Nyankina, Katerina (2003) Prediction of water droplet behaviour during fire extinguishment. PhD thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

Sprinklers have been used in fire suppression for about 100 years. Even though their design has changed from simple perforated pipes to sophisticated automatic systems of mist and sprinkler nozzles, still they play the same role - they dramatically reduce death and injuries due to fire, as well as property loss. This reduction occurs due to sprinklers' capability either to extinguish the fire or to control it, usually until the arrival of the fire brigade. As an agent, water has become the most widely used fire suppressant due to its highly effective thermal properties and availability. Specifically, water mist sprays are becoming increasingly popular as total flooding agents, substituting hazardous gaseous suppressants, such as Halon. Commonly used as a fire engineering tool for predicting fire growth and hot gas movement in a compartment, are zone models. Even though the performance of fire sprinklers or mist sprays is predicted by some of these models, the analysis is very limited. This analysis is usually based only on a known water flow rate, compartment area and calculated spray activation time, with no consideration given to what actually happens to the water droplets within a fire environment, or how the droplets' characteristics affect fire suppression. The principal objective of this research is to develop a more refined model of the interaction of water sprays and fires.

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