I am looking at a warehouse that has 100 to 300 gallon plastic totes that are supported by a rack around each tote. This allows the totes to be stacked 3 high, for a height of approximately 16'. These totes are empty and in the process of being cleaned of any solution that may have been in them so they can be used by other customers. As I look in NFPA 13 (2007) at the definition of stable and unstable piles, it appears that these would be stable piles, requiring more water than unstable piles. If there is a fire in a lower tote, I am sure the fire might extend to a tote above, but due to the steel racks, they would not fall over. However, due to the openness of the racks, the water would be able to get to the bottom of the pile quickly, hence limiting it to the pile that is on fire. Would you classify these as stable piles? The difference is a .4/2500 for unstable versus .7/2500 for stable.
-- *Jay Stough* NICET IV LAYOUT NICET III ITM _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
