AFSA PNW Chapter Meeting - June

Please join us for our June Chapter Meeting at the Mt. Tabor Brewery & Tap Room in Portland on June 18th.

Karl Wiegand, P.E. of Globe Fire Sprinkler Corporation will be providing two educational courses with CEUs.

Karl works in the technical education department at Globe Fire Sprinkler Corporation where his primary duties consist of providing training, providing technical support, and representing Globe’s interests within the fire protection industry.  Karl holds a Professional Engineering license in the field of Fire Protection Engineering and is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering.  Over the last ten years Karl has held positions on NFPA 15, NFPA 24, and NFPA 750.  Karl continues to represent the sprinkler industry on NFPA 16, 101, 820, and 5000 and Underwriters Laboratory’s UL199 STP.

Attendance Fee includes Lunch but not Alcoholic Beverages:

$25.00 per Member.

$50.00 per Non-Member. If you wish to pay your dues, or join the chapter association, at the meeting ($325.00) you will receive a $25.00 credit towards your membership fee.

AHJs are welcome free of charge.

Schedule:

12:00pm - 1:30pm - AFSA PNW Chapter Meeting & Lunch

1:30pm - 2:00pm - Break

2:00pm - 3:00pm - Concealed Space Protection (0.1 CEU)

3:00pm - 4:00pm - Dry System Air Pressure: The High Road or the Low Road (0.1 CEU)

Lunch Menu:

Italian Beef - Slow Roasted Beef & Spicy Giardinera piled on a Hoagie and served wet. (GF/B)

Roasted Pork - Herb Roasted Pork, Provolone, & House Made Chimichurri on a Hoagie. (B)

The Viet Chop - Lemongrass Marinated Pork Loin, Scallion Oil, Thinly Sliced Cucumber, Pickled Daikon & Carrot, Cilantro, & Chicharrones on a Hoagie. (V/GF/B)

The Hoosier - Breaded & Fried Port Cutlet, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Sliced Onion, House Made Bread & Butter Pickles, & Lettuce on a Brioche Bun. Tomato upon request. (B)

The Fire Bird - Breaded & Fried Chicken Breast Tossed in Nashville Hot Oil, Mayonnaise, Lettuce, House Made Bread & Butter Pickles. (V/B)

V= Vegetarian Option; GF= Gluten Free Option; B= Bowl Option

Course Descriptions:

Concealed Space Protection - NFPA 13 requires that all combustible spaces greater than 6 inches in height be protected by sprinklers. However, standard spray sprinklers are not capable of developing adequate spray patterns to provide acceptable protection for spaces that are between 6 and 36 inches in height. For these spaces specially listed sprinklers that provide a more horizontal spray pattern that is capable of developing quickly are necessary. NFPA 13 acknowledges this and requires the use of sprinklers that has been specifically listed for combustible concealed spaces to be used in all spaces between 6 and 36 inches in height. The standard does not, however, provide any installation requirements for these sprinklers. In order to pass their rigorous testing requirements, these specially listed sprinklers that are used in combustible concealed spaces need to be installed in different configurations that typical spray sprinklers. The intent of this presentation is to provide guidance at to what types of spaces these sprinklers can protect and the different installation requirements for protecting each of these types of spaces to stay within these sprinklers’ listings.

Dry System Air Pressure: The High Road or the Low Road - Dry pipe valves have historically been differential style valves to allow a lower amount of system air pressure to hold back a larger amount of water pressure in the system supply. Traditionally, though this differential exists, dry sprinkler systems have always required a fairly significant amount of air pressure. With new technology developments, low pressure dry pilot actuators have allowed a lower amount of air pressure to hold back the water pressure in the system supply. With these developments the concept has been embraced that a lower air pressure system is better for fire protection. The idea being that lower air pressure in a dry pipe system will allow the air pressure in the system to evacuate quicker which will in turn allow the system to fill with water quicker and thus provide water to the fire quicker. However, this is not always the case. This presentation is intend to differentiate when and why it is more advantageous to maintain a higher system air pressure versus the use of low air pressure in the in the system.