Thermal responses of sprinkler heads

The paper reports the construction of a heated wind tunnel for studying thermal responses of sprinkler heads. The design of the tunnel is similar to the one developed at the Fire Research Station, United Kingdom. Two tests were carried out with it, a plunge and a ramp test, to investigate the thermal responses of a liquid-in-glass sprinkler head which is commonly used in Hong Kong. A brief review of the thermal response of sprinkler heads is presented. Experimental results are then reported and particularly, those giving comparative values for the different defined time constants of the sprinkler heads are discussed. The measured result on the thermal characteristics of a sprinkler head is found to be similar to those in the literature.