A mathematical model on adjacent smoke filling involved sprinkler cooling to a smoke layer

Conventional two-zone model determines the smoke filling time in buildings without considering the cooling effect of sprinkler spray on the smoke layer. However, many buildings have been required to install the sprinkler systems by fire codes. So, the conventional zone model was not able to accurately predict the development of smoke layer height in a sprinklers involved fire. In order to improve the prediction, the current zone model is revised with a new mathematical model developed by taking the sprinkler cooling effect into account. The heat transfer between smoke layer and sprinklers spray was mathematically calculated. By using the mathematical model, the smoke filling time in an adjacent space under the sprinkler cooling effect are calculated. A set of experiments were carried out to validate the model. The smoke layer height was experimentally measured. Results show that the model predictions agree well with the experimental results. The smoke filling becomes slower due to the reduced volumetric smoke flow under sprinkler cooling. The variation of sprinkler operating pressure has little influence on the smoke filling since the cooling gets less effective as the operating pressure increases.

Research highlights
► We modified the conventional zone model by adding the sprinkler cooling effect in.
► Full scale experiments were conducted to validate the modified zone model.
► We found that the operating pressure has little influence onto the smoke filling process.