How to Calculate the Flow Rate of a Commercial Fire Sprinkler System

Sprinklers need a sufficiently high flow to effectively guard against fires.
••• Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

The flow rate through a commercial fire sprinkler system is the sum of the flow rates through its individual sprinklers. These individual flow rates, in turn, depend on the water pressure within them. Several factors affect how each sprinkler's pressure affects its flow rate. These factors include the dimensions of the sprinkler opening and details about frictional losses in the sprinkler line. Your manufacturer provides a "discharge coefficient" in the system's documentation that takes all these factors into account.

    Find the square root of the pressure at each individual sprinkler's discharge point. If, for instance, the pressure at each sprinkler is 15 pounds per square inch: 15 ^ 0.5 = 3.87.

    Multiply the result by the system's discharge coefficient. If, for instance, you have a fire sprinkler with a discharge coefficient of 6.2: 3.87 x 6.2 = 24 gallons per minute.

    Multiply this individual flow rate by the total number of sprinklers. If your system has, for instance, 15 sprinklers: 24 x 15 = 360 gallons per minute.

Related Articles

How to Calculate the Air Flow & the Static Pressure...
How to Calculate Stream Power
How to Simplify a Square Root on a TI-84 Calculator
What Is the Difference Between Conducted & Radiated...
How to Install a Flow Control Valve
Information on Ford 3000 Tractors
How to Stop a Fire Sprinkler
How to Calculate Fan Output
How to Calculate Orifice Size
How to Calculate Static Head
How to Design Compressed Air Systems
How To Calculate CFMs
How to Convert KPa to Liters Per Minute
What Is the Unit for Enthalpy?
How to Construct a Flood Frequency Curve
What Does "Invest" Mean With Tropical Weather?
How to Reset a TI-84 Calculator
Cub Cadet Model 1330 Specifications
How Is Solar or Photovoltaic Electricity Transported?
How to Figure GPM Water Flow on an Existing Chiller

Dont Go!

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!