Hydrostatics and hydraulic

calculations
Hydraulic calculations for fire protection engineers

Hydrostatics is a branch of hydraulics that deals with fluids at rest. As mentioned

earlier, water is the most critical component of fire protection and hydraulic
calculations so this section will look at the water at rest.

Basic Principles
1. The pressure at a point in the liquid is equal in every direction.
2. Pressure applied from an external source on a confined liquid will be
transmitted in all directions throughout the liquid without a reduction in
magnitude.
3. The pressure created by a liquid in an open container is directly proportional
to the depth of the liquid.
4. The pressure created by a liquid in an open container is directly proportional
to the density of the liquid.
5. The shape or volume of a liquid does not influence the pressure created by
the liquid.

A common misunderstanding is that pressure always acts in a download direction.

This fallacy is fostered by the understanding that pressure is related to weight.

Principle 1, known as Pascal's Law, indicates that pressure acts in all directions, as
shown in figure 1. The four pressure gauges are in different orientations, but taking
a pressure reading from the same point, all four gauges will show the same
pressure.

Principle two has obvious practical limitations. The idea of undiminished pressure
transmission throughout a confined liquid would be more readily accepted if the
incompressible nature of liquids is more fully understood. Gases will contract in
volume when placed under pressure, whereas liquids will maintain their volume
when placed under pressure. Because the volume is not reduced, the increase in
pressure is propagated throughout the entirety of the liquid in every direction with
no drop in magnitude.
Principle three is an essential part of fire reduction hydraulics. The pressure created
by a liquid column is directly proportional to the depth of the liquid. Water has a
density of 1000kg/m3. Therefore, one cubic metre of water will weigh 1000kg.

Principle four is closely linked to principle three in that pressure created by a liquid
is also directly proportional to the density. Mercury, for example, has a density that
is 13.6 times greater than water, so the pressure created by 1 metre of mercury will
be 13.6 times greater than the pressure created by 1 metre of water. Both
principles three and four can be summarized by the following relationship:

P=w.h

Where:

 P = Pressure (bar)
 w = specific weight of the liquid in kg/m3.
 h = height of the liquid column in metres.

Principle five is generally the most difficult to understand. The pressure developed
is not related to the size or shape of the container, only the depth and density of
the liquid. Principle five applies to pressure and not to force. A water column has
the same pressure throughout but will have different weights depending on where
the pressure reading is taken. Pressure only depends on the depth of the liquid and
is independent of the shape or volume of the container.
HEAD OF WATER

It is common to hear fire protection specialists refer to water pressure in terms of

the head. Head is pressure expressed in units of metres of water rather than bar,
and can be expressed in the general form:

h= P/w

Where:

 h = head in metres.
 P = pressure (bar).
 w = the specific weight in kg/m3.

Buoyancy

Buoyancy is where an object floats on the surface of a liquid. For an object to do

this, the force in the downward direction must be equalised by force in the upward
direction. The force acting downwards will equal the material's weight density times
the object's volume.

F1=w.V

In order for the object to remain stationary, F1, must also equal w.V. The amount of
material that sticks above the surface of the liquid, and if an object will float,
depends upon the relationship between the weight densities of the objects and the
liquid. A solid object will float in a liquid only if its weight density is less than or
equal to that of the liquid. The proportion of a floating object that will sink below
the surface of a liquid will depend upon how much of the liquid will equal the
weight of the object.
Potential Energy

It is essential to understand the part that hydrostatic pressure plays in the energy
composition of a hydraulic system. Hydrostatic pressure composes the potential
energy component of the total energy of a hydraulic system. Potential energy is
stored energy. It has the ability to perform work once released. It is easy to visualise
the potential of a stretched rubber band or a coiled spring. However, elevated or
pressurised water also contains potential energy. Because energy is the ability to do
work, and work is the product of force times distance and has units of metre-
kilograms; potential energy is the potential or ability to move some unit of weight
(force) some distance, or:

PE=W.h

Where:

 W = weight in kilograms.
 h = height in metres.

K-Factor formula for fire sprinklers

In this article, we are looking at the flow of water through an orifice, and we will define the orifice as an
opening (with a closed perimeter) in an element of a flow system. This orifice will be a fire sprinkler head
or water mist nozzle in a fire protection system. We can use the k-factor formula for almost any rounded
orifice.

In 1644 an Italian physicist Torricelli (a pupil of Galileo and also invented the barometer), discovered that
the flow through an orifice varied to the root of the pressure and later determined the following basic
relationship:

Q = AV

When:

Q = flow from the orifice

A = cross-sectional area of the orifice

V = velocity

This has led to the accepted theorem for flow through a round orifice:

Q = A√(2gh)

The formula above is theoretical, and once we take into account the effects of friction, turbulence, and
the contraction of the water stream, the formula can be simplified to what we know as the k-factor
formula for fire protection systems by reducing its complexity to a single constant "k".

The K factor formula for fire protection

When we start any hydraulic calculation for water-based fire protection systems such as fire sprinklers
and water mist systems, the k-factor formula is the first one we will need to use. As it is so fundamental,
all fire protection engineers must understand how it works. The formula calculates the discharge flow
from the nozzle (fire sprinkler, water mist or deluge nozzle) in its most common form. If we are given the
head pressure and k-factor, we can also calculate the k-factor or the pressure required with this formula.

The discharge from a sprinkler head or water mist nozzle can be calculated from the formula below:

q = kp0.5

When:

q = flow

k = nozzle discharge coefficient or k-factor for head

p = pressure

We can rewrite the formula to give us the k-factor as below:

k = q / p0.5
Or the pressure as below:

p = ( q / k )2

The units which we use are essential and much not be mixed. You much also be very cautious with the k
factor and ensure that you get the correct value for a metric or imperial calculation. The units for both
are given below:

For metric calculations:

p = pressure in bar

q = flow in litre per minute

k = discharge constant Lpm/bar0.5

And for imperial calculation:

p = pressure in psi

q = flow in gpm

k = discharge constant gpm/psi0.5

We can also use K-factors for many other applications in fire hydraulics, such as flow from a fire hydrant,
wet riser outlet, hose reel or foam monitor. The list is almost endless, so being familiar with the above
formulas is essential.

Metric and Imperial K-factor and conversion

Often K-factors are given as an imperial value in gpm/psi½. This value cannot be entered into FHC
without first converting to its metric equivalent L/min/bar½. To convert gpm/psi½ to L/min/bar½ we
need to multiply by 14.275 to ascertain an approximate value.
As an example: A sprinkler head has a discharge coefficient of 4.2 gpm/psi½ what would be the metric
equivalent valve. 4.2 x 14.275 = 59.955 Lpm/bar½. We only need to use K-factors to one decimal place,
so 59.955 would become 60.0 Lpm/bar½.

The table below shows the conversion of some typical imperil sprinkler head k-factor conventions to the
metric equivalent.

K-factor gpm/psi½ k-factor L/min/bar½

2.8 40.0

4.2 60.0

5.6 80.0

8.0 114.0

11.2 160.0

14.0 200.0

25.2 360.0

We would strongly advise that you obtain the metric K-factor from the manufacturer where ever
possible.

Typical k-factor values for sprinkler and water mist heads

For many standard types of sprinklers, the design standards such as EN 12845 & NFPA 13 specify the
standard k-factors and minimum pressure, which should be used for different Hazard classifications and
design densities. For all other types of sprinkler heads, the manufactures data sheet should be referred
to for the k-factor and minimum head pressure.

Hazard Class Design Density (mm/min) K-factorMinimum Pressure (bar)

1 Light Hazard 2.25 57 0.70

2 Ordinary Hazard 5.00 80 0.35 or 0.50

As a designer, you must check the k-factor value for the nozzle or head manufacturer and ensure its
application is correct. You should also seek guidance from the design standard which is applicable.
The relationship between the k-factor, pressure and flow

The graph below shows the relationship between the k-factor, pressure and flow. You can clearly see
from this that the flow from the head or nozzle increases for the same pressure with a high k-factor
nozzle. We can sometimes use this to our advantage by selecting the correct sprinkler head k-factor to
provide the design density required with the minimum energy requirement (water pressure).

relationship between kfactor pressure flow

As an example, if we have the pressure of 1.50 Bar and a k-factor of 50 the flow rate would be 61.20
L/min for a k-factor of 100 it would be 122.50 L/min and with a k-factor of 150, the flow rate would be
183.70 L/min. You can see that the flow has insecure by about 61 L/min each time we changed the k-
factor by 50, this is because the pressure has remained the same at 1.50 Bar and if you look at the k-
factor formula above the pressure is squared which will give us 1.225, this is then multiplied by the head
k-factor in this case 50, 100 and 150 in our example. As the k-factor has increased by 50 each time the
increase in flow has also increased by the same amount.

If you like this article, you may also be interested in our online K-factor calculator.