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Fire Flow for Calibrator

A fire flow calibration consists of correlating and calibrating known "instantaneous" field test data, which consists of a fire flow test and random field pressures, with the Calibrator module.  In most master planning projects, this is a frequently used method for calibrating model results to field measurements.

During a fire flow calibration, you have the option of specifying two unique sets of information within Calibrator in order to correlate the model with known field data. Once the modeling parameters have been specified, you are able to run the calibration simulation, review results and then write those results to any respective data set.

Specifying Fire Flow Parameters

You can specify one or more groups in which a calibration is to be made.  Click on any of the links below to learn more about each tab and its purpose during a fire flow calibration.

  • Roughness Group  - This tab allows you to specify ranges for pipe roughness coefficients during the calibration simulation.

  • Fire Flow Measurement  - This tab allows you to specify fire flows and residual pressures at select fire flow nodes as well enter one or more pressure recording locations that may have been taken during a fire flow test.

Running a Fire Flow Calibration

To run the Fire Flow Test calibration, from the Run menu, select Start. The Run tab will now be displayed in which the number of iterations can be viewed. 

Viewing Results

Once a fire flow test calibration simulation has been performed, click on the Run Summary tab to review output results such as overall fitness convergence and the average difference in pressure measurement. 

Exporting Calibration Data

If you are satisfied with the fire flow test calibration simulation, results of the pipe roughness coefficients can be exported to the pipe hydraulic data set.  

Please Note: When running a Fire Flow calibration based on field data, it is recommended that you first run a standard fire flow analysis in order to compare the field data results with the with the model results before using the calibrator. If there is a large discrepancy between the observed field data and the simulated fire flow data or if the fire flow input data causes the hydraulic simulation to fail, the calibration may not be able to reach a satisfactory solution.

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