The data that is currently used when designing egress systems for stadia and other high-occupancy buildings was collected decades ago and might not be applicable in today's society. A systematic analysis of crowd movement was performed to investigate egress flows at a large stadium in the UK following four different event types (i.e., a football game, a rugby game, a concert featuring a male singer/songwriter

Experiments were carried out in the Idealized-Firebrand Ignition Test (I-FIT), a bench scale apparatus specifically designed to test the ignition of forest fuel layers from a representative firebrand. A cylindrical heater was used to model the firebrand, which allowed to control the incident radiative heat flux on the specimen, from the critical heat flux up to 25 kW/m2, for five different porosities

Buoyant, turbulent diffusion flames anchored on a slot burner in the presence of an isothermal, low-temperature (333 K) wall have been numerically simulated. A laminar smoke point based subgrid (flamelet) radiation model has been applied toward estimation of overall radiant fractions and radiant power distributions of the ethylene fires. The model uses a turbulent micro-scale strain rate and an enthalpy

The reliability of fire (point) detection systems in office buildings, in Victoria, Australia, was determined through fault tree analysis. Following the literature review and collected data from surveys, a quantitative analysis was undertaken. Fault tree analysis was used as a deductive analysis of the likelihood of the failure of fire (point) detection system in office buildings through mapping the

In South Africa alone, there are more than 5000 informal settlement fires a year, where a single incident can leave up to 10000 people homeless. The government and local authorities of countries with informal settlements, that extend over large areas, have no tools to simulate fires to identify high risk areas, or to quantify the magnitude of an incident to which they may need to respond. It is with

This study investigates the ignition by flaming firebrands of two decking slabs used in French dwellings located in Wildland–Urban Interface. The first decking slab was made of pine and the second one was a thermoplastic composed of polypropylene and calcium carbonate. Flaming firebrands were produced by heating and igniting wood chips of different shapes (square, longitudinal and rectangular) with

This study presents an evacuation experiment to test individual behavior in an interactive virtual environment. A total of 68 test scenarios were established, and 122 participants were recruited to take part in all the test scenarios. The results show that individual attributes, such as sex, education background, age, and evacuation experience, have a correlation with the participants’ ability of escaping

Cable bridges such as cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges are supported by members such as cables, reinforced girders, and pylons. Fires on the bridge can cause structural degradation in members, which can pose a severe danger to the bridge. However, in most countermeasure standards for structures, no information regarding the installation of firefighting facilities on cable bridges is available

In current fire probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) for nuclear power plants in the United States, fires due to transient combustibles are one of the top contributors to calculated plant risk. This does not comport with industry experience on the severity of transient fires. A two-phase project was developed to improve the realism of modeling transient fires in PRAs. In the summer of 2018, a large

Evacuees within fire-affected buildings may have to escape through smoke-filled corridors without the aid of lighting, with a high probability of failing to escape. It is thus of vital importance to enhance evacuation safety procedures. It is equally necessary to study changes in walking speeds in situations of fire escapes in order to accurately estimate time required to escape. This paper focuses

This paper documents the development of solid propellant aerosol generators (SPAGs) as alternative fire suppression systems. SPAGs mainly consist of an igniter, a solid propellant (SP), a cooling system and an outlet. The main focus of this study is on the SP as the research item. Such SP consists of oxidant, fuel and additives. This research work aimed to investigate the application of the aerosol

Ultra-fine dry chemicals, as an effective fire suppressant, may have higher fire extinguishing efficiency and the ability to inhibit pool fires re-ignition after oil-repellent treatment. Thus, we used two surfactants, i.e. POTS (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane) and OBS (Sodium perfluorononyloxybenzenesulfonate) to modify fine sodium bicarbonate and studied the effect of POTS/OBS compound

In conventional evacuation modeling, evacuation crowds are regarded as consisting of pedestrians with almost homogeneous walking abilities. However, there are many people who are slow-footed, especially people, and usually evacuation crowds consist of a mixture of diverse speed of pedestrians. Not only are slow-speed pedestrians themselves slow, but the mixture of slow-speed and average pedestrians

This paper presents symmetric modeling of the thermal actions in a structural fire experiment on a 12.8 m long composite floor beam in a compartment. A quarter of the fire compartment was modeled in FDS and a portion of about 1/160 of the composite beam was modeled in ANSYS. The FDS symmetry model gave consistent results with the FDS model of the entire compartment, the differences between the predicted

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are powerful research tools for studying fire dynamics. However, their application to wildland fire scenarios requires evaluation against relevant experimental data. To progress our current understanding of the fidelity of a CFD approach to simulating wildland fire dynamics, a dataset from an experimental fire was used as a test case. First, implications of

Key cost components forming the total cost of fire used in a selection of previous international studies have been identified and compared, with a future focus of revisiting the Canadian context. The potential influence of several factors on the selection and categorization of cost components was considered along with novel contributions to analysis approaches. End-user priorities (e.g. fire service

Small-scale experiments were performed in a custom-made laboratory rig to study the in-situ burning (ISB) behaviour for oils that were chemically confined using herders. The burning efficiency, the global mass burning rate and the regression rate are all reported. Two commercially available herding agents (ThickSlick 6535 and OP40) were used to thicken two crude oils (Alaska North Slope (ANS) and Grane)

A methodology is presented herein for the determination of flame extinction in fire simulations by utilizing the flame extinction propensity obtained from the counterflow flame experiments or calculations. The methodology leverages the fact that the flame extinction in hydrocarbon fires tends to occur at critical temperatures corresponding to the strain rates acting on the flames, under the condition

The effect of water-vapor addition to oxidizer on flame radiation is assessed experimentally and numerically through the study of laminar coflow ethylene-fueled non-premixed flames. Oxygen-deficient conditions were studied to closely represent real confined fire situations. Experimental soot volume fraction distributions, presented in a previous study, are complemented with temperature and radiation

The effect of the vertical position of horizontal projections on the thermal and flow characteristics of Externally Venting Flames (EVF) was investigated by using a ¼ scale compartment-façade experimental setup to perform five fire tests. A constant 144 kW fire power level was set in all fire tests; the fire source was a methane-fed porous burner, located at the geometrical centre of the compartment

Progress on the research of fire behavior and safe protection of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is reviewed in this paper. Thermal runaway (TR) mechanism of LIB is revealed from the aspects of chemical reactions and heat accumulation. The fire behavior of high energy LIB is exhibited, and the TR propagations between cells and modules are discussed. This paper introduces the warning parameters and strategies

A series of experiments was conducted characterizing the flammability properties of small-scale corn oil fires. The oil was placed in a pan located on the center of an electric coil heating element associated with an electric cooktop. Ignition was accomplished with a torch with the heating element off or by auto-ignition when the heating element was on. The mass loss, heat release rate, pan bottom

In this study mixture of copper phosphate and melamine phosphate (CUMP) was introduced into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and examined. The thermal effects of the developed materials were analysed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) as well as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The reaction to fire of the HDPE with a developed flame retardant

This work documents a series of time-averaged local gas species measurements made throughout the centerline profile of 30 cm methanol, ethanol, and acetone pool fires steadily burning in a quiescent environment. All gas species measurements were obtained using extractive sampling, then analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometer detector (GC/MS). The volume fraction of each

Fires in waste facilities represent significant potential social, economic and environmental challenges. Although the awareness of fires in waste facilities and their consequences has increased in recent years, significant fire safety challenges remain. Fires in waste facilities in Norway and Sweden have been studied to make an overall fire safety assessment and propose measures for increased fire

The photovoltaic (PV) systems fire risk has grown up reaching a size that is no more negligible. PV fire events have happened mostly on systems installed on residential and industrial buildings and they have set in motion a process mainly aimed at developing product and installation regulations focused on the minimization of that risk. Such a process is growing up with the participation of different

Dripping of molten fuels is a widely observed phenomenon in the wire fire and façade fire, which promotes the fire spread and increases the fire hazard. The flame attachment to drip is a necessary condition for dripping ignition, so that extinguishing the dripping flame can effectively reduce the dripping fire hazard. In this work, we investigated the use of acoustic wave to extinguish the fast-moving

Understanding movement characteristics of high-motivated pedestrians passing through bottlenecks in buildings is of great help to improve the safety levels of pedestrians especially in fire or other emergencies. In this study, an experiment is performed to compare the movement characteristics of high and low motivated pedestrians passing through bottlenecks with different widths. Voronoi Diagram based

In a Fire Extinguishing System (FES), it is important to maintain the design concentration of the gaseous agent in the enclosure for a specific time. An inert agent, in particular, can maintain an O2 concentration below 15% by maintaining a gaseous concentration above the threshold value for a specified time, which is called the retention time. However, the current theoretical model for retention time

This paper analyses the different parameters governing fire growth and presents the results obtained for laminated bamboo samples produced from the species Phyllostachys pubescens “Moso”. Parameters such as critical heat flux, temperature for ignition, thermal inertia, mass loss rate and heat release rates are studied herein. Last, the ignition parameters of laminated bamboo are contrasted against

Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the ignition and pyrolysis of natural vegetation fuel is crucial in modeling the rate of spread of wildland fires. This study provides a fundamental understanding of the burning process of biomass fuel particles under oscillatory heat flux conditions; the oscillations are studied as a model to represent flapping flames or fluctuations in the irradiation

The smoke and air flow through a horizontal opening was investigated using a model-scale room equipped with a horizontal opening on the ceiling. A smoke layer was created under the ceiling using a small gas burner. The pressure difference across the horizontal opening was changed by controlling the air supply to and exhaust from the space above the opening. Smoke and air flow patterns were either downward

Evacuation models can adopt different approaches for the simulation of human behaviour in fire. This paper provides an overview of the most commonly used modelling methods to represent the evacuation process in a fire scenario. This is presented through a structure matching the engineering time-line model of evacuation. The evacuation model development process is discussed considering both data-driven

Maximum ceiling jet temperature (MCJT) is an important parameter for evaluating fire risk. An important characteristic of vertical cable tray fire is the upward spreading of the cable flame along the cable tray, which leads to a decrease in the distance between the fire source and compartment ceiling during such a fire. Thus, full-scale fire experiments using vertical cable trays were conducted in

The present study relates to an arson fire incident that recently occurred at an animated film production studio in Kyoto, leading to gasoline spills on the first floor instantly causing ignition in the building, claiming the lives of 35 people. Thus, with many fatalities often associated to such arson fire caused by gasoline, this study focuses on features including inflammability, combustibility

Quasi-steady behavior of a flowing propane/air mixture ignited by a surface heated at a constant power was investigated as a first step in assessing the physical risk of alternative clean energy. A series of experiments was carried out in which flowing propane was exposed to a heated surface at various supplied voltages and flow velocities. From the experimental results, the following findings were

Experiments were conducted to quantify the magnitude and contribution of flame heat feedback and char oxidation on the burning of timber. Using both oxidative and inert environments (air and nitrogen) a methodology was developed to determine the individual contribution of flame and char oxidation. The rate of pyrolysis, expressed through the mass loss rate, was used to calculate the individual contributions

Dust-devil-like fire whirls without an inner core of flame cause considerable damage due to the strong winds during wildfires and urban fires. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of the crosswind speed (U) and heat release rate (HRR) on the circulation, size, and velocity of this type of fire whirl. A U of 0.06–0.54 m/s was investigated at HHRs of 0.84 kW and 2.23 kW. The particle image

This paper1 presents a study to examine the potential use of machine learning models to build a real-time detection algorithm for prevention of kitchen cooktop fires. Sixteen sets of time-dependent sensor signals were obtained from 60 normal/ignition cooking experiments. A total of 200,000 data instances are documented and analyzed. The raw data are preprocessed. Selected features are generated for

The horizontal flame spread underneath a photovoltaic (PV) module (or a plate) was studied for various gap heights to understand the fundamental fire dynamics between it and a flat roof construction. In a number of experiments, an opaque black polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and a black stainless-steel plate were used as surrogate fuel and module, respectively. Additional experiments were conducted

Understanding the combustion of electric wires at relatively low pressures is very important to establish fire prevention strategies for aircraft and space vehicles. The dripping behaviors of polyethylene (PE)-insulated copper/nichrome wires at lower pressures limits and various inclination angles and oxygen concentrations are investigated in this paper. A theoretical model is developed involving flame

Six (6) polymers, 2–6 mm thick, were tested in a cone calorimeter by a standard method at various external heat fluxes (irradiance). The ratio of the effective heat of combustion to the effective heat of gasification per unit mass of volatile fuel, Hc/Hg, also known at the heat release parameter (HRP) or combustibility ratio, was obtained as a sample average for unsteady burning at multiple heat fluxes

Decision-making in residential fires can be difficult to study in an experimental setup. Virtual reality could be a way to expose participants to a residential fire scenario and collect data on their behavior. However, the validity of the data obtained needs to be assessed. To explore that, the data collected in two virtual reality residential fire scenarios in form of sequences of behavior was compared

Smoldering firebrands can be lofted over long distances, easily igniting spot fires. This poses a threat to structures in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where wildland fires spread into and within communities. This study investigates the influence of firebrand size and makeup on heating from a pile to a recipient surface in a small-scale wind tunnel. Two sizes of fluted birch wooden pins and wooden

The number of underground metro stations around the world is steadily increasing and deep stations are becoming more common. Evacuation elevators can be a way to mitigate many of the evacuation problems of deep stations, e.g., fatigue. However, the elevators need to be used by evacuees to be effective. In order to study the influence of evacuation measures on elevator usage, experiments were performed

Contemporary structural fire statistics are fundamental in engineering design practice to evaluate likelihood and consequence of fire for different property types, and to investigate how different safety measures impact fire spread. British Standard PD 7974-7:2003 has recently been updated using USA fire statistics; this paper compares PD 7974-7:2003 to current England statistics (named UK statistics)

The risk of fire spread in informal settlements is significant and can be analysed as a function of the spatial arrangement of dwellings. Spatial metrics representing density and shape of dwellings are proposed as a method to identify settlements at high risk of fire spread. LiDAR data is used to map dwelling roofs for informal settlements in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. The LiDAR roof dataset

This study investigates the variability of the number of ignitions following hypothetical Nankai Trough earthquakes for municipal fire departments across Japan. An empirical equation for predicting the number of ignitions following earthquake was used in combination with an empirical ground motion prediction equation. 72 hypothetical earthquake scenarios were considered by varying earthquake magnitude

An experimental study is conducted in this work to evaluate the performance of automatic water cannon (AWC) for fire protection of low-piled storage in high-clearance facilities, with emphasis on reducing the water demand. For this purpose, the water cannon is operated in a simulated automatic mode to allow for changing fire response time, fire targeting accuracy, spray pattern, narrow-angle sweeping

This contribution investigates the propensity of low-temperature ignition of sulfur, a hazardous substance because of its facile ignition. We applied the coupled thermogravimetric analyser and differential scanning calorimeter (TGA-DSC), in conjunction with a vertically-entrained reactor, to study the ignition behaviour of sulfur powder. The thermogravimetric measurements capture the ignition temperature

Although discrete flame spread is a common phenomenon in the practical fire scenarios, such as a group of burning trees under bushfire, research gaps still exist to address the flame spreading criteria and the related spread characteristics. Therefore, through this study, a group of birch rods with different lengths (denoted by l within 60–100 mm) and spacings (S, 1–9 mm) were analyzed experimentally

The assisting wind force effect on the transition and extension characteristics of the flame projecting outside the window of a compartment was experimentally investigated. The transition criteria, length, and maximum temperature profile of the external flame were studied. As the wind velocity increases, three states: namely a spill-like plume, horizontally ejected flame and no flame outside the window

High-frequency temperature measurements were carefully conducted for a 15 kW buoyant turbulent ethylene diffusion flame over a 15.2 cm diameter gas burner with air co-flow. A dual-thermocouple probe, consisting of two fine-wire thermocouples with 25 μm and 50 μm wire diameters, was used to determine a compensated turbulent gas temperature. A sensitivity analysis shows that temperatures resolved using

The effects of freestream flow on fire spread behaviors of a discrete wooden fuel array were studied. The spacing between fuel elements was varied and the flame spread behavior under 1, 2, and 3 m/s forced flow velocities was investigated. The fastest spread rate was not observed for the smallest spacing. Furthermore, increasing spacing did not necessarily lead to a slower spread, as seen with the

Industrial fires are undeniably the most dangerous type of fires for firefighters, and the master stream from water monitor is one of the safest means to deploy defensive or offensive strategies against such fires. However, few studies pay attention to the efficacy of the master stream. To address this issue, we extracted and analyzed numerical data from physical master streams. The proposed methods

In the current study the combining effect of sidewall height and cross air flow on the mass burning rate, flame height and flame tilt behavior of pool fire has been experimentally investigated. The mass burning rate increases as the cross wind velocity increases. The presence of sidewalls also influences the mass burning rate, as it is increased at lower cross wind velocities and decreased as this

Since Engineered Wood Products (EWPs) have entered the building industry as structural elements, several fire safety concerns have arisen, especially for high-rise structures. The combustible nature of timber suggests that the current models and correlations for compartment fire dynamics might not apply to compartments with timber boundaries, due to the increased fuel load and its redistribution across

Structural fire safety requirements implicitly balance up-front investments in materials (protection or element sizing) with improved performance (loss reductions) in the unlikely event of a fire. For traditional prescriptive fire safety recommendations, the underlying target safety levels are not clear to the designer, nor is the associated balancing of risk and investment costs. It is discussed that