AS 4587 1999 Australian Standard Water mist fire protection systems System design, installation and commissioning
This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee FP/12, Aqueous Fire Protection Systems. It was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia on 21 May 1999 and published on 5 August 1999. The following interests are represented on Committee FP/12: Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Department of Defence Fire Protection Association of Australia Institute of Security Executives Institution of Engineers Australia Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia Scientific Services Laboratory A Business Unit of AGAL Society of Fire Protection Engineers Australasian Chapter Waterways Authority (N.S.W.) Review of Australian Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Australian Standards are subject to periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new editions as necessary. It is important therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edition, and any amendments thereto. Full details of all Australian Standards and related publications will be found in the Standards Australia Catalogue of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazine The Australian Standard, which subscribing members receive, and which gives details of new publications, new editions and amendments, and of withdrawn Standards. Suggestions for improvements to Australian Standards, addressed to the head office of Standards Australia, are welcomed. Notification of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in an Australian Standard should be made without delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken. This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 98377.
AS 4587 1999 Australian Standard Water mist fire protection systems System design, installation and commissioning First published as AS 4587 1999. Published by Standards Australia (Standards Association of Australia) 1 The Crescent, Homebush, NSW 2140 ISBN 0 7337 2789 1
AS 4587 1999 2 PREFACE This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee FP/12, Aqueous Fire Protection Systems. The objective of this Standard is to provide users of water mist fire protection systems with specific requirements for low, medium and high pressure systems using either closed or open nozzles. Some systems may employ compressed air or inert gases to produce water mist. The Standard also provides requirements for the design installation, testing and commissioning of water mist systems. It is essential that fire protection equipment must be carefully maintained to ensure instant readiness when required. The importance of maintenance cannot be too highly emphasized. This Standard does not provide for the maintenance of water mist systems. Maintenance of fire protection equipment is contained in the AS 1851 series. It is a basic assumption in all technical Standards that each Standard will be used only by persons competent in the field of application. This is of particular importance in fire protection work. Accordingly, it is emphasized that the design requirements in this Standard are to be interpreted only by trained and experienced designers. The marine systems requirements given in this Standard are not intended to override the requirements of the international convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) or the International Maritime Orders (IMO). Where conflict exists, SOLAS or IMO will take precedence. The term normative has been used in this Standard to define the application of the appendix to which it applies. A normative appendix is an integral part of a Standard. This Standard incorporates a Commentary on some of the Clauses. The Commentary directly follows the relevant clause, is designated by C preceding the clause number and is printed in italics in a panel. The Commentary is for information only and does not need to be followed for compliance with the Standard. Copyright STANDARDS AUSTRALIA Users of Standards are reminded that copyright subsists in all Standards Australia publications and software. Except where the Copyright Act allows and except where provided for below no publications or software produced by Standards Australia may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from Standards Australia. Permission may be conditional on an appropriate royalty payment. Requests for permission and information on commercial software royalties should be directed to the head office of Standards Australia. Standards Australia will permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use exclusively in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Australia. Standards Australia will also permit the inclusion of its copyright material in computer software programs for no royalty payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs. Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current edition of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the Standard is amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identified. The use of material in print form or in computer software programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be varied by Standards Australia at any time.
3 AS 4587 1999 CONTENTS Page FOREWORD... 6 SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL 1.1 SCOPE... 7 1.2 OBJECTIVES... 8 1.3 APPLICATION... 9 1.4 NEW DESIGNS AND INNOVATIONS... 9 1.5 APPROVAL AND LISTINGS... 9 1.6 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS... 9 1.7 DEFINITIONS... 10 1.8 INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIED LIMITING VALUES... 11 1.9 USES AND LIMITATIONS OF WATER MIST SYSTEMS... 11 SECTION 2 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS 2.1 SAFETY OF PERSONNEL... 13 2.2 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS... 13 2.3 WATER QUALITY... 13 SECTION 3 SYSTEM DESIGN 3.1 GENERAL... 14 3.2 LISTING TYPES... 14 3.3 SYSTEM TYPES... 14 3.4 ENCLOSURE VARIABLES... 16 3.5 FIRE LOCATION... 16 3.6 OBSTRUCTION AND SHIELDING... 16 3.7 VENTILATION... 16 3.8 HAZARD ANALYSIS... 16 3.9 DOCUMENTATION... 17 3.10 SUPPLY... 18 3.11 COMPONENTS... 18 3.12 EXTINGUISHING AGENT... 18 3.13 ADDITIVES... 18 3.14 CONTROL SYSTEMS... 18 3.15 MARINE SYSTEMS... 19 3.16 MARKING... 19 3.17 ACCEPTANCE OF INSTALLATION... 19 SECTION 4 PROTECTED HAZARD REQUIREMENTS 4.1 UNCLOSABLE OPENINGS... 20 4.2 SERVICES... 20 4.3 PRESSURE RELIEF VENTING... 20
AS 4587 1999 4 Page SECTION 5 WATER SUPPLY 5.1 WATER SUPPLIES... 21 5.2 PRESSURIZED STORAGE CONTAINER ARRANGEMENT... 22 5.3 ATOMIZING GAS FOR TWIN FLUID SYSTEMS... 22 SECTION 6 COMPONENTS AND INSTALLATION 6.1 GENERAL... 24 6.2 VALVES... 24 6.3 PIPEWORK... 24 6.4 INSTALLATION OF PIPEWORK... 25 6.5 DRAIN VALVES... 25 6.6 DIRT TRAPS... 25 6.7 DISCHARGE NOZZLES... 26 6.8 STRAINERS... 26 6.9 COMPRESSED GAS PRESSURE REGULATING VALVE (PRV)... 27 6.10 CHECK VALVES... 27 6.11 BACK FLOW PREVENTION OR AIR BREAK TANKS... 27 6.12 PRESSURE INDICATION... 27 6.13 STORAGE CONTAINERS... 27 SECTION 7 CONTROL SYSTEMS 7.1 GENERAL... 29 7.2 ELECTRICAL CONTROL... 30 7.3 OPERATING DEVICES... 30 7.4 CONTROL AND INDICATING EQUIPMENT... 30 7.5 AUDIBLE ALARMS AND VISIBLE WARNING DEVICES... 31 7.6 MECHANICAL RELEASE... 31 7.7 PNEUMATIC RELEASE... 32 7.8 TIME DELAY FUNCTION... 32 SECTION 8 MARINE 8.1 GENERAL... 33 8.2 SYSTEM DESIGN... 33 8.3 PUMP CAPACITY... 34 8.4 PUMP POWER SUPPLY... 34 8.5 PRESSURIZED STORAGE CONTAINERS... 34 8.6 AUDIBLE AND VISUAL INDICATIONS... 34 8.7 WATER SUPPLY... 34 8.8 STABILITY... 34 SECTION 9 MARKING 9.1 CONTROL AND INDICATING EQUIPMENT (CIE)... 35 9.2 WARNING AND INSTRUCTION SIGNS... 35 9.3 IDENTIFICATION AND MARKING OF CONTAINERS... 35 9.4 PRESSURE GAUGES... 35 9.5 LABELLING OF INDICATORS AND CONTROLS... 35
5 AS 4587 1999 Page SECTION 10 COMMISSIONING AND ACCEPTANCE TESTING 10.1 CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTANCE... 38 10.2 FAILURE... 38 10.3 APPROVAL OF WATER MIST SYSTEMS... 38 10.4 LEAK TESTS... 38 10.5 PNEUMATIC PRESSURE TESTING WARNING... 39 SECTION 11 HYDRAULIC CALCULATIONS 11.1 GENERAL... 40 11.2 CALCULATION METHODS... 40 11.3 HAZEN-WILLIAMS... 40 11.4 DARCY-WEISBACH... 42 11.5 PNEUMATIC CALCULATION PROCEDURES FOR ATOMIZING MEDIA IN TWIN FLUID SYSTEMS... 43 SECTION 12 ADDITIVES 12.1 GENERAL... 44 12.2 LIMITATIONS... 44 12.3 SAFETY... 44 APPENDIX A COMMISSIONING CHECK LIST... 45
AS 4587 1999 6 FOREWORD The fire protection of a building or plant must be considered as a whole. While water mist fire protection systems form only a part, though an important one, of the available facilities, it should not be assumed that their adoption necessarily removes the need to consider supplementary measures, such as the provision of portable fire extinguishers or mobile appliances for first aid or emergency use, or measures to deal with special hazards. This Standard is not intended to be a substitute for sprinkler systems, which provide similar or equivalent performance to water mist protection. A water mist system designed and tested in accordance with this Standard does not provide a deemed to satisfy solution for a sprinkler system designed to AS 2118. Water mist systems have been found to be effective for the suppression or extinguishment of a wide variety of exposed and shielded Class B hydrocarbon pool, spray and cascading pool fires, and for combinations of incidental Class A and Class B fires. Water mist systems have also demonstrated their effectiveness on some Class A fires, including insulated electrical cable fires. This Standard will be reviewed as the results of further testing and new developments become available.
7 AS 4587 1999 STANDARDS AUSTRALIA Australian Standard Water mist fire protection systems System design, installation and commissioning SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL 1.1 SCOPE This Standard sets out minimum requirements for design, installation and commissioning of water mist fire protection systems using potable water or natural sea water. It does not provide definitive fire performance criteria. The Standard is limited to systems that have demonstrated acceptable levels of performance in fire tests as part of a listing process. They may be arranged as total flooding, zoned or local application systems and designed for suppression or extinguishment. Where the water supplied to the system is from an unlimited supply, as defined in Clause 5.1.2, the system may also be designed for fire control. This Standard establishes minimum requirements for water mist technology and is based on sound engineering principles, test data and field experience. Water mist systems are specialized fire protection systems. Design and installation of these systems requires specialized training, knowledge and experience. For systems using additives, the requirements of Sections 2 and 12 apply. Water mist fire protection systems are herein referred to as a system or the system. C1.1 This Standard addresses the use of fine water sprays for the efficient extinguishment of fires. Water mist systems may be effective on several classes of fire and various applications within those classes, provided they have been tested and listed for the particular application and class. As a means of allowing distinctions to be made between coarser and finer sprays across the 1000 µm spectrum of this Standard s definition of water mist, it is useful to subdivide mist into Class 1, 2, or 3 water mist, according to the droplet size distribution. The defining boundaries for the three classifications are illustrated in Figure 1.1. Class 1 water mist The cumulative percent volume distribution curve lies entirely to the left of a line connecting D v 10 = 100 µm and D v 90 = 200 µm. This represents the finest water mist. Class 2 water mist A portion of the cumulative percent volume distribution curve lies beyond the limits of a Class 1 spray, but entirely to the left of the line connecting D v 90 = 200 µm and D v 90 = 400 µm. Class 3 water mist The D v 90 is greater than 400 µm, or for which any portion of the curve extends to the right of the Class 2 cut-off line (but the D v 90 is less than 1000 µm). The drop size distribution of a spray does not uniquely define its suitability for a given application. It is inseparable from the spray direction relative to the fire plume, its velocity and flux density. The momentum of an element of spray is the product of its velocity (which includes direction as well as speed) and the mass of dispersed water droplets. COPYRIGHT
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