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.
NFPA’s Fire Loss Statistics in the United States During 2021
Each year in September or October the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes the annual fire loss report in the US for the year prior. The 2021 report was published in September 2022...
4 Critical Loss Lessons from Large Warehouse Fires
With the increase in large catastrophic, sprinklered warehouse fires in the last several years, one must wonder if any loss lessons have resulted in better practice. Since the 1982 K-Mart fire,...
Recent Earthquakes Provide Reminder to Design and Prepare for Seismic Exposures
In the early morning of February 6th, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter near Nurda─ƒi, Turkey was felt throughout central Turkey and northern Syria. Approximately 11 minutes later, a...
December 2022, U.S. Legislative Review: Overview of Codes, Standards and Regulations in CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, KS, KY, MA, MI, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TX and VA
In their November/December 2022 issue, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview...
Idle Pallet Fire Exposure
On Monday, October 24, 2022, a fire spread quickly through the yard of a commercial building in Monrovia, CA. By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had ignited approximately half of the...
<strong>Transitioning from Fluorinated Foam to Fluorine Free Firefighting Foams</strong>
This is a follow-up to our November 2020 article on the development of fluorine free firefighting foams, Comparison Testing of the New “Fluorine Free” Firefighting Foams. AFFF: Aqueous film forming...
Windstorm Standards: How did we get here?
Windstorm Standards Outline: Wind speeds Timeline of modern wind standards: ASCE International Building Code (IBC) FM Data Sheet 1-28 Safety Factor (SF) Conclusion On September 28, 2022,...
Windstorm Preparation Guide
Severe windstorm studies have shown that storm-related damage can be prevented or minimized. The keys to this are windstorm preparation planning in advance of the storm, and organized action during...
Spray Dryers
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes What are spray dryers? Spray drying is a method of rapidly drying a liquid mixture or slurry into a dry powder using a hot gas. Spray dryers are often used in...
Ammonium Nitrate
On August 4, 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon accidentally exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring over 6,000 and causing miles worth of...
Tire Manufacturing
Tire manufacturing is a complex process, but can be broken down into three main processes: tire preparation, tire production and tire building. Preparation includes fabric cord manufacturing, bead...
How to Protect your Facility in a Wildland Fire Zone
As communities grow, there are only two ways to build; up or out. Often times high rise structures near the center of a large city are already built, and are cost- or ordinance-prohibitive. The...