Reference no: EM133264304

Project: Performance-based design of the new fire lab

In this project you will need to bring together the different skills learnt in the course to design the fire safety systems for a new fire engineering laboratory for the University. The lab area and project are real but the specifications have been adjusted to be suitable for this project. You have intentionally been given an unusual system such that you have to apply principles. Do not focus on code details but rather seek to develop a fire safe system based on first principles. Also, cost can be considered a secondary concern and you should rather design a safe building (don't you wish your clients always said that?).

You have been brought in as an independent consultant on the construction of the new fire lab within an existing warehouse area. The lab will be used for the coming decades for specialist research and development work. The exact systems tested will vary over the years, and also the number of researchers active in the area. Hence, the level of uncertainty is high and you will need to provide a robust system suitable for an academic institution. See the attached layouts with details. The lab is approximately 28m x 11.5m and has elevated walkways for viewing experiments and setting up research equipment. The maximum roof height is about 13.4m (i.e. a 4 storey building). A separate staircase serves as access to the walkways. The lab will be expanded over the years and your systems need to be flexible. However, you do not need to design for any significant changes.

Adjacent to the lab is: (a) West and South - Roadway, (b) North - hydraulics lab which can be assumed to be a safe area and have firewalls between it and the fire lab, (c) West - HVAC area for the Faculty of Engineering which also has firewalls.

Your design will focus on the large-scale fire experiment area, but needs to address the entire lab. The maximum design fire for large-scale experiments will be:

1. A façade test to BS/SANS 8414

You will need to find some data in the literature to define the HRR you apply.

In addition to the large-scale burn area there are two specific pieces of equipment that you must include, and were viewed at the site visits during the course:

- Standard fire test furnace as per Ignis Testing. This includes 2 No. 300 kW diesel burners.
- Cone calorimeter setup:

This is an electrical item that is powered by one single phase 60A plug and cable.

You are required to carry out the following:

1) Explain how you would follow the performance-based design procedures for this project and what information you would need. Then, assume you have followed this process and state what was found in terms of the information required to carry out your design (make-up sensible feedback from the client (university) and other parties as needed).

Attachment:- Project - FireSUN Lab.rar