine whether a pipe can go into the joist. SHOULD WE ROUTE IN OPEN WEB JOISTS? We might first want to ask whether we should put the pipe in the open web joist, to begin with. If the joists are shallow, not going to be aligned, or will they be interrupted by solid beams and the end of each bay? In those cases, then the pipe really shouldn't be up there anyway. But, assuming we do have some depth to open-web joists, and the joists will be aligned (giving us an open and continuous path to hang the pipe), we still need to know if the pipe will fit. LENGTH OF PIPE THAT WILL FIT The answer from an novice consultant might be - well of course it'll fit. Just cut the length of the pipe down so that it'll fit up there. But where do we draw that line? If we have hundreds of feet of pipe run in an open-structure area, it's going to be a labor and materials nightmare if we have to use 6-ft long sticks of pipe the whole way down. Additional fittings, additional hangers (if we want a hanger on each stick of pipe), additional labor... major cost impact. If we can use cut lengths of 10'-6" (half of a full-length 21-ft stick of pipe), then maybe that cost impact isn't as bad. CALCULATED APPROACHES In asking around, I've found three different calculated methods of determining whether a pipe will fit (mathematically) to slip up and into open web joists. Those three methods, as I can best identify, is a calculated simple method using exponential relationships of the joist depth and gap-between joists (I called it the Simplified Formula, please inform me of a source if you know it). This is the second calculation. The third was originally credited to AFSA's Ed Miller from the 1990's, which I've identified third in the list and seems to generally be the most-conservative of the three calculated concepts. And the main concept is a purely diagrammatical calculated approach based on the visual. The concept is that the slope of the pipe just as it slips past the joist on the right is calculated, the rise of the pipe is calculated and compared against the available open height in the space (can the height of the left-end of the pipe fit underneath an upper-chord?). SKETCHED APPROACH Of course, we can always draft or model up an example and see it for ourselves, but my hope in creating this tool is to shed some light on the practicality of putting pipe up into the joists and help see that relationship come together. ​Below is the tool:
TOOLKIT
If you like tools like this - you should check out our Toolkit and MeyerFire University (which includes the Toolkit). Plenty more practical tools for everyday use for the fire protection professional. YOUR TAKE Where do you land on this? Have you used any of these methods before, or do you have your own? Do you know where these originated, and if so, point me in the right direction so I can credit the right source? ​Comment below - would love to know your thoughts on the topic and where you see something like this helping.
We've made a few updates to our Trapeze Calculator tool - primarily with code references and table updates from the 2013 through 2022 Editions of NFPA 13. The tool now features updated references for the different editions of NFPA 13.
QUICK CALC With only a few "knowns" (pipe diameter and schedule, and distances to nearest structure), you can now quickly calculate the required section modulus, visit options for the trapeze bar, and see these options schematically in a scaled section view. MULTIPLE PIPES? Do you have multiple pipes on a trapeze? Calculate the section modulus required for each, add the two moduli together, and simply override the Section Modulus Required value below to see your options. ​
This week I've updated our Quick-Response Remote Area tool, which quickly takes a few considerations into play and reduces the size of a fire sprinkler design area based on the Quick-Response Reduction that's allowed in NFPA 13. This new free version incorporates references in NFPA 13, 2022 Edition.
Suppress Early, Suppress Less The concept behind reducing the calculated hydraulically remote area in a fire sprinkler system is entirely based on fighting a more minor fire earlier in the development of the fire. There are a handful of factors that contribute to the timing of sprinkler response (a good future discussion), which include the thermal sensitivity, sprinkler temperature rating, distance of sprinklers relative to the ceiling, sprinkler spacing, ceiling height, and dynamics of the fire itself. The reduction in the hydraulically remote area is based upon comparative tests of quick-response spray sprinklers against standard-response spray sprinklers. According to the NFPA 13 handbook, the tests demonstrated that the earlier the water is applied to the fire, the smaller the fire and, ultimately, the fewer sprinklers needed to activate. Not Universally Accepted While the remote area reduction has been included in NFPA 13 for years, it is not universally accepted. Many engineer specifications don't allow the reduction, and design standards for significant organizations such as the Department of Defense (UFC 3-600-01) don't permit it either. Why not accept the remote area reduction, if NFPA 13 includes it? Like other elements in hydraulic design for fire sprinkler systems, not using the remote area reduction provides an additional safety factor to the system. Additionally, since the quantity of sprinklers relates to the quantity of water flowing in the system, main sizes are directly impacted by using or not using the quick response area reduction. Building owners may opt to not want to reduce the remote area to preserve reasonable (larger) main sizes and give themselves flexibility on building modifications and sprinkler system changes in the future. Quick-Response Area Reduction Calculator This quick calculator is in part a checklist of prerequisites to reduce the remote area on a fire sprinkler system, in part a method of showing your work, and in part a quick calculator on determining your final remote area size. Don't see it below? Give it a try here. I hope you find these tools helpful. Free ones are available on the TOOLKIT dropdown at www.meyerfire.com. If you're a MeyerFire University member, you get all these right in your iOS or Android app too. Thanks, and hope you have a great rest of your week! - Joe I’ve read that we tend to overestimate what we’re able to achieve in short time spans – days or weeks – but we tend to underestimate what we’re able to achieve in long time spans – years. I absolutely believe that to be true. Very small but consistent steps of progress over years add up; and much of the direction has simply been from listening to our ongoing challenges and trying to think about novel ways of addressing those challenges. NFPA EXPO Two weeks ago, we hosted our first MeyerFire booth at the NFPA Conference & Expo in Orlando. What a hit! I’m so thankful to those that stopped in and checked out the latest of what we’ve brought to life. I wanted to share a bit about that here. SHORT ATTENTION SPANS? While learning would be a lot more fun if it was all simply a video game – there’s a fair amount of data to back up that concept. We dog on the youngest generation for short attention spans (side note: dogging on the youngest generation has been a documented tradition for over two millennia). We harp on the youngest generation for not wanting or being willing to learn the same way ‘we’ did (books, asking questions, mentoring, willing to get dirty, or insert-whatever-old-method-here). Yet, that same cohort can spend hours without eating to hyper focus on video games. It’s not an attention span issue. It’s an engagement issue. And before we criticize new learners for not being willing to pay attention, remember that new learners today are working from a completely different set of resources than was available even a decade ago. We live today in a world of information abundance. INFORMATION ABUNDANCE We have more information available in our pocket today than the President of the US did just 15 years ago. There is a how-to on nearly everything online. Accessible, immediate, helpful, concise. Then we get to training in our arena, and the delivery is still much the same that it was literally thirty years ago. Maybe it’s not the new learners who aren’t taking to the same information as we did some time ago. Perhaps it’s those new learners today, rightfully, have a much higher level of expectation for learning than in years past. Maybe it’s the delivery, the content, the accessibility, and the engagement that really needs to step up and deliver in a way that’s relevant to today. ENGAGED LEARNING TO MEET HIGHER EXPECTATIONS It's that concept – engaged learning in an immediate, accessible way – that led us to create virtual interactive simulations. It was not easy in the least and is well into over a thousand hours and a major financial investment – but the result is a learning environment that’s always available, immediate, at your fingertips, and engaging. At NFPA we debuted our new Fire Pump Room: an interactive environment with an incredible amount of detail. This is live at MeyerFire University today. The Fire Pump Room is a virtual space that runs a fully balanced supply-side hydraulic calculation in real time. It has a working test header with hoses, an operable fire pump, both analog and digital pressure gauges, operable OS&Y and butterfly valves, inspector’s tests and main drains, LED indicators on monitor modules, working fire pump and maintenance pump controllers, and a functioning and controllable supervising fire alarm control unit. There are over 1,900 dynamic elements in this space alone, that respond in real time. Within this room, you have all the equipment and capability to run a complete fire pump acceptance test and backflow forward-flow test. At the NFPA Expo, we hooked up an XBOX controller and played it live. It was awesome! I’d like to share here a bit of the level of detail we included to make this as authentic as possible – so that it’s relevant and helpful for learning. Here are a few details that I found most interesting when building this – OPERABLE OS&Y VALVES The OS&Y valves are fully operable; note the movement of the stem, handle turning, the LED indicator light on the wall, and even plunger movement once it falls out of its groove. FLOWING WATER THROUGH HOSES The test header features six different hoses with water that flows based on the position of the valve. Even the valve coefficient changes as it would in real life – and the trajectory of the water throw is based on the calculated physics of the fall of the water based on its velocity. OPERABLE BUTTERFLY VALVES Butterfly valves operate similarly to the OS&Ys; they handle movement, indicator paddle, and LED indicator light. We’ve even matched up audio (separately) for the piezo buzzer at the FACU. INSPECTOR'S TEST & MAIN DRAIN The combination inspector’s test and main drain are operable, and when they engage the waterflow switch for more than 30 seconds, it’ll push the fire alarm system into alarm. GAUGES With every operational change, each gauge updates based on the results of the real time, balanced hydraulic calculation results. We’re able to see city pressure, backflow downstream, suction, discharge, riser pressures, and sensing line pressure. FIRE PUMP CONTROLLER The pressure maintenance pump controller offers a digital gauge on the sensing line, but the main controller has a readout on amperage, voltage, RPMs, and sensing line pressure. Just don’t kill the power to it! FIRE ALARM CONTROL UNIT Finally, everything is monitored by the fire alarm control unit. Working strobes, horns, bypass mode, silencing features, and reset functions just like you’d expect from your favorite brand. THE CHALLENGE In this simulation, we’ve put in three different challenges for the user to operate, flow correctly, and readout. Our next step is to build upon these with various ITM situations. THE MOST-COMMON QUESTION
One of the most-common questions I get is ‘what software did you use for this?’ Unfortunately, there is no magic software to bring this to life. This simulation alone has nearly 6,000 lines of HTML code to operate the 1,900 dynamic elements to bring this all to life. Many hours, creative hacks, and testing and retesting hydraulic loops until all the different scenarios balanced and responded correctly. The feedback on it has been incredible, and I’m very excited to put more into researching and developing this side of what we do. Will we build on these scenarios? Absolutely. Will we be building new ones, with different types of systems? Absolutely. Is it going to take another 1,200 hours to bring more of these to life? Absolutely. That said, I think the usefulness of these for learners who don’t get out to the field, don’t travel to see the labs, or aren’t even allowed to operate the equipment (I’m looking at my former self for this one) – is palpable. This could be a great thing for our industry. EDUCATION PROVIDERS If you’re an educational institution with students who could benefit from this – please get in touch with us. We spoke with several universities at the Expo, and I think this (alongside the rest of MeyerFire University) could be a major boon for undergraduate students. MANUFACTURERS Same with manufacturers who may want to help develop ultra-realistic systems for better learning; please get in touch with us. There could be opportunities to build things for you that could help learners, your own staff, and your own customers in parallel. THANK YOU There has been a ton of work to make this happen over the last year. Other than a few people, much of it was under a rock until we knew that we could pull it off. Thanks to those who have shared challenges, brainstormed with us, given feedback, and continue to support what we do. The better we can serve you – the better professionals in our industry will be able to operate. Hope you have a great Fourth for those in the US (or Canada day if you’re our friends up north) – and have a great rest of your week! - Joe |
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+ Unsubscribe anytime AUTHORJoe Meyer, PE, is a Fire Protection Engineer out of St. Louis, Missouri who writes & develops resources for Fire Protection Professionals. See bio here: About FILTERS
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October 2024
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