Fire Behavior of Electrical Installations in Buildings

Abstract

Electrical installations are a significant component of fire load inside a building, although they are often neglected in the overall fire safety analysis and are not subjected to any kind of fire safety evaluation of a building. A typical electrical installation unconnected to the mains was experimentally studied using a single burning item (SBI) test apparatus, fixed to two types of popular non-combustible or combustible (wooden-based) backgrounds simulating a typical building internal wall or ceiling. The semi-real scale test showed that poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) cable, commonly used in installations in buildings in Europe and used in SBI tests, showed high fire properties related to heat release, smoke production and flame spread to other interior elements. The results of the electrical circuit connected to the main measurements carried out showed a significant impact of the heating effect towards the uncovered surface socket, causing the possibility of easy ignition inside the installation. In conclusion, it was found that even a relatively simple and short section of electrical installation resulted in a significant increase in the heat release rate and smoke generation parameters, obtained during the SBI tests, and as a consequence a reduction of one or two reaction to fire euroclasses of construction materials for internal walls.

Numerical Simulation Analysis of the Transformer Fire Extinguishing Process with a High-Pressure Water Mist System under Different Conditions

“…A transformer fire is categorized as an electrical fire, and electrical equipment is an important part of the fire load in buildings [11]. Compared with an ordinary fire, it is more difficult to extinguish an electrical fire, since this requires a fire extinguishing medium with both high isolation performance and fire extinguishing efficiency [12].…”

Photochemical fabrication of defect-abundant Pd/SnO2 with promoted performance for dioctyl phthalate gas sensing

“…Reducing the risk of fires through early warning is an important issue worthy of attention. [1][2][3][4] Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most widely used cable insulation materials, which usually contains phthalates (PAEs), and is a widely used plasticizer to improve the flexibility and extensibility of plastic products. [1][2][3][4] Studies have shown that PVC cables at a heating temperature higher than 110 1C will release some gases that are not common in the environment, such as dioctyl phthalate (DOP).…”

Determination of Transmittance of IR Windows made of CaF2 within Operational Temperatures of Electric Devices

“…The temperature of the wire used to connect the electric devices is also important. An excessive temperature of an operational conductor may cause insulation to become damaged and, consequently, it may lead to short-circuits between individual conductors of wires in a bundle [4].…”