Valve, deluge

Fire Protection 25 Access for fire fighting and any other emergency services 26 Ignition sources (continuous, occasional/intermittent, uncontrolled) 27 Access to hydrant, indicator, and deluge valves... 

Deluge sprinkler system open sprinklers and an empty line that is connected to a water supply line through a valve that is opened upon detection of heat or a flammable material. 

Control valves for deluge Manual fire protection Separate units Place shutoffs well away from process areas. Install hydrants, monitors, and deluge systems. Add good drainage. Separate (space) plants on a site, and separate units within plants. Provide access from two sides. 

Block valves are often controlled on the basis of analyzer results, such as area monitors for detecting solvent leaks, reactor analyzers for detecting runaway reactions (a block valve can be opened to add a reaction inhibitor or to turn on a deluge system), sewer analyzers for detecting high concentrations of contaminants, and vent analyzers to detect high levels of contaminants. 

The magnitude of this accident could have been reduced with (1) improved pipe design, (2) improved deluge system design, (3) backup or more secure electrical supply, and (4) installation of detection analyzers and block valves. 

This accident could have been prevented by a good inspection and maintenance program. Potential design improvements include vibration detectors, gas analyzers, block valves, and deluge systems. 

The deluge valves in the Glatt and the cubicle sprinklers are activated. 

A typical high speed deluge system uses an electrically actuated (solenoid or squib) valve to initiate the flow of water from the nozzles. See Figure 9. The valve is positioned as close to the nozzles as possible. The piping between the valve and nozzles is fully primed and contains few if any air bubbles. 

Table I Is a brief overview of available fast action deluge. The Primac is a squib actuated deluge valve. The system...

EACH HEAD ACTS AS AN INDIVIDUAL DELUGE VALVE (SAFETY THRU REDUNDANCY) X X... 

Underwriter s Laboratories Inc. (UL), UL 260. Dry Pipe. Deluge, and Pre-Action Valves for Fire Protection Service. Sixth Edition, UL, Northbrook, IL, 1994. 

A fire department connection with check valve should be provided on all sprinkler systems in buildings excluding deluge systems. A hydrant should be located within 50 ft (15 m) of the fire department connection. 

Manual stations—Local and remote manual trip stations should be readily accessible and conspicuously labeled. The number of trip stations will depend on the hazards present, size of the system, and personnel escape routes. All operating personnel should be trained on the location and use of these manual trip stations. Some facilities have only remote valves that can be manually opened without remote actuators not all systems have deluge valves. 

Deluge valves should be located remotely [at least 50 ft (15 m)] for the area to be protected or located in blast resistant buildings. 

The number of deluge valves manifolded together should be strictly limited to no more than three. 

Alarms on dry pipe and deluge systems are activated when the valves are tripped. These systems are equipped with permanently piped direct water bypasses to permit testing alarms without tripping the valves. 

Replace water gauge at deluge valve with test gauge. Remove highest water spray nozzle in system and install test gauge. 

Daily Enclosures around dry-pipe, pre-action, and deluge valves heated to at least 40°F (4.4°C)... 

SIB Deluge 1 Valve house east side of building ... 

Manually operate SIB Deluge System with switches on east or west walls or from valve house,... 

The local fire department arrivedjust after the explosion at 11 22 A.M. With the limited water supply on two of the fire trucks and the utilization of another fire truck to pump water directly from a nearby cooling water tower basin, the firemen were able to slow the fire spread. By 11 30 A.M., the Maintenance Department was able to transfer the set of batteries from the impaired diesel fire pump to the other diesel fire pump. On completion of this task, this diesel fire pump was started. The automatic deluge sprinkler protection was severely damaged by the fire/explosions and had to be valved into the off position. Three fixed monitors were turned onto lull flow and directed at the fire. Also, the firemen and fire brigade used two hose streams olF nearby fire hydrants for fire fighting purposes. At 11 58 A.M., the fire was under control. Final fire extinguishment was accomplished by 12 10 p.m. 

After 11 30 a.m. Automatic deluge sprinkler system found to be severely damaged by fire/explosions and is now valved into OFF position. Three fixed fire monitors directed on fire at full flow. Two hose streams from hydrants directed on fire also. 

In the high-speed design, an explosion-actuated deluge valve is used to initiate flow. In order to prime the system, a bypass is provided around the valve and the nozzles are sealed with a protective cap (Figure 3.60). 

UHSD system with high-speed deluge valve. 

Automatic water deluge systems with fast acting sensors and valves. 

The fire protection system consists not only of a deluge system activated by the ultraviolet sensors, but also of fusible link type fire systems. The deluge system has a trip mechanism from mercury checks activated by heat-activated-devices, a manual release on the deluge valve, a pneumatic remote trip station, and an electrical push button along with the electrical trip mechanism from the U/V detectors. The remote trip stations are located by escape routes so it is possible for the operator to trip the systems as he exits the building without exposing himself to further danger. 

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