• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2016

In this study, to determine whether it is possible to apply Polyethylene (PE) compound pipe, which was developed to solve the problem caused by the corrosion of the fire protection piping currently in usein water based fire extinguishing systems, we performed an actual mockup fire test. Since no test standard was available related to the developed compound pipe, we compared and analyzed domestic and international technical materials and test standards and selected suitable fire test standards to evaluate the performance of the PE compound pipe. we applied two fire test standards to the PE compound pipe, viz. those for CPVC and metallic pipes, and conducted a total of 6 experiments to evaluate its performance. According to the results of the first and second fire tests based on the test standard for the CPVC pipe, neither the fitting nor the piping was damaged or deformed and no leakage was observed in the pressure test, which was performed for 5 minutes. For the fire test based on the metallic pipe test standard, a total of 4 experiments were conducted. The first two experiments were conducted to simulate the wet piping system. In the results of this fire test, neither leakage nor rupture was observed from the PE compound pipe and no damage was caused, such as the secession of the PE material. However, in the next two experiments, which simulated the dry system, the PE compound pipe suffered damage and rupture, including deformation before the fire fighting water was discharged. Therefore, we found that the piping performance of the PE compound pipe did not undergo any deterioration, including fusion, deformation, or damage, in the wet piping system simulated fire test.