Abstract
Air-conditioning ducting has been found to be paths of smoke spread in case of fire. The interaction of air-conditioning operation and smoke exhaust has been found to be a risk factor for safe egress from a fire site. Computer simulation and field tests were carried out in this study to understand the mechanisms of smoke spread through air-conditioning ducting and ceiling plenum. Five fire scenarios were tested in numerical simulation. It was found that smoke would spread quickly to the adjacent spaces when air-conditioning was in operation. Smoke spread would occur even when air-conditioning cease to operate. This finding was verified in a field test. Integration of smoke exhaust with air-conditioning ducting was constructed in the field case. Dampers control for different modes of operation was built into the system. It was found in field tests that by proper damper control smoke spread would be prevented. The numerical modelling results agreed well with the field test results. In this study tenable conditions for safe evacuation were evaluated with temperature and visibility at 2 m height. The feasibility of using air-conditioning ducting for smoke exhaust was verified for a building case studied.
Original language | English |
---|---|
State | Published - 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 8th Asian Conference on Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning, ACRA 2016 - Taipei, Taiwan Duration: 15 05 2016 → 17 05 2016 |
Conference
Conference | 8th Asian Conference on Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning, ACRA 2016 |
---|---|
Country/Territory | Taiwan |
City | Taipei |
Period | 15/05/16 → 17/05/16 |
Keywords
- Air-conditioning
- Safe egress
- Smoke control
- Smoke exhaust