A comparison of gas velocity measurements in a full-scale enclosure fire

Gas velocity measurements were conducted in the doorway of an enclosure containing a natural gas fire. Two independent measurement techniques, Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) and bi-directional impact-pressure probes, were utilized for comparison – the first such comparison for a fire-induced flow in a full-scale structural fire. Gas velocities inferred from the bi-directional probe measurements were consistently greater than SPIV measurements in a region of the flow between the floor and the flow interface. The comparison revealed that a measurement bias exists in the bi-directional probe technique. Estimates of the relative magnitude of the bias were inferred from the results.