Development of a Simple Estimation Method of Heat Release Rate based on Classification of Common Combustibles into Category Groups

Abstract

In performance-based fire safety design of buildings, design fires are assumed based on relatively coarse information of potential combustible objects described by the object name, weight, size and constituent materials. The fire effect is calculated by using assumed design heat release rate (HRR) to judge appropriateness of fire safety provisions. For this purpose, a simple estimation method to estimate design HRR curve (full time history of HRR) was developed. The method is based on summary of available experimental datasets of various combustibles, which were categorized into groups by their names and constituent materials. As a nature of categorized groups, there are two types of variations of HRR characteristics within each category group. One type is that the object size is almost constant within each category group. For this type, HRR curves are simply averaged over the available datasets in order to obtain the characteristic design HRR curve. The method was applied to chairs and sofas. The other type is that the object size varies within each category group. To develop size-dependent HRR curves, rates of fire growth and decay were averaged over datasets in the group. Maximum HRR and total heat release (THR) were correlated with surface area and weight, respectively.The method was applied to Christmas trees. By using the proposed methods, it is possible to establish a simple formula to represent full HRR diagrams by their category names.

Testing and classification of individual plants for fire behaviour: plant selection for the wildland - urban interface

“…The ignition source was 'electric match' (paper match wrapped with wire to which current is applied) placed on a lower branch. Natori et al (2006) analysed the data of Stroup et al (1999) and Damant and Nurbakhsh (1994) to obtain design fire curves for Christmas trees. To make the design curves applicable for variable sizes, the peak heat release rate was correlated with the surface area of the tree as calculated from an assumed circular cylinder.…”

Modified Fire Simulation Curve of Cabin Temperatures in Postcrash Fires for Fire Safety Engineering

“…, , and are determined via the modified BFD curve for the cabin. The ambient temperature is set at 20 ∘ C, and the combustion heat of the seats, the carpet, and aviation kerosene is given as 20 MJ/kg, 22.3 MJ/kg, and 46.91 MJ/kg, respectively [20][21][22]. The total fire load mass is estimated using various fuels, and a numerical simulation is conducted using (1) to (10) and the relevant parameters.…”

Basic Experiment on the Heat Release Property of a Tsunami Fire Fueled by Debris and Fuel Oil Spilled on the Sea Surface Following Tsunami

“…Figure 1 shows photographs taken from the rooftop of a tsunami refuge building (three-story) in Kesen-numa City, Miyagi Prefecture after the Great Fig i fire. Fire creases in maximum value, which is assumed to last for a given length of time [7]. We will assume that these fire source models can be applied to the tsunami fire as well.…”