Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements of Flow Through a Doorway of an Enclosure Fire Analogue.
Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements of
Flow Through a Doorway of an Enclosure Fire Analogue.
(285 K)
Bryant, R. A.
Poster Session V and Reception;
Combustion Institute/Western States, Central States and
Eastern States. Fourth (4th) Joint Meeting of the U.S.
Sections. Hosted by The Eastern States Section of the
Combustion Institute and Drexel University. Poster
Session V and Reception. March 20-23, 2005,
Philadelphia, PA, 1-6 pp, 2005.
Keywords:
combustion; doorway; enclosures; combustion products;
fluid flow; experiments; fluid dynamics; heat release
rate; velocity fields; mass flow
Abstract:
A fire within a room or enclosure acts as a pump,
pulling ambient air in while pushing combustion products
mixed with air out. The openings through which the gases
flow are referred to as vents and typically are doorways
and windows. Quantifying the ventilation available to an
enclosure fire is an important step to understanding
fire behavior. Ventilation provides the necessary oxygen
to the fire while also serving to moderate the
temperature of the compartment in the early stage of the
fire growth. The gaseous products that move out of an
enclosure transfer heat and combustion products from the
localized point of the fire to remote locations within a
built structure. Ventilation therefore can play two
important roles in fire spread, 1) to reduce the hazard
by moderating the enclosure temperature, 2) to increase
the hazard by transferring the heat, smoke and toxic
gases to other locations of a built structure.
