SuStainability
EPS Recycling -
Stronger
than Ever
2-3
ISSUE 6 | SprIng 2015
advance innovative EPS product solutions that contribute to a sustainable future
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I
n its March/April 2014 cover
story, "Safety by Design",
the NFPA Journal looked at
the challenges facing big-box
retailers to provide sprinkler
protection for their facilities.
One of the more difficult issues
for these retailers has been
identifying protection schemes for
certain storage arrangements not
addressed by NFPA 13, Installation
of Sprinkler Systems.
The ultimate test for these rack
storage arrangements is the
protection of exposed, expanded
Group A plastics, typically EPS
or similar products. If a sprinkler
system can protect these materials,
the thinking goes, it can protect
just about anything.
Full-scale testing of this
arrangement has been
around for some time,
but the data have not
been made available to
the NFPA 13 technical
committees. As a result,
the standard has not
addressed a protection
scheme for this arrangement,
and it has not addressed other,
less extreme arrangements that
could be protected following the
guidelines for exposed, expanded
Group A plastics.
Thanks to the efforts of the Fire
Protection Research Foundation
and the Property Insurance
Research Group, full-scale testing
of exposed, expanded plastics in
racks was conducted between
2012 and 2014. The project,
which included a total of eight
tests of bagged polystyrene foam
meat trays on wooden pallets, was
developed to provide the NFPA 13
technical committees with data
on ceiling-only sprinkler protection
schemes for this difficult storage
arrangement. The tests looked at
varying ceiling and storage heights,
clearances between the stored
plastics and the ceiling, and the
use of vertical barriers as a way to
prevent horizontal spread of fire
through the racks.
The critical piece of data from
this testing was the number of
sprinklers that operated during
each test. This is information
that, along with the test set-up
parameters, is used to create an
acceptable protection scheme in
NFPA 13. The number of activated
K-25 ESFR (early suppression,
fast response) sprinklers ranged
from 6 to 18. In three tests, 10
or fewer sprinklers activated, and
these tests were reviewed by the
technical committee as the basis
for new language in the standard.
The committee typically adds a
"safety factor" of 50 percent to
the test data, and the initial design
considered 15 sprinklers.
The drawback of this approach,
however, was that a 15-sprinkler
design using K-25 sprinklers with
a 60 psi operating pressure would
call for a tremendous amount
of water. In an effort to reduce
the hydraulic demand for this
arrangement, an additional test
was scheduled. When that test
was conducted in June, only seven
sprinklers operated; the technical
committee now had three tests
in which seven or fewer sprinklers
activated.
Applying the safety factor of 50
percent allowed the committee
to review and approve a
12-sprinkler, ceiling-only design
for the protection of exposed,
expanded Group A plastics, based
on a maximum storage height of
25 feet for single-, double-, and
multiple-row rack configurations.
The concept must go through the
NFPA 13 correlating committee
and the NFPA Annual Technical
Meeting in Chicago in June 2015,
but it appears that NFPA has added
an important component to the
standard.
This change has ramifications
for a number of stakeholders.
A new design scheme for
protecting exposed, expanded
Group A plastics will allow almost
anyone who utilizes high-ceiling
rack storage arrangements—
manufacturers, distributors,
retailers, and others—greater
flexibility in the packaging of their
products, which translates to more
efficient warehousing operations
and cost savings through the
reduction of storage space and
packaging materials. The testing
project also provides an ideal
example of how research supports
the development of codes and
standards.
For more information
and to view a video
on nFpA 13 FAQs
click here
Storage Evolution
By Matt Klaus, national Fire protection Association (nFpA)
builDing &
ConStRuCtion
Recycled EPS
Fireproofing
Success
4
tECh talk
Fire Code approval
for EPS in
Commercial Walls
7
PaCkaging &
innovation
boosting honey Production
with EPSs
EPS = Engineered air
EPS & the Sugar Sphinx
5-6
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