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A Two-zone fire growth and smoke movement model for multi-compartment buildings

From National Research Council Canada

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DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0379-7112(99)00045-4
AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: 1
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
FormatText, Article
SubjectSmoke management
Abstract
A fire growth and smoke movement model for a multi-compartment building has been developed at the National Research Council of Canada. This development is primarily intended to help evaluate the risk from fires in buildings. This paper presents the related physical models, numerical methods, and some verification examples. The 2-zone ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are derived for the compartments with fire or smoke. The four independent variables for one compartment are selected as pressure, enthalpy of upper layer, and mass of upper and lower layers. The implemented fire sub-models are introduced, including combustion, fluid flow and heat transfer models. For each compartment without smoke or fire, a non-linear algebraic equation based on mass conservation is used instead of the ODEs. The numerical solution of the governing equations is obtained using a room by room iteration method. In this algorithm, an existing ODE solver, LSODA, has been modified and used to solve the stiff ODEs, and the Steffensen Acceleration Method is used to solve the algebraic equations. Experimental data for single and two-compartment fire tests are compared to the predictions of the model. The comparison shows favourable results, especially for the upper layer gas temperature, interface height, and vent flow rate.
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  • Fire Safety Journal 34, no. April 3 (1 April 2000): 1–30.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC numberNRCC 41111
NRC-IRC-8146
NPARC number20331624
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Record identifier306e1a62-8441-4adb-8d0e-ba836f52d17e
Record created2012-07-18
Record modified2020-03-26
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