COMPUTERIZING FIRE SPRINKLER HYDRAULIC CALCULATIONS Page 1 of 4

COMPUTERIZING FIRE SPRINKLER HYDRAULIC

CALCULATIONS©
by Bill Smith, president of Elite Software

New legislation coupled with the lure of dramatically reduced

insurance costs have contributed to an unprecedented increase in the
demand for automatic fire sprinkler systems. For those in fire
sprinkler related businesses this new legislation has been a welcome
shot in the arm. However, along with increased demand has also
come increased competition and scrutiny of designs. The need to
perform more work and price it competitively has added to the
burden of fire protection engineers and contractors. Most designers
and contractors will agree that the design and review stages in the
engineering of fire sprinkler systems are among the most time
consuming and tedious aspects of the design and installation
process.

In complying with the "authority having jurisdiction", designers

usually have the choice of using pipe schedules listed in NFPA 13 [1] or hydraulically designing the
sprinkler system. Since pipe schedules are simply tables showing the maximum number of sprinklers
that a pipe can handle for a given hazard condition, this procedure is very fast and easy to use. With
such advantages one might think that pipe schedules are the way to go for time conscious designers.
However, the use of pipe schedules has a host of disadvantages that outweigh their speed and
simplicity.

A major shortcoming of pipe schedules is that they are based on the assumption that a certain
minimum "historical" water supply pressure is available. Since no specific minimum water pressure
requirement is given, other than a 15 psi residual pressure at the base of the riser, it is possible that a
pipe schedule designed system will not have enough pressure to function properly. A designer
attempting to safely use pipe schedules must review hydrant test results and use judgement as to
whether sufficient pressure is available.

Another shortcoming of designing by pipe schedules is that they implicitly require a tree type of pipe
layout. Although tree systems use a minimum amount of pipe, they tend to cause much more
pressure loss than an equivalent grid system. The use of pipe schedules discourages evaluating grid,
loop, and hybrid pipe layouts in the search of an optimal design.

From the perspective of minimum system cost, the major drawback of pipe schedule designed
systems is that in most cases they tend to use larger, more expensive pipe sizes than actually needed.
This bias towards conservative pipe sizes is necessary because designing with pipe schedules is so
imprecise.

Perhaps the greatest drawback to using pipe schedules is that the designer has no way of knowing
exactly how the fire protection system will perform in the event of fire.

He simply must hope that if he uses the pipe sizes specified by the schedules and locates sprinkler
heads according to NFPA 13, that the system will perform as required when called upon. Ideally, a
designer likes to know the exact flow rates and coverage he can expect for any section of the covered
area of operation. It is little solace to the designer that he can defend his design as being in strict
accordance with NFPA 13 schedules in the event of failure or inadequate operation.

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Hydraulic calculations are the alternative to the use of pipe schedules. The purpose of these
calculations is to determine flow rates, water velocity, and pressure losses through each pipe section.
In addition, the flow and residual pressure available at each sprinkler are calculated. Accurate
hydraulic calculations show exactly how a sprinkler system will perform if called upon. The primary
advantages of using hydraulic calculations are first, that there is much more certainty that the system
will operate as designed, and secondly, that the hydraulically designed system will also tend to use
smaller, more economical pipe sizes.

The only problem with hydraulic calculations is that they are very tedious to perform, and for some
systems virtually impossible to do by hand. Some designers actually perform manual hydraulic
calculations for simple tree type systems, but very few will attempt manual calculations for grid type
systems. The complexity and number of calculations required to analyze a grid system is simply
impractical by hand.

For anyone who routinely wants to perform hydraulic calculations, a computer program is a virtual
necessity. These programs make possible the impossible. In addition, all standard calculations are
done much faster and more accurately with the help of a computer program.

Most designers recognize the value of hydraulic calculations over pipe schedules, yet many
engineers and contractors are intimidated by the idea of performing hydraulic calculations. This is
understandable to some degree, because even with a computer program to automate the calculation
drudgery, a designer must understand a few more hydraulic concepts than is necessary for use with
pipe schedules. The most important points to understand for performing hydraulic calculations
involve pressure. A designer most know very well the differences between total pressure, static
pressure, residual pressure, and elevation pressure. In addition, it is also useful to understand the
terms HGL (hydraulic grade line) pressure and EGL (energy grade line). Unfortunately, NFPA 13
does not go into great detail concerning pressure definitions. However, there are supplementary
books on the subject [2,3], and most hydraulic calculation program user manuals cover the subject as
well.

Once a designer understands the basics of hydraulic calculations, he definitely appreciates what a
computer program can do, but he still may be squeamish about using one. After all, the computer
may be an unfamiliar tool, and it certainly has its own nuances that must be learned.

However, most program vendors would say that computer knowledge is much less important than
fire sprinkler system design knowledge. Most hydraulic calculation programs are geared towards
novice computer users so that learning how to use the computer is not a barrier to learning how to
handle the program.

Before embarking on the search for a hydraulic calculations program, it is important to know in
general how they work. Many designers mistakenly believe that hydraulic programs can suggest a
pipe layout or even compute optimal pipe sizes. This is not really possible because there are an
infinite number of pipe layout and pipe size combinations that will work satisfactorily for a given
project. What constitutes an optimal pipe layout and size configuration is something decided by the
designer.

The main purpose of a hydraulic calculations program is to tell the designer how a proposed system
will perform. Although the hydraulic calculations generated by a program often show that a proposed
sprinkler system will perform adequately, the designer may still not be entirely satisfied with the
results. For example, the designer might note that water velocities and pressure losses are minimal in
his initial design. He might wonder whether smaller and less expensive pipe sizes could be used
without incurring excessive velocities and pressure losses. The beauty of using a program is that
alternative designs can be quickly reviewed and evaluated. Thus, a designer is encouraged to seek an
optimal design, and not just the first one that happens to barely work.

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Most hydraulic calculation programs are easy to use. The basic premise is that the designer lays out
the sprinkler pipe network and numbers it in a logical fashion. Sprinkler heads are given a node
number while each pipe section is given both a beginning and ending node number. Nodes in the
pipe network occur at every sprinkler, and at the junction of two or more pipes. Therefore, the first
step in using a hydraulics program is to layout the pipe network and assign a number to each node.

After node numbers have been assigned, the designer is ready to enter pipe and sprinkler data. This
is usually accomplished through the use of "menus" and "fill in the blank" type input screens. Pipe
data typically consists of the node numbers, pipe material (copper, steel, etc.), pipe length, and the
quantities of any fittings on the pipe. The sprinkler data usually entails only a sprinkler node number
and the sprinkler K-Factor. Fortunately, most programs allow the user to specify "default" data so
that much of the redundant data for pipes and sprinklers need not be re-entered. Some programs even
have automatic grid and tree builders that can create a detailed pipe network based on the designer's
description. In addition, virtually all programs check the data as it is entered so that mistakes are
minimized.

Other key data required by hydraulic programs include the minimum allowable sprinkler residual
pressure, minimum desired sprinkler flow per square foot (density), system type (wet, dry, deluge,
pre-action), and the maximum allowable nodal flow and pressure imbalance. Most hydraulic
programs will also request water supply information including maximum gpm flow, static pressure,
and residual pressure available. In addition, some advanced hydraulic programs include provisions
for fire pumps, multiple inflow points, supply/demand graphs, bill of materials, cost estimating, and
integration with CAD.

The output reports from a hydraulics calculation program show the flow rates and pressure loss data
for each pipe section, and the discharge flow and residual pressure for each sprinkler. The format of
this output data varies from program to program, but many programs follow the NFPA format. Key
output includes the actual density obtained and the lowest residual pressure occurring for any
sprinkler. For most programs, the output information can be based upon a known water supply
pressure or it can be based on the minimum supply pressure needed to meet the system demand
pressure. These two output modes are typically referred to as supply and demand based output.
Supply based output reflects the system operation given a certain water supply pressure. Demand
based output shows how the system will work when supplied with just enough water pressure to
drive all sprinklers at the minimum allowed residual pressure.

One other report often produced by hydraulic calculation programs is a water supply and demand
graph. This graph is sometimes called a "Q" to the 1.85 graph because pipe friction losses are
proportional to the water flow rate raised to the 1.85 power. If two flow and pressure conditions are
known for the water supply, then a straight line can be plotted on a semi-logarithmic graph that
relates available water supply with the system demand requirements of the sprinkler system. If the
system demand point is below the water supply line, then the proposed sprinkler system will work
with the available water pressure. This graph is an effective way to quickly assess the margin of
safety in terms of gpm and pressure there is available to the sprinkler system.

If reports show that all sprinklers have adequate pressure with available water pressure and flow
greater than the system demand pressure and flow, then the proposed sprinkler system is considered
workable, but not necessarily optimal. An optimal sprinkler system is a workable system that blends
economics and conservative operation together. Designing an optimal system takes creative design
talent, and usually multiple runs of a hydraulic calculations program.

Just now on the market are new computer aided (CAD) systems that nicely interface with modern
hydraulic calculations programs. This capability is extremely beneficial since the sprinkler system
can be drawn on the computer screen and then automatically analyzed.

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After reviewing the hydraulic calculations, the designer can then make changes to the drawing and
specify recalculation until an optimal design is reached. CAD systems completely eliminate the need
for designers to manually type in pipe sections, fittings, node numbers, and sprinkler heads into a
hydraulic program. All that information automatically goes from the drawing directly into the
hydraulic calculation program. Such systems deserve close examination and are being employed by
more and more designers.

With the advent of low cost, powerful hydraulic calculation programs, designers have little reason
not to use them. The advantages of hydraulically designed systems are simply too great to ignore. All
fire protection designers wanting to design faster and optimally, should certainly consider the use of
a hydraulic calculations program.

1. Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, NFPA 13, 1987 Edition, National Fire
Protection Association, Inc., Quincy, Massachusetts, 1987

2. John K. Bouchard, Automatic Sprinkler Systems Handbook, Elizabeth M. Leahy, National Fire
Protection Association, Inc., Quincy, Massachusetts, 1987

3. Warren Ng, Fire Sprinkler System Hydraulic Calculations and Computer Aided Design Methods,
Warren Ng, Oakland, California, 1982

Mr. Smith welcomes your email about this article. - email

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