Full-Scale Experiments of Water-Mist Systems for Control and Suppression of Sauna Fires

Abstract

Sauna is a common fixture in many facilities; a specific fire–protection system is typically designed and installed for this application, as short circuits or direct contact with incandescent materials may result in a fire. Water mist has been recently considered as a promising option for this purpose; so, assessing its control and suppression capability in a sauna configuration has become of paramount importance for designers and engineers. To this end, an unprecedented real–scale test rig was built and instrumented with thermocouples and a hot–plate thermometer towards the evaluation of water–mist performance against various fire scenarios and, ultimately, to provide guidelines to designers. Timber benches were employed as target materials, while the fire was initiated in a wood crib. Design parameters, such as initial room temperature, location of the ignition source, nozzle–to–wall distance, and air gap between benches and wall, were varied, also including natural ventilation in a dedicated experiment. The system proved successful in controlling and containing the fire: bench damage ratio—selected as a quantitative parameter to assess water–mist performance—was consistently lower than 5%. However, extinction was not always achieved, especially under the most challenging configuration in terms of ventilation, initial room temperature, and nozzle–to–wall distance.

A Critical Review of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for Automotive Applications: Components, Materials, and Comparative Assessment

“…Notably, the contact between hydrogen and special steel causes embrittlement, which may lead to a massive increase of leakages and losses. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an a priori assessment of the piping and subsequently monitor the average flowrate to detect potential leaks that may also be hazardous due to hydrogen ignitability [60][61][62][63][64][65].…”