During 2021 a current client of Elite Fire Protection invited the Company to a tender bidding process for a new warehouse being built that required new fire protection.
Elite Fire was awarded the tender and began with installation in November 2022, and is currently ongoing.
Elite Fire Protection is currently responsible for the design, supply, fabrication and installation of a complete fire protection system in their finished goods warehouse.
| Project | Fire Protection Systems |
| Size | Approx. 3500m2 |
| Year of completion | 2023 |
| Scope | Design, supply, fabrication & installation |
| Discipline | Fire Protection |
Project Scope
Fire Protection System of New Warehouse:
- Warehouse roof sprinkler protection
- Installation of smoke detection
- Iso-panel ceiling protection
- Flammable store protection
- Installation of in-rack sprinkler protection
- Installation fire equipment (fire extinguishers, hydrants, and hose-reels)
Process Outline
Warehouse Roof Sprinkler Protection
Due to the height of the warehouse roof, being 28 meters, it is a 24mm/min design density at roof level. The installation is a grid system – A sprinkler system in which parallel cross mains are connected by multiple branch lines, causing an operating sprinkler to receive water from both ends of its branch line while other branch lines help transfer water between cross mains.
There is a total of 480 20mm brass upright 93oC being installed. According to NFPA regulations, in warehouse roof sprinkler protection, upright sprinklers are required which are thermosensitive, glass-bulb spray sprinklers. The colours of the bulb identify the temperature rating of the sprinkler, and in this case, the bulbs are green in colour. The thermal sensitivity of a sprinkler measures how quickly the thermal element operates and the most common way of measuring thermal sensitivity is the response time index (RTI). They are then categorized into fast or standard response based on their RTI.
The system contains a 200mm wet sprinkler control valve. Control valves control the flow of water in an automatic fire sprinkler system and in this case the sprinkler control valve is suitable for a wet system.
Smoke Detection
The smoke detection in this project will have beam protection provided at roof level and underside iso-panel ceilings. Beam protection is a device which senses smoke by projecting a light beam from a transceiver unit across the protected area to a reflector that returns the light signal back to the transceiver unit. Smoke entering the beam path will decrease the light signal causing an alarm.
In the flammable store areas, a VESDA system will be installed.
VESDA very early warning smoke detection solutions provide the earliest possible warning of an impending fire hazard. VESDA buys time to investigate an alarm and initiate an appropriate response to prevent injury, property damage or business disruption.
A VESDA system actively draws air into its sampling holes which increases the chance of smoke being detected. Passive smoke detectors rely on smoke reaching them via diffusion or using the thermal energy of the fire.
The current panels in the surrounding warehouses have a Technoswitch panel and the same brand will be kept throughout.
Iso-Panel Ceiling Protection
Iso-panels are a rigid extruded Polystyrene foam, with excellent thermal insulation characteristics in the temperature range -30 ˚C to + 70 ˚C. The IsoBoard is constructed of microscopic gas-filled cells which resemble a honeycomb.
The iso-panel ceiling protection will be installed as a 12.5mm/mm design density with 180 white pendent sprinkler with white rosettes.
This wet system will contain a 150mm wet sprinkler control valve and as with the warehouse roof, this section of the ceiling will also be a grid system design.
Flammable Store Protection
Foam protection will be provided and installed at iso-ceiling level.
Both sections/stores will be installed according to tree system design, however, each one will be fed from a 150mm deluge control valve, with one foam tank feeding both flammable stores.
A foam fire suppression system is much like a wet sprinkler system in that stored water flows through a network of pipes where it is then discharged through nozzles. It combines both water and a foaming agent for large scale fire extinguishment. This water-based fire sprinkler suppression system can extinguish extensive fires in mere seconds with incredible efficiency.
Installation Of In-Rack Sprinkler Protection
These are push-back racks throughout the warehouse. Push Back Pallet Racking is a flexible and cost-effective solution for some companies. Pallets are placed a “cart” which pushes the previous pallet into the next storage location. These push-back racking will be protected with a total 4200 sprinklers, 15mm brass pendent 68oC quick response with water shield and sprinkler guard.
This section will have 4 in-rack sprinkler control valves installed – 1 in the main warehouse area, 1 valve within the iso-ceilings area, and 2 deluge valves for 2 flammable stores.
Supply and Installation of Fire Equipment
Hydrants: A new 250mm sprinkler reticulation has been installed around the new warehouse. The new hydrants have been taken off the new sprinkler reticulation which is positioned around the outside of the new warehouse.
Hose-reels: A 50mm ring main is being installed to feed the 20 new hose-reels within the new warehouse.
Fire Extinghuishers: Elite Fire supplied 60 new 9kg DCP fire extinghuishers and will be installed in and around the new warehouse.
Challenges
- Alignment and communication between all parties at times could pose as a barrier to quicker resolution of important issues.
- Lightweight steel was used which involved a lot of coordination as not all parties could utilise the space due to the load on steel structure.
- Access and availability to specific machinery was difficult due to the height of the warehouse and getting it across boarder.
