Jay, First as mentioned before, you need to know what was in these totes. That could take you out of NFPA 13 and into NFPA 30.
Are these totes closed or left open? You didn't state from which Table you got your design data. What is the building roof/ceiling height? At the very least these are considered a Group A Plastic. Totes are caged, it's not a rack. It's for rigidity of the unit. Craig L. Prahl Fire Protection Group Lead CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29303 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jay Stough Sent: Friday, October 31, 2014 11:20 AM To: Sprinkler Forum Subject: Plastic classification 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 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
