FP01 04

FIRE DYNAMICS
Introduction
www.redhelmetengineering.com M. Elaqabawy
MODULE #1 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
2. Fire Safety Objectives
3. Fire Science Introduction
4. Fire Dynamics Introduction
5. Design Approaches (Perspective vs. Performance based Design)
6. Codes and Regulation/How to read the codes
FIRE DYNAMICS
“Fire Dynamics is the study of how chemistry, fire science, material science
and the mechanical engineering disciplines of fluid mechanics and heat
transfer interact to influence fire behavior. In other words, Fire Dynamics is
the study of how fires start, spread and develop.”
National Institute of Standards and technology (NIST)
FIRE DYNAMICS SUBJECTS
FIRE DYNAMICS
Premixed Flames Flame Spread
Diffusion Flames Fire Plumes
Spontaneous Ignition Compartment Fires
Ignition of Liquids and Solids Burning Rate for Diffusion Flames
FLAME STRUCTURE
Propane + air Pure Propane
 The following are the two types of flame
that we have to consider:
 1. The premixed flame in which fuel and air are
intimately mixed before ignition
 2. The diffusion flame in which fuel and air are
initially separate and burn in the region in which they
mix
FIRE PROCESS
 1. For combustion to take place, an oxidizing agent, a
combustible material, and an ignition source are essential.
 2. The combustible material must be heated to its piloted
ignition temperature before it can be ignited or can support the
spread of flame.
 3. Subsequent burning of a combustible material is governed by
the heat feedback from the flames to the pyrolyzing or
vaporizing combustible.
 4. The burning will continue until one of the following happens:
 a. The combustible material is consumed.
 b. The concentration of oxidizing agent (normally, oxygen in the
air) is lowered to below the concentration necessary to support
combustion.
 c. Sufficient heat is removed or prevented from reaching the
combustible material, thus preventing further fuel pyrolysis.
 d. The flames are chemically inhibited or sufficiently cooled to prevent
further reaction.
Pyrolysis = Decomposition
MATERIAL PHYSCIAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGES DURING FIRE
 Smoldering: Smoldering is a slow, exothermic surface
reaction. Smoldering is usually characterized by glowing, or
incandescence, and smoke production.(i.e. Cigarette & Wood)
 Pyrolysis: Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of a
material into one or more other substances due to heat
alone.
 Char. Char is a black, carbonaceous, porous residue. The char is a
thermal degradation (physical change) of the material being pyrolyzed
(chemical decomposition). (i.e. Wood)
 Intumescence. Intumescence is defined as the process of swelling up
or bubbling up. (Used as fire stop)
 Melting. When most thermoplastic materials are heated, they melt or
soften prior to being vaporized. (Thermoplastic Pipes)
MATERIAL PHYSCIAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGES DURING FIRE
FLAMMABILITY LIMITS
 If a mixture of flammable gas in air is within the limits
of flammability, introduction of an ignition source will
initiate a flame that will then propagate throughout the
mixture, wherever it is within the limits of flammability.
Reference: An
Introduction
to Fire Dynamics,
Dougal Drysdale
HEAT RELEASE RATE (HRR)
 It is a measure of the rate at which a burning item releases chemical energy and is usually expressed as
heat released per unit exposed surface area of a burning material or specimen (i.e., kW/m2).
 Heat release rate is probably the most important quantity used to characterize the flammability hazard
represented by a given material.
 Input to a computer fire model
 The heat release rate can provide information on fire size
 Fire growth rate
 Available egress time
 Suppression system
 Measured in Laboratory by Calorimeter apparatus.
 HRR Materials References:
 NFPA 72, Annex B
 NFPA 92, Annex B
 SFPE Handbook
 Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering
HEAT RELEASE RATE (HRR)
Reference: NFPA 72 – Annex B
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE
 It is frequently useful to classify fires in order to simplify communication regarding certain
common characteristics. Fires have been characterized in four general ways:
 (1) type of combustion process
 (2) growth rate
 (3) ventilation
 (4) fire stage.
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Type of Combustion Process
 Fire is divided into three regimes:
 (1) precombustion
Precombustion is the process of heating fuels to their ignition point, during which time vapors and
particulates are released from the fuel.
 (2) smoldering combustion

Smoldering is defined as glowing combustion on the fuel surface and may or may not be related in any way
to the oxygen content in the vicinity of the smoldering process.
 (3) flaming combustion.

Flaming combustion is almost self-explanatory in that the production of sufficient energy and a fuel vapor
mixture with air in a flammable range is the condition that underlies and supports the presence of flame.
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Growth Rate
 Fires may also be classified on the
basis of growth rate. Fire growth
can be either positive (increasing
growth rate) or negative
(decreasing growth rate).
 An example of this phenomenon might be a

flammable liquid pool fire of fixed diameter
where, once the entire surface is involved in
flame, the amount of energy produced is
controlled by the surface area and will be
essentially constant until the fuel is exhausted.
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Growth Rate (t-squared fire)
 Growth rate, or the speed at which growth accelerates, is another way to classify fires.
Such fires are considered “time dependent” fires.
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Growth Rate (t-squared fire)
Reference: NFPA 72 – Annex B
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Ventilation
 Fires may also be classified based on whether the fire is controlled by the
amount of fuel available to burn or by the amount of oxygen or air
available for the combustion process to continue.
 When a fire is burning in the open, or is in the early stages of development within a
compartment where there is excess air for combustion, the fire is said to be fuel-controlled.
 In a compartment fire with sufficient fuel available, the window or door openings may
ultimately serve to control the amount of air available for combustion within the compartment.
Once the fire develops to a point where it produces more fuel vapors than can be consumed in
the compartment with the available air, it is considered to be a ventilation-controlled fire.
CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE – Fire Stage
 It is often useful for the purposes of general discussion to classify fires by
stage based on the concurrent energy production conditions. Four stages
are commonly used, as follows:
 Incipient fire
 Fire growth
 Steady state
 Fire decay
 Incipient fire refers to that stage when there is smoldering but insufficient flaming for established
burning.
EFFECT OF COMPARTMENT BOUNDRY ON THE FIRE – Fire on Open
EFFECT OF COMPARTMENT BOUNDRY ON THE FIRE – Fire under Ceiling
EFFECT OF COMPARTMENT BOUNDRY ON THE FIRE – Fire on Compartment
Flashover
400-600 °C
Post Flashover
EFFECT OF COMPARTMENT BOUNDRY ON THE FIRE – Flashover
EFFECT OF FIRE LOCATION ON AIR ENTRAINMENT
READING REFERENCE
 NFPA Handbook, 20th edition.
 Section 2 Chapter 2 “Physics of Fire Configuration”
 Section 2 Chapter 3 “Flammability Hazard of Materials”
 Section 2 Chapter 4 “Dynamics of Compartment Fire Growth”
 SFPE Handbook, 5th edition.
 Chapter 26, Heat Release Rate

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FIRE DYNAMICS

National Institute of Standards and technology (NIST)

Diffusion Flames Fire Plumes

Spontaneous Ignition Compartment Fires

Ignition of Liquids and Solids Burning Rate for Diffusion Flames

Reference: NFPA 72 – Annex B

 (2) smoldering combustion

 (3) flaming combustion.

 An example of this phenomenon might be a

Reference: NFPA 72 – Annex B

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