Brian, Saw your bio and here's some more info you may find interesting.
Mainly 4 types of sprinkler systems.
1) wet system- these are your typical office type sys.
Operation: pipes are always full of water,heads are thermal devices tripped by heat, only the affected head will release the water.
2) dry system- These are primarily found in areas that will be suseptable to freezing, load docks ,parking structures etc. (see other post)
3)Deluge system- this is an open pipe system, These are used in tank farms ,Aircraft hangers and the like, they are controlled by an electric solonoid that when triggerd by a detection device (heat,smoke,flame etc)releases the valve and the water (and sometimes assisted with foam) flows out ALL heads, to.... Deluge the area.
4) Pre-action- These are typical in areas that are sensitive, Elec/Data rms and such,areas that need confirmation of an event before release.
Operation:Closed pipe system,The pipes are filled with air (this is for pipe integrity supervision only).An electric solonoid is activated by a detection device (smoke, heat etc), releasing the valve and the system is "charged" with water, No water flow will occur in the space until a sprinkler head thermal is tripped (melts). This ensures or limits accidental discharge into the area.
Hope this helps. This is just the beginning, Fire suppresion is way cool, and there is a ton of concepts and products out there.
