Different Types of Fire Testing - Assignment Example

Name Course Task Date PART A 1. Discuss the different types of fire testing. Standard test method for surface burning- this is the test for the characteristics of burning surface of a building material. Fire resistance test – the test for resistance to flame by a material Fire test through penetration firestops this is done through a penetration firestops Rapid rise fire test – tests for the rate of fire spreading. (Stollard, Abrahams, 1999) 2. How do small scale experiments relate to large scale experiments and real fire situations? Small scale experiments shows different behaviour from large scale experiments. The behavior of real fire may not be predicted fully by small scale fire experiments. to obtain all the details of the real fire, small scale and large scale experiments are used. 3. Discuss the objectives of fire safety and the five tactics available to the fire safety designers seeking to fulfill the fire safety objectives? Define fire engineering and discuss its importance. Objectives Objectives are the search for physical solution to a given set of problems. they include: life and property safety, functionality, technological that include fire safety, economic and aesthetic issues. Tactics Prevention – make sure that the fires does not start by controlling fuel source and ignition points. Communication – incase of an ignition, the ocuupant should be informed and active fire systems are triggered Escape – make sure that the occupants are able to move to safety before they are threatened by fire or heat. Containment – the fire should be contained in to the small possible area to limit the amount of damage to life and property. Extinguishment – make sure that the fire can be extinguished quickly, with minimum damage to the building. (Stollard and Abrahams, 999) 4. Name and define four parameters you can determine using the cone calorimeter. Heat release rate – this is the rate at which the heat increases with time Products of combustion – carbon monoxide concentration and the other gases are measured. the peak of CO concentration is also measured Ignition time – time taken for fire to be ignited. Mass loss – loss of weight (Krasny, Parker and Babrauskas 2001) 5. Explain the term “Positive Pressure Ventilation”. This is the provision of air under pressure through a mechanical respirator machine. the machine is designed to provide artificial respiration by improving the air exchange between the lungs and the atmosphere. (Barash, et al., 2009) 6. Explain what is the flashpoint of a fuel is. It is the lowest temperature at which sufficient vapour is given off to cause temporary burning when a flame is brought near a surface. (Bonnick, 2011) 7. Explain what the Limiting Oxygen Index test does and give its limitations. LOI test measures the minimum concentration of oxygen required to support combustion of a given material. The limitation of this test is the absence of energy feedback to the specimen, since most energy is carried away by convection (ASM International, 2003) 8. What does it mean if a sample has a high LOI or a low LOI? Use examples to illustrate your answer. A high LOI means that the material is more resistant to flame, while low LOI indicates that the material more flammable. For example, a material with low LOI like gasoline will continue burning at lower oxygen concentrations compared to materials with high LOI. 9. Explain the terms “piloted-ignition” and “auto-ignition”. Auto-ignition is the temperature at which vapour ignites caused by outer ignition source. Piloted-ignition is when the reaction takes place in the combustible material itself. 10. Why is it important to carry out fire testing on materials? This is to assess or measure the response of a product, material, system or a structure to one or more aspects of fire. 11. Explain what causes a “V” pattern during a fire in a compartment. It is a natural convection mode resulting from buoyancy of heated gas, the gas tend to spread out as they rise, forming V shape. The shape clearly shows the origin of the fire. 12. Define the term “heat release rate”. Include diagrams showing heat release rate for thermally thin and thermally thick, charring and non-charring materials. Heat release rate is the rate of change of heat energy per unit time that results from conversion of chemical energy of fuel during combustion process. 13. There are five main factors which will affect the development of fire growth within a compartment. They can be divided into two categories: those that are concerned with the compartment itself and those which are concerned with the fuel. Identify these factors. Amount of oxygen available – fire can easy ignite when the oxygen is above 16% of the atmosphere. CO is formed below this percentage. Amount of fuel available Location of fire and the size of space to the surrounding flammable materials like walls. Insulating value of the ceiling and the wall. Better insulation reduces the heat transfer. Physical state of fuel and its HRR determines how fire will grow. 14. Presented below in table 1, are 10 heat release rates for a piece of laminated wood at 25.00kW/m2. Calculate the range, the mean, the standard deviation and then the uncertainty in the mean and the uncertainty in the standard deviation. Table 1: Heat release rate data Test 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Heat Release Rate @ 25.00kW/m2 44.80 42.15 42.97 43.60 43.88 44.80 42.79 45.10 41.62 43.74 Range = 44.80 – 41.62 = 3.18 Mean = 43.545 15. In table 2 below there is a set of results obtained from the “Bang Box” experiment. Plot a graph which will best show your results and state what the results show. Table 2: Bang box data Fuel Acetone Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6 Test 7 Test 8 Number of Drops 2 6 10 12 14 16 18 20 Height attained by lid (cm) 0 20 40 80 120 150 110 90 A graph of fuel acetone verses number of drops and height attained by lid in cm PART B 1) What is the maximum recommended compartment size for each of the following cases: (a) A single storey shop with sprinkler protection. No limits on the size of the floor (b) A single storey industrial – 20 m 2) What is the maximum size of an opening (unprotected area) that can be discounted when considering space separation between buildings? Negligible distance 3) In each of the following cases state whether a fire fighting shaft is recommended and if so whether or not a fire fighting lift is also required: (a) An office building with a top occupied floor of 250m2 located at 19m above fire service vehicle access level. Fire fighting shaft is recommended. A fire fighting lift is also required (b) A four storey assembly building with a top storey of 1400m2 located 10m above fire service vehicle access level. Fire fighting shaft is not recommended. A fire fighting lift is not also required 4) What is the minimum recommended fire resistance periods for the following structures: (a) A 30m high sprinkler protected residential building (b) A single storey shop with sprinkler protection. 5) What purpose groups would be appropriate for the following premises? (a) A students union building (e.g. 53°) Building in institution purpose group (b) A department store Office building purpose group (c) A factory. Industrial purpose group 6) According to Table 2 of ADB, what are the recommended travel distance limitations (single direction & more than one direction) for the following: a) A normal hazard storage facility - 25m, 45m b) A place of special fire hazard - 9m max, 18m max. c) The bedroom of an apartment – 9m, 18m d) A lecture theatre with fixed seating in rows – 15m, 32m e) Shop floor – 18m, 45m f) Plant room that exits through the accommodation within a building – 9m, 35m 7) According to Table 3 of ADB, what is the recommended minimum number of escape routes from a storey with: a) 10 people - 1 b) 100 people - 2. c) 200 people - 2. d) 500 people - 2. 8) According to Table 4 of ADB, what is the minimum exit width required to accommodate: a) 219 people – 1050mm b) 61 people – 850mm c) 10 people – 750mm d) 500 people – 500*5 = 2500mm 9) A building with four above ground floors is served by two escape stairs without lobby protection. Using Table 7 of ADB, what is the minimum width of the escape stairs if each floor accommodates: a) 75 persons – 1000mm b) 130 persons – 1000mm 10) A building with five above ground floors is served by three escape stairs with lobby protection. Using Table 7 of ADB, what is the minimum width of the escape stairs if each floor accommodates: a) 155 persons – 1000mm b) 230 persons – 1200mm 11) Assuming 100 occupants from the ground floor accommodation also exit through the ground floor of the stair enclosures for Questions 9 and 10, how wide do the final exits need to be? (I.e. a merging flow – diagram 15 and associated equation). a) N = 100 + (75*4) = 400 W = ((400/2.5) + (60*1))/80 = 2.75m b) N = 100 + (130*4) = 620 W = ((620/2.5) + (60*1))/80 = 3.85m c) N = 100 + (155*4) = 720 W = ((720/2.5) + (60*1))/80 = 4.35m d) N = 100 + (230*4) = 1020 W = ((1020/2.5) + (60*1.2))/80 = 5.725m 12) According to Table C1, what floor space factors would be appropriate in the following areas? a) An office - 6.0m2/person b) A bar – 0.3m2/person c) A shop - 2.0m2/person and 7.0m2/person d) A students union (e.g. 53Degrees) - 1.0m2/person 13) For a square room, 40m by 40m, calculate the number of occupants using the floor space factors obtained in Question 12. In each case what is the minimum number of exits required and how wide should each exit be as a minimum. a) Number of persons = 40*40/6 = 267 1 exit with W = (267/2.5)/80 = 1.335m b) N = 1600/0.3 = 5334 3 exits each carry 1778 persons W = (1778/2.5)/80 = 8.89m c) N = 1600/2 = 800 3 exits each carry 267 persons W = (267/2.5)/80 = 1.335m d) N = 1600/1 = 1600 3 exits each carry 534 persons W = (534/2.5)/80 = 2.67m 14) What is meant by the following terms: a) Life safety refers to taking care of physical well being and life of a person. b) Property protection it refers to measures taken by the owner of the property to safeguard and reduce damage. c) Fire resistance is the resistance of material to flame for specific temperature and time. d) Cavity barrier it is a barrier constructed to close a concealed space to prevent the penetration of fire and smoke. (Stollard and Abrahams, 1999) 15) Figure 1 and Figure 1a below represents a two storey office building, from the dimensions give an estimate for internal room sizes. Room size = 5*5=25m2 With reference to Figures 1 and 1a determine: a) Travel distances from each room and each floor, 2.5m, 7.5m, 12.5m, b) Occupancy load, - 6.0m2/person c) Purpose group, Office purpose group d) Exit and final exit widths, -2m e) Stair widths - 1.75m f) Classification of wall and ceiling linings. Fire resistance walls and ceilings References Bonnick A., 2011. A Practical Approach to Motor Vehicle Engineering and Maintenance, Routledge, ASM International, 2003. Characterization and Failure Analysis of Plastics, ASM International, Barash P. G.; et al., 2009. Clinical anesthesia, Philadelphia : Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Stollard P., Abrahams J., 1999. Fire from First Principles: A Design Guide to Building Fire Safety, Taylor & Francis, Krasny J.; Parker W. J.; Babrauskas V., 2001. Fire behavior of upholstered furniture and mattresses, Park Ridge, N.J.: Noyes, Norwich, N.Y.: William Andrew Pub. http://en.dbi-net.dk/component_things_worth_knowing_about_fire_testing.asp Read More