Investigation into the Benifits of Post-Fire Corridor Smoke Clearance in the Early Stages of Fire Development in Very Tall Buildings

Abstract

As building heights continue to grow to new levels, different fire safety challenges arise. In particular, challenges relating to fire safety has become a particular concern due to the difficulty of firefighting at such heights.

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the provision of corridor smoke clearance as a means to assist internal firefighting and early fire evacuation in a study of smoke dynamics during live and simulated tests. The study was conducted in a super high-rise tower during its construction stage and assessed using computational fluid dynamics modeling to further understand the different dynamic phenomena.

The experiments took place on the 19th floor of a 43-story residential building with a floor layout repeating throughout the building. The building is under construction and the experiment was carried out as part of the project task to measure the performance of the corridor smoke control system. Based on the study, the provision and activation of the post-fire smoke clearance within the common corridor upon a detection within the floor, the system aids the corridor to be tenable and safe environment for firefighters to carry out their firefighting, search and rescue operations. The system also helps to reduce the full incident floor evacuation travel time, as the visibility is maintained within a short period.

This research is considered as novel in that involves the use of live experiments and computer modeling to understand smoke behavior. It also assesses the benefits of corridor smoke clearance which is typically not used in high-rise buildings internationally. This paper describes the experiments, computational analysis and information gleaned from the research and provides conclusions for consideration by others in the field of super high-rise building design. By assessing the smoke movement within the egress corridor for a plausible fire scenario it is possible to understand the potential benefits of providing post-fire smoke clearance within the egress corridor.