1 Fire prevention objectives

Fire prevention serves to protect a wide variety of

interests, such as personal protection, protection
of valuables and the environment. Prevention tar-
gets must be defined in order to achieve these ob-
jectives. The preventiontarget describes what is to
be technically achieved in order to satisfy a speci-
fic prevention objective.
Technical equipment measures, such as sprink-
lers and smoke and heat extraction units make dif-
ferent contributions to achieving specific preven-
tionobjectives, accordingtotheir modeof action.
Water extinguishing systems are used to extin-
guish fires by cooling and by limiting the propaga-
tion of fire by cooling and pre-wetting. Limiting the
fire helps the fire brigade to extinguish the fire.
The term smoke and heat extraction systems,
basically conceals two different tasks. During the
starting phase of a fire, smoke is dissipated. Heat
extraction during the advanced stages of the fire
and of a full blown fire, can achieve temporary
thermal relief for components. The protection va-
lue of the smoke andheat extraction systemhas to
be seen in conjunction with a rapid and targeted
extinguishing operation by the fire brigade.
In principle, the combination of water extinguis-
hing systems and smoke and heat extraction sys-
tems is beneficial. However, various influencing
factors impose limits on the combination.
2 Mechanism of action and
areas/limits of application
2.1 Mechanism of action of water
extinguishing systems
The extinguishing action of a water extinguishing
systemcomes about by cooling the seat of the fire
by extractingheat, i.e. throughthe heat absorption
capacity of the water. Vaporisation of the water
can help to render the fire zone inert.
As the heating and vaporisation of water takes pla-
ce fromthe surface of the drop, a larger surface en-
sures a more rapid heat rise and evaporation.
Therefore, smaller drops are more effective than a
water jet. However, it must not be forgotten, that lar-
ge drops penetrate the rising combustion vapours
more easily, in order to get to the seat of the fire.
The wettingof adjacent areas by sprayingdrops of
water beyond the seat of the fire, puts a limit on fire
propagation.
The sprinkler system is a selective extinguishing
system, which is triggered through the convection
heat component of the smoke and combustion
gases, during the interaction with the nozzle seals
(glass case or melting solder).
Compared with the selective sprinkler system, in
the case of the spray water extinguisher, an ex-
tinguishinggroupor sectionis simultaneously and
effectively pressurised with extinguishing water.
All detectable fire characteristics can be used to
trigger the system.
VdS 2815en : 2001-03 (01)
VdS SCHADENVERHTUNG VdS
Interaction of water extinguishing
systems and smoke and heat
extractors
Leaflet concerning fire prevention
2.2 Areas and limits of use of water
extinguishing systems
Fixed water extinguishing systems are capable of
extinguishing or controlling fires according to the
protection target.
As sprinkler systems are triggered by a thermo-
couple, it is necessary for a sufficiently large rise in
temperature to take place at the sprinkler together
with a corresponding flowof air. What causes pro-
blems are fires involving a lot of smoke and little
heat generation. It is a condition of successful ex-
tinguishing that the water gets to the point of the
fire.
By virtue of the mode of action described, the limit
of use of sprinkler systems is encountered in very
high rooms, which only have ceiling protection.
Where they are used in high-storage racks, rack
sprinklers guarantee protection.
In the case of ESFR sprinklers, the water is sup-
posed to reach the seat of the fire in its early sta-
ges, in order to suppress it. Therefore, rapid acti-
vation of the sprinklers, once the fire has started, is
vital.
The spray water extinguishing system is also suit-
able for rooms higher than 15 metres. Apart from
their use in extremely high rooms, areas where the
fire spreads rapidly and also bulk goods stores
can be effectively protected by a spray water ex-
tinguishing system.
Fine spray extinguishing systems produce small
drops of water, which improves heat dissipation. It
must be borne in mind that the systemmay not be
effective where there are large air-flows, because
of the small drops.
Water extinguishing systems are not usually suit-
able
I in gas fires
I whensubstancesreact exothermicallywithwater
I when substances release dangerous substan-
ces on contact with water.
2.3 Mechanisms of action of smoke and
heat extraction systems
The purpose of smoke extractors is to create a
smoke-free layer above the ground by removing
the smoke produced by the fire. The principle of
the natural smoke extractor is the thermal upward
forceof smokegases. This occurs as aresult of the
lower density of the hot smoke gas compared with
the colder ambient air. As a result of the heat that
the fire generates, the conflagration gas rises to
the ceiling of the room. The pressure difference
between static pressure in the room and atmos-
pheric pressure is the driving force both of the
smoke gas flowthroughthe smoke heat extractors
and of the flowof incoming air that comes through
the supply air inlets.
Mechanical smoke extraction performs the same
jobs as natural smoke extraction. However, the
smoke-free layer is not achieved by ascending
convection current but by extracting the smoke
gases using fans. The mechanical systems must
be activated immediately after the fire breaks out
by being triggered by high-temperature and smo-
ke alarms. The benefits of mechanical extraction
are that full volumetric output is immediately avai-
lable and it is also efficient with cold smoke. A
drawback is that the mass flowcreated by the fans
becomes less if the hot gases are at higher tempe-
ratures. At high temperatures, therefore, the effi-
ciency of mechanical smoke extractionis less than
that of natural smoke extraction.
2.4 Areas and limits of use of smoke and
heat extraction systems
Smoke and heat extraction systems are intended
to convey the smoke and the heat that is released
during the fire, away fromthe inside of the building
and into the open. During the initial phase of the
fire, smoke removal is of paramount importance,
whilst once the fire has become advanced and is
fully developed, the task of heat dissipation has to
be added, in order to protect the supporting struc-
ture.
Natural smoke and heat extractors are used in
single-storey buildings and in rooms of multi-sto-
rey buildings, where the ceiling is the roof at the
same time. What has to be considered here is that,
given the height of the room, the smoke gas tem-
perature drops below the ceiling and the resulting
lack of ascending convection currents has a nega-
tive effect on smoke gas extraction. The systemof
natural smoke removal thereby reaches its limit in
high, open-plan connected buildings (atria).
Given these problems, the use of mechanical
smoke extraction becomes meaningful because
mechanical smoke and heat extractors develop
their efficiency even with moderately hot smoke.
Furthermore, these systems should be used parti-
cularly if the ceiling of the room concerned does
not simultaneously form the roof of the building
(multi-storey buildings, rooms below ground le-
vel).
Interaction of water extinguishing systems and smoke and heat extractors VdS 2815en : 2001-03 (01)
2
Early triggering of mechanical smoke extraction is
guaranteed by smoke alarms. As a rule, thermo-
couples on the unit are usually used to trigger na-
tural smokeextraction. Triggeringby smokealarm
is more meaningful because, if smoke is to be re-
moved, then triggering should also occur on the
basis of smoke detection.
3 Assessment of the systems with
reference to protection targets
The table belowprovides informationonthe positi-
ve contributions of the water-extinguishingsystem
andthe smoke andheat extractionsysteminorder
to achieve a specific protection target. This obser-
vation assumes meaningful use of the systems,
i.e. taking account of the areas and limits of use
described in section 2.
Personal protection
Water
extinguishing
systems
Smoke and
heat extrac-
tion systems
Damage
caused by
fire heat
Reduction of
heat released
by the fire
Dissipation of
heat from the
fire
Securing of
escape rou-
tes
Limiting the fire
and its spread
Creating a
smoke-free
layer
Fire fighting
Direct fire
fighting by di-
rect triggering of
the system
Fire limitation
and support for
the fire brigade
in tackling the
fire
Smoke-free
layer assists
fire brigade in
fighting fire
Release of
pollutants
Fire fighting re-
duces formation
of pollutants
Dissipation of
fire gases
Protection of valuables
Water
extinguishing
systems
Smoke and heat
extraction sys-
tems
Damage
caused by
fire heat
Limiting the
spread of fire
and reducing the
release of heat
by direct fire
fighting through
direct triggering
of system
Dissipation of
heat from fire
Damage
caused by
smoke
Fire fighting re-
duces formation
of pollutants
Dissipation of fire
gases
Protection of the environment
Water
extinguishing
systems
Smoke and heat
extraction sys-
tems
Resulting
products of
fire
Fire fighting re-
duces formation
of pollutants
Indirect contribu-
tion by assisting
the fire brigade
in tackling the
fire
4 Combination of types of system
4.1 Principles
Combiningtypes of systems raises the question of
mutual influence. Possible influence is dependent
essentially ontheway thesystems aretriggered.
The sprinkler system is triggered by change in
temperature. Apart from the triggering tempera-
ture, the response sensitivity of the sprinkler (RTI
value) influences the triggering behaviour. The
spray water extinguishing system is triggered by
detecting the various fire characteristics (smoke,
heat, radiation).
The triggering sequence is the result of combining
the various triggering possibilities of smoke and
heat extraction (manual triggering, thermocouple,
smoke alarm). Different prevention targets are
met according to the triggering sequence.
In the case of manual triggering, the smoke and
heat extractionsystemis always activatedafter the
water extinguishing system. In this case, smoke
extraction assists the fire brigade in tackling the
fire and takes pressure off the structure by dissipa-
ting the heat of the fire.
An almost simultaneous triggering of both sys-
tems is aimed at in combining spray water with
mechanical smoke extraction or smoke/heat ex-
traction systems with smoke alarms. This can be
implemented by triggering mechanical smoke ex-
traction via the SP valve station or by linked trigge-
ring by smoke alarms.
Insomeareas of application, for examplewhense-
curing escape routes is uppermost, it is meaning-
ful if the smoke/heat extraction system responds
before the water extinguishing system. In order to
guarantee this, the smoke/heat extraction system
can be triggered by smoke alarm. It should be no-
ted here that, according to the VdS recommenda-
tion, a coverage area of 400 m
2
per smoke alarmis
permitted. In order to ensure that the smoke
alarms respond before the thermocouple of the
3
VdS 2815en : 2001-03 (01) Interaction of water extinguishing systems and smoke and heat extractors
water extinguishing system, the area of coverage
of the alarms should not exceed 200 m
2
.
If smoke extraction is triggered before the extin-
guishing system, then attention must be paid
when arranging the units, that the smoke escape
route does not result in the formation of a corridor
effect when the sprinklers are triggered.
The same also applies to mechanical smoke ex-
traction, which is always triggered by smoke
alarms.
So that the sprinkler is situated in the layer of hot
smoke gases, a smoke apron is always required
for smoke sections of > 2000 m
2
. This smoke
apron must measure at least 500 mm.
In the case of the sensitive ESFR system, a nega-
tive effect on the system by the smoke extractor
cannot be ruled out, so that the combination is
only possible in this case, under more strict
boundary conditions. Triggering the natural smo-
ke extractor via smoke alarms is not considered in
combination with ESFR sprinklers. In the case of
mechanical smoke extraction, triggering should
take place after the ESFRsprinklers. The same ap-
plies to natural smoke extraction where triggering
is by thermocouples.
Even more critical than the combination of ESFR
systems and fire/heat extraction systems is the
combinationof finesprayextinguishingsystemand
smoke extraction. Here there is a danger that the air
flow will deflect the small droplets. Only where the
smoke/heat extraction systemis triggered manual-
ly should the combination be considered to sup-
port the fire-fighting of the fire brigade.
The following table summarises the types of com-
bination for standard cases, bearing in mind the
above aspects.
Herausgeber: Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V. (GDV) Bro Schadenverhtung
Verlag: VdS Schadenverhtung Amsterdamer Str. 174 50735 Kln
Tel.: (0221) 77 66 - 0 Fax: (0221) 77 66 - 341
VdS
Interaction of water extinguishing systems and smoke and heat extractors VdS 2815en : 2001-03 (01)
Sprinkler ESFR Spray water Fine spray
Mechanical
smoke extraction
Possible, bearing in
mind cross-venting
Limited possibility, see
specification under FM
2-2 concerning venting
Possible under cer-
tain conditions. Trig-
gering only via SP
valve station
Combination
not as a rule
recommended
Natural smoke
extraction Trig-
gering via smoke
alarm
Combination possi-
ble and useful, bear-
ing in mind the
arrangement
1
Not recommended
Co-poling possible
and useful bearing in
mind the arrange-
ment and combined
triggering
Combination
not as a rule
recommended
Natural smoke
extraction, Trig-
gering via ther-
mocouples
Combination possi-
ble and useful, bear-
ing in mind the
arrangement
1
Smoke/heat system
triggered after ESFR
(ESFR 68C, RTI<50;
smoke/heat system
141C, RTI>80)
Structural changes to
be noted
Combination possi-
ble and useful, bear-
ing in mind the
arrangement
Combination
not as a rule
recommended
Natural smoke
extraction,
Triggering via
manual alarm
Useful combination Useful combination Useful combination
Possible under
certain condi-
tions.
1
for instance by reducing the distance between sprinkler and ceiling
4.2 Table of combination possibilities