Fire & Smoke
A Focus on the Next Generation of Open-area Smoke Detection Technology
This webinar will discuss technological advancements of smoke detection for large open areas....
Don't Play the Blame Game
After I retired, I received a call from an engineer with whom I had worked. He told me that, nearly three years earlier, he had installed an oven that was used to burn paint off of hooks that held sheet-metal panels while they were being painted. He had been trying to control fumes and smoke at the oven inlet ever since without success, and the workers were threatening to walk off of the job if the fumes were not controlled. I agreed to visit the plant to see if I could come up with a solution....
Practical Applications of Smoke-Control Systems
Design criteria for smoke-control systems have changed over the years. Instead of ventilating an affected area, smoke-control systems now must prevent the spread of smoke to non-affected areas and/or provide a tenable environment in the area of incident. How effective are current smoke-control systems? Can building-code requirements for smoke-control systems be met reasonably? How can applications not described in building codes be addressed?...
Minimum Smoke-Layer Depth in Atrium Smoke Control
Minimum smoke-layer depth, including the reason for the 20-percent requirement, engineering analyses, and design approaches...
State-of-the-Art Atrium Smoke Control
Unlike other building systems, it is virtually impossible to test an atrium smoke-control system to design conditions. This primarily is because design...
Commissioning Life-Safety Systems
The process of commissioning a life-safety system is very similar to that of commissioning an HVAC system; however, the stakes essentially, death vs....
Smoke Control and Fire Evacuation
It is important that professionals involved with smoke control know about the myth of panic. Movies, television, and the press often present an unrealistic...
Fire Safety First
I was called to design a replacement domestic-water booster-pump system for a 30-story sprinklered office building. A field survey revealed that the domestic-water...
The True Story
During the first morning meeting of the day, several supervisors suddenly jumped up and ran out with their pagers in hand. Five fully manned Fire Department...
Fire- and Smoke-Damper Control
The No. 1 question about fire and smoke dampers that mechanical engineers and contractors ask is, How do the controls work with the actuators? This article...
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