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Estimating Temperatures in Compartment Fires

  • Chapter
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

Abstract

The ability to predict temperatures developed in compartment fires is of great significance to the fire protection professional for protection of human life and property. There are many uses for a knowledge of compartment fire temperatures, including the prediction of (1) the onset of hazardous conditions, (2) property and structural damage, (3) changes in burning rate, pyrolysis rate and heat (energy) release rate, (4) ignition of objects,(5) the onset of flashover and so on.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    William D. Walton, Philip H. Thomas & Yoshifumi Ohmiya

Authors
  1. William D. Walton
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  2. Philip H. Thomas
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  3. Yoshifumi Ohmiya
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aon Fire Protection Engineering, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Morgan J. Hurley P.E., FSFPE (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Hughes Associates, Baltimore, USA

    Daniel Gottuk Ph.D., P.E.

  3. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

    John R. Hall Jr. Ph.D.

  4. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Harada Dr. Eng.

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Erica Kuligowski Ph.D.

  6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA

    Milosh Puchovsky P.E., FSFPE

  7. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    José Torero Ph.D.

  8. The Fire Safety Institute, Quincy, USA

    John M. Watts Jr. Ph.D., FSFPE

  9. FM Global, Johnston, USA

    Christopher Wieczorek Ph.D.

Nomenclature

A ceiling

area of compartment ceiling (m2)

A f

pool fire area (m2)

A floor

area of compartment floor (m2)

A o

area of openings (m2)

A T

total area of the compartment enclosing surfaces (m2)

A walls

area of compartment walls (m2)

b p

maximum combustion efficiency

c

specific heat of the wall (kJ/kg⋅K)

C d

orifice constriction coefficient

c p

specific heat of gas (kJ/kg⋅K)

D

compartment depth (m)

g

acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 m/s2

h c

convective heat transfer coefficient

Δh c

effective heat of combustion of the fuel (kJ/kg)

h g

heat transfer coefficient on the hot side of the wall (kW/m2K)

h k

effective heat transfer coefficient (kW/m2K)

h ∞

heat transfer coefficient on the ambient side of the wall (kW/m2K)

H o

height of opening (m)

k

thermal conductivity of the wall (kW/m⋅K)

L

fire load, wood (kg)

m

mass of the gas in the compartment (kg/s)

ṁ a

mass flow rate of air into an opening (kg/s)

ṁ g

gas flow rate out the opening (kg/s)

ṁ f

mass burning rate of fuel (kg/s)

ṁ f,st

stoichiometric mass burning rate of fuel (kg/s)

\( {\dot{{\boldsymbol{m}}^{{\prime\prime}}}}_{ \boldsymbol{w}} \)

mass per unit area of the wall (kg/m2)

\( {\dot{\boldsymbol{q}}}_{\mathbf{loss}} \)

net radiative and convective heat transfer from the upper gas layer (kW)

\( \dot{\boldsymbol{Q}} \)

energy (heat) release rate of the fire (kW)

\( {\dot{\boldsymbol{Q}}}_{\mathbf{stoich}} \)

stoichiometric heat release rate (kW)

t

time (s)

t p

thermal penetration time (s)

T b

liquid boiling point (K)

T floor

temperature of the floor (K)

T g

temperature of the upper gas layer (K)

T p

thermal penetration time (s)

T w

wall temperature (K)

T ∞

ambient temperature (K)

W

compartment width (m)

W o

width of opening (m)

X d

height of the interface (m)

X N

height of neutral plane (m)

Greek Letters

δ

thickness of the wall (m)

ε

emissivity of the hot gas

ρ

density of the wall (kg/m3)

ρ∞

ambient air density (kg/m3)

σ

Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5.67 × 10−11 kW/m2⋅K4

Subscripts

a

air

b

boiling

d

thermal discontinuity

f

fuel

g

gas

N

neutral plane

o

opening

stoich

stoichiometric

T

total

w

wall

∞

ambient

Superscripts

.

per unit time (s−1)

″

per unit area (m−1)

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© 2016 Society of Fire Protection Engineers

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Walton, W.D., Thomas, P.H., Ohmiya, Y. (2016). Estimating Temperatures in Compartment Fires. In: Hurley, M.J., et al. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_30

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2564-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2565-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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