Estimation of species concentrations during a fire in a reduced-scale room

Abstract

An approach to estimate species production during a compartment fire is proposed. Semi-empirical correlations based on oxygen concentration are given. They give an estimate of the concentrations of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons with a carbon chain length lower than five. Three intervals of oxygen concentration are noted, and they correspond to sufficiently ventilated, underventilated, and very underventilated fires. In order to validate these correlations, fire experiments are performed in a reduced-scale room. Species concentrations predicted by the model are in good agreement with our experimental data and with those of the literature. Coefficients used in the correlations are obtained for heptane and dodecane fires.