Dictionary of fire protection engineering

305 Pages·2010·4.77 MB·English

by  Clifford Jones

Dictionary of
Fire Protection
Engineering
Clifford Jones
Whittles Publishing
Published by
Whittles Publishing,
Dunbeath,
Caithness KW6 6EY,
Scotland, UK
www.whittlespublishing.com
© 2010 J.C. Jones
ISBN 978-1904445-86-9
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording or otherwise
without prior permission of the publishers.
The publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, but assume no responsibility
for any injury and/or damage to persons or property from the use or implementation of any methods,
instructions, ideas or materials contained within this book. All operations should be undertaken in
accordance with existing legislation and recognized trade practice. Whilst the information and advice
in this book is believed to be true and accurate at the time of going to press, the authors and publisher
accept no legal responsibility or liability for errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed and bound in England
www.printondemand-worldwide.com
Contents
Preface ………………………………………………… v
Dictionary of Fire Protection Engineering … ………… 1
Postscript …………………………………………… 297
iii
Dedicated to
Professor David Trimm AM
Colleague of the author’s over the period 1987–1995
Preface
In writing this book I have tried to hold in balance a number of areas of
interest to the fire engineer. As a reader would expect, such matters as
fire extinguishers and flame retardants feature fairly centrally. There is
also a good deal about fire fighting and this includes descriptions, from
the functional point of view, of fire appliances from selected manufac-
turers around the world. There is coverage of selected accidental fires,
both recent ones and ones which have been on record for many years as
being amongst the most serious in terms of loss of life. In discussing a fire
which is distant in time I have tried to combine the facts as far as they are
reliably known with professional judgement of my own. There have been
times when such judgment has put me in some degree at odds with one
or more details of a fire as recorded. In such cases I have occasionally
exercised the prerogative of the expert in analysing the events for myself
and presenting a reader with conclusions of my own. Social and political
aspects of fire engineering also feature in this book, for example in accounts
of fires in countries where buildings are substandard in safety terms and
fire services are unreliable.
It is inevitable that trade names have been used. Avoidance of them
would have impoverished the book, as fire safety products are so much a
part of the subject and improvements in fire safety have to a considerable
degree been due to development work by manufacturers of such products.
My own position in using a trade name is of course an entirely neutral one,
and the aim has been to obtain scientific and engineering details of the
products and re-express such details in broad terms for the benefit of the
reader. There is a great deal of extremely interesting and helpful material
in the trade literature. It was quite early on in my own career, long before
the “IT revolution”, that I became aware that a well composed technical
manual accompanying a piece of equipment can in fact make a very
rewarding read.
Almost all of the sources I have drawn on have been electronic, and my
indebtedness to the originators of those sources is immense. Throughout
the writing of the book I have had the encouragement and support of Whit-
tles Publishing with whom I have by now had a close working relationship
for over a decade.
J.C. Jones
Aberdeen
v
Rosenbauer Class 3 Airwolf (courtesy Rosenbauer/General Division)
A
Aarhus
This Danish town was the scene in late 2007 of a fire at a factory where
vegetable oils are processed for subsequent use in industries including
chocolate and cosmetics. One employee was killed and damage was
considerable.
ABC powder extinguisher
Substance suitable for extinguishment of Class A (burning solids, such
as wood, polymers), Class B (liquid fires, such as alcohol, kerosene) and
Class C (fires involving flammable gases, such as natural gas, propane)
fires with the possible bonus of also being suitable for electrical fires (Class
E). Examples include monoammonium phosphate. Nitrogen under pres-
sure acts as a delivery gas, enabling the powder to be rapidly released
and directed as required. A “BC fire extinguisher” is suitable for Class B
and Class C fires only: by far the most important example is the carbon
dioxide extinguisher. In a powder extinguisher this is obtained by release
of sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, which decompose to
form carbon dioxide.
Abeille Bourbon
French coastguard vessel built in 2005, having been designed by Rolls
Royce. It has external fire fighting facilities at FiFi II level, there being
three monitors of 2400 m3 per hour capacity and a throw of 150 m.
Abeille Liberté
Sister vessel (younger by a few months) of Abeille Bourbon. Lloyd’s List1
shows an image of the vessel releasing water from its monitors, captioned:
“Abeille Liberté demonstrates its awesome fire fighting capability using high
standard equipment”. This provides a perspective on the requirements for
1 17 March 2006.
1
Abesco CT120
FiFi II classification. Many tugs newly commissioned for work in conjunction
with refineries, including the Stanford, have FiFi I classification only.
Abesco CT120
Integrally designed duct for cables incorporating a graphite-based intu-
mescent material. The action of this in a fire seals off the duct, preventing
combustion propagation along it. The duct can be installed in concrete
ceilings and floors, and also in wood structures provided that standards
and codes that apply to the wood per se have been met.
Acergy Harrier
Construction support vessel for offshore installations. Her function is quite
different from that of an AHTS vessel, but she shares with most such fire
fighting capability at FiFi I level.
Active Lord
Supply vessel in the North Sea, an example of a vessel with dual FiFi
classification being I and II. Water supply is up to 7200 m3 per hour via
three monitors. Atlantic Eagle, Bonassola and Stril Poseidon are simi-
larly classified.
Adjustable gallonage nozzle
In the fixed gallonage nozzle the gpm–pressure data pair is determined
by the diameter of the orifice (flow disc). In an adjustable gallonage nozzle
changes in the orifice diameter are possible, providing for a change in gpm
without interruption to supply. The gallonage is therefore incrementally
adjustable, not continuously so. That is why the term “selectable flow
nozzle” is sometimes preferred. Nozzles of this type are usually fitted
with “teeth” so as to issue water as a fog rather than as a straight stream.
Examples are very many and include the ThunderFog 250.
Advanced pneumatic detector (APD)
Pneumatic detector, utilising a metal hydride, for detection of overheating
in a jet engine during flight. It is now manufactured by Kidde Aerospace
and Defense in North Carolina. Note that whereas the basis of thermo-
couples and and thermistors is electrical that of a device such as the APD
is mechanical.
Advantus™
Foam proportioner, developed and manufactured by Waterous and the first
in a new generation of proportioners. Unlike other types of proportioner,
2
AFFF
including the eductor, Advantus™ does not combine the water and foam
concentrate on a volumetric basis but continually monitors both water and
concentrate compositions and proportions on that basis.
Aerial ladders, materials for
Raised and orientated by hydraulic machinery, an aerial ladder, unlike a
ground ladder or a roof ladder, is not supported by anything external to
itself such as a wall. This precludes adaptation of the fibre glass ladder
to aerial usage. An aerial ladder has to support its own weight (i.e. it must
not bend significantly) as well as hose along its length. A platform (“ladder
bucket”) might be attached: trade terminology in the US is that the appli-
ance is “an aerial” if a ladder bucket is not fitted and “a platform” if it is.
Either might be classifiable as a quint if it is has the additional facilities
for such classification. Materials used for aerial ladders are aluminium
or steel. Water will be directed via monitors on the platform and some
manufacturers install lights along the ladder rails. Hose chosen for use
with aerial ladders will be light, for example DarQuest Lightweight or LDH
(from the manufacturer of Pro-Lite). The weight which can be withstood
by a ladder or a ladder/platform combination depends on the flow speed
of any water in hoses being supported. The fire fighting vehicle supporting
the aerial ladder will itself need supporting by means of stabiliser jacks
after the ladders have been raised.
Aero Range
Non-maintained emergency lighting, powered by a battery from which it
draws 8 W yielding 70 lumen, i.e. a yield of just under 9 lumen per watt.
The transparent cover is made of polycarbonate.
Aerospatiale SA-315B (“Lama”)
Helicopter suitable for use in fire fighting when fitted with a Bambi bucket®
and related accessories. One “Lama” in fire fighting duty crashed in the
Rockies in 2002, killing the pilot. The helicopter was 32 years old at the
time of the crash. Several remain in fire fighting use in the US.
AFFF
Acronym for “aqueous film-forming foams”. These are made from water, a
foaming compound and a surfactant. An AFFF is made by mixing water with
a suitable concentrate, e.g. Tridol S 3LT. There are many compositions of
film-forming concentrates and the term AFFF is fairly generic, there being
acronyms for particular foam concentrates which give more information
than “AFFF” does. It would not be incorrect, though it might be imprecise,
3