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Concept
Fire sprinkler system
Summary
A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection method, consisting of a water supply system providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, to which fire sprinklers are connected. Although initially used only in factories and large commercial buildings, systems for homes and small buildings are now available at a cost-effective price.
Fire sprinkler systems are extensively used worldwide, with over 40 million sprinkler heads fitted each year. Fire sprinkler systems are generally designed as a life saving system, but are not necessarily designed to protect the building. Of buildings completely protected by fire sprinkler systems, if a fire did initiate, it was controlled by the fire sprinklers alone in 96% of these cases.
Fire sprinkler
Leonardo da Vinci designed a sprinkler system in the 15th century. Leonardo automated his patron's kitchen with a super-oven and a system of conveyor belts. In a comedy of errors, everything went wrong during a huge banquet, and a fire broke out. "The sprinkler system worked all too well, causing a flood that washed away all the food and a good part of the kitchen."
Ambrose Godfrey created the first successful automated sprinkler system in 1723. He used gunpowder to release a tank of extinguishing fluid.
The world's first modern recognizable sprinkler system was installed in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the United Kingdom in 1812 by its architect, William Congreve, and was covered by patent No. 3606 dated the same year. The apparatus consisted of a cylindrical airtight reservoir of 400 hogsheads (c. 95,000 litres) fed by a water main which branched to all parts of the theatre. A series of smaller pipes fed from the distribution pipe were pierced with a series of holes which would pour water in the event of a fire.
Frederick Grinnell improved Henry S. Parmalee's design and in 1881 patented the automatic sprinkler that bears his name. He continued to improve the device and in 1890 invented the glass disc sprinkler, essentially the same as that in use today.
Official source
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