Fire Fighting Pipe Material

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1. Resistoflex: Pipe Dimensions & Liner Thickness
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5. Structural Lining - Nu Flow

You really need to dig out the end client's piping specifications and read them, Boss. This is not the sharp edge of technology.

Contact boiler manufacturer and ask them what type(characteristics) of water is recommended for their boiler. Then call 2 or 3 water treatment companies to take samples of water available at your site and give quotation to supply,install,test & commission a suitable water treatment facility.

Cunifer, (kunifer) Copper / Nickel 90/10 is (or was) pretty much standard for offshore and marine water firefighting systems. Seawater won't touch it. We are now seeing more GRE and other plastic pipes in use, last project I did the entire platform firewater sytem was plastic.

I assume it's going to be a dry deluge system, I would still go with Cunifer or plastic as you don't want to flush after every release. What is the mains delivery to the system made of?

I wouldn't touch the galvanised or the cement. You will damage the cement lining installing sprinklers and other fittings. Cunifer is the way to go imho.

Yes kunifer10 is another good option. Used it a lot on North Sea rigs in the 80s, on seawater filters for well injection (secondary recovery). At that time plastic pipe was a complete no-no on our work, don't know about firefighting pipework but I doubt it would have been accepted. Sounds like things have changed!

Don't know current thinking re plastic on refineries.

Most commercial and industrial sprinkler systems utilize black pipe. It is cheaper than most other types of pipe. Some systems, depending on the quality of the water, will rust and darken the water left standing in them for wet systems. The rust particles are not huge and will pass through a 1/2" nozzles. The thing that rusts the inside of the piping is the air entrapped in the water. That can be reduced by the design of the piping and a particular type of filling the piping and an inspectors valve. Flushing the system for inspectors tests should keep the rust situation well within useable limits. Instead of galvanized, the black pipe would be better. Despite the galvanizing this type of pipe will eventually reduce its i.d. with accumulations of oxidation and very difficult or impossible to flush out. For an outside installation the exterior of black pipe should be painted to reduce rusting from the atmosphere.

Stainless steel of schedule 40 would be a better alternative for maintenance but an expensive capital investment. Anything less than schd 40 will have to be clamped or welded so it would be labor intensive to install and repair if necessary. Brine would have very little effect on st stl although it would develop "worm hole" corrosion. This is similar to worm holes in wood but in the metal. This material would be far superior to black, galvanized and cement lined.

Cement lined pipe would not be suitable because of chunks of the lining coming loose and clogging heads. Also the volumes of water put through it will probably have rather high velocities and this will increase the shedding of the cement. With this it would be very difficult to pass an insurance inspector's test.

If it can be afforded put in sched 40 stn stl. If cost is too high put black pipe in. Don't put in galvanized since it will eventually accumulate to much products of oxidation and reduce the i.d. which reduces the flow to less than needed for the system. Don't put in cement lined because of the shedding of the cement.

The choice is yours. In the chemical manufacturing part of my career I always used black pipe for sprinkler systems. Much cheaper to install and maintain if properly flushed occasionally during the insurance inspector's tests. This included the manufacturing of some very nasty chemicals.

You didn't state what the operating pressure will be for this and must also be considered. Systems with fire pumps usually operate at 80 to 120psi. Likewise this pressure must be considered.

Good Luck, Old Salt

You said Stainless steel of schedule 40 would be a better alternative for maintenance but an expensive capital investment. Anything less than schd 40 will have to be clamped or welded so it would be labor intensive to install and repair if necessary.

Thinwall SS is less expensive to install than Sch 40, due to lower weight. Both need site cutting/welding, or can be prefabricated. Though thinwall needs more support, according to my quick calc, horizontal 100mm pipe about every 7m, vs 10m for Sch. 40 (limited by deflection, not stress).

100mm dia pipe with 1mm wall is OK for something like 30 bar (450 psi) which covers most cases I've come across. System pressure more likely to be limited by the flanges than the pipe.

Yes sch 10 is cheaper by about 2/3 the cost of Sch 40 but requires much more labor, fittings and labor. It also can not the take the abuses of a refinery or other land based chemical operations. Sch 40 offers better resistance to damage, fewer hangers needed.

Sch 10 must be welded and much of it would have to be TIG field welded, a costly method subject to the weather conditions. Sch 40 can either be threaded, welded or grooved. Each of these permits the majority of work to be worked on in a shop, much better conditions than in the field.

The lowest overall cost stainless stl method of installation is sch 40 with either rolled or cut grooves near the end of the pipe. This would be incorporated with a Victaulic type clamp and an EPDM gasket. http://www.victaulic.com/en/ Field work is reduced greatly, most welding and grooving is done in-house. The use of the clamps/gasket connectors is approved by the NFPA codes. Most of the flanges necessary with other methods are eliminated. The sch 40 pipe can also be threaded if necessary for threaded valves, etc. Many of the newer sprinkler system piping of 2" and greater diameter pipes are done this way. Much cheaper than welding and other methods.

Overall the least expensive and suitable method would be to use black pipe and a combination of threaded and clamped pipe fittings. Very seldom is St Stl used.

Good Luck, Old Salt

OP has not indicated that he is designing a sprinkler system. He is simply asking about a comparison of materials for a sprinkler (apparently deluge type) system for a unique situation. He could very well be comparing materials specified in a quote(s) or in the preliminary stages of considering what would be suitable for the system.

Codes or insurance rules are not applicable during the conceptual stages of a project. Also a sprinkler design engineer may have given the choice of several suitable materials and the OP wants help in determining which is best for this application. Of additional consideration is what country is this site in.

Good Luck, Old Salt

As indicated by Walt,(GA,by the way)the design of a sprinkler system should be done by a LICENSED PROFESSIONAL.

To do otherwise is a violation of most state's laws,in addition to code violation.

You can be held liable for financial damages resulting from illegal installation or

maintenance,as well as personal injury.

Seeking outside advice from unknown sources indicates that you are not qualified for

the job.

To advise you could be getting inside the liability loop,so my only advice to you is:

Don't play with fire.Hire a pro.

It's pretty hard to tell from here what you have, but here is what you SHOULD have.

Your system should be a dry pipe deluge system, activated by heat detectors (now the salt water problem goes away).

Pipe can be either black or galvanized, ASTM A-120, A-106, or A-53, Grade A, B, or C, depending on your ASTM selection.

I would recommend schedule 40 for industrial applications, and grooved fittings for ease of maintenance.

Waterspray nozzles should be used (not standard sprinkler heads).

All nozzles should be capped with plastic caps (these blow off when system discharges) to keep orifices from clogging.

Check the "Authority Having Jurisdiction". Check with the insurance carrier(s). The rules are written for this project. You just need to find them. Good luck.