The Influence of Wind

on Smoke Vents

What is the impact of wind deflectors?

Openable vents or windows, better known as SHEVS (Smoke and Heat Exhaust
Ventilation Systems) are commonly used to extract smoke from any protected space.
Those vents provide efficient solutions by keeping installation, running and
maintenance costs reduced to reasonable prices. Also, SHEVS help to create safe
conditions during evacuation and intervention of the fire brigade. This is achieved by
creating a smoke-free zone under the hot smoke layer (maximum 300°C1), sufficient
visibility conditions and acceptable levels of toxicant gasses.

It is known that SHEVS installed at roof level should not be located where they could be
subjected to adverse wind effects as this can generate a negative impact on the smoke
extraction. Where there is limited choice concerning the location of the SHEVS, wind baffles
are usually installed to guarantee the efficiency of the vents.

Study of the Effect of Wind baffles

In order to investigate any effect of wind baffles on SHEVS installed on a gable roof, Brakel
has carried out a multiple CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis aiming to study the
possible effect of wind baffles installed on Brakel® Ventria vents.
1
Acceptable averaged temperature for evacuation purposes based on 3 m smoke free height. Fire size, building height and
SHEVS may influence the maximum temperature values of the smoke..
The Brakel® Ventria window

The Brakel® Ventria is a stylish bottom hinged window. Normally, it is used for daily
ventilation and/or smoke extraction. It can be fitted in any construction with an inclination
angle between 15º and 90º. The opening angle varies with the installation situation and
dimensions, but never exceeds 75º. The Brakel® Ventria has been tested and certificated
under the European standard EN 12101-2 [1] as SHEVS (bottom-hinged version only).
(https://www.brakel.com/brakel/en/product/27_Brakel-Ventria-ventilation-window).

Brakel Ventria Tecnical Detailed Section Brakel ® Ventria Ventilator Brakel ® cross section

Setup CFD simulation

In order to carry out the CFD analysis, FDS 6.2.0 (Fire Dynamic Simulator) [4][5] has been
used (For more information visit http://www.nist.gov/el/fire_research/fds_smokeview.cfm ).
The computed model is based on a simple shape building with an area of 228 m² (12 m x 19
m) and a peak ceiling height of 7,23 m. The building presents two sections of glazed gable
roof with an angle of 30°.

The windows were placed in a staggered and in an opposite position. The use of wind baffles
(wind deflectors) changed within the CFD simulations.

Staggered configuration of SHEVS Opposite configuration of SHEVS

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An arbitrary 5 MW fire has been modelled and assumed to be reasonable for this kind of
building. Precisely, an input fire of 2502 kW/m² has been applied to a surface of 20 m² (4 m x
5 m). A fast growth rate (α = 0,047 kW/s²) has been chosen for the fire3 [2]. No possible
interaction with any other active fire protection systems has been taken into account. The
geometric area of smoke exhaust ventilator Av and the amount (6) of SHEVS have been
determined using the CEN/TR 12101-5 [3]. It has been considered that sufficient air inlet is
available, and it has been computed coming from different sides of the building in order to
minimize the pressure differential across the walls of the building.

Simulated smoke free layer height Simulated velocity slide

The simulations

The computed geometry consists of 5 million cells, including 18 meshes which vary from
0,20 m to 0,05 m cubic cell size.

For vertical buoyancy driven flows (temperature driven), smoke is extracted through vents
which are affected to the phenomenon called vena contracta. This phenomenon reduces the
extraction capacity of the vents. Thus, the mass flow rate Mf out of a vent is determined by a
coefficient of discharge (Cv) that takes into account the contractions effects as well as any
possible negative or positive4 wind effects (as prescribed in the EN 12101-2 [1]). For the
above reasons, preliminary FDS models have been carried out in order to find a proper
correction factor for the geometrical area of the vent Av,cfd [6].

2
For the purpose of this paper, a conservative value of 250 kW/m2 has been considered to design the natural SHEVS.
3
For this kind of building, the assumed α of 0,047 kW/s2 has been considered as a realistic value.
4
For the purpose of this paper only negative wind effects have been considered.

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 Example of Vena Contracta

The different settings of the final computed simulations are grouped in the table below.

AvCv
Cv* Av,cfd Position Wind
Simulation CEN/TR12101-
[-] [m2] SHEVS Baffles
5 [3] [m2]
1 6.48 0.53 9.26 Opposite Yes
2 6.48 0.27 3.69 Opposite No
3 6.48 0.59 10.52 Staggered Yes
4 6.48 0.23 2.32 Staggered No
* This value has been calculated following EN12101-2 [1]
Simulations settings

Simulation Results

The results obtained from the simulations highlighted the impact of wind baffles on the
extraction capacity of the considered vents. The following graph shows the extraction
performance of the computed ventilators under different settings by means of smoke free
layer height inside the building.

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 Smoke free layer height (results)

The results of the simulations show an increased efficiency on the outflow in presence of
wind baffles on both SHEVS positioning.

The improved performance can be explained by the minimization of the wind effects due to
the wind baffles on the efficiency of the SHEVS.

Conclusions

Smoke vents, installed in pitched roofs, without wind deflectors, are a possible solution.
Probably not the most cost effective one as double amount of units need to be installed to
cope with negative wind effects. The presented document highlighted that SHEVS5 installed
with wind baffles,- regardless how they are positioned on the roof 6, could have an increased
efficiency of 60-70% (approx.) on their smoke extraction capacity. In project terms, this can
be translated on an important saving cost as less SHEVS will be needed to achieve the
required Aa value.

VENTRIA’s
5
6
With respect to the EN 12101-2 [1] and the National Standards/legislation prescribed positioning of the SHEVS.

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References

[1] EN 12101-2:2003, Smoke and heat control systems, Part 2, Specification for natural smoke and heat exhaust
ventilators.
[2] D. Drysdale, “An introduction to fire dynamics”, edition 2 , University of Edinburgh , UK , Wiley, (2000) .
[3] CEN/TR 12101-5:2005, Part 5: “Guidelines on functional recommendations and calculation methods for smoke and
heat exhaust ventilation systems, Smoke and heat control systems”, (2005).
[4] K. McGRATTAN ., R. McDERMOTT ., S. HOSTIKKA ., J. FLOYD , “Fire Dynamics Simulator” , User’s Guide ,
Version 6 , NIST.
[5] K. McGRATTAN ., S. HOSTIKKA ., J FLOYD ., H. BAUM ., R. REHM ., W. MELL ., R. McDERMOTT ,
“Technical reference guide volume 1: mathematical model , Fire dynamics simulator version 6” , NIST .
[6] Valkvist M. B. S., New Engineering Principles in Atrium Smoke Management, PhD Thesis, Department of Civil
Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (2007)

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