Volume 3 No.

Page 1

PRIEST & ASSOCIATES

CONSULTING, LLC

Volume 3
Number 2
Fall 2015

www.priestassociates.com
FROM OUR
VIEW

We are pleased to present the latest edition of our FIRESIDE Newsletter. We hope you find it useful and informative. As always, we stand ready to receive comments and suggestions of ways we might improve its
content or specific subjects to cover. What would you find interesting?

Industry Alerts!

SIGNIFICANT REVISION TO NFPA 285 CURRENTLY OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

See article in The Code Corner on Page 2

ISO TC92, SUBCOMMITTEE 2 ELECTS NOT TO WRITE A STANDARD ON FIBERGLASS GRATING

See ISO Fire Standards Update on Page 3

NEW COMPUTER CONTROL SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR FIRE RESISTANCE TEST FURNACE
CONTROL
See Did You Know? on Page 5

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www.priestassociates.com

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Building Materials Industry

1-877-505-7743 Office
210-410-8217 Mobile
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Volume 3 No. 2

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change would result in a significant amount of retesting without a valid technical justification for the
change or a demonstrated fire hazard or risk associated with the use of the current standard.

THE CODE CORNER

By Howard Stacy
howard.stacy@priestassociates.com
360-957-0311
Significant Revision to NFPA 285 is Currently
Open for Public Comment

NFPA 285 currently includes the statements Details

of the construction of the test specimen shall be in
accordance with the manufacturers instructions
(Section 5.7.2) and Where the test specimen contains vertical or horizontal joints or seams, joints or
seams representative of standard construction practices shall be incorporated into the test specimen
(Section 5.7.3). The commentary associated with this
(Section A.5.7.2) states that The construction of the
wall assembly should be typical of actual use.

At the March 2015 meeting of the NFPA Fire Test

Committee, a truly significant game-changing proposal was issued for the following change to the current NFPA 285 test standard.
"5.7.3* Where the test specimen contains vertical or
horizontal joints or seams, joints or seams representative of standard construction practices shall be
incorporated into the test specimen. At least one horizontal joint or seam shall be located between 1 ft
(305 mm) and 2 ft (610 mm) above the top of the window opening. At least one vertical joint or seam shall
extend upward from the center of the window opening."

In essence, the proposed change would deviate from

standard construction practices and mandate the
introduction of joints in the testing of systems not intended to employ such joints above an opening in the
wall where fire exposure from a compartment undergoing flashover would be expected. The mandate
for the specific location of horizontal and vertical joint
locations would void test reports and halt construction of these systems. With the limited number of test
facilities and the high test cost, this would pose an
undue burden on this segment of the construction
market.

The Fire Test Committee Statement accompanying

this proposal states that This establishes a worst
case exposure to the wall exposure components.
There is currently a public comment period open
which goes through November 16. During this period, interested parties may make comments prior to
the second committee ballot on the website
www.nfpa.org/285. It is important that affected stakeholders submit public comment regarding the difficulty that this proposal will create.

Perhaps of greater significance is the issue that this

proposal only seems to address joints in the exterior
cladding. The NFPA 285 test is triggered in the model
codes when combustible materials are used in the
exterior wall system (envelope) where noncombustible wall construction is required. A typical wall assembly can consist of (interior to exterior) interior
gypsum wallboard, framing, cavity insulation, exterior
sheathing, WRB, exterior insulation, WRB, air gap
and cladding. For each of these components, many
variables exist. For the cavity and exterior insulation,
this can include insulation type, thickness, and density. For the WRBs (or AVB), this can include the
huge array of manufacturers, types, and models
available. The same can be said of the interior and
exterior sheathing, stud gauge and depth, use of fire
stops, and the huge array of claddings (with or without air gaps) available in the market. This begs the
question: Would all joints and seams in the layers of
the wall assembly be required to conform to the proposed requirements?

If this proposal is accepted, the change to NFPA 285

will be included in the next edition of NFPA 285 (2017
Edition). This would most likely be adopted in the
2018 IBC.
The following statement from NFPA accompanies
this proposal: Previous tests conducted under older
editions of NFPA 285 would no longer be applicable
except in cases where a code continued to reference
previous edition/outdated information. Existing tests
without joints located as described above would not
be valid to show compliance with the code.
In the committee ballot, 4 negatives and 1 abstention
with comment were rendered by committee members having extensive experience with the development, implementation and use of fire test standards.
In essence, the votes centered on the issue that this

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In summary, we believe that a requirement such as

that presented in the proposed change would be better handled by the codes, rather than the test standard. At the absolute minimum, such a radical change
can only be made when a valid technical justification
is presented. As it stands, this proposed revision is
based on the perception of that which may represent
a worst case, without thoughtful consideration of
experimental data or real world applications.

FRTW in NFPA 285

Model code provisions clearly indicate that the exterior walls of buildings of Types I, II, III, and IV construction are required to be of noncombustible construction but allow combustible components to be utilized if the wall assembly has been tested successfully in accordance with NFPA 285. The model codes
also allow the use of fire-retardant-treated wood
framing in such walls. We have found that the stated
opinion of the NFPA Fire Test Committee is that
there is no need to test fire-retardant-treated wood
stud framed exterior walls in accordance with NFPA
285 to qualify them for use in the exterior walls of
buildings of Types I, II, III or IV construction.

NFPA 285 and the IBC

The scope of the NFPA 285 standard applies to nonbearing walls; the IBC does not differentiate between
bearing and nonbearing walls. All wall assemblies
with combustible materials intended for use where
noncombustible construction is required in Types I,
II, III and IV structures are affected. The 2015 IBC
includes several provisions where NFPA 285 testing
is specifically required:
Section 1403.5: For combustible water-resistive
barriers in buildings over 40 feet in height of Type
I, II, III, or IV construction.
Section 1407.10.4: Full-scale tests. The MCM
system shall be tested in accordance with, and
comply with, the acceptance criteria of NFPA 285.
Such testing shall be performed on the MCM system with the MCM in the maximum thickness intended for use.
Section 1409.10.4: For high-pressure decorative
exterior-grade compact laminates (HPL) exterior
wall coverings used on buildings of Type I, II, III,
and IV construction. Section 1409.11 of the IBC
provides alternate conditions that do not require
compliance with NFPA 285, such as using HPL
not higher than 40 feet and having a fire separation distance of more than 5 feet. If the fire separation distance is 5 feet or less, then only 10% of
the wall area can include HPL. These are new requirements in the 2012 IBC.
Section 2603.5.5: Exterior walls of buildings of
Type I, II, III, and IV construction of any height incorporating foam plastic insulation, except for
one-story sprinklered buildings.

THE STANDARDS BOX

By Javier Trevino
A new standard is being balloted within the ASTM
E5.21 Sub-Committee in which the ASTM E1623 radiant panel is used for a time to burn through procedure. The new standard can be used to measure the
time to burn through for planar products or assemblies. This new standard uses the ICAL radiant panel
but the measurement of heat and smoke release is
omitted. The intent of the test method is to measure
the time to burn-through of planar building products. Experience with this procedure indicated that
the finish rating of gypsum wallboard as measured
using optional thermocouples with this new procedure correlates well with ASTM E119 measurements thereby making this a useful tool for E119
screening tests or research for short fire resistance
time durations. In the new procedure, the heat flux is
fixed at 50 kW/m2 while in a fire resistance test, the
heat flux exposure is increasing. The correlation
works only if the heat load of the exposure is comparable.
ISO Fire Standards Update
By Deg Priest
Interest continues to grow for the development of a
fire test for evaluating FRP Grating when exposed to
a hydrocarbon fire heating curve, but the ISO
TC92/Subcommittee 2 Working Group considering it

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three parameters in the PID controller algorithm, the

operator can obtain control action which will rapidly
achieve the desired setpoint, minimizing overshoot
and oscillations around the setpoint, a process referred to as "hunting."

has decided that there is insufficient interest worldwide. Specific UK groups are quite interested, so it
was decided to leave the standard work to them.
Work continues on the following items:
A standard for evaluating the fire performance of
large LPG tanks.
An initial draft for a standard evaluating spray on
protection for steel beams with web openings has
been written.
A new work item on fire tests for fire curtains will
be initiated soon.
A new standard on horizontally oriented fire
doors and shutter assemblies is in the final ballot
stage.
A new work item on smoke leakage of perimeter
joint seals has been proposed.

Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) Control

A VFD is a device that controls the AC current to a
motor to allow the motor's speed to be controlled.
They can be manually set to a desired percentage of
input power, or can be controlled by an output signal
(e.g., 4-20 mA) from a computer. Both methods of
controlling a VFD are useful in their place.
1) ASTM E84 Blower Control
The E84 standard, during the calibration procedure, requires that when the inlet end shutter is
set at its operating position, the tunnel's blower
be capable of generating a negative pressure of
at least 0.15 inches WC. The most reliable
method of achieving this is to adjust the VFD until
the correct pressure is reached. This setting is
then set as the blower speed to maintain throughout all tests. This method is much easier than
attempting to change the blower's speed by
changing the size of the drive pulley. Also,
should the exhaust system characteristics
change, the blower speed can easily be adapted
to maintain the desired flow rate. (Note: the air
flow through the E84 tunnel is controlled to the
correct flow rate by a PID unit, controlling a
damper between the blower and the tunnel.)
2) ASTM E119 burner air supply blower control
The method that we at PAC use to control the
furnace interior temperature is to vary the air supply to the burners, and use a constant air:gas ratio regulator to sense the air pressure and supply
gas to the burner(s) accordingly. Once this system is set up, all the operator (or the computer)
needs to do to change the temperature inside the
furnace, is adjust the input signal to the VFD, thus
the amount of air the blower is sending to the

HOW IT WORKS
By Deg Priest
PID Control
PID controllers are used in many different kinds of
fire test equipment. The cone calorimeter (ASTM
E1354) and ICAL (ASTM E1626) both use one to
control the radiant heater at a specified temperature
setpoint (and heat flux). Some NFPA 285 facilities
use them to control fuel flow based on differential fuel
pressure across an orifice. Some ASTM E84 furnaces use PID to control a damper to maintain a specific negative pressure in the tunnel. Some E119 furnaces use PID controlled Variable Frequency Drive
(VFD) devices to control blower speeds.
A PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller
calculates an error, defined as the difference between a measured variable and its desired setpoint,
and attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the
process. The PID involves three separate constant
parameters: the proportional, the integral and the derivative values, called P, I and D. These values can
be interpreted in terms of time: P is proportional to
the present error, I to the accumulation of past errors,
and D is a prediction of future errors, based on the
current rate of change and difference between the
setpoint and process variable (i.e. temperature, pressure, etc.). The weighted sum of these three actions
is used to determine the necessary correction (e.g.,
the position of a control valve or damper, or current
in a heater circuit). By correctly setting (tuning) the

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degrees) to simulate actual thermocouples. The PID

algorithm uses the E119 curve as the setpoint at any
given time. The setpoint is corrected above/below
the E119 curve automatically to compensate for the
area under furnace curve % correction. In the real
Test mode, this feature is selectable (on/off). There
is also a Setpoint-Offset feature which the user can
adjust if the temperature is above or below the E119
curve, but not close enough. The simulator incorporates an overshoot protection feature so that if the
furnace temperature exceeds a user specified
amount, the burners are set to a user-specified %
amount. The simulator can run under Manual or Auto
Control just like the Test mode.

burners. This method has one major advantage

over setting a constant air flow and adjusting the
fuel to the burners, and that is in the case of rapid
burning of the test specimen, with the addition of
too much energy into the furnace. This results in
an over-temperature which cannot be controlled.
By turning the blower speed down, both the
burner fuel AND air input into the furnace are reduced, thus reducing the available oxygen present to burn the specimen, hence reducing uncontrolled burning of combustible materials.
DID YOU KNOW?
By Javier Trevino
210-601-0655

When under Manual control, the burner starts at the

last PID output setting used in Auto mode. The PID
output is graphed so that the user can move the
burner output near that value. The user can either
slide the burner output (Red dial on slider), or click
the Burner % Out button up/down (in 0.01 increments), or type in the desired setting. The operator
can click to Auto mode anytime.

We write in-house LabView software for various test

devices including the cone calorimeter (ASTM
E1354), all variations of the Steiner Tunnel (ASTM
E84, Can ULC S102, NFPA 262), and all variations
of fire resistance tests (ASTM E119, E814, UL 1709,
European curves, etc.). This article will describe our
Fire Resistance software with built in furnace simulator to practice or experiment with PID constants for
automated control. Our Software Graphical User Interface (GUI) is depicted below:

The program PID controller is always working in the

background. If you are near the curve while in Manual mode, the PID output should be close to the
burner output last used in Manual mode. The screen
below is a 14.5 minute simulation with proper settings.

The program has several pages. Beginning with the

Start Page, The program allows the user to select
Simulation or Test. The "Simulation" module incorporates a thermocouple simulator which has real thermocouple delays (5-7 min). The simulator runs at a
faster rate (milliseconds) than the E119 test (which,
in our software, samples data every 15 seconds) but
the time variables were made to simulate minutes so
that the PID controller can function properly. The
thermocouple output has programmed noise (a few

In real Test Mode, the program lists outputs from furnace probes and specimen thermocouple probes. If
a furnace probe is not working, the program shows a
green light indicating a bad thermocouple (Temp >
3000F). This gives the user a chance to fix and test
thermocouples while testing. The program automati-

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all thermocouple channels, furnace average, E119

curve, area under E119 curve, area under furnace
curve, and the % error as a function of time. The
graphics below illustrate actual E119 tests under the
manual control of an experienced furnace operator,
and using our software in Auto Mode (PID Control).

cally removes bad probes (temp >3000) from the furnace average, but if a TC is showing an erroneous
reading, the user can click the On/Off buttons for
each probe to turn probes off to remove them from
the average. During a test, the user can fix the problem, and turn the probe back on once the newly-inserted probe reaches temperature.

FURNACE UNDER MANUAL

CONTROL
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200

In the Furnace Controls Graphs page, one can use

auto (default) or manual by clicking the Auto On/Off
toggle switch.

0
0

10

15

20

E119Curve

25

30

35

40

35

40

FurnaceAvg

FURNACE UNDER
COMPUTER CONTROL
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600

There is an Area Corr? button that is normally off to

allow the user to let the program control for % Area
correction. The goal is to be as close to the curve as
possible (without overly high temperatures), and still
maintain the % area error as defined in the E119
standard.

400
200
0
0

10

15

E119Curve

During PID control, if the furnace temperature is not

close enough to the E119 curve (but still maintaining
% area correction), the user can enter a Setpoint Offset to make the furnace temperature rise or fall closer
to the E119 curve if desired.

20

25

30

FurnaceAvg

These curves are courtesy of Jack Davis and Jason

Bragg of the Owens Corning Fire Laboratory in Granville, Ohio. Priest & Associates built and commissioned the Owens Corning E119 furnace in March
2015 using the software described in this article. If
you are interested in learning more about our software services, contact us any time.

During a test, the program saves all data in a format

which can be read by Excel. The data saved includes

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WHO WE ARE

Deg Priest
President

Javier Trevino
Principal

Deg Priest has been

involved with fire testing of building materials since 1977. His
career spans a wide
range of product development, fire test
equipment design and
construction, attendance on consensus
standards setting organizations and P&L
management of fire
testing laboratories.

Howard Stacy
Principal

Javier Trevino has

been in the fire testing
industry for 22 years.
His expertise lies in
flammability
issues
(E84, NFPA 286,
NFPA 285, cones,
etc.). He is our expert
in fire modeling, computer programming,
and field work involving refurbishing and
commissioning of fire
test equipment such
as tunnels, cones, furnaces, HRR hoods.

Howard Stacy has

more than thirty five
years of experience
encompassing
a
broad range of fire
testing, product development, construction
litigation support and
3rd party certification
for the building products and construction
industries. Howard is
the Chairman of SC
E05.14 "External Fire
Exposures"
under
ASTM E5 committee
on Fire Standards.