Performance measurement of a smoke extraction system for buildings in full-scale hot smoke test

The current inspection method for a smoke extraction system in Taiwan measures whether the air flow of the smoke vent conforms to the design value. However, this method is inapplicable to natural smoke extraction systems. As the plugholing effect is disregarded, adequate air flow cannot ensure that the system will exhaust smoke effectively during a fire. Hence, a full-scale hot smoke test for smoke extraction systems is necessary. Some international test criteria are formulated using visible smoke and alcoholic fuel which is pollution-free after combustion. The effectiveness is judged only by visually observing the smoke’s flow direction, which is indeed unscientific. This study used a string of vertical smoke layer measuring instruments composed of several approved photoelectric smoke detectors, as well as a light attenuation measuring device composed of illuminance meters to conduct tests on the effect of makeup air. The results proved that the former one uses different height induction times to judge the position of the smoke layer effectively, while the latter one uses the light attenuation rate to distinguish the smoke density instantly and accurately. The obtained experimental data were consistent with the onsite smoke distribution. The two sets of equipment designed in this study can be used for full-scale hot smoke tests to obtain performance data for a smoke extraction system.