Towards characterizing full-scale furniture fires in a two-storey house: Gaseous species concentrations during a ventilation-limited fire

Abstract

This work examines the time evolution and spatial distribution of five combustion gases during a large-scale ventilation-limited furniture fire experiment. Past research has largely focused on measurement of major gases collected in an exhaust hood or at limited locations during gas or liquid fuel fires in a single room or single-storey layout. As such, there is a dearth of temporally resolved gas species data, measured in-situ at various locations in a two-storey structure. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive set of gas concentration data collected throughout a two-storey, multi-compartment, completely sealed structure during a furniture fire. Higher concentrations of CO, NOx, HCN and VOCs were measured in areas close to the fire and in the smoke layer, while a uniform distribution of gases was recorded further away from the fire, namely on the upper floor. The results are critical to our understanding of gaseous species evolution during ventilation-limited fires and provides additional insights for tenability and other fire safety measures within a residential context.