HI-FOG® for buildings

Technical introduction

© Jussi Tiainen

Protecting people, property and business continuity

Contents
Introduction to HI-FOG®...........................................3

How HI-FOG® fights fire............................................4

Principles of HI-FOG® system design.....................6

System types..............................................................7

HI-FOG® system description....................................8

Water supply..............................................................9
Pump units..................................................................9
Tubing network.........................................................10
Section valves..........................................................12
Sprinkler and spray heads.......................................12

Appendix: Sample system configurations...........14

 Introduction to HI-FOG®

HI-FOG® is the trade name of the high- story buildings, water leakage from a HI-FOG® is the result of unceasing and
pressure water mist fire protection sys- discharge in upper stories only makes relentless research and development.
tem developed and manufactured by the situation worse. HI-FOG® has been tested in more full-
Marioff. The HI-FOG® Water Mist Fire scale fire tests than any other water mist
Protection System uses extremely small The exceptional performance of HI-FOG® fire protection system and ranks among
amounts of pure water to control, sup- helps ensure water use is kept to a the most widely certified.
press or extinguish fires. minimum. In demonstrations compar-
ing HI-FOG® traditional sprinklers, High-pressure water mist systems as ex-
Traditional sprinkler systems employ HI-FOG® used nearly ten times less wa- emplified by HI-FOG® are a major step
wetting as the fire fighting mechanism, ter to bring the fire under control – 470 l forward in water-based fire protection.
and therefore require very large amounts (119 gal.) compared to 5000 l (1321gal.). The number of application areas, test
of water. HI-FOG® uses water much standards and performance criteria,
more efficiently, up to 90% less than a Tested and approved type approvals, and market acceptance
traditional sprinkler system, while deliv- The fire fighting performance of any in the form of customer references are
ering equivalent or better performance water mist system is dependent upon growing at an accelerating rate.
for the same application. many factors. Therefore, any system
should undergo full-scale fire testing as HI-FOG® can be used to fight both solid
The potential damage and risk to life part of an approval process based on a and liquid fires. There are very few fire
posed by a fire are clear and well under- commonly accepted set of performance risks which cannot be protected against.
stood. The potential damage caused by criteria. Water-based fire fighting systems cannot
a water-based fire fighting system, how- be used to fight liquid metal fires or to
ever, is often underestimated. In multi- protect materials which react adversely
when combined with water.

VdS OH2
Approval FM LH FM LH VdS OH1 VdS OH1 VdS OH3 IMO
Parking garage

HI-FOG® HI-FOG® HI-FOG® HI-FOG® HI-FOG® HI-FOG® HI-FOG®

Technology

(M)SPU GPU (M)SPU GPU (M)SPU (M)SPU (M)SPU

11m (36ft)
Max room height 5m (16ft) 5m (16ft) 4m (13ft) 4m (13ft) 3m (10ft) 5m (16ft)
6600m3
volume unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited
(233077ft3)

Hotels
APPLICATION

Data Centers *
Heritage buildings

High rise buildings

Hospitals

* For power generator spaces.

Protecting people, property and business continuity 3

 How HI-FOG

Fire is a process which involves a chemical • Fuel: solid (Class A), liquid (Class B) or gas-phase
reaction between a combustible fuel and • Oxygen
oxygen. The four prerequisites for this • Heat
process to be sustained: • Uninterrupted chemical reaction

The size of a fire is described by its heat fixed system’s role typically consists of
release rate, measured in Watts (W). A controlling or suppressing the fire until • Control
flaming fire that can be approached with it is extinguished manually such that re- Limitation of fire size, decrease of
a hand-held extinguisher typically has a ignition cannot occur. heat release rate and prevention of
heat release rate of under 1 Megawatt structural damage
(MW). As a rule of thumb, one square The three different fire-fighting terms
metre of visible flame corresponds to used to describe the objective of a fire • Suppress
1 MW of fire. A fire is becoming serious fighting system. These terms describe Sharp reduction in rate of heat
when it reaches 5 MW. different results and should be used release and prevention of re-growth
carefully and precisely when describing
• Extinguish
At least one of the four prerequisites for the performance of fixed fire fighting
Complete suppression until there
sustained burning must be eliminated systems.
are no burning combustibles
to extinguish a fire. It is rarely possible
to remove the combustible fuel, but the Manual intervention is always required
Source: NFPA 750 standard on water mist
remaining prerequisites can be affected to completely extinguish a fire when
fire protection systems, 2010 edition
by different fire fighting agents. suppression and/or control systems are
in used.
Fires can be fought manually or with
the aid of fixed fire fighting systems. A

4 Protecting people, property and business continuity

G® fights fire

Water mist as a fire fighting agent ter into tiny droplets, resulting in high A fine mist of potable water is dis-
Water is the oldest, most widely used and evaporation which leads to more effi- charged through specially designed
the most widely available fire fighting cient cooling and inerting. HI-FOG® sprinkler and spray heads. The
agent in the world. It has superior fire water mist is discharged at high velocity
fighting capabilities over a wider range Therefore, a lot less water is needed by high-pressure pumps, quickly pen-
of applications compared to other avail- by a HI-FOG® system to achieve the etrating a fire while cooling the space. It
able fire fighting agents while remaining same performance as traditional water blocks the radiant heat, preventing the
non-toxic and environmentally friendly. sprinkler systems. HI-FOG® also has fire from spreading.
Water fights fire with three mechanisms: the added benefit of protecting the sur-
roundings from radiant heat. Depending on the application, HI-FOG®
• Cooling: when water turns into
is designed to extinguish fire (typically
vapour, it absorbs more heat than any
Small droplets as such do not guaran- flammable liquid fires) or suppress and
other fire fighting agent
tee effective fire fighting. They need to control fire (solid fuel fires). HI-FOG® is
• Inerting: when water evaporates, its penetrate the outward flows of flame a high-pressure water mist system that
volume expands over 1,700 times, produced by the fire. The effectiveness is powered by constant-pressure electric
displacing oxygen locally of a water mist system is determined by or diesel pumps, or by pressurized gas.

• Blocking: when in the form of water HI-FOG® water mist’s range of pen-
mist, the radiant heat is blocked • Droplet size
etration may be up to 8 m (26.3 ft)
• Number of droplets horizontally under normal conditions;
The evaporation rate of water depends even greater distances may be reached
on surface area: water in a bucket evap- • Droplet penetration into the fire vertically. The good range of penetration
orates much more slowly than water means HI-FOG® water mist can spread
spread out on a floor. The surface area The combination of these properties is quickly throughout a space, to some ex-
can be greatly increased by turning wa- entirely system-specific. tent even past obstacles.

HI-FOG®’s fire fighting capabilities The extremely high cooling, inerting

All water mist systems are unique. The and radiant heat blocking efficiency
fire fighting capabilities of HI-FOG® of HI-FOG® means it is a very fast act-
described here cannot be generalised to ing system. Temperatures around the
other solutions. fire drop abruptly within seconds after
discharge. A dense cloud of water mist
quickly envelopes the fire, blocking radi-
ant heat. Structures adjacent to the fire
are well protected, even when the fire is
still burning.

Protecting people, property and business continuity 5

 Principles of HI-FO

Great performance and flexibility

mean HI-FOG® can protect an
entire building.

CLUBs US lH

REsTAURANTs EUR OH1

KITCHENs EUR OH1 / US OH1 REsTAURANT sEATING AREAs US lH
REsTAURANT sERVICE AREAs US OH1

HOTEL, HOsPITAL EUR OH1 / US lH

REsIdENTIAL EUR OH1 / US lH

OffICEs EUR OH1 / US lH LIBRARIEs (ExclUding bOOk

StORES and laRgE Stack
ROOmS) EUR OH1 / US lH
LAUNdRIEs EUR OH2 / US OH1

PUMP UNIT

CAR PARK EUR OH2

AUTOMOBILE PARKING US OH1

6 Protecting people, property and business continuity

OG® system design

Water mist systems are designed on a Wherever possible, HI-FOG® systems are designs must be approved by local fire
performance basis. A water mist system designed in accordance with Marioff’s officials or authorities.
should never be designed using one sup- comprehensive range of approvals. In
plier’s system and another supplier’s test other cases they are designed on a pro- HI-FOG® system for a building is com-
results. The complete system offering ject-by-project basis according to results pliant with the NFPA 750 Standard on
should be fully fire-tested for the given from fire tests supervised and witnessed Water Mist Fire Protection Systems
application. by third parties. In most cases, system when the standard is applicable.

System types
HI-FOG® offers great flexibility: different tubes, valves and nozzles can be selected depending on the application and fire risk. A
HI-FOG® system can be a single configuration or a mixture of several configurations. In an office building, for example, the main
configuration could be a wet pipe system with a pre-action system configuration protecting the computer server room and a
deluge type system protecting back-up generators. All configurations would be fed by the same pump unit.

Wet pipe system Deluge systems are typically used for Pre-action system
A wet pipe system normally has closed, protecting machinery spaces because A pre-action system is very similar to dry
heat-activated sprinkler heads. The ac- they provide full, homogeneous protec- pipe except that it is connected to a fire
tivation bulb bursts when the ambient tion throughout the space. detection system. Typically, a pre-action
temperature at the sprinkler head ex- system valve requires both a sprinkler
ceeds the prescribed rating. Water mist Dry pipe system bulb to break and an activation signal
is discharge from that particular sprin- A dry pipe system operates in much the from an independent fire detection sys-
kler head. same way as a wet pipe system, but the tem before it opens.
valve keeps the water on the pump side
Wet pipe systems are the most common of the tubing in normal operation. The This type of system usually protects are-
type of system because they are the most tubes from the valve to the sprinklers as where the risk of accidental discharge
economical for medium-size and large are filled with compressed air, which is needs to be minimized. Pre-action sys-
areas that need to be protected against monitored. tems are ideal for buildings such as large
normal fire hazards. They also have the data centres and museums.
benefit of only discharging at the point The monitoring switch detects the loss
of detection. of air pressure when a sprinkler bulb Hydrant
beaks and opens the section valve. Water A manually operated hydrant can be
Deluge system fills the tubes to the sprinklers and water connected to HI-FOG® systems using
A deluge system normally has open mist is discharged from the activated single fluid pump units.
spray heads. The water flow is usually sprinklers.
controlled by a closed-type valve. When
a section valve is opened –manually or This type of system is typically used
by a detection system – water mist is dis- when the protected area is subject to
charged from all the spray heads in the freezing.
area controlled by that valve.

Protecting people, property and business continuity 7

 HI-FOG® syste

A typical HI-FOG® system The placement of HI-FOG® sprinkler and spray heads in a
comprises the following:
building is decided according to the system design guidelines,
• Water supply
application-specific fire tests, local fire regulations and the
• High-pressure pumps or building’s technical requirements. A control system, hydrants,
accumulators
panels, release devices, compressors and other equipment can
• Tubing network
be added as required.
• Section and/or machinery valves

• Sprinkler and/or spray heads

8 Protecting people, property and business continuity

em description

Water supply Pump units

The water supply for HI-FOG® pump HI-FOG® systems for buildings typi-
units is always kept separate from the cally use one of the following pump unit
pump units. The water supply may be a types: gas-driven pump unit (GPU), elec-
mains feed or a water tank that can be tric pump unit (SPU), modular electric
dedicated to the water mist system or pump unit (MSPU), or a diesel pump
shared with other systems. With some unit (DPU).
pump unit types, a water inlet pressure
of 2 bar is needed, so a feed water pump The GPU does not need external power
is add to the inlet water. for operation because it is driven by gas,
using either air or nitrogen. It is typi-
The size of the water tank depends on cally used for low hazard areas and ma-
the application, local requirements and chinery spaces. The GPU uses very little GPU
the pump unit type. The size of the tank water to fight fires and is therefore a very
will typically be 3-9 m3 (177-318 ft3) for a popular choice for heritage buildings,
gas-driven pump unit and 20-40 m3 (706- hotels, and large data centres.
1413 ft3) for an electric pump unit.
The SPU is suitable for almost any appli-
Filters are used in all HI-FOG® pump cation. It is comes in a range of sizes and
units to ensure the quality of the water. configurations. For larger installations a
Maintaining water quality helps ensure number of SPUs can be joined together.
reliable operation and long system life. The MSPU is a modular version of the

Minimum space for pump unit including

servicing space (mm / in)
Pump unit type
Length Width Height

GPU Integrated 7+7+6W 3000 / 120 2000 / 80

MSPU
GPU Module 1100 / 45 900 / 35
2300 / 90
Cylinders 4+4 1200 / 50
1500 / 60
Cylinders 6+6 1800 / 70

MSPU 3 2300 / 90 2000 / 80 2200 / 90

MSPU 4 3800 / 150 2800 / 110 2000 / 80

SPU2 1716 / 70
1475 / 60
SPU3
2200 / 90
SPU4 2500 / 100

SPU5 2200 / 90
2241 / 90
SPU6

DPU400 2800 / 110 3600 / 140 2500 / 100 SPU

Protecting people, property and business continuity 9

 Example of
HI-FOG® tubing
design.

Tubing network
SPU. It can be carried through tight All of the tubes in the high-pressure
spaces in parts and then assembled in parts of a HI-FOG® system are made of
the final installation space. stainless steel. High-pressure fittings are
also supplied by Marioff for completing
The DPU unit can also be used for al- the tubing network and mounting the
most any application and comes in sev- sprinkler or spray heads.
eral different sizes and configurations.
The DPU400 will often be used instead HI-FOG® tubes are very small compared
of an SPU when power is insufficient. to traditional sprinkler system pipes.
They are bent into shape onsite, enabling
discrete installation in tight spaces – a
particular benefit at heritage sites. Con-
nections for the high-pressure tubing are
made using cutting rings for tube sizes
up to 38 mm (1.5 in) in diameter; flare
fittings are used for tubes larger than 38
Pipe diameter (mm / in) Bending radius (mm / in) Usage mm (1.5 in) in diameter. All tubes and
fittings are rated for high pressure and
12 / 0.5 30 / 1.2 Branch burst-tested to at least four times the
maximum operating pressure. During
25 / 1.0 63 / 2.5 Main distribution commissioning, the high-pressure tub-
30 / 1.2 75 / 3.0 Main riser ing is submitted to a pressure test fol-
lowing NFPA 750 guidelines to ensure
38 / 1.5 95 / 3.7 Main riser correct and leak-free installation.
60 / 2.4 150 / 5.9 Mega system riser
The HI-FOG® tubing network is some-
what different from traditional sprinkler
The HI-FOG® tube sizes are selected according to hydraulic calculations based on the piping. HI-FOG® systems are usually de-
Darcy-Weisbach calculation method as required by the NFPA 750 Standard on Water signed around a main supply tube from
Mist Fire Protection Systems. which smaller tubes branch off with their
own section valve. The nozzles are fed
At the end of each main tubing zone a closed, manually- operated ball valve is normally by 12 mm (0.5 in) tubes coming off the
installed for flushing the system as needed – especially if the system is a wet-pipe branch tube. Typically about two-thirds
system. of the tubing network is composed of 12
mm (0.5 in) tubing.

10 Protecting people, property and business continuity

12 mm

25 mm

30 mm

38 mm

60 mm

HI-FOG® stainless steel tubes: shown actual size

Protecting people, property and business continuity 11

Section valves ratings for the bulbs are 57°C (135°F), In addition, there are a number of ap-
HI-FOG® section valves can be open or 68°C (155°F), 79°C (175°F), 93°C (200°F) plication-specific HI-FOG® spray heads.
closed-type valves. Open-type valves are and 141°C (286°F). The sprinkler bulbs These are typically used in places where
used in wet pipe systems and closed-type have a super-fast Response Time Index air flow cannot be restricted (such as
for other configurations. (RTI) rating of 22(ms)½. ducts and chimneys) or where there are
special requirements for mounting or
Section valves come in different sizes to HI-FOG® sprinkler heads have the added nozzle construction.
handle different flows. They can be oper- benefit of a unique assembly body that
ated manually, electrically, and hydrauli- greatly eases maintenance. The design, HI-FOG® sprinkler and spray heads can
cally, or combinations thereof. Section patented by Marioff enables faster main- be installed in very tight spaces thanks
valves can also be fitted with flow indica- tenance through the use of a local valve. to the small diameter of the HI-FOG®
tors so that flow can be monitored. Instead of emptying the tubing network, system tubing. A wide range of surface-
the valve can simply be close to service mounted assembly bodies is available.
Normally, open-type section valves for or replace the sprinkler head.
wet pipe systems are only closed to stop
a discharge or to carry out maintenance.
They will usually be operated manually.

Section valves are typically located out-

side of the protected area, either adja-
cent to the exit or in a central location.

Sprinkler and spray heads Patented check valve

HI-FOG® sprinkler heads are closed makes maintenance
nozzles. They are equipped with heat- procedures fast and
activated glass bulbs that hold back sys- simple.
tem pressure. HI-FOG® spray heads are
open nozzles without any type of heat-
activated bulbs.

A wide range of HI-FOG® sprinkler and

spray heads are available, each designed
for a different application and type of fire
hazard according to parameters such as
ambient temperature, ceiling height,
ceiling/wall/floor mounting, pump unit
type, ambient pollution level and so
on. The selection of HI-FOG® sprinkler
heads or spray heads is based on the ap-
plication and the fire tests and approvals
for that application.

The heat-activated HI-FOG® sprinkler

heads are typically selected according to
occupancy and the temperature at which
activation is to occur. The temperature

12 Protecting people, property and business continuity

 HI-FOG® 2000 -series nozzles

HI-FOG® 1000 -series nozzles

HI-FOG® spray heads Special nozzles

Protecting people, property and business continuity 13

14 Protecting people, property and business continuity
Protecting people, property and business continuity 15
 2400E-EN © 2011 Marioff Corporation Oy

Information on Marioff group companies, agents/distributors and references can be found at

www.marioff.com.
Head Office
Marioff Corporation Oy Marioff Corporation Oy reserves the right to change or modify the information given in this brochure, including
P.O.Box 86, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland technical details, without notice. HI-FOG® and Marioff® are registered trademarks of Marioff Corporation Oy.
Marioff is a UTC Fire & Security company.
Tel. +358 (0)10 6880 000
Fax +358 (0)10 6880 010 All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this document without the express written permission of
Email: info@marioff.fi Marioff Corporation Oy is prohibited.