Fire-induced convective flow inside an enclosure before flashover: Numerical experiments

This paper reports how the technique of field modelling can be applied to simulate the ‘fire environment’ in an enclosure at the preflashover stage. The theory behind it is to solve a system of partial differential equations describing momentum and heat transfer with turbulent effects. By specifying the geometric configurations of the enclosure, location, size and thermal power of the fire, it is possible to predict the three-dimensional flow, temperature and smoke fields induced by a fire plume. These results are very useful for assessing the fire responses of different types of enclosures such as offices, trains, compartments, aircraft cabins, atria and tunnels at the preeashover stage. Appropriate fire services systems can then be designed to control fire during its early stages.