Monthly Technical Articles
Explore our collection of articles written by engineers, for engineers. Categorized based on the COPE approach to assessing risk within a facility, the archives below contain essential information for the development of engineers in our field.
Aerosols
What are Aerosols? Aerosols are grouped into Levels 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 aerosols are predominately water-based (a good example is shaving cream) and their fire hazard is about the same as ordinary...
Maintaining Dry-Pipe Sprinkler Systems
The owner of the large glass plant couldn't remember the last time he tested the building's dry-pipe sprinkler system. The facility had been sitting idle for at least a year, and he had three other...
Incendiarism
Typically, we consider fire protection as a combination of adequate physical protection and implementation of loss control programs which in combination help to reduce the number of fires and...
Electrical Testing
The electrical demands in industrial or commercial buildings vary from simple lighting and heating requirements for an office building to major on-site power distribution centers for a steel mill,...
Legislative Review - An Overview of Codes, Standards and Regulations
In the November 2004, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its 17th annual legislative review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations...
Protection of High Rise Buildings
High rise buildings have several unique fire hazards due to the height of the building. A high rise building, as defined in the Uniform Fire Code, is "any building or structure having floors used for...
Smoke Vents
Roof vents were originally used as an aid to fire fighting in unsprinklered buildings. When a fire occurs, the smoke and hot gases rise until they reach the ceiling. They then spread outward and down...
Cooling Towers
Cooling towers are very common in commercial/industrial occupancies. They may be used to for air conditioning needs or for process cooling for certain types of production equipment. Towers used for...
Performance Based Hydraulic Fluid Testing
Many processes involve pressurized combustible oil in hydraulic systems. When such fluids are inadvertently released due to a break or leak in hoses and pipe systems an atomized spray can result...
Pre-planning the Installation of a Fire Sprinkler System
One of changes in the 2002 Edition of NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems that often goes unnoticed or enforced is the requirement of a building owner or their authorized...
A Financial Incentive for Building Owners to Install an Automatic Sprinkler System
There are thousands of buildings in the United States that were built involving building codes that did not require automatic sprinkler protection. Most of them now have grandfather status and are...
A Closer Look at Suppression-Mode Upright Sprinklers
Our August 2003 article briefly described the different types of suppression-mode sprinklers. We'll now explain the reasons leading to the development of suppression -mode upright heads. When...