Reducing numerical dissipation in smoke simulation

Numerical dissipation acts as artificial viscosity to make smoke viscous. Reducing numerical dissipation is able to recover visual details smeared out by the numerical dissipation. Great efforts have been devoted to suppress the numerical dissipation in smoke simulation in the past few years. In this paper we investigate methods of combating the numerical dissipation. We describe visual consequences of the numerical dissipation and explore sources that introduce the numerical dissipation into course of smoke simulation. Methods are investigated from various aspects including grid variation, high-order advection, sub-grid compensation, invariant conservation, and particle-based improvement, followed by discussion and comparison in terms of visual quality, computational overhead, ease of implementation, adaptivity, and scalability, which leads to their different applicability to various application scenarios.     

Performance validation of a hybrid ventilation strategy comprising longitudinal and point ventilation by a fire experiment using a model-scale tunnel

We examined the exhaust performance of a hybrid ventilation strategy for maintaining a safe evacuation environment for tunnel users in a tunnel fire. The hybrid ventilation strategy combines the longitudinal ventilation strategy with the point ventilation strategy which is a type of transverse ventilation strategy. The model tunnel developed by this study was scaled to 1/5 the size of a full-scale tunnel. The model-scale experiment was performed taking into consideration Froude's law of similarity. Measurement items were the distribution of temperature and concentration of smoke inside the tunnel, longitudinal wind velocity, mass flow of smoke in the point ventilation duct, and the heat release rate of the fire source. The following main conclusions were obtained. The smoke height was constant even when varying the extraction rate of smoke from the ceiling vent. The backlayering length and critical velocity of the smoke flow in the hybrid strategy could be predicted by the methodology developed by using the longitudinal strategy. The hybrid strategy maintained a safe evacuation environment on both sides of the tunnel fire.     

低压环境下航空电缆材料燃烧特性的研究

在高高原实验室(61 kPa、4 290 m)和广汉实验室(96 kPa、520 m),分别开展常低压条件下FXL型航空电缆的对比燃烧实验。通过热辐射加热箱、烟密度及成分测试仪和氧指数仪等设备,测量点燃时间、烟密度、质量损失速率和CO、CO2及O2等浓度变化。实验结果表明:在96 kPa和61 kPa两种实验环境下,低压下最小点燃时间及温度的数值更大,两者的温度和时间差分别为15℃和4.8 s;烟密度曲线快速升高后趋于平衡,61 kPa条件下的发烟量小于96 kPa;O2体积浓度随着加热时间先下降后升高,而CO2的变化趋势相反。在61 kPa条件下,CO曲线会出现双峰现象且更明显;随着氧浓度增加,质量损失速率加快且呈线性关系;压力因素对燃烧影响减弱且燃烧持续时间差值变小。研究结果揭示了低压环境对航空电缆的燃烧影响,为增强航空安全提供参考。     

Experimental measurements,integral modeling and smoke detection of early fire in thermally stratified environments

Building fires go through a series of stages. They start with a fire plume period during which buoyant fire smoke rises to the ceiling. A second stage is the following enclosure smoke-filling period. In this paper, the first stage is the subject, especially for the fire plume behavior in thermally stratified environments in large volume spaces. In NFPA 92B, Morton's integral equation was introduced for calculating the maximum plume rise, and beam smoke detectors were recommended for smoke detection design. In this work, experiments and CFD simulations were conducted in a small-scale enclosure and a large space to investigate early fire movements in temperature-stratified ambients. The results show that in a thermally stratified environment, the axial temperature and velocity of a fire plume decrease more quickly along the vertical axis than in uniform environment, and in some cases the fire plume ceases to rise. The previous integral equation was shown to underestimate the actual maximum height of a fire smoke plume, and also was unable to explain the differences of the maximum heights of low-density and high-density smoke plumes with the same stratification and outlet conditions. The integral equation was improved by introducing two correction factors, and extended for non-linear temperature stratified environments. A light section smoke detection method with three space-protected area was suggested and discussed.     

Tenability conditions and filling times for fires in large spaces

Motivated by recent demands on regulatory reform, closed form solutions are developed for the filling times and upper layer temperatures for fires in large spaces including the volume expansion term that was neglected in previous similar efforts. The solutions evolve from (a) utilizing the air entrainment to a buoyant plume from a point source having the same convective heat release as the fire and (b) applying an energy balance for the hot layer. Heat losses to the surfaces of the enclosure and provisions for smoke control by natural ventilation are also considered in an approximate way. Although analytic solutions for the filling times exist in the literature if the volume expansion term is neglected, this work is the first to (a) present analytic solutions for the upper layer temperature including the volume expansion term and (b) incorporate heat losses and smoke control by natural ventilation. The present predictions agree with recent numerical results (Fire Sci. Technol. 19(1) (1999) 27), which agree with experimental data and consequently, the present results in turn agree well with experimental data (Fire Sci. Technol. 19(1) (1999) 27). They are also corroborated by asymptotic analysis worked out in Appendix A. For certain large spaces, the results show that critical times for evacuation or rescue operations from fire brigade depend on the upper layer temperature reaching high enough values to cause harm by radiation to occupants or fire fighting rescuers. Thus, critical times in large spaces do not result from the smoke layer descending below a critical height (e.g. 2.1 m from the floor), as they do for small spaces. The present results for large spaces having high ceiling clearance do not agree with CFAST calculations because the entrainment equation for the fire plume in CFAST is different from the one in this work.     

Numerical simulations on fire spread and smoke movement in an underground car park

The Fire Dynamic Simulator code is used to investigate fire spread and smoke movement in a large underground car park under different fire scenarios. Initially, by comparing with experimental results of heat release rate of a single car fire, the development of car fire is designed by letting surface densities of the fuel over the car. Fire spread and movement of smoke are then investigated under different ventilation conditions. Simulated results show that the development of car fire in the underground car park can be classified into four stages; namely an initial stage, a developed stage, an extinction and re-burning stage and another fast-developed stage. Affected by ventilation systems, fire develops rapidly resulting in consuming most oxygen quickly followed by early extinction of the fire. After extinction of the fire, with more ambient air drawn into the car park due to ventilation, re-ignition takes place with accelerated development. In addition, detailed field distributions of temperature and velocity vectors are given. It is found that the smoke layer decent to the top of the car after 15 min and the hot smoke flows in a disorderly manner resulting in the spread of fire more rapidly.     

Smoke production,radiation heat transfer and fire growth in a liquid-fuelled compartment fire

A detailed investigation is described of the interaction between fire development, smoke production and radiative exchange in a half-scale ASTM compartment in which the source is a heptane pool fire. Measurements of heat flux, fuel mass loss rate, ventilation flow rates, temperature and soot volume fraction are reported for the compartment for varying door widths. Data from the compartment are compared with open pool fire measurements using the same equipment. The confined geometry is shown to exert a strong influence on pool fire development and suggests that considerable caution is needed in employing open pool fire data as boundary conditions for CFD simulation. Numerical simulations based on the direct calculation of radiative exchange between the liquid fuel surface, the smoke-laden environment and bounding walls do reproduce the behaviour observed when combustion, soot production and radiation are modelled in detail and finely resolved spatially.     

膨胀石墨烟幕发生装置烟流颗粒运动规律与试验研究

针对膨胀石墨设计了一种简易烟幕发生装置,该装置利用烟火药燃烧时释放出的热量使可膨胀石墨膨化并分散于空中,形成膨胀石墨干扰烟幕。基于该装置建立了烟流颗粒(膨胀石墨颗粒)扩散规律的理论计算模型,对烟幕发生剂反应参数与烟流颗粒运动规律进行计算,得到烟流颗粒的运动方程。同时,对该装置进行了试验研究,并通过高速摄影记录烟流颗粒运动规律,试验结果表明烟流颗粒理论运动规律与试验结果相符,能够描述烟流颗粒的运动规律。     

Emission of pollutants from wood waste incineration at sawmills in Abeokuta metropolis,Nigeria

This paper reports an assessment of the effects of wood waste burning on air quality and the perceived human health in an urban setting. The concentrations of particulates and selected gases were monitored within the vicinity of sawmills in Abeokuta metropolis. The levels of CO, CO₂, SO₂, NO_x, NO₂, H₂S, CH₄ and particulates at distances from sawmill dumps were measured using portable samplers. Additionally, information on sawmill operations and health problems encountered by the exposed population were collected from a community survey. From the data analyses, between 60 and 100% of wood waste generated by sawmills were burned openly, leading to pollutants emission. The mean concentrations of PM_0.3–0.5 (32 523–40 284 μg/m³), NO₂ (1.0 ppm), SO₂ (3.3 ppm), CO (759 ppm) and CO₂ (4.9%) were higher than the permissible limits at 0–15 m from the dump sites. Almost all sampled parameters showed positive association (R = 0.90–0.98; p < 0.05) at sample sites. Moreover, distance of sites to the dumps explained 51–93% of the variation in parameters levels. Both respiratory and dermal diseases were frequently experienced by the exposed population. Strict land-use zoning, pollution abatement measures, environmental quality monitoring and waste-to-energy interventions are urgently required in the study area.     

Study on the real-time size distribution of smoke particles for each fire stage by using a steady-state tube furnace method

For the analysis of the adverse effects of smoke on health, it is essential to determine the amount and location of smoke particles deposited in the respiratory tract. However, the deposition characteristics of the particles are influenced by their morphology and size distribution. Moreover, the real-time particle size distribution during inhalation is important for determining smoke particle deposition in the lungs. Smoke particles generated under different fire conditions differ in their physical and chemical characteristics. Thus, there is a need to adopt international standard methods for characterizing the particles generated in fire. In the present study, the size distributions together with morphology of smoke particles were measured for each fire stage by using the steady-state tube furnace method given in ISO/TS 19700. The size distributions of smoke particles from wood and polypropylene (PP) were measured in real time by using an electric low-pressure impactor (ELPI⁺), and their morphologies were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).