 Density/Area Method.

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

 In systems having branch lines with an insufficient number of sprinklers to fulfill
the 1.2 √A requirement, the design area shall be extended to include sprinklers on
adjacent branch lines supplied by the same cross main.

a worst-case scenario would be to make the designer calculate all of the sprinklers
on the remote branch line. However, at a certain point, the fire is much more
likely to spread to areas under adjacent branch lines than to spread entirely under
one branch line. Part of the rationale behind design areas is an attempt to predict
where heat from a fire will travel. To provide an even greater factor of safety,
some insurance companies require the longer side of the design area to have a
dimension of 1.4√A. This more conservative approach, however, is not considered
necessary by NFPA 13.

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

 Where sprinklers are not uniformly spaced, the same general rules apply, but there
are no neat formulas for determining the number of sprinklers in the design area
or the maximum number of sprinklers to include on any single branch line. Instead,
the length of the design area needs to be determined (using the rule of 1.2 times
the square root of the design area), and all of the sprinklers that cover any part of
the design area length need to be included in the design area. Once the sprinklers
on the most remote branch line have been established, adjacent sprinklers on
additional branch lines closer to the water supply need to be added until the area
encompassed by the sprinklers exceeds the total design area. Then, on the branch
line closest to the water supply, sprinklers can be dropped from the design area if
they are the least demanding sprinklers on the branch line and still allow the
remaining sprinklers to physically cover the required design area.

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
 If the ceiling in the building is 20 ft (6.1 m) in height, a density/area can be selected
from the curves in Figure 11.2.3.1.1, and the area can be reduced by 25 percent if
quick-response sprinklers are installed. Therefore, the final design area for this
example is 1125 ft2 (104.25 m2) [1500 ft2 × 0.75 = 1125 ft2 (139 m2 × 0.75 =
104.25 m2)]. Using the rule for 1.2 times the square root of the design area, the
length of the design area parallel to the branch lines needs to be at least 40.25 ft
(12.3 m) long [1.2 times the square root of 1125 ft2 (104.25 m2)].

The design area needs to start in the northwest corner of the building (most
remote from the water supply) and continue to the east, picking up all sprinklers
that cover territory within 40.25 ft (12.3 m) of the corner, as shown in Exhibit 22.5.

Note that the design area has to include the five sprinklers labeled as A, B, C, D, and
E. Using the S ×L rules of 8.5.2, dimension S for sprinkler E is 10 ft (3.05 m), allowing
sprinkler E to cover up to 5 ft (1.5 m) to its east, which, in this case, it will, adding a
safety factor along the branch line, resulting in a design area with a distance along
the branch line of 43 ft (13.1 m).

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
 With the dimension parallel to the branch line established, the next step is to pick
up more branch lines. Using the adjacent sprinklers on the next branch line, the
design area would only be 774 ft2 (43 ft ×18 ft) [72 m2 (13.1 m ×5.5 m)], which is
short of the goal of 1125 ft2 (104.25 m2), so it is necessary to go to the third
branch line, as shown in Exhibit 22.6. However, all of the adjacent sprinklers on
the third branch line give a larger than necessary design area [1247 ft2 (116 m2)],
so it is possible to consider removing some of the sprinklers on the third branch
line until the design area goal of 1125 ft2 (104.25 m2) is reached.

Sprinkler G covers an area of 66 ft2 (6.13 m2) and can be eliminated from the
design area, leaving a total design area of 1181 ft2 (109.7 m2). Sprinkler H in Exhibit
22.7 covers much more area than sprinkler G and cannot be eliminated, because it
would decrease the area to below 1125 ft2 (104.25 m2).

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

  ESFR Sprinkler Method. For ESFR sprinklers, the design area shall consist of the
most hydraulically demanding area of 12 sprinklers, consisting of four sprinklers
on each of three branch lines, unless other specific numbers of design sprinklers
are required in other sections of this standard. The requirement for the design
area for ESFR sprinklers to have four sprinklers on three branch lines is correct
for most applications of ESFR sprinklers.

 Gridded Systems
To determine the appropriate design area, 22.4.4.4 requires that an initial design
area be selected and that two additional areas be considered on either side of the
initially selected area. This approach results in three separate design areas that
overlap each other, as illustrated in Figure A.22.4.4.4. Design area A2 represents the
initially chosen design area. Hydraulic calculations for each of the three design
areas are required to determine the most demanding area. If the initially chosen
area (A2) is determined not to be the most demanding, then an additional area (A4)
adjacent to the area with the highest demand of the three (either A1 or A3) needs
to be calculated to verify that A4 is not more demanding. This technique is typically
referred to as “peaking the system.”

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

 o A minimum of two additional sets of calculations shall be submitted to
demonstrate peaking of demand area friction loss when compared to areas
immediately adjacent on either side along the same branch lines.

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

 o The density shall be calculated on the basis of floor area of sprinkler operation.
Where sprinklers are installed under a sloped ceiling, the area used for this
calculation shall be the horizontal plane below the sprinklers.

o Where sprinklers are installed under a sloped ceiling, the area shall be
calculated on a horizontal plane below the sprinklers.

o These tests are conducted at a minimum flow of 15 gpm (57 L/min) per
sprinkler. The pressure required to produce this flow through sprinklers with
a nominal K-factor of K-5.6 is approximately 7 psi (0.5 bar), as illustrated in
the equation that follows.

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

 o Maximum Operating Pressure. For extra hazard occupancies, palletized, solid
pile, in bin box, or on shelf storage, the maximum operating pressure of any
sprinkler shall be 175 psi (12.1 bar).

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh

Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh
Dr. Awni Alkhazaleh