K-factor (fire protection)


In fire protection engineering, the K-factor formula is used to calculate the discharge rate from a nozzle. Spray Nozzles can be fire sprinklers or water mist nozzles, hose reel nozzles, water monitors and deluge fire system nozzles.
K-Factors calculated in Metric units;
The flow rate of a nozzle is given by, where q is the flow rate in litres per minute, p is the pressure at the nozzle in Bar and K is the K-factor is given in units of.
K-Factors have also been calculated and published in US units of PSI and GPM. Within the United States, only US measurements are used.
Care should be exercised not to intermix K-factors from Metric and Imperial/US units as the resulting factors are not equivalent or interchangeable.