Thermal response of sprinklers part II. Characteristics and test methods

This paper presents an introduction to the measurement of the thermal response characteristics of sprinklers and aspects of testing which are relevant to performance requirements for specific applications, e.g., for life safety and for protecting high-rack storage. Comparisons are made between test results and ranking orders derived from two methods; the ‘rate-of-rise’ test developed in the U.K. and the ‘plunge’ test as developed in the U.S.A. This paper describes the background to both tests and presents explanations for the differences in the results obtained from each method. The rate-of-rise test is suggested for sprinkler classification; the plunge test for measuring consistency in operation.