FireDOC Search

Author
Klote, J. H.
Title
General Routine for Analysis of Stack Effect.
Coporate
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Sponsor
General Services Administration, Washington, DC
Report
NISTIR 4588
July 1991
33 p.
Distribution
Available from National Technical Information Service
Keywords
stack effect | building fires | computer models | mathematical models | smoke movement
Abstract
Stack effect is a major driving force of smoke movement in buildings. This paper presents a general method for evaluation of the location of the neutral plane for a space connected to its surroundings by any number of openings. A computer program, STACK, for analysis of the location of the neutral plane and resulting flows is presented along with example analyses. The examples show that the location of the neutral plane between a space and its surroundings is a weak function of temperature and a strong function of the size of openings. Further, the mass flow rate leaving a space due to stack effect is a strong funciton of temperature.