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.
Overview of of Codes, Standards and Regulations in CA, CT, MA, NJ, NY, NC and PA
In November 2002, Sprinkler Age magazine featured it's 15th annual legislative review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations...
Preventing Losses in the Furniture/Woodworking Industry
An occupancy with inherent hazards is wood processing. With flammable liquids, wood dust and heavy combustible loading it is imperative to adhere to strict property loss prevention standards. In a...
Changes to NFPA 13 Regarding Earthquake Protection
It is important to maintain sprinkler systems in service for fire protection following a major earthquake. Present standards for sprinkler system earthquake resistance are mostly satisfactory;...
Fire Protection for Air Preheaters
Although fires in air preheaters (ap's) of US power plants are infrequent, the result can be extensive damage and downtime of several months. Here, we consider steps that can be taken to minimize the...
Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) - Part 2
In our April 2000 article, we detailed what microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is and what it can do to fire protection system (FPS) piping. This is a continuation of our previous...
Reducing Property Losses
In a recent issue of the Record, which is a quarterly publication of FM Global, the system of Exposure Driven Engineering was reviewed. Exposure Driven Engineering Exposure Driven Engineering is a...
Communicating with your Fire Department about your Facility
Within all facilities there are numerous fire protection systems. It is extremely important to have the local fire department familiar with your automatic sprinkler system, gaseous suppression system...
Don't Ever Use the Word Remarkable
September 11th may have been the worst day we will ever live through. Since then we have poured out our emotions with patriotism in defiance of the terrorists that killed over 3,000 civilians and...
New Rules and Regulations for Fire Sprinklers
The 2002 edition of NFPA 25, Inspection Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, contains many changes. Sample Testing Sprinklers Dry type sprinklers should be sample tested...
Protection for Idle Plants
A more recent version of this article topic exists; go there now A facility can be idle for many reasons, such as annual shutdowns, labor strikes and building renovations. When a facility is idle...
Flood Exposures and Mitigation
In last month's article, we dealt with the definitions for severe weather watches and warnings with respect to the upcoming hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere. One peril that accompanies...
Severe Weather Watches and Warnings
As a reminder, hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Northern Hemisphere. Windstorm is the second highest cause of property loss after fire. Recent severe windstorms have proven...