- Author
- Vandsburger, U. | Lattimer, B. Y. | Roby, R. J.
- Title
- Compartment Fire Combustion Dynamics. Annual Report. September 1, 1993-September 1, 1994.
- Coporate
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA Hughes Associates, Wheaton, MD
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NIST GCR 95-666, December 1994, 54 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- NIST-GRANT-60NANB1D1176
- Keywords
- compartment fires | combustion gases | carbon monoxide | ceilings | corridors | fire research | soffits | soot | toxic gases | wood | fluid mechanics
- Abstract
- The overall scope of this research is to investigate the phenomena that control the generation and oxidation of compartment fire exhaust gases (particularly carbon monoxide, CO) which are transported down an adjacent corridor. Results of the first two years of the project are summarized. During the past year three hallway soffit combinations were investigated in order to characterize the effects of varying the fluid mechanics on the burnout behavior of combustion gases. The findings show that the addition of a soffit at the fire enclosure end of the corridor increased the degree of burnout, while adding a soffit at the exit of the corridor decreased the degree of oxidation. Soffits at both ends yielded an intermediate result. Varying the size of the opening into the corridor had no effects on the results. A set of experiments are also summarized in which fires were burned in an enclosure having a wood ceiling. This resulted in the generation of very high concentrations of CO in agreement with the findings of Pitts et al.