TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF VENTILATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE IN A COMPARTMENT

Abstract

Fire is hazardous for the safety of material, structural buildings and may also create risk to life r and environment. So a lot of experiment is carried out to evade the situation of hazardous fire risks. In recent past a lot of experiment is carried out to use fire resistant plastics as per UL-94 to understand the behavior of fire with different heat supplying sources. But very little is known about the burning of computers with a large heat source and effect of ventilation on the behavior of fire. Experimental investigation is carried out to explain development of fires under external wind condition in the compartment by burning solid fuels (computer) in the center of compartment at Fire Research Laboratory, MIED, LIT Roorkee. The approaching velocity of wind generated by forced draft fan was set to 0.0, 1 and 2mls. The experiments considered the effect of wind on a through-ventilation condition. Temperature of flame, ceiling and door, velocity of flame and door velocity, mass loss rate and heat release rate were measured. Heat flux falling on the ceiling, floor and wall were also noticed. Heat release rate increases with increasing external wind condition but at 2mls blow off condition occurs. Measured time varying flame temperature lies in the range of 150-630°C and ceiling temperature in the range of 40-100°C. Heat flux on the ceiling, floor and wall affected by the external wind and it decreases with increasing approaching wind velocity. Smoke coming out of the compartment having velocity of 2-3 m/s in the upper portion of the door and air enter into the compartment from the lower portion of door.