Thermal Radiation From Large Pool Fires.
Thermal Radiation From Large Pool Fires.
(940 K)
McGrattan, K. B.; Baum, H. R.; Hamins, A.
NISTIR 6546; 34 p. November 2000.
Available from:
Orders Only) 800-553-6847;
Website: http://www.ntis.gov
Keywords:
pool fires; thermal radiation
Abstract:
In order to protect people and combustible structures
from the thermal radiation emitted by a large fire, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has
established thermal radiation flux levels of 31.5 kW/m2
(10,000 Btu/h/ft2) for buildings and 1.4 kW/m2 (450
Btu/h/ft2) for people as guidelines in determining an
"Acceptable Separation Distance" (ASD) from a fire
consuming combustible liquids or gases stored in above
ground containers. A review by the Building and Fire
Research Laboratory at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) of the 1975 HUD
guidelines for thermal radiation flux has revealed that
for certain fire scenarios the methodology can produce
estimates of radiation flux that are up to an order of
magnitude larger than those actually measured in field
experiments.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899