Office Building- Fire Protection Systems Evaluation

This report is a Life Safety Code (LSC) and fire protection systems evaluation of an office building located in Colorado. This report covers the prescriptive analysis of the building, as well as the performance‐based aspect of the evaluation. The prescriptive analysis of this report includes assessment of the building code for structural design, means of egress, detection and notification systems, smoke control system, and the water‐ based fire suppression system for this building. The 2012 International Building Code (IBC) and the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 101 LSC were used for the prescriptive based evaluation and the building was determined to be compliant with the relevant code and referenced standards. The performance‐based assessment was conducted in accordance with strategies and processes from widely accepted literature in the Fire Protection industry. Two different fire scenarios were evaluated using FDS and SmokeView to show that the building is tenable during evacuation and that the occupants are not exposed to any undue risks. The fire scenarios consist of a fire in cubicle space that is prominent in the building, and the other is a fire that begins in a convenience store on the main floor that opens into the lobby. For the cubicle fire occupants needed 366 seconds to evacuate the floor. The first tenable limit to be reached in this fire was the temperature limit of 60°C and it reached that at 400 seconds into the simulation. The next criterion to be reached was the visibility limit of 4 meters and that was at 475 seconds into the simulation. There were no issues with the carbon monoxide concentration limit during this simulation. The convenience store fire was looked at from three points, the fire location in the small office/storage area, the store area, and the lobby area. Temperature and visibility criteria were quickly reached in the fire location but it is assumed that there are no personnel in that location at the time of the fire. Visibility was the first criterion to be reached within the store itself but was still 40 seconds beyond the required safe egress time for the store. It was determined that it would take a total of 158 seconds to evacuate the entire first floor. Both temperature and carbon monoxide criteria were never reached during the simulation in the lobby area. Visibility of 6 meters was reached at 250 seconds but this is well beyond the RSET of 158 seconds. Based on the prescriptive and performance‐based analysis of this building, there are no recommendations that need to be made. It could be worth considering an HVAC purge system to assist in the removal of smoke and toxic gases in the event of a fire but this is definitely not necessary. Another item to consider for this building is to install smoke or heat detectors in spaces that currently do not have them. By having detectors present in the areas where they are not existing and not required by code, it is possible to reduce the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) by early detection and therefore, early notification. Again, this is not something that is necessary based on the analysis of this building but could add another level of safety for the occupants

Automatic Circuit Recloser (ACR) communications using P25 RMU (Radio Modem Unit)

The current Ergon Energy telecommunications in the field for remote smart grid operations to its Automatic Circuit Reclosers (ACRs) uses public carriers such as Telstra mobile data services and Immarsat BGN network (Satellite). The operational cost of using Immarsat BGN network is very costly ($8 per Megabyte) so there is financial incentive to investigate the use of the P25 Radio Modem Unit (RMU) to provide communications to ACR using existing the Ergon Energy P25 Radio Network. This project aims to assess the capabilities of the P25 devices in the context of Ergon Energy’s operational requirements through both research and practical experimentation. The results will be used to identify and quantify (where possible) potential issues and make recommendations about any implementation. The main aim is to use P25 RMUs over the Ergon Energy P25 Radio Network for communications to ACRs by benchmarking against the existing NextG modems in use. Communications must be implemented for two serial ports on the ACR, one for SCADA and the other for engineering configuration access. The data and packet formats of the P25 communications protocol for both the SCADA DNP3 and engineering access connections have been documented. The operational requirements of the ACR SCADA and Remote Engineering connections have been identified. Following this a testbed was established and used to evaluate performance across a range of parameters. These were compared to the identified requirements. The P25 RMU testbed assessed performance against the benchmarks established for the existing NextG modem application used on ACR. The P25 RMU worked with limitations which are to be outlined in the report on findings and hence recommendations to further improve the performance

Cal Poly Engineering IV Building

This report analyzes the fire protection systems of Engineering IV building at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. It is a cumulative project of the Fire Protection Engineering Program at Cal Poly. The report consists of a prescriptive analysis and a performance-based design analysis. The building contains dry laboratories, classrooms, offices, and administrative spaces. The building is a three-story structure. There is an atrium that connects the first floor to the third floor. However, the building has a horizontal enclosure to separate the connection between the second floor and the third floor. The prescriptive analysis is based on the code standards and regulations, which includes five subsections: means of egress analysis, structure analysis, fire alarm analysis, and sprinkler system analysis. The means of egress analysis section determines the occupancy load of each floor, occupancy capacity based on the door/stair width factor, common path, travel distance, and dead-end corridors. The structural analysis determines height limitations, number of story limitations, and area limitations based on the construction type of this building. The fire alarm analysis discusses detection devices application, notification devices application, and battery calculations for the system. The sprinkler system analysis discusses water source information, water demand curve, and design area. Overall, the Engineering IV building meets the code requirements and standard regulations. The performance-based design establishes a computational fire dynamic simulation (FDS) to calculate the time to reach untenable conditions based on the assumed tenability criteria (smoke density, visibility, the temperature at 6 feet above the walking surface). The tenability criteria are referred from SFPE Handbook 5th edition. Pyrosim is utilized in the analysis to present a visual friendly output result and to determine the available safe egress time based on assumptions. Required safe egress time (RSET) is determined by an evacuation model (hand calculation) and the results are compared to ASET. Three design fire scenarios are selected in this report based on recommendations of NFPA 101, Chapter 5. The first design fire scenario is a typical office catching on fire. The consequence of the office fire is smoke spreading to a corridor which may cause occupants to get stuck in a corridor. The ASET for this design fire scenario is 385 seconds, which is greater than RSET. The second fire scenario is selected in the atrium. Smoke spread into a large open space may delay the time to detect the fire. As a result, it will raise the risk for occupants to evacuate the building within a safe time. The result shows that ASET is 355 seconds and RSET is 343 seconds. The last design fire scenario is in a lab with a large fuel load. In this report, it discusses the possibility of people getting stuck in the compartment and corridor. Based on the assumptions, the result indicates that ASET is greater than RSET. Therefore, all three design fire scenarios proves that the fire protection system design in this building is adequate for occupancy to evacuate before the time reaches untenable conditions. In one of the design fires, ASET is only slightly greater RSET and the safety factor is close to 1, which may challenge occupant’s life safety. But Stair 3 in the atrium may be used for means of egress at the beginning of the fire. Even though it is not designed for evacuation, it can decrease overall evacuation time by avoiding queuing on the second floor

Co-design of Security Aware Power System Distribution Architecture as Cyber Physical System

The modern smart grid would involve deep integration between measurement nodes, communication systems, artificial intelligence, power electronics and distributed resources. On one hand, this type of integration can dramatically improve the grid performance and efficiency, but on the other, it can also introduce new types of vulnerabilities to the grid. To obtain the best performance, while minimizing the risk of vulnerabilities, the physical power system must be designed as a security aware system. In this dissertation, an interoperability and communication framework for microgrid control and Cyber Physical system enhancements is designed and implemented taking into account cyber and physical security aspects. The proposed data-centric interoperability layer provides a common data bus and a resilient control network for seamless integration of distributed energy resources. In addition, a synchronized measurement network and advanced metering infrastructure were developed to provide real-time monitoring for active distribution networks. A hybrid hardware/software testbed environment was developed to represent the smart grid as a cyber-physical system through hardware and software in the loop simulation methods. In addition it provides a flexible interface for remote integration and experimentation of attack scenarios. The work in this dissertation utilizes communication technologies to enhance the performance of the DC microgrids and distribution networks by extending the application of the GPS synchronization to the DC Networks. GPS synchronization allows the operation of distributed DC-DC converters as an interleaved converters system. Along with the GPS synchronization, carrier extraction synchronization technique was developed to improve the system’s security and reliability in the case of GPS signal spoofing or jamming. To improve the integration of the microgrid with the utility system, new synchronization and islanding detection algorithms were developed. The developed algorithms overcome the problem of SCADA and PMU based islanding detection methods such as communication failure and frequency stability. In addition, a real-time energy management system with online optimization was developed to manage the energy resources within the microgrid. The security and privacy were also addressed in both the cyber and physical levels. For the physical design, two techniques were developed to address the physical privacy issues by changing the current and electromagnetic signature. For the cyber level, a security mechanism for IEC 61850 GOOSE messages was developed to address the security shortcomings in the standard

Future benefits and applications of intelligent on-board processing to VSAT services

The trends and roles of VSAT services in the year 2010 time frame are examined based on an overall network and service model for that period. An estimate of the VSAT traffic is then made and the service and general network requirements are identified. In order to accommodate these traffic needs, four satellite VSAT architectures based on the use of fixed or scanning multibeam antennas in conjunction with IF switching or onboard regeneration and baseband processing are suggested. The performance of each of these architectures is assessed and the key enabling technologies are identified

Fact or Phallus? Considering the Constitutionality of Texas\u27s Cyber-Flashing Law Under the True Threat Doctrine

As societal reliance on digital and online communication continues to grow, courts are grappling with how best to provide legal recourse for novel, technology-related issues while still protecting American citizens’ First Amendment right to free speech. The State of Texas recently enacted Penal Code section 21.19, which criminalizes the transmission of unsolicited sexually explicit images to another person—or as it is commonly known, “cyber-flashing.” Cyber-flashing occurs through digital and online platforms, including text messages, apps, and social media. Section 21.19 is one of the first statutes of its kind in the United States. In the age of “dick pics,” this law has emerged at a crucial time in an evolving social and technological world. While section 21.19 has ample support, critics argue that it is ultimately unconstitutional. Proponents argue that it combats sexual harassment and the “growing problem of aggressive and unsolicited sexual communication online.” Additionally, many victims view cyber-flashing as a threatening and intimidating form of sexual violence. This fact is legally significant, in that the First Amendment’s true threat doctrine allows governmental regulation of speech that places individuals in fear of harm. This Article argues that section 21.19 is constitutional under the true threat doctrine and, alternatively, proposes a possible solution for Texas to ensure the statute’s compliance with First Amendment free speech protections

Design study of general aviation collision avoidance system

The selection and design of a time/frequency collision avoidance system for use in general aviation aircraft is discussed. The modifications to airline transport collision avoidance equipment which were made to produce the simpler general aviation system are described. The threat determination capabilities and operating principles of the general aviation system are illustrated