Influence of Roof Opening on Gas Temperature Rise in an Enclosure

An experimental study is conducted to understand the gas temperature rise in the roof vented enclosure, and to analysis the influence of roof opening area on the fire development. This influence is of particular interest in the strategic decision of fire fighting and risk assessment. One 3 m × 3 m × 1.95 m compartment and four diameters of heptane pool fire were used. The fire size has strong influence, while the roof opening area has weak influence on the average rate of gas temperature rise. In the early stage of a fire, the fire development will slow down with the increase of roof opening area. For a relatively large fire, on the contrary, the fire is leaded to higher peak temperature as the increase of roof opening area.