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Author
Klote, J. H. | Forney, G. P. | Davis, W. D. | Bukowski, R. W.
Title
Simulating the Effects of HVAC Induced Air Flow From Slot Diffusers on Detector Response.
Coporate
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Sponsor
National Fire Protection Assoc., Quincy, MA
Report
NISTIR 5908, December 1996, 79 p.
Distribution
AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900. Website: http://www.ntis.gov
Keywords
heating | ventilation | air conditioning | fire models | smoke detectors
Abstract
Rapid activation of fire protection systems in response to a growing fire is one of the important factors required to provide for life safety and property protection. Airflow due to the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system can significantly modify the flow of smoke along the ceiling and must be taken into consideration when a particular system is designed. At present, the standards used to guide the design of systems contain very little quantitative information concerning the impact of airflow produced by HVAC systems. This project is part of a multi year, International Fire Detection Research Project sponsored by the National Fire Protection Research Foundation (NFPFR), and it describes the results of a series of numerical simulations of smoke movement in response to HVAC flows resulting from slot diffusers, slot returns and rectangular returns. The computer model calculated activation times throughout the fire driven flow field.