- Author
- Cooper, L. Y. | Harkleroad, M. F. | Quintiere, J. G. | Rinkinen, W. J.
- Title
- Experimental Study of Upper Hot Layer Stratification in Full-Scale Multiroom Fire Scenarios.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 104, 741-749, November 1982
- Report
- ASME 81-HT-9,
- Book or Conf
- American Society of Mechanical Enineers. 20th Joint ASME/AIChE National Heat Transfer Conference. August 2-5, 1981, Milwaukee, WI, 1-12 p., 1982
- Keywords
- smoke | multiroom fires | stratification | large scale fire tests | smoke filling
- Abstract
- This paper describes an experimental study of the dynamics of smoke filling in realistic, full-scale, multiroom fire scenarios. A major objective of the study was to generate an experimental data base for use in the verification of mathematical fire simulation models. The test space involved 2 or 3 rooms, connected by open doorways. During the course of the study the areas were partitioned to yield four different configurations. One of the rooms was a burn room containing a methane burner which produced either a constant energy release rate of 25, 100, or 225 kW or a time-varying energy release rate which increased linearly with time from zero at ignition to 300 kW in 10 min. An artificial smoke source near the ceiling of the burn room provided a means for visualizing the descent of the hot layer and the dynamics of the smoke filling process in the various spaces. The development of the hot stratified layers in the various spaces was monitored by vertical arrays of thermocouples and photometers. A layer interface was identified and its position as a function of time was determined. An analysis and discussion of these results are presented.