- Author
- McGrattan, K. B. | Baum, H. R. | Rehm, R. G.
- Title
- Smoke Plumes From Large Fires.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NISTIR 6030; NIST SP 995; Volume 2, June 1997; March 2003,
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Book or Conf
- U.S./Japan Government Cooperative Program on Natural Resources (UJNR). Fire Research and Safety. 13th Joint Panel Meeting. Volume 2. March 13-20, 1996, Gaithersburg, MD, Beall, K. A., Editors, 351-360 p., ['1997', '2003']
- Keywords
- fire safety | fire research | smoke plumes | earthquakes | mathematical models | conservation
- Abstract
- A large eddy simulation (LES) model of smoke plumes generated by large outdoor fires is presented. The plume is described in terms of steady-state convective transport by a uniform ambient wind of heated gases and particulate matter introduced into a stably stratified atmosphere by a continuously burning fire. The Navier-Stokes equations in the Boussinesq approximation are solved numerically with a constant eddy viscosity representing dissipation on length scales below the resolution limits of the calculation. The effective Reynolds number is high enough to permit direct simulation of the large scale mixing over two to three orders of magnitude in lenght scale. Particulate matter, or any non-reacting combustion product, is represented by lagrangian particles which are advected by the fireinduced flow field. Results of the model are compared with a series of field experiments.