Excerpts from the design of the pump room
The first question: What are the types of pump rooms?
Answer: Pump rooms are divided into two types according to their location:
01- Pump rooms inside the building (Indoor fire pump)
02-Outdoor fire pump rooms
The second question: How is the pump room protected?
Answer: The protection is done as follows:
01- Pump rooms inside the building (Indoor fire pump)
For high-rise buildings, in which the floor height of the last occupied floor is more than 23 meters from the street, it is protected by sprinklers and fire-resistant walls for two hours.
For buildings that are not tall, there are two cases
A – Either the room and the building are protected by sprinklers here, the walls of the room must be fire-resistant for a while.
B – If one or both of them are not protected by sprinklers, the walls of the room must be fire-resistant for two hours.
02- Outdoor fire pump rooms
A- It is 15 meters away from the building or application it serves.
B – Protecting it from rain and sunlight through (Roof – Dike – Sunshade)
The third question: What is the degree of danger for the pump room?
Answer: The risk is determined as follows:
01- There is a diesel pump with a daily fuel tank (Extra hazard gr.2)
02- There are electric pumps only (Ordinary hazard Gr.1)
Fourth question: Can the pump room be used for purposes other than fire?
Answer: According to the American code ((NFPA 20) it is not allowed to use the fire pump room for other purposes such as storage or the presence of sources that increase the risk such as boilers and the like. It was only allowed to install water supply pumps inside the room.
The fifth question: What are the basic requirements in the fire pump room?
the answer :
01- The entrance to the pump room: either from the outside directly, or by providing a ladder or a corridor protected by fire-resistant walls, not less than the pump room.
02- Temperature: not less than 4C, not only for fear of freezing, but to prevent the diesel pump from delaying its work and the condensation of water vapor on the pipes and components inside the room.
03- Lighting: Provide normal and emergency lighting – the intensity of lighting is not less than 32.3 lux – emergency lighting is not connected to the diesel pump batteries – emergency lighting lasts for two hours.
04- Ventilation: Adequate ventilation must be made to get rid of the heat generated by the equipment inside the room.
05- Drainage: There must be tendencies on the ground to collect water, with the provision of a drainage point, whether it is (floor drain or trench drain).
Sixth question: What is the material of the pipes for the intake and ejection in the fire pump room?
the answer :
01- Steel materials, whether welded or seamless (black steel – galvanized steel – ductile iron).
02- Plastic materials are totally unacceptable.
03- Delivery via (Flanged – Welded – Grooved.
Seventh question: When is a Bypass required for fire pumps?
the answer :
01- Not completely required if the water source is a ground or underground tank.
02- In the case of Elevated Tank – City Water, it is required that it be the source of water.
03- The diameter of the bypass is not less than the diameter of the ejection line for the pumps.
The eighth question: Why is the 10D distance between the elbow or joint of the intake flange of the fire pump maintained?
the answer :
01- Because it works to form an unbalanced flux on the impeller of the pump, which generates a horizontal force that affects the shaft of the pump and increases the chances of corrosion in the bearing.
02- It works on the existence of vortices that have a great impact in the work of the so-called cavitation.
03- The 10D rule is not applied in the case of vertical pumps such as the (Inline vertical pump).
The ninth question: What if the diameter of the suction and the drop of the fire pump is less than the diameter of the connected pipe?
the answer :
01- Eccentric reducer is used on the suction line to avoid the impact of the Air Pocket to prevent cavitation.
02- Concentric reducer is used on the discharge line.
Question 10: How is the fuel tank volume calculated for a diesel pump?
the answer :
01- Its volume is equivalent to 1 gallon for every 1 horsepower of the pump motor, plus 10%.
02- The story of one gallon is the equivalent of one pint per horse during 8 hours (as a pint is a unit of volume equal to the eighth of a gallon).
03- The maximum volume of the fuel tank inside the pumps is 1320 gallons.
04- If the fuel tank volume exceeds 1320 gallons, it is separated in another room with a 3-hour fire resistance.
05- There must be a dike to absorb the fuel leakage from the tank, and its volume is calculated as follows:
A- In the case of the tank body being single wall, the dike size must be sufficient for the tank size in addition to the volume of water that will be collected from the sprinklers inside it (0.4gpm/ft2 X dike area X 90minute)
B – In the case of the double wall tank, the volume of the dike is equivalent to the volume of the tank plus 10%.
(M. Ali Hassan #firematrix)