Lueptow Fire Suppression

Fire Suppression

Laboratory for Applied Fluid Dynamics
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Fire sprinklers are key to suppressing fires in buildings. We are working with Underwriters Laboratories to characterize fire sprinkler spray distribution. UL has the worlds most advanced large-scale fire test facility located 9 miles from the Evanston campus. Tests recently conducted include: small scale suppression testing, large scale spray interaction tests, and laser-based sprinkler droplet measurements.

Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements of
Fire Sprinkler Spray (the sprinkler is in the upper left corner of the image)

Small scale suppression tests

"Understanding Sprinkler Sprays: Trajectory Analysis", Sheppard, D, Gandhi, P, and Lueptow, RM, Fire Suppression and Detection Research Application Symposium, February 2000.
"Non-intrusive measurements in fire sprinkler sprays," Widmann, JF, Sheppard, D, and Lueptow, RM, Fire Technology, to appear 2002.
"Comparison of industrial fire simulator to experimental results," Sheppard, D, Lueptow, RM, 3^rd International Conference on Fire Research and Engineering, October 1999, Chicago, IL.

Funded by NIST