- Author
-
Steckler, K. D.
|
Quintiere, J. G.
|
Rinkinen, W. J.
- Title
- Flow Induced by Fire in a Compartment.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBSIR 82-2520,
July 1982,
101 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
- Book or Conf
- Combustion Institute, Symposium (International) on Combustion, 19th. August 8-13, 1982,
Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, PA,
Haifa, Israel,
913-920 p.,
1982
- Keywords
-
air flow
|
compartment fires
|
entrainment
|
flow rates
- Abstract
- Fifty-five full-scale steady-state experiments were conducted to study the flow induced by a simulated pool fire in a compartment under conditions characteristic of the developing fire. The mass flow rate through the door or window opening and bounds on the fire plume entrainment rate are presented as a function of opening geometry, fire strenght, and fire location. The characteristics of the measured opening flow rates are explained by a simple hydrostatic model based on temperature distribution. A good correlation between the measured results and the idealized flows, taking into account the complete temperature distribution, is demonstrated. Entrainment results for fires near walls are in reasonable agreement with results from free-standing plume models. Except for the smalles openings, fires in other locations entrain at a rate two to three times the rate predicted by these models. This phenomenon is attributed to room disturbances caused by the opening flow and is similar to the behavior of a fire plume in a cross wind.