Fire events occurring in a commercial oven warranted the installation of a special-hazard fire protection system.
A large-scale commercial oven for a global distributor had frequent fires occurring in the conveyor-stile oven. The difficulty was determining what fire event needed control via automatic means as opposed to manual control for business continuity.
A combination of lab testing and computational fluids dynamics (CFD) modeling through fire dynamics simulator (FDS) were performed in order to understand the threshold for a “go/no-go” activation on a fire suppression system proposed to be installed. Through modeling operating temperatures and ventilation of the oven, a heat release signature was able to be identified that signaled that a fire event of significant size was present, and that the system should activate.
The fire modeling approach determined the appropriateness of the fire suppression system and assisted in maintaining operating continuity by limiting false activations of the system.
Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
NFPA 20, Standard for Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection
NFPA 25, Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems.
NFPA 750, Standard on Water Mist Fire Protection Systems
