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A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255). This special issue belongs to the section "Fire Risk Assessment and Safety Management in Buildings and Urban Spaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2023) | Viewed by 31595

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chuangang Fan

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Guest Editor

Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
Interests: fire; smoke and combustion

Dr. Dahai Qi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Building Engineering, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
Interests: building mechanical systems; building energy; fire smoke control
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fire-induced smoke influences the safe evacuation of occupants and firefighters’ ability to extinguish a fire. About 80% of deaths in fires were caused by the toxic smoke, according to statistics. Hence, how to control smoke is of great importance, in order to reduce fire hazards.

In this Special Issue proposed for the journal Fire, which is indexed in Science Citation Index and Scopus, we seek articles associated with fire-induced smoke movement and control in both unconfined and confined environments, including high-rise buildings, tunnels, subways, mines, atriums, street canyons, etc.

In this Special Issue, the scope is to gather original, fundamental and applied research concerning experimental, theoretical, computational and case studies that contribute towards the understanding of fire-induced smoke. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Fire-induced smoke production;
Smoke movement;
Smoke control by ventilation or water mist;
Smoke stratification in confined spaces;
Smoke extraction by mechanical ventilation or natural ventilation;
Modeling and simulation of smoke.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Chuangang Fan
Prof. Dr. Dahai Qi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

smoke production
smoke movement
smoke control
smoke stratification
smoke extraction

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 162 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Preface: Special Issue on Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control

by Chuangang Fan and Dahai Qi

Fire 2023, 6(4), 142; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6040142 - 03 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1054

Abstract

Generally, fires in confined spaces have more intense burning behaviors than open-space fires due to the accumulation of heat and smoke released by fires [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

Research

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18 pages, 6872 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Simulation on Smoke Temperature Distribution in a Large Indoor Pedestrian Street Fire

by Weidong Lin, Qiyu Liu, Meihong Zhang, Bihe Cai, Hui Wang, Jian Chen and Yang Zhou

Fire 2023, 6(3), 115; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6030115 - 13 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1593

Abstract

In order to study the characteristics of fire smoke spread and temperature distribution of a large indoor pedestrian street under different heat release rates and smoke exhaust modes, this paper focuses on the analysis of fire smoke spread, visibility, smoke temperature distribution and variation curves in an atrium. This paper uses a numerical simulation method to conduct research. PyroSim fire simulation software is used to calculate this project, which is based on a full-scale experimental design scheme. The numerical simulation results show that under the conditions of higher heat release rate, the smoke spread rate is greater than that under the conditions of lower heat release rate. Furthermore, the average temperature of smoke in the atrium is also greater, up to about 400 °C. The conditions of a higher heat release rate also show the characteristics of faster generation, faster spread and a larger volume of smoke. When the smoke exhaust system is turned on, the thickness of the smoke layer and the smoke temperature decrease. There then comes a situation where the stabile section of the fire ends in advance. The simulation results of vertical temperature distribution in an atrium can fit the modified McCaffrey plume model in any case. Under all cases, the smoke temperature reaches the maximum directly above the fire source. The horizontal dimensionless smoke temperature rises under the atrium roof, and decreases exponentially with the dimensionless distance from the fire source. The greater the heat release rate of fire source is, the smaller the attenuation coefficient is, with a more than 50% change. When the smoke exhaust system is turned on, the smoke flow accelerates and the smoke is cooled rapidly. Thus, the attenuation coefficient increases. Additionally, the effect of mechanical smoke exhaust is better than natural smoke exhaust, because mechanical smoke exhaust makes air flow and heat exchange more intense. The variation amplitudes of the attenuation coefficient under natural smoke exhaust and mechanical smoke exhaust are 13% and 22%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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14 pages, 3283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of the Smoke Layer Height in the Engine Room under the Forced Air Condition

by Xiaowei Wu, Yi Zhang, Jia Jia, Xiao Chen, Wenbing Yao and Shouxiang Lu

Fire 2023, 6(1), 16; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6010016 - 04 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1499

Abstract

The smoke layer height in the ship engine room under forced ventilation has been experimental and theoretical investigated in this work. A series of test were carried out in a scaled engine cabin experimental platform to obtain the influence of air supply volume and air inlet height on the burning parameters, including the mass loss rate, smoke temperature, etc. The research results show that under the experimental conditions, the fire source mass loss rate increases exponentially, and smoke layer height also increases gradually with the increase in the air supply volume. The empirical formula of smoke layer height under different air supply conditions was given. Then, a prediction model of smoke layer height under different forced ventilation conditions was constructed through theoretical analysis based on conservation equations. Within the range of experimental air volume and air inlet height, the relative error between theoretical prediction results and experimental results was less than 11%, which could effectively predict the smoke layer height in the ship cabin fire. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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14 pages, 6259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of the Heat Exhaust Coefficient of Lateral Smoke Exhaust in Tunnel Fires: The Effect of Tunnel Width and Transverse Position of the Fire Source

by Qiulin Liu, Zhisheng Xu, Weikun Xu, Sylvain Marcial Sakepa Tagne, Haowen Tao, Jiaming Zhao and Houlin Ying

Fire 2022, 5(5), 167; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5050167 - 15 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1715

Abstract

The tunnel width and the transverse fire’s position both impact the heat exhaust coefficient, which is a critical component of the lateral smoke exhaust in tunnel fires. In this research, the tunnel width and the transverse location of the fire source are varied to analyze the heat exhaust coefficient of lateral smoke exhaust. When tunnel width increases, there is a noticeable decrease in the longitudinal temperature of the entrained air and smoke layer in the fire plume. Furthermore, the heat exhaust coefficients are reduced. An increase in the distance between the exhaust vent and the fire source causes an increase in the proportion of hot smoke in the smoke exhaust mass flow, which increases the heat exhaust coefficient. A calculated heat exhaust coefficient was developed using the fire source’s location and the tunnel’s width as inputs, which agrees well with the simulation results. This method can predict the heat exhaust coefficient of the lateral smoke exhaust in tunnel fires. The findings of this study provide insight into how the tunnel width and the location of a transverse fire influence the heat exhaust coefficient. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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13 pages, 2908 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Effect of Bridge Deck Spacing on Characteristics of Smoke Temperature Field in a Bridge Fire

by Weiguang An, Lei Shi, Hailei Wang and Taike Zhang

Fire 2022, 5(4), 114; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5040114 - 12 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1585

Abstract

The numerical simulation method is used to simulate the distribution characteristics of the smoke temperature field of a double-deck bridge smoke temperature field during tanker fire under natural ventilation. The influence of the distance between double decks on the truss and ceiling temperature field change in the double-deck bridge is investigated. The results show that the range of high-temperature area gradually decreases with the increase in bridge deck spacing. The maximum excess temperature function of the tunnel ceiling is also applicable to the bridge, but the coefficient is smaller than that of the tunnel experimental formula. An equation is proposed to predict the maximum excess temperature of the truss under different bridge deck spacings. As the bridge deck spacing increases, the maximum excess temperature decreases. The excess temperature of the truss increases along the truss, and the maximum excess temperature appears at the top of the truss. Based on the energy equation, an equation for the excess temperature of the truss is established. As the vertical height increases, the excess temperature of the truss above the fire source exponentially increases. The research results will contribute to the fire hazard evaluation and safety design of bridges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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16 pages, 3447 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Simulation on the Effect of Fire Shutter Descending Height on Smoke Extraction Efficiency in a Large Atrium

by Qiyu Liu, Jianren Xiao, Bihe Cai, Xiaoying Guo, Hui Wang, Jian Chen, Meihong Zhang, Huasheng Qiu, Chunlin Zheng and Yang Zhou

Fire 2022, 5(4), 101; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5040101 - 17 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2351

Abstract

In this study, a series of numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the effect of fire shutter descending height on the smoke extraction efficiency in a large space atrium. Based on the full-scale fire experiments, this paper carried out more numerical simulations to explore factors affecting the smoke extraction efficiency in the atrium. The smoke flow characteristics, temperature distribution law and smoke extraction efficiency of natural and mechanical smoke exhaust systems were discussed under different heat release rates and fire shutter descending heights. The results show that the smoke spread rate and the average temperature of the smoke are higher with a greater heat release rate. After the mechanical smoke exhaust system is activated, the smoke layer thickness and smoke temperature decrease, and the stable period of heat release rate is shorter. In the condition of natural smoke exhaust, the smoke extraction efficiency increases exponentially with the increase of heat release rate and the descending height of the fire shutter, and the maximum smoke extraction efficiency is 48.8%. In the condition of mechanical smoke exhaust, the smoke extraction efficiency increases with the increase of mechanical exhaust velocity. When the velocity increases to the critical value (8 m/s), the smoke extraction efficiency is essentially stable. The smoke extraction efficiency is increased first with the increase of fire shutter descending height and then has a downward trend when the descending height drops to half, and the maximum smoke extraction efficiency is 70.3% in the condition of mechanical smoke exhaust. Empirical correlations between the smoke extraction efficiency and the dimensionless fire shutter descending height, the dimensionless heat release rate and the dimensionless smoke exhaust velocity have been established. The results of this study can provide a reference for the design of smoke prevention and exhaust systems in the atrium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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17 pages, 9211 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Evacuation Spacing of Undersea Tunnels in Different Ventilation Velocity Conditions

by Wei Na and Chen Chen

Fire 2022, 5(2), 48; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5020048 - 07 Apr 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3531

Abstract

Ventilation velocity conditions may affect the smoke diffusion and evacuation environment in a tunnel fire, which should be fully considered in evacuation spacing designs of undersea tunnels. This study focuses on reasonable evacuation spacing under various possible velocity conditions of an undersea tunnel, providing a design method reference for calculating safe evacuation spacing. Fire Dynamic Simulator and Pathfinder software were used for numerical simulations of a 50 MW fire and evacuation process in a full-scale undersea tunnel with traffic congestion. The simulation cases contained velocity modes from zero to satisfying the critical velocity and evacuation spacings from 30 m to 80 m. The calculated distributions of the available safe escape time indicated that a low ventilation velocity, such as 1.0 m/s, is beneficial to the downstream evacuation, but turning off mechanical ventilation increased risk near the fire source. The required safe escape time is shortened with a reduction in slide spacings, but the shortened rate slowed down after spacing was less than 60 m. In addition, the slow evacuating areas from 100 m to 300 m from the fire source independent of spacing are identified. Ultimately, the reasonable evacuation spacings of 60 m, 50 m, and 30 m, corresponding to three possible ventilation velocity modes of low, medium, and high, are proposed through the comparisons of the distributions of available safe escape time and required safe escape time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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16 pages, 6632 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Different Smoke Vent Layouts on Smoke and Temperature Distribution in Single-Side Multi-Point Exhaust Tunnel Fires: A Case Study

by Liangliang Tao and Yanhua Zeng

Fire 2022, 5(1), 28; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5010028 - 18 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3740

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical model verified by a 1:10 small-scale model test was used to study the effect of different smoke vent layouts on fire characteristics and smoke exhaust efficiency. The results show that the total smoke spread length is shortest when four smoke vents are opened near the fire source. If there are more than four smoke vents, some of them will only inhale fresh air rather than smoke. More seriously, some smoke vents will promote the spread of toxic smoke farther. Under different smoke vent layout schemes, the maximum temperature shows the same change trend with the increase in smoke exhaust volume (first increasing and then decreasing). When there are four smoke vents, the temperature field is in a good range compared with other schemes. If four smoke vents are opened, the total smoke exhaust efficiency is highest, and exhaust rate has little influence on total exhaust efficiency. Total smoke exhaust efficiency of the tunnel is more than 93.7% under different exhaust volumes, and the maximum difference of total smoke exhaust efficiency is less than 1.5% under different exhaust volume of Case “4”. The exhaust volume has little influence on temperature decay beneath the ceiling, and a temperature attenuation model of a point exhaust tunnel with four smoke vents was proposed. For the single-side point exhaust tunnels, the number of smoke vents near the exhaust fan side shall not be more than that on the other side. Four smoke vents shall be opened in case of fire and the exhaust volume is 220 m³/s with HRR of 30 MW. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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22 pages, 8581 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Wind Speed on the Natural Ventilation and Smoke Exhaust Performance of an Optimized Unpowered Ventilator

by Mao Li, Yukai Qiang, Xiaofei Wang, Weidong Shi, Yang Zhou and Liang Yi

Fire 2022, 5(1), 18; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5010018 - 28 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3890

Abstract

Natural ventilators can maintain the ventilation of buildings and tunnels, and can exhaust fire smoke without requiring energy. In this study, we optimized a natural ventilator by adding axial fan blades (equivalent to adding a fan system) to investigate the effect of wind speed on the ventilation and smoke exhaust performance of an optimized natural ventilator. The experimental results showed that the best configuration of the ventilator was five fan blades at an angle of 25° with set-forward curved fan blades. With this configuration, the ventilation volume of the optimized natural ventilator was increased by 11.1%, and the energy consumption was reduced by 2.952 J. The third experiment showed that, in the case of a fire, the optimized ventilator can reduce the temperature of the ventilator faster than the original ventilator, indicating better smoke exhaust performance. The reason for this effect is that, when the optimized natural ventilator rotates, the rotation of the blades creates a flow field with a more evenly distributed wind speed. The experiments proved that natural ventilators can be optimized by adding a fan system. The results of this study can be applied to effectively improve the ventilation performance of natural ventilators to quickly exhaust smoke in building and tunnel fires, and provide a reference for related research on natural ventilators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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14 pages, 2621 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application Development of Smoke Leakage Test Apparatus for Door Sets in the Field

by Hsuan-Yu Hung, Ching-Yuan Lin, Ying-Ji Chuang and Chung-Pi Luan

Fire 2022, 5(1), 12; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5010012 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3503

Abstract

Heavy smoke from building fires is the main cause of casualties. As smoke typically diffuses through building openings, smoke control performance of building openings is critical to survival and requires considerable attention. In the past, the detection method could only be used in the laboratory, and the detection equipment could not be moved. Therefore, the main purpose of this research was to develop a methodology for field testing of smoke control properties of doors in order to ensure that the smoke control performance of doors tested in the laboratory and doors installed in the field can be realized without any discrepancy. Furthermore, this test method underwent a comparison test with the CNS 15038 “Method of Test for Evaluating Smoke Control Performance of Doors” for the same subject. The test results showed no significant difference based on independent sample testing, demonstrating the feasibility of this test method and test apparatus. The instrument developed by this research is light and easy to carry, and the operation method is simple. Such a test method can be applied to different doors and is non-destructive, non-hazardous, and reusable. In the future, by extending the design principle of the system, this test method can be applied to other fire protection equipment for the inspection of smoke control capabilities and can be used as a reference for relevant organizations to establish test specifications and standards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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Other

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14 pages, 5611 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Study on the Effect of Blockage Ratio on Maximum Smoke Temperature Rise in the Underground Interconnected Tunnel

by Zhisheng Xu, Yaxing Zhen, Baochao Xie, Sylvain Marcial Sakepa Tagne, Jiaming Zhao and Houlin Ying

Fire 2023, 6(2), 50; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire6020050 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 949

Abstract

The model-scale tunnel is used in this investigation to analyze the maximum smoke temperature rise of the interconnected tunnel for various longitudinal ventilation velocities, blockage ratios, and heat release rates where the fire is at the confluence of the underground interconnected tunnel. The results showed that the longitudinal ventilation velocities of both the ramp upstream of the fire source and the adjacent ramp influenced the maximum temperature rise under the underground interconnected tunnel, and the ventilation of both ramps jointly affected the maximum temperature rise. The change in the maximum temperature rise depends on who is more affected by the longitudinal ventilation velocity or the vehicle blockage ratio. As the longitudinal ventilation velocity in the interconnected tunnel increases, the convective heat transfer near the fire source increases, resulting in a decrease in the maximum temperature rise, and the effect of the blockage ratio on the maximum temperature rise is reduced. In this paper, a maximum temperature rise prediction model suitable for the case of blockage in the interconnected tunnel is proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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9 pages, 2188 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Feasibility Analysis of Cross Passage Ventilation and Smoke Control in Extra-Long Submarine Tunnel

by Wenjiao You and Jie Kong

Fire 2022, 5(4), 102; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5040102 - 18 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2040

Abstract

Longitudinal ventilation fans in extra-long submarine tunnels are usually arranged at both ends of the tunnel limited by the tunnel cross section, which is usually hindered by insufficient power caused by extra-long ventilation distances. In this paper, the conception of a ventilation mode is proposed that services the tunnel and cross passages, to provide auxiliary air supply to the main tunnel. Two critical factors have been analyzed on the premise of evacuation safety, which combine to affect the ventilation efficiency in the case of an accident inside the tunnel, these are: air volume within the service tunnel, and cross passage open numbers. FDS simulation software is used to simulate the tunnel model; consider the number of cross passages from one to four; and simulate the service tunnel airflow velocity of 0.7 m/s, 0.75 m/s, 0.85 m/s, 1.0 m/s and 1.3 m/s. The results show that when 1.3 m/s wind speed is applied at both ends of the service tunnel, and three cross passages are operated, 20 MW of fire smoke within the accident tunnel can be effectively controlled; additionally, the wind speed in the cross passage will not hinder the evacuation. The simulation results are verified by ventilation network calculation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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12 pages, 5747 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Investigation of the Temperature Beneath Curved Tunnel Ceilings Induced by Fires with Natural Ventilation

by Haowen Tao, Zhisheng Xu and Dongmei Zhou

Fire 2022, 5(4), 90; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fire5040090 - 27 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2164

Abstract

The distribution characteristics of the temperature below ceilings in curved tunnel fires have not been quantitatively studied. A small-scale tunnel was constructed in this work to study the maximum temperature and longitudinal attenuation of the temperature below ceilings induced by fires in a curved tunnel with natural ventilation. Different tunnel turning radiuses and fire heat release rates were taken into account. The results show that the distribution characteristics of temperature below the tunnel ceiling is hardly affected by the tunnel turning radius in a scenario where the flame plume impinges on the ceiling (strong-plume-driven). The fire-induced maximum temperature and longitudinal attenuation of temperature in curved tunnels are comparable to those of straight tunnels. Improved correlations are proposed for the condition of a strong-plume-driven ceiling jet, and the measured value of the temperature of the experiment collapsed well. This work may enhance the understanding of temperature distributions in curved tunnel fires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire-Induced Smoke Movement and Control)

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