- Author
- Heskestad, G. | Hill, J. P.
- Title
- Experimental Fires in Multiroom/Corridor Enclosures.
- Coporate
- Factory Mutual Research Corp., Norwood, MA
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBS GCR 86-502; CIB W14/85/10 (USA), January 1986, 130 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; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Contract
- GRANT-NB83NADA4046
- Keywords
- building fires | burning rate | corridor tests | door leakage | fire measurements | fire research | flashover | flow measurement | smoke detection | smoke movement
- Abstract
- A series of 60 fire tests have been conducted in an enclosure consisting of a corridor and three attached rooms, one of which served as a burn room. The purpose was to establish validation data for theoretical fire models of multi-room fire situations with particular emphasis on health care facilities. Fire sources were propylene gas burners, producing steady fires at 56 and 522 kW as well as fires growing with the square of time at several growth rates up to a maximum output of 2 MW. Measurements were made of gas temperatures; ceiling surface temperatures; optical densities in white light and at three discrete wavelengths; concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2; gas velocities; and pressure differentials. In addition, smoke detectors and simulated heat detectors were installed and monitored. In the experiments, various combinations were investigated of fire source, open and closed doors, open or closed window in burn room, and natural or forced ventilation in all rooms. A number of tests were devoted to examining smoke migration via ventilation ducting, and others were designed to examine burning rates of polyurethane slabs installed in the burn room as targets for flashover ignition.