Analysis of the initial spray from canonical fire suppression nozzles

Abstract

The performance of a fire suppression spray is governed by injector discharge characteristics. An atomization model based on the theoretical evolution of a radially expanding sheet generated by an impinging jet has been established in this study. The atomization model predicts characteristic initial drop location, size, and velocity based on injector operating conditions and geometry. These model predictions have been compared with measured discharge characteristics from three nozzle configurations of increasing geometrical complexity over a range of operating conditions. Differences between the predicted and measured initial spray are critically evaluated based on the experimentally observed atomization behavior.