Fire Growth in an ISO 9705 Room with Different Wall Linings

Abstract

The fire growth patterns in an ISO 9705 room decorated with different wall linings, wood-wool cement boards and plywood boards, were compared in this study. In the first experiment using cement boards, the fire source was set to produce a heat release rate of 100kW in the first 10 minutes and of 300kW in the next 10 minutes. Since the cement boards were basically nonflammable, the temperature field in the room reflected only the heat release from the gas burner flame. Except near the ceiling corner above the gas burner, the temperatures in the upper layer did not exceed 400 , ℃ and the temperatures in the lower layer barely increased. In contrast, the plywood boards used in the second experiment were ignited in less than a minute, and the fire grew violently. The room flashed over in about 2 minutes and the temperatures in the room quickly increased uniformly to 800℃, as the wall linings in the lower region got ignited by the intensive radiant heat. The total heat release of the fire, measured from the combustion gases based on the oxygen consumption principle, was found to agree well with that calculated from the mass loss rate of the wall linings material.