Sensor-Driven Inverse Zone Fire Model.
Sensor-Driven Inverse Zone Fire Model.
(93 K)
Davis, W. D.; Forney, G. P.
Research and Practice: Bridging the Gap. Fire
Suppression and Detection Research Application
Symposium. Proceedings. Fire Protection Research
Foundation. February 23-25, 2000, Orlando, FL, 204-211
pp, 2000.
Keywords:
fire suppression; predictive models; fire detection;
fire research; fire safety; fire protection; zone
models; fire models; sensors; heat release rate; ceiling
jets; temperature; smoke; fire hazards
Abstract:
As sensor use in buildings becomes more wide spread, it
is possible to use this information as input to an
inverse fire model in order to enhance the value of the
information available from sensors in both fire and
non-fire conditions. Typical fire models use the heat
release rate (HRR) of the fire as an input and sensor
outputs are calculated. An inverse fire model uses
sensor signals as inputs in order to estimate the HRR of
the fire. An inverse zone fire model is being developed
at NIST to be used in conjunction with the NIST Virtual
Cybernetic Building Testbed to investigate the
feasibility of such a model. Version 1.1 of this model
uses ceiling jet algorithms for temperature and smoke
concentration to convert the signals from heat and smoke
detectors to HRR. A version of CFAST is then used to
obtain layer temperatures and depths for the room of
fire origin as well as surrounding rooms. Details of the
ceiling jet algorithms for smoke concentration and
temperature will be discussed and an example of the
predictive capabilities of the inverse zone fire model
will be demonstrated.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899