Fire Hydraulic Calculation Software for Fire System Designs

by Stephen Wright Building Management Solutions Software

The disadvantage of using the traditional pipe schedules in manual calculations, besides being tedious,  is that the designer has no way of knowing exactly how the fire suppression system will perform in the event of a fire. Pipe schedules also tend to use larger, more expensive pipe sizes than practically required.

On the other hand, accurate hydraulic calculations show exactly how a fire sprinkler system will work if called upon. These provide a reliable hydraulic design process, so that building services providers are able to evaluate whether a given water supply is adequate for a system. Fire hydraulic calculation software determine flow rates, water velocity and pressure losses through each pipe section. 

The benefit of using fire hydraulic calculation software, is that the sprinkler system tends to use smaller, more economical pipe zones than manual methods. In addition, all standard calculations are done much faster and more accurately with the help of fire sprinkler calculation software. The output reports from fire hydraulic calculation software show the flow rates and pressure loss data for each pipe section, as well as the discharge flow and residual pressure for each sprinkler. Key output data can be based upon a known water supply pressure, or on the basis of minimum supply pressure required to meet the system demand pressure.

Supply based and demand based output

Fire hydraulic calculation software usually provide output in two modes – supply output and demand based output. Supply-based output shows the system operation given a certain water supply pressure, while demand-based output reflects how the system will work when supplied with just enough water pressure to drive all sprinklers in a system at the minimum allowed residual pressure.

Fire hydraulic calculation software may also provide a supply and demand graph to quickly assess the margin of safety in terms of gpm (gallons per minute) and pressure available to the sprinkler system. If two flow and pressure conditions are known for the water supply, then a straight line can be plotted on the graph that relates available water supply with the system demand. If the demand point is below the water supply line of the sprinkler system, then the proposed sprinkler system will work with the available water pressure.

Optimal pipe designs

If a designer is not entirely satisfied with the results of the fire hydraulic calculation software, they can seek an alternative optimal design with smaller and less expensive pipe sizes, rather than jumping on the first design that happens to work. Some advanced fire sprinkler calculation softwares, such as those provided by leading building services software provider firm, ACADS-BSG, include provisions for multiple input points, fire pumps, supply/demand graph, cost estimation, bill of materials, and integration with CAD. Some of the best building fire sprinkler calculation software by ACADS-BSG include:

SPRINK2000 fire sprinkler calculation software

The ACADS-BSG computer program SPRINK2000 can be used to analyse automatic fire sprinkler systems with simple or more complicated looped and gridded systems, designed specifically for use in North America. The computer program can be used to carry out a sprinkler system analysis in accordance with this, or carry out an analysis of hydraulic systems with or without hoses or hose reels. All nodes that are not nominated as discharges or input points are automatically assigned as reference nodes to save input time. Piping materials complying with a range of materials including steel, iron and copper. North American piping codes are catered for by the program.

When pipe sizes are entered as nominal sizes, the fire sprinkler calculation software determines the actual I.D. from stored data for different pipe materials. It can also be used to determine the design point, given the K-factor and minimum discharge of each sprinkler head or hose reel. Sprinkler elevations can be fixed at a given height, entered individually across a grid row or as a single slope or pitched slope across the grid row.

HYENA fire hydraulic calculation software for sprinkler and hydrant systems

The computer program HYENA by ACADS-BSG is capable of analysing looped and gridded systems as well as tree configurations. The piping system can have up to 10 input points that can be modelled as a fixed pressure, a town mains water supply or a pump. It can work on a wide range of units including Metric, British and the US, and uses Hazen-Williams for the hydraulic analysis.

On the pipes entry screen of HYENA, columns can be sorted in ascending or descending order. A global change check box allows global changing of pipe diameters or lengths. A wide range of fittings are provided for with equivalent lengths stored in the program. Booster pumps can be located anywhere in the network with backflow preventers and check valves. A graphical display of the grid is provided where the user can choose to display pipe numbers, node numbers, pipe diameters or lengths. The grid commands in HYENA can be converted into the longhead detailed individual pipe and sprinkler specifications, thereby enabling modifications to be made to the grid. Range checks are carried out on all input items that are entered, with rigorous checks through a validation button.           

The calculations in HYENA use a process of matrix inversion to solve the differential equations for each loop in the system. The results include a summary of the flows and pressures for all discharges and for all input points. For design estimating purpose, the computer program can also determine quantities in the system including pipe lengths and numbers of fittings categorised by pipe material type and diameter.

Ensuring that fire system will operate correctly when called upon

Utilising the right software will let you know the exact flow rates and coverage for any section of the covered area of operation. A good fire hydraulic calculation software will make your fire system more economical, and there is much more certainty that the system will operate as designed than manual methods. Some other useful building services software by ACADS-BSG, which  contractors, vendors, engineers and designers may find to be very useful include; DOLPHIN for sizing and pressure drop calculations of duct runs, CAMEL for building air-conditioning load analysis and psychometrics, WOMBAT for sound transmission in and around buildings, PYTHON for designing water piping system for air conditioning,  and many more. The full range, and their features, can be found on the ACADS-BSG website.

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Created on Apr 20th 2021 03:09. Viewed 237 times.

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