An Experimental Study on Droplet Size according to Discharge Coefficient of Sprinkler Head

The sprinkler system is a basic fire extinguishing system that uses water as an extinguishing agent. In order to evaluate the fire extinguishing performance of the sprinkler system, information such as the discharge angle, discharge speed, discharge pressure, flow rate, and water droplet size of the installed head are required. However, there is a lack of research on droplets size compared to other requirements. In this study, to evaluate the extinguishing characteristics of sprinkler system, the droplet size distribution was measured for various types of sprinkler heads actually used. The size of the droplet was measured using laser diffraction method. The 50% cumulative volume distribution ($D_{v50}$) according to discharge coefficient(K factor) was $540{\mu}m{\sim}695{\mu}m$ for K50, $542{\mu}m{\sim}1,192{\mu}m$ for K80, $980{\mu}m{\sim}1,223{\mu}m$ for K115 and $1,188{\mu}m{\sim}1,234{\mu}m$ for K202. Based on the measured results, the vaeiance of the droplet particle distribution and the distribution ($D_{v50}$) according to discharge coefficient(K factor) was $540{\mu}m{\sim}695{\mu}m$ for K50, $542{\mu}m{\sim}1,192{\mu}m$ for K80, $980{\mu}m{\sim}1,223{\mu}m$ for K115 and $1,188{\mu}m{\sim}1,234{\mu}m$ for K202. Based on the measured results, the vaeiance of the droplet particle distribution and the Rosin-Rammler index value are presented. As a result of the fire simulation with FDS, it was confirmed that the performance difference occurs according to the water droplet size distribution even when the same amount of water is used. Therefore, the extinguishing performance of the sprinkler system should be evaluated considering the droplet size distribution according to the sprinkler head type.

스프링클러 헤드의 방수상수에 따른 물방울 크기에 관한 실험적 연구