- Author
- Klote, J. H.
- Title
- Control of Smoke and Combustion Products.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- Chapter 2
- Book or Conf
- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Fire Safety in Tall Buildings. Tall Building Criteria and Loading. Committee 8A, McGraw-Hill, Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, PA, Sfintesco, D.; Scawthorn, C.; Zicherman, J., Editors, 17-52 p., 1992
- Keywords
- high rise buildings | fire safety | smoke control | combustion products | smoke movement | stairwells | computers
- Identifiers
- door-opening forces; effective flow areas; symmetry; flow areas; design parameters; computer analysis; acceptance testing
- Abstract
- Smoke is recognized as the major killer in all fire situations. Fire scenarios involving tall buildings often represent "worst cases" where high potential for smoke-related injuries exists (Berl and halpin, 1980). The term 'smoke' is defined in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM, 1980) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA, 1981), which state that smoke consists of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases that evolve when a material undergoes pyrolysis or combustion. Research in the field of smoke control has been conducted in Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, the United States, and Germany. This research has consisted of field tests, full-scale fire tests, and computer simulations. In the late 1960s the idea of using pressurization to prevent smoke infilitration of stairwells started to attract attention. This was followed by the idea of the "pressure sandwich," that is, venting or exhausting the fire floor and pressurizing the surrounding floors. Frequently the building's ventilation system is used for this purpose. The term 'smoke control' was coined for these systems, which use pressurization produced by mechanical fans to limit smoke movement in fire situations. Many builidngs have been built with smoke-control systems, and numerous others have been retrofitted for smoke control.