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Published April 1978 | public
Journal Article

Development of a Stratified Ceiling Layer in the Early Stages of a Closed-room Fire

Zukoski, E. E.

Abstract

A simple analytical model has been developed to determine the time required for a room to fill with products of combustion from a small fire. The room is assumed to be closed except for small openings at either the floor or ceiling level and the assumption is made that the leak is large enough to allow the transient pressure term in the energy equation to be neglected. Products of combustion are assumed to occupy a layer next to the ceiling and the model predicts the growth of the thickness and the mean density of this layer as a function of time. The analysis shows that times required to fill a typical room are small. For example, a typical bedroom fills with products from a 20 kW fire in several minutes. The time required to fill a room and the mean density of ceiling layer are determined in terms of fire size, room geometry, leak position, fire elevation and geometry.

Additional Information

© 1978 Heyden & Son Ltd. Received 15 July 1977. Article first published online: 23 SEP 2004. The work reported in this paper grew out of a discussion between the author and Drs J. Quintiere and J. Rockett of the Fire Research Center, National Bureau of Standards and was carried out under a grant from the Fire Research Center.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023