WATERMIST PROTECTION OF LOW HAZARD OCCUPANCIES – STANDARDISATION APPROACH TO APPLYING THE TECHNOLOGY

摘要

Watermist systems have been recognised as a successful fire suppression/protection technology for many years. They have traditionally been used in a range of specific applications where the environment associated with the application is controlled and understood e.g. small sealed volumes such as engine rooms on ships. There is now a significant interest in the use of the technology for a wider range of applications in the built environment such as domestic, residential applications and low hazard commercial occupancies such as hotels, hospitals, museums, offices, schools and colleges. This paper sets out the approach and research undertaken to develop test standards and approvals, underpinned by an experimental data to support this technology application transfer. The BRE Trust sponsored an extensive research programme of 48 full scale experimental fires to develop the understanding of the key parameters which impact on the performance of watermist systems in the built environment. The objectives of the study were to: 1. characterise the mechanisms and factors that govern the effectiveness of water mist fire protection systems; 2. develop and specify a fire test protocol for evaluating water mist fire protection systems for low hazard commercial applications; 3. address some of the identified gaps in knowledge with respect to watermist systems. This paper presents key findings of this research programme including the identification of the primary parameters affecting the performance of watermist systems and shows how the findings are being utilised in the European standardisation process. These findings show the need to undertake: 1. performance testing of the watermist systems against fire test protocols that are reliable, repeatable and representative of the full set of hazards and environments that could be encountered within an end use application; 2. assessment of all the components employed in a watermist system; 3. assessment of the system design parameters, with particular attention to manufacturer defined values; 4. detailed definition of the scope of application.