Studying the Parameters Which Affect Sprinkler Fire Protection System Performance in Buildings

Prescriptive based approach and the performance based approach are two approaches used in designing a fire sprinkler design system.
Alterations on parameters can be done using the performance based approach as calculations are widely implemented thus showing flexibilities, while it is impossible to alter any parameters using prescriptive based approach as the values of parameters have been predetermined.
In this project, the size of the sprinkler system had been reduced and calculations have been done by using a sizing design tool that had been developed. It has been proven that by reducing the size of the system, reduction of cost of installation can be achieved. In this case, the total savings obtained is RM 1.8mil for a 10-storey office building.
Even though there are alterations done to the system, it is vital to ensure that the performance of the sprinkler is not affected. The curves of Heat Release Rate (HRR) vs. time for both approaches have been established and compared. The curves were found to not have much difference in the values, indicating that the calculations done to the system are acceptable.