Mech
Fire Protection
Area of practice · Donald W. Parnell, PE
Fire-protection design within textile plant layouts, clean-room facilities, mid-rise commercial building MEP packages, and public school plan sets.
Industrial
Plant fire protection in textile facilities
Fire-protection design first entered Mr. Parnell’s work through the plant layouts at Burlington Industries in Greensboro, North Carolina. A textile plant is a high-fuel-load occupancy — fiber, lint, oils, and finished goods in large open halls — and the sprinkler coverage, standpipes, and hose stations had to be laid out with the loom and machinery arrangement so that heads cleared equipment and obstructions, coverage densities matched the hazard classification of each area, and water supply reached every part of the floor. Fire protection was carried on the plant layouts as one of the utility systems the machinery arrangement had to accommodate.
Clean Rooms
Fire protection in classified spaces
The clean-room facilities designed for the Orion spacecraft program at United Launch Alliance, described under HVAC, carried fire-protective components as part of their design. Fire protection in a clean room is constrained by the space itself: suppression must not contaminate the classified environment or the flight hardware in it, so pre-action sprinkler systems, clean-agent suppression, and detection matched to the airflow of the room are used in place of conventional wet-pipe coverage, and every penetration for piping and devices must be sealed to the same standard as the clean-room envelope.
Commercial Buildings
Fire protection within mid-rise MEP design
The mid-rise commercial building work at HagerSmith Design in Raleigh carried a great deal of fire-protection design within the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing package: sprinkler and standpipe systems and their risers, fire-pump and water-supply provisions, fire-alarm and detection devices, and the coordination of fire protection with the HVAC smoke-control and the building’s rated construction. On these projects fire protection was designed alongside the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems it shares chases, ceilings, and mechanical rooms with.
Public Schools
Fire protection in school plan sets
As a freelance CAD design assignment through RDU CAD Design, Mr. Parnell produced plan sets for 48 schools of the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh. The sets covered the architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire-protection systems of each facility, and fire protection in a school — sprinkler coverage, alarm and detection, egress-related devices, and coordination with the building’s fire-rated corridors and assembly spaces — was carried on every one. The architectural side of this assignment is described under Architectural.
About this record. This site is a working record of professional experience, maintained to verify subject-matter background. Areas of practice are reached from the menu above. The record is expanded as additional work history is documented.
Donald W. Parnell, PE | North Carolina PE No. 33878