Experimental study on flame radiation fraction of facade fire ejected from opening of a compartment

This paper quantifies experimentally the flame radiation fraction of facade fire ejected from opening of a compartment, which has not been quantified in the past. However, its value is essential for estimating the radiation impact to surroundings. A series of experiments were conducted by employing a cubic compartment with an opening attached by a vertical facade wall. The radiation heat flux under different compartment ventilation conditions (opening sizes) was measured by a radiometer placed at side direction (parallel to the facade wall). A new calculation method on flame radiation fraction of facade fire was proposed and it was found that the flame radiation fraction decreases with increasing excess heat release rate outside the opening. A non-dimensional correlation was proposed to describe its evolution for openings of various dimensions. The new findings and the proposed non-dimensional correlation provide a fundamental base for understanding essentially the flame radiation fraction of facade fire ejected from the opening of a fire compartment.