Experimental studies on heat release rate in chinese kitchen fires

Fire safety in kitchens of Chinese restaurants will be discussed in this article. The licensing requirements and legislation aspects are outlined first with the past fire records briefly discussed. As identified, most kitchen fires in Chinese restaurants started from "cooking woks" at the stoves. For assessing the thermal environment in a kitchen, heat release rates in burning such "woks" in accidental fires should be measured. Two scenarios of burning woks with cooking oil were identified. The first scenario is a stove arrangement with only two woks. The second one is with six woks for serving banquet. Full-scale burning tests on those two identified scenarios were carried out at a remote area in Northeast China. The heat release rate was measured by the oxygen consumption method. As sprinklers and water mist systems are commonly installed, the action of the sprinkler and water mist system on the cooking wok fires were also studied. The times of fire extinguishment upon discharging the water mist were also reported in evaluating the protection system. These experimental results would provide useful information for future designs of fire safety provisions in kitchens of large hotel groups in the Far East.