Review and application of engineering design models for building fire smoke movement and control

Abstract

Since the 1970s, researchers have developed semi-empirical models to describe fire smoke movement inside buildings, but there are three major issues. Firstly, several plume models are available to estimate the smoke production rate and the capacity of smoke extraction fans, but their discrepancy or accuracy is unclear. Secondly, the phenomenon of stratification affects the vertical transportation of smoke, and influences the activation time of the detectors and the efficiency of the smoke extraction system. A stratification model is available in the literature to calculate the maximum height that smoke can rise, but it cannot cover all design scenarios. Thirdly, the size of the smoke reservoir has been regulated in fire regulation. The regulation does not consider the factors that strongly affect the movement of smoke in the reservoir, such as the ceiling height, reservoir shape, smoke temperature, etc. These models are difficult to directly apply to a practical design project, and some clauses of the fire regulation do not address the requirements correctly and become a hurdle of design. This paper depicts the cases encountered during the design over the past decades and provides detailed processes of solving these issues. The approach of the design process demonstrates how fire engineers further develop the fire models and fill the gap between research and engineering practice. This paper systematically examines fire smoke models for the plume, vertical transportation of the smoke, the ceiling jet, and smoke spreading underneath the flat ceiling, and provides practical solutions for each of the smoke development stages.