Designing Laboratory Fire Protection Systems

Raymond F. Parham, PE SFPE CIPE 22 Plumbing Systems & Design Sept/Oct 2003

odays laboratory buildings present the designer with challenges unlike those encountered in other types of design. The presence of flammable or combustible liquids or flammable gases requires careful attention to several codes and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. In addition, the laboratory building may include nonlaboratory space, either contiguous to the labs or completely separate. This article covers the basics of fire protection system design for laboratory spaces and buildings. The focus is on the details the fire protection system designer should understand and control in formulating the design. For example, it is extremely important for the designer to know how much flammable or combustible liquid will be used in the lab, because the lab must be categorized in accordance with NFPA 45 Table 2-2.1 (Class of Laboratory). The architect typically assembles this information to determine the need for rated separation between building areas. This article will cover what happens after these types of parameters have been provided.

The designer must first determine which codes and standards are applicable to the project. For purposes of this article we are assuming that the applicable codes and standards are limited to the International Building Code (IBC, 2000), in an unamended form, and various NFPA standards including the following: NFPA 11, Low-Expansion Foam NFPA 11A, Medium- and High-Expansion Foam NFPA 12, Carbon Dioxide Extinguishing Systems NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler Systems (1999) NFPA 16, Installation of Foam-Water and Foam-Water Spray Systems (1999) NFPA 17, Dry Chemical Extinguishing Systems (1998) NFPA 17A, Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code NFPA 45, Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals (2000) NFPA 101, Life Safety Code (1997). Several assumptions are made to establish a baseline for the design (in other words, we will not spend any additional time discussing the following): The building or portion thereof meets the requirements set forth in NFPA 45 to be considered a laboratory. The building or portion thereof meets the requirements in IBC Section 304 for a laboratory to be considered a Business Group B occupancy. Flammable or combustible liquids are stored in accordance with NFPA 30. The source of the water supply for the buildings sprinkler system has been determined. All provisions of the various codes and standards are for fully sprinklered buildings. The architectural design of the building conforms to all applicable codes and standards.

The designer is familiar with the design of sprinkler systems in accordance with NFPA 13. The designer works for the engineering firm as the engineer of record for fire protection design. Even for a performance specification job, the designer also needs to understand all this entails to accurately define the scope for the contractor. The designer needs to be able to review the contractors layout drawings accurately. It is important to remember that many private clients have a sophisticated insurance carrier with requirements that might exceed anything required by codes or NFPA standards. The fire protection designer should determine early in the process whether there are any unusual insurance-carrier requirements. Few things are more disruptive to a construction process than learning during the shopdrawing review process that a density of 0.25 per square foot is required for an Ordinary Hazard (Group 1) area.

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Laboratory Fire Protection Systems continued from page 23

NFPA 45 Considerations
The definition of laboratory unit from NFPA 45, 1-4.39 is as follows: Laboratory Unit. An enclosed
space used for experiments or tests. A laboratory unit can include offices, lavatories, and other incidental contiguous rooms maintained for or used by laboratory personnel, and corridors within the unit. It can contain one or more separate laboratory work areas. It can be an entire building. A laboratory unit is classified as A, B, C, or D according to the limitations established in Tables 2-2.1(a), 22.1(b), 3-1.1(a), and 3-1.1(b).

which does not require standpipes for business occupancy (per NFPA 101, 38-4.2). Finally, NFPA 45, 3-1.4 requires that nonwater extinguishing systems be considered if water would create a serious fire or personnel hazard.

NFPA 13 Considerations
The Ordinary Hazard portions of NFPA 13 include the following: 5-2 limits Ordinary Hazard systems to a maximum of 52,000 sq ft. This provision implies that multiple laboratory units can be on a single sprinkler system. Table 5-6.2.2(b) limits the protection area for standard sprinklers in Ordinary Hazard systems to 130 sq ft per sprinkler with a maximum spacing of 15 ft. Other sprinklers can be used (extended-coverage, for example) as allowed by the manufacturers specific listing criteria. Table 7-2.3.1.1 requires a total combined hose stream of 250 gpm and enough water for a minimum duration of 60 minutes. Figure 7-2.3.1.2 requires a minimum applied density of 0.15 gpm per sq ft over an area of 1,500 sq ft for Ordinary Hazard (Group 1) and 0.20 gpm per sq ft for Ordinary Hazard (Group 2). 7-2.3.2.4 allows a reduction in the area of the remote hydraulic zone based on ceiling heights, if quickresponse sprinklers are used throughout the system.

It is important to note that a laboratory unit is not defined as the laboratory space alone. Rather, it is defined as any space the architect decides should be in the unit, including corridors, offices, equipment spaces, or support spaces. These considerations become important when determining the application of sprinkler protection. After the limits of the laboratory unit have been determined, the architect specifies the required separation from other spaces in accordance with NFPA 45, Table 3-1.1(a). Finally, the fire protection designer selects the appropriate protection occupancy from NFPA 13 by referencing NFPA 45, 4-2.1.1:
(a) Automatic sprinkler system protection for Class A and Class B laboratories shall be in accordance with NFPA 13 for Ordinary Hazard (Group 2) occupancies. (b) Automatic sprinkler system protection for Class C and Class D laboratories shall be in accordance with NFPA 13 for Ordinary Hazard (Group 1) occupancies.

Putting the Pieces Together

When all pertinent information has been accumulated, the designer must determine how to protect the various portions of the building. It is often useful early in the project to mark on a set of building plans the hazard and occupancy of each portion of the building. Use a highlighter to outline each of the hazard areas, using a different color for each type of coverage. For example, if the architect has determined that the entire second floor of the laboratory building is designated as a Class B lab, then all spaces on that floor, including the corridors, offices, and other nonlaboratory space, must be protected as Ordinary Hazard (Group 2) spaces. It may be possible to protect the firstfloor administration offices as a Light Hazard space. Special Protection areas can also be identified. Sprinkler system design and layout is the same as for any other building. After the reflected ceiling plan has been developed by the architect, and usually after the lights have been laid out by the electrical engineer, the designer can lay out the sprinklers to provide the correct coverage for the hazard and occupancy. The selection of the type of sprinkler piping layout (i.e., tree, loop, grid, or combinations thereof) is a function of the buildings shape and size. The designer next completes the calculations for the system design and sizes the piping. The selection of the type of extinguishing system to be used in special

Special Protection Areas

Not all areas in a laboratory building fall into a simple Ordinary-Hazard wet-pipe sprinkler system category of protection. For example, special storage rooms, rooms used for dispensing flammable or combustible liquids or other local high-hazard areas often require special extinguishing systems. Dry-chemical- or foam-based systems are options for these areas. Also, most laboratory buildings today include communication systems to allow collaboration between colleagues. The equipment rooms for the communication systems are often protected by preaction sprinkler systems.

NFPA 45, 4-3.1 requires all laboratory buildings with two or more stories above or below grade level to be provided with a standpipe system. This exceeds the normal requirements of IBC 905.3.1, which require standpipes when the floor level of the highest story is more than 30 ft above lowest level of fire department vehicle access (usually not an issue with three-story buildings) and NFPA 101, 11-8.2,2,

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liquids under emergency conditions into adjacent building areas. If a drainage system is used, it shall have sufficient capacity to carry the expected discharge of water from fire protection systems and hose streams.

protection areas is largely a matter of cost as well as the designers, owners, or insurance carriers preference. Drychemical systems are a good choice where the water supply is not conveniently located, the area is not conditioned to maintain a 40 F minimum temperature, or water-reactive chemicals are a concern. Per NFPA 17, 3-1.2, dry-chemical systems are not to be used for chemicals that contain their own oxygen supply or for combustible metals. Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) systems are generally effective on flammable and combustible liquids. However, per NFPA 16, 1-5.3, foam of any type is not effective for flammable or combustible gases, water-reactive materials, or fires involving electrical equipment when non-conductive extinguishing agents are important.

Special Considerations
Some lessons can be learned only by experience, even under the best of circumstances. Sometimes they involve having to correct something after the installation has begun or, in the worst case, has been completed. Engineering often is learning how not to do something, especially because we discover new ways to do things incorrectly every day. So consider the following lessons learned the hard way. 1. Be careful about mixing standard and extended-coverage sprinklers

on the same system. It can be tempting to use extended-coverage sprinklers in laboratory spaces to escape the 130-sq-ft-per-sprinkler limit on coverage area. But the penalty is an increase in minimum pressures for all sprinklers on the system. For example, when extended-coverage sprinklers are used in an Ordinary Hazard (Group 2) application at a 20-ft 20-ft spacing, a typical sprinkler requires a minimum pressure of 48.1 psi. A standard-response sprinkler at 130-sq-ft coverage requires a minimum pressure of 21.5 psi and would provide a flow rate of 20 gpm. The same standard sprinkler operated at a pressure of 48 psi would result in a flow rate of 38.8 gpm. It doesnt take long to end up with a lot of extra flow in your piping system, with larger pipe sizes needed to support that extra flow. 2. When using water-based extinguishing systems, including AFFF systems, for chemical or waste storage rooms, it is necessary to accommodate the sprinkler discharge without allowing discharge to flow under doors or through other openings:
NFPA 30, 4-4.2.5: Curbs, scuppers, special drains, or other suitable means shall be provided to prevent the flow of

There are a couple of exceptions to this requirement, including one that does not require consideration if all containers are less than 10 gal in size. Protection under this section can be accomplished in several ways. The room can be curbed to maintain the proper storage. Or a drain to an external tank can be provided. In any case, the designer is required to take into account the actual flow from the sprinkler, not the minimum or design flow. Consider a 100-sq-ft storage room that needs containment. A single standard sprinkler operating at 0.20 gpm per sq ft is required to discharge 20 gpm if it is located in the exact center of the room. Only 12.75 psi is required, and total discharge at the design pressure will be 1,200 gal during a 60-minute exposure. (Different standards may require a different flow duration, but the result is the same.) If the sprinkler is on a system with a fire pump, it could actually operate at a much higher pressure, which would produce a discharge flow rate of 56 gpm. The 1,500-gal containment provided by the design would be filled within 27 minutes, leaving more than 1,800 gal of fluid running down the hallway or out of the tank overflow, probably with lighter-than-water flammable liquid floating on top. 3. The one item that is missed most often is the correct application of the 130-sq-ft coverage per sprinkler for standard sprinklers. Several situations can create this: The small-room rule, as allowed by NFPA 13, 5-6.3.2.1 exception for light-hazard occupancies, is not applicable to Ordinary Hazard occupancies. Therefore, all sprinklers must be within 7 ft 6 in. of a wall.

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Laboratory Fire Protection Systems continued from page 25

Figure 1. Sample Ordinary-Hazard Spacing

The Last Word

Be sure to discuss the entire design of the building with the local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) before issuing the construction documents for the fire protection system. The AHJ will want to know what type of piping is in the building, conveying what types of fluid between what types of rooms. The AHJ has been known to demand the following: above-ceiling sprinklers wherever there are plastic pipes in the cavity, even if the space is not a return air plenum above-ceiling sprinklers wherever an oxidizer will be conveyed (this category includes oxygen!) additional coverage or separation in cases not directly addressed by the codes or standards fire suppression for each individual hood, which can be accomplished by adding a sprinkler to the hood; some hood manufacturers offer an optional small stand-alone drychemical system with the unit. Finally, remember that regardless of what you do, how thoroughly you do your homework, and how thoroughly you document your design, inevitably you will discover that unique situation no one else has encountered. When that happens, smile, determine a solution that is acceptable to everyone, hope the errors and omissions on the project have not been excessive, and join the real world of design and engineering. You may have just discovered another way of not doing something to pass on to the next generation.

Room area: 11 ft 6 in. 11 ft = 126.5 sq ft Sprinkler spacing: 12 ft 4 in. 12 ft 4 in. = 152 sq ft Two sprinklers are required for Ordinary Hazard.

The small-room rule also allows normal spacing limits to be relaxed. Area coverage under the small-room rule is defined as the area of the room divided by the number of sprinklers. Per NFPA 13, Figure A-5-6.3.2.1, a single sprinkler can be installed in a 225 sq-ft room with an S L calculation of 270 sq ft [(9 ft 2) (7 ft 6 in. 2)]. Many times, the designer places the sprinklers in 120-sq-ft rooms in Ordinary Hazard (Group 1 or 2) occupancies with 7 ft to one wall and 6 ft to another. The single 2-ft 4-ft light fixture in the middle of the room usually necessitates this placement. The resulting coverage area is 168 sq ft. These considerations become even more significant when offices and other nonlaboratory spaces are included in Class A and B laboratory units. Now, all spaces must be designed as Ordinary Hazard (Group 2) unless an appropriately rated wall separates them. The 12 ft 12 ft room may need 4 sprinklers to properly protect the space. See Figure 1. (This issue is especially difficult in performance specification projects. If the occupancy classification is incorrectly identified,

the contractor may bid a single sprinkler for each of the many offices and smaller rooms in the building. For a 200,000-sq-ft laboratory building, hundreds of additional sprinklers may be required.) Fume hoods can obstruct the flow from a sprinkler. Remember that those big boxes shown on the floor plans are higher than a countertop. A shroud may enclose the space between the top of the hood and the ceiling. Even if there is no shroud, there is an exhaust-duct connection and usually there are multiple piping connections to the top of the hood. The chances of an improperly located sprinkler spraying over the top of the unit are pretty slim. Lab casework also can cause an obstruction. The laboratory planner may have decided to install shelving units above the casework. Most of the time this is not clearly identified on the laboratory equipment drawings. If the top shelf is within 36 in. of the ceiling, the designer should consider treating the shelving unit as a wall, because items stored on the top shelf probably will extend to within 18 in. of the ceiling.

Ray Parham is the lead piping and fire protection engineer for the Gainesville, FL, office of Affiliated Engineers. He has more than 20 years experience in designing plumbing, piping, and fire protection systems for healthcare, laboratory, institutional, and other types of facilities. He can be contacted at RParham@aeieng.com.

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