Fire Engineering Research Articles

Three Poems

Three Poems Keki Daruwalla on being asked to write about birds and trees in iraq No matter how the desert shuffles between the two waters no matter how blood flows in Mesopotamia now or how the young die with bomb-belts around their waists so that the street itself turns into grapeshot. No matter how many sandbags enclose nervous machine guns no matter how the fire engine clangs and the ambulance screams dates will sprout and cluster around palm trees and the kingfisher dressed in lapis lazuli will float and flutter over the Tigris and his warped image will struggle and shiver in the water. [End Page 114] migrant notes They are scribbled on scrapsthe blank sides of a calendar I have,just torn March, it wasn't much of a spring anyway.There they were, roadside, looking for a water tap.The first call to North Block, "Sir, migrants onthe road." "Is it a traffic problem,have they crowded the motorway?""They're walking on the side, Sir,looking for a shade they can't find." a demolition in nagaon found poem, May 22, 2022 Police party chances upon Shafiqul Islamand wants ten thousand rupees and a duck.Shafiqul Islam can't meet the demands.He is taken to Batadraba Police Station.(Where else can the fatigued party take him?)"Phone your people, arrange duck and money."Wife comes running with duck, minus money.Police beat Shafiqul in front of wife.She rushes, arranges money and returns.She's told he is in Nagaon Civil hospital.In hospital she's told he is in morgue.Hundreds gather—what does one do withthis thick density of population?Dead Shafiqul is brought to Batadraba.Mob and police scuffle, then mob burnspolice station, one thing mobs are good at.Two policemen injured.SP says "three miscreants arrested.''That doesn't mean from the police party."Authorities ask bulldozers to bring down the homesof people who burnt Police Station."End of incident. [End Page 115] Copyright © 2022 University of Hawai'i Press

Ukážka spolupráce katedry požiarneho inžinierstva so závodným hasičským útvarom ZAHAS Žiar nad Hronom pri realizácií praktického cvičenia

Thanks to long-term cooperation between the Department of Fire Engineering with Industrial Fire Department ZAHAS in Žiar nad Hronom under the lead of JUDr. Marián Šmida, an exercise for the development of practical skills regarding firefighting equipment was conducted. Students of first-year master's degree studies, students of third-year bachelor's degree studies and three Erasmus programme students from France attended the exercise. During the practical exercise, students acquired knowledge of the equipment of water tender CAS 32 Tatra 815, extinguishing the fire using a powder handheld fire extinguisher, preparation of hoseline, working with a combined nozzle and vehicle-mounted nozzle.

Gas turbine engine firing ammonia

Japan decided the sixth Strategic Energy Plan that show 1% hydrogen/ammonia 1% hydrogen/ammonia will be positioned in power generation mix in FY2030. Ammonia is a hydrogen carrier and carbon free fuel. R&D project on gas turbine engines firing ammonia are carried on. AIST tried R&D of 50kW micro gas turbine firing ammonia. Combustor and fuel supply system were remodeled. Electric power generation firing Kerosene-ammonia / methane-ammonia / only ammonia was succeeded with low NOx emission by Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). Low NOx combustor was also developed by rich-lean staged combustion concept and reduce NOx emission level to 1/5 and succeeded to reduce size of SCR unit. Ammonia is transported and stored as liquified gas. In the case of ammonia gas supply system is necessary as ammonia vaporizer. Spray combustion R&D of liquid ammonia spray combustion technology for gas turbine combustor is also tried to simplify fuel system. R&D of technology to start up gas turbine using ammonia is also tried.

The establishment of fire service training in Baikal Region during the 1960s – 1980s

The subject of this research is the peculiarities of establishment of educational institutions of fire service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR over the period from 1960 to1980 in the territory of Baikal Region. The article provides a brief analysis on the transformation of structural units of instructional training, as well as on the role and list of heads of academic divisions at the stage of establishment and development of Irkutsk Fire Service-Technical School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, as well as Irkutsk branch of the Higher Engineering Fire Service-Technical School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Research methodology employs a specific historical approach (M. V. Astakhov, I. D. Kovalchenko, V. F. Kolomiytsev, A. P. Pronstein, etc.), as well as summary, comparison, synthesis, classification, concretization; analysis of archival documents, legislation and scientific literature; retrospective analysis; and method of historical analogies. The scientific novelty consists in detection and generalization of the historical sources and archival data that contain detailed information on the establishment and development of the structure of academic divisions in fire service training schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The presented material are relevant for wide audience, since the study of academic, structural-organizational and service activity in the fire service educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR is crucial for tracing the establishment and development of the system of departmental education of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in the territory of Baikal Region in the XX century.

Steel Structures Research Update: Structural Fire Engineering

Across the United States, researchers are making exciting discoveries and advances in structural fire engineering. Eleven of the leading scholars in the field are featured. Brief research highlights are organized by the topic areas of behavior and design of steel and composite structures for fire, fire following earthquakes, and performance-based fire engineering. For each individual, related steel and fire research is also noted. Meanwhile, due to timing and circumstances, there are structural fire engineering researchers who do not appear in this article. You may find some of their structural steel research in past articles or perhaps a future research update.

A competency framework for fire safety engineering

Fire safety engineering accreditation and licensing is a subject of much debate in many jurisdictions especially following the Grenfell Tower fire and as a result of the many issues that have been brought to light following similar cladding related fires around the world. It is argued elsewhere that the lack of a well defined accreditation and licensing framework is one of the most significant weaknesses in the provision of fire safety engineering services in some jurisdictions; and in other jurisdictions where these frameworks do exist, they lack a well articulated definition of competency that fully reflects the expectations of those seeking to enter the profession.This paper discusses the motivation for stronger accreditation of fire safety engineers. Describing an idealised accreditation system, the unique role of the fire safety engineer is then discussed as is the need to redefine competency expectations to reflect the current needs of the public who the profession serves.Finally, a proposed competency framework is detailed. This links technical competencies to the skill in their application to complex engineering problems – namely the design of a fire safety strategy, and also highlights additional non-technical competencies which should be expected of those seeking to enter the profession.

Practice-oriented tasks as a means of teaching mathematics to cadets of fire-technical specialties

The article is devoted to the problem of mathematical training of future fire safety engineers. In the process of training, cadets should have developed mathematical thinking, focused on the problems of civil protection. The basis for the formation of such thinking is the implementation of practice-oriented teaching of mathematics. Practice-oriented mathematical problems are an effective teaching tool. In the process of training specialists in fire-technical specialties, such tasks ensure the assimilation of mathematical concepts in the context of their interpretation in the professional field of activity of rescue engineers; creation of the mathematical basis necessary for studying the disciplines of the professional training cycle; development of the skill of constructing mathematical models of processes and phenomena in the field of protection of the population and territories. In this work, the author's definition of a practice-oriented mathematical problem is given, reflecting the real conditions of the service activities of specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Requirements for the content of such tasks for cadets of fire-technical specialties are formulated. A classification of practice-oriented tasks is proposed, taking into account the specifics of the future service activities of fire and technosphere safety engineers. Mathematical skills and abilities are indicated, the formation of which presents each type of problem, the corresponding practice-oriented mathematical skills necessary in the practical activities of civil protection specialists. Examples of tasks of all considered types are given.

Application of Network Technology in Fire Engineering

Application of Network Technology in Fire Engineering

Effectiveness of Safety Interventions in Fire Engines to Reduce Potential Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Physical distancing and wearing a face mask are key interventions to prevent COVID-19. While this remains difficult to practice for millions of firefighters in fire engines responding to emergencies, the delayed forthcoming of evidence on the effectiveness of such safety interventions in this setting presents a major problem. In this field experimental study, we provided initial evidence to close this gap. We examined total aerosol burden in the cabin of a fire engine whilst manipulating crew size, use of FFP2 respirators and use of SCBA full-face masks during 15-min driving periods. At the same time, we controlled for crew activity and speaking, vehicle speed, cabin ventilation, cabin air temperature, pressure and humidity. Limiting the crew size, using FFP2 respirators and not donning SCBA full-face masks was associated with a reduction of the arithmetic mean of total aerosol burden of up to 49%. This study provided initial evidence on the effectiveness of safety interventions in fire engines to reduce potential airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through aerosols. More research about the physical and the clinical effectiveness of such safety interventions is needed.

Ductile connection to improve the fire performance of bare-steel and composite frames

PurposeIn order to improve the robustness of bare-steel and composite structures in fire, a novel axially and rotationally ductile connection has been proposed in this paper.Design/methodology/approachThe component-based models of the bare-steel ductile connection and composite ductile connection have been proposed and incorporated into the software Vulcan to facilitate global frame analysis for performance-based structural fire engineering design. These component-based models are validated against detailed Abaqus FE models and experiments. A series of 2-D bare-steel frame models and 3-D composite frame models with ductile connections, idealised rigid and pinned connections, have been created using Vulcan to compare the fire performance of ductile connection with other connection types in bare-steel and composite structures.FindingsThe comparison results show that the proposed ductile connection can provide excellent ductility to accommodate the axial deformation of connected beam under fire conditions, thus reducing the axial forces generated in the connection and potentially preventing the premature brittle failure of the connection.Originality/valueCompared with conventional connection types, the proposed ductile connection exhibits considerable deformability, and can potentially enhance the robustness of structures in fire.

Optimization of distance between fire stations: effects of fire ignition probabilities, fire engine speed and road limitations, property values and weather conditions

A general spatial fire brigade unit network density optimization problem has been solved. The distance to a particular road, from a fire station, is approximated as a continuous variable. It is proved, via integral convolution, that the probability density function of the total travel time, PDFT, is triangular. The size of the fire, when it stopped, is a function of the time it takes until the fire brigade reaches the fire location. An explicit continuous function for the expected total cost per square kilometer, based on the cost per fire station, the PDFT, the exponential fire cost function parameters, the distance between fire stations, and the speed of fire engines, is derived. It is proved that the optimal distance between fire brigade unit positions, OFD, which minimizes the total expected cost, is unique. Then, the OFDs are replaced by integers, OFDIs, for different parameter assumptions. In this process, also the optimal expected total costs are determined. It is proved that the OFD is a strictly decreasing function of the expected number of fires per area unit, a strictly increasing function of the speed of the fire engines, a strictly decreasing function of the parameters of the exponential fire cost function, and a strictly increasing function of the cost per fire station. These effects of parameter changes are also illustrated via graphs in the numerical section.

Prediction of the EDT Trends – National and Supranational Activities

Abstract Defence capabilities have always been heavily dependent on technological capabilities. This dependence is significantly emphasized nowadays due to the very rapid advancement of science and technology relevant to defence, and especially due to the emergence of disruptive technologies. However, emerging and disruptive technologies are well known throughout human history (fire, wheel, metals, gunpowder, external and internal combustion engines, etc.). Today, the cycle of emergence, application and response to the EDT is much faster, due to globalisation and maturation of information technologies. Smaller countries, because of their modest industrial and technological base at the national level, have problems to follow the emerging and disruptive technologies. In modern civilization, the military is losing its traditional centuries-old role as a privileged customer for purchasing new, technologically advanced products and must face competition in the open market. In this case, defence must be actively involved in monitoring and predicting technological trends, with an emphasis on disruptive technologies. Countries, especially those with strong armed forces and a long military tradition, have been doing this for a long time, but supranational activities (NATO and the EU) are relatively recent. These supranational activities are an important complement to national efforts and it is recommended that they should not be neglected by smaller NATO and EU member states.

Simulation of Possible Fire and Explosion Hazards of Clean Fuel Vehicles in Garages

Clean fuel is advocated to be used for sustainability. The number of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hydrogen vehicles is increasing globally. Explosion hazard is a threat. On the other hand, the use of hydrogen is under consideration in Hong Kong. Explosion hazards of these clean fuel (LPG and hydrogen) vehicles were studied and are compared in this paper. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software Flame Acceleration Simulator (FLACS) was used. A car garage with a rolling shutter as its entrance was selected for study. Dispersion of LPG from the leakage source with ignition at a higher position was studied. The same garage was used with a typical hydrogen vehicle leaking 3.4 pounds (1.5 kg) of hydrogen in 100 s, the mass flow rate being equal to 0.015 kgs−1. The hydrogen vehicle used in the simulation has two hydrogen tanks with a combined capacity of 5 kg. The entire tank would be completely vented out in about 333 s. Two scenarios of CFD simulation were carried out. In the first scenario, the rolling shutter was completely closed and the leaked LPG or hydrogen was ignited at 300 s after leakage. The second scenario was conducted with a gap height of 0.3 m under the rolling shutter. Predicted results of explosion pressure and temperature show that appropriate active fire engineering systems are required when servicing these clean fuel vehicles in garages. An appropriate vent in an enclosed space such as the garage is important in reducing explosion hazards.

Special Issue on “Smart Systems in Fire Engineering”

Special Issue on “Smart Systems in Fire Engineering”

Community Preparedness of the Fire Hazard in Jetis District, Yogyakarta City

This study aims: (1) to determine the level of community preparedness in facing fire hazards in the Jetis District of Yogyakarta City and (2) to understand the efforts to increase community preparedness to deal with fire hazards in the Jetis District of Yogyakarta City. This research uses descriptive methods with quantitative and qualitative approaches. In this research, we utilize the environmental approach as a tool. The indicator that we use here is based on the 2006 UNESCO / ISDR LIPI to measure the level of community preparedness. This research was conducted at Jetis District of The City of Yogyakarta. The population of this study was all family heads in Jetis Subdistrict, at least we came to 9282 families. The number of samples was determined using the Slovin formula and obtained 99 respondents. We chose the Proportional Random Sampling in three villages in Jetis Subdistrict as the sampling technic. The data was gained from the process of observations, structured interviews with standardized guidelines, in-depth interviews with three main resource persons, and documentation. The analysis technique that we used is the frequency table and descriptive analysis. The results show that: (1) the level of community preparedness in the Jetis Subdistrict in facing the danger of fire was in the "Less Ready" category (55.56%). The level of community preparedness on the knowledge and attitudes of the majority was in the category of “Ready” with 63.63%. The majority of emergency plan variables are in the unprepared category as much as 56.57%. The majority of disaster warning system variables are in the ready category that is 56.57%. Resource mobilization ability is a variable with respondents who are at the lowest level of preparedness, the majority are in the category of not ready as much as 76.77%. (2) the efforts to increase fire hazard preparedness in the community in Jetis District have been carried out, namely: conducting training and simulation of fire prevention, procurement of supporting facilities for fire prevention, making fire engines, and establishing disaster relief posts in Jetis District. Efforts that must be increased are: educating the public about the risks of fire hazards, increasing synergy between community organizations and local governments, and adding firefighting infrastructure.

Fire retarded polyurethane foam composites based on steel slag/ammonium polyphosphate system: A novel strategy for utilization of metallurgical solid waste

AbstractA series of FR‐RPUF composites were prepared by a one‐step water foaming process with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and steel slag (SS) as flame retardants. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG), limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL‐94 vertical combustion test, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), TG‐Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG‐FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra and FTIR were used to investigate the thermal stability, flame retardancy, combustion performance, gas phase products, and char residue morphology of FR‐RPUF composites. TG test results showed that the initial decomposition temperature (T‐5wt%) and char residue rate at 700°C of RPUF/APP/SS composites were significantly enhanced by the addition of APP and SS, and the thermal stability of the composites was improved. Flame retardant test results confirmed the significantly increased LOI values of RPUF/APP/SS composites with V‐0 rating. TG‐FTIR also confirmed the obviously decreased release of toxic gases and flammable gases in the combustion of RPUF/APP/SS composites. SEM and Raman spectra of char residues for the composites suggested that APP/SS system improved the compactness and graphitization degree of char layer for RPUF/APP/SS composite. The above researches provide a new strategy for the utilization of SS in fire safety engineering.

Investigation of fires in a mechanically ventilated compartment using the CFD code FireFOAM

The outbreak of fires in nuclear power plants is a major risk due to the potential leak of radioactive materials. The use of traditional prescriptive fire safety regulations has shown its limitations and there is now a shift towards performance-based fire safety engineering, which requires well-validated fire models. Nuclear power plants require the use of mechanical ventilation, which provides dynamic confinement for nuclear materials by maintaining the required pressure. The occurrence of fires could potentially result in pressure variations within power plants. Although dynamic confinement along with other safety measures are in place to prevent fires, there is a continuous need to assess fire safety measures and reduce the risk of fire propagation with the use of fire simulation codes.The current study aims to build on existing research by making use of an emerging open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fire simulation code known as FireFOAM, to predict fire behaviour in a mechanically ventilated nuclear compartment. An existing in-house modified version of FireFOAM developed by the authors’ research group, is further modified in the present work to include a Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) model to account for the heat transfer between combustion gases and solid boundaries. The CHT is validated using the experimental wall temperatures and heat fluxes. Furthermore, a mechanical ventilation model has been developed and implemented into FireFOAM. This newly modified version of FireFOAM is employed to predict the pressure variations in a nuclear compartment and the flow rates in the ventilation network. The predictions are compared to some experimental data from the open literature. Overall, it is shown that the mechanical ventilation model and the modified FireFOAM with CHT can predict the pressure variations and flow rates with a relatively good level of accuracy.

Analyzing ignition data for fire modeling purposes

SummaryFire models, or other fire safety engineering tools, may require that input data be supplied for characterizing the ignition of combustible solids. This may be done in ad hoc manner and result in poor realism for modeling the ignition process. Extensive research on the ignition of solid materials has been done in recent decades, notably in characterizing the ignition time as a function of incident heat flux. This paper summarizes the highlights of what has been learned during such research. It then offers the user algorithms that may prove useful in the development or advancement of fire models. The suggested methods can also be valuable to performing simple (i.e., spreadsheet‐based) analysis of ignition data in order to extract effective thermophysicochemical properties of tested materials. Procedures for both thermally thick and thermally thin solids are presented. The previously developed procedures for a constant heating flux are extended to a time‐varying heat flux, with the latter based on the Duhamel superposition principle.

Comprehensive Analysis of Housing Estate Infrastructure in Relation to the Passability of Firefighting Equipment

The article focuses on the assessment and evaluation of the passability in densely populated parts of cities with multi-storey housing estates, in terms of the operation of the integrated rescue system (IRS) in the Czech Republic. The aim of the research is to minimize the arrival times to conduct the intervention as efficiently as possible. The presented problem is caused by unsystematic development of housing estates and the emergence of secondary problems in the form of inability to reach the place of intervention by the larger IRS vehicles. The vision presented in this document presents a systematic approach to improve the serviceability of individual blocks of flats. The main aim is to ensure passability, even for the largest equipment, such as fire engine ladders. Detailed mapping of the selected sites by drones, construction of their digital model, and subsequent virtual verification of the passability by specific vehicle models on identified access roads was performed. The results obtained by this procedure can then be implemented in the navigation of the fire safety forces and facilitate their arrival at the site of intervention. At the end, specific ways are presented in which the whole system can be modified to be able to intuitively change and choose individual access routes in real time, based on the current situation in the area.

One-Way Coupling of Fire and Egress Modeling for Realistic Evaluation of Evacuation Process

In the discipline of fire engineering, computational simulation tools are used to evaluate the available safe egress time (ASET) and required safe egress time (RSET) of a building fire. ASET and RSET are often analyzed separately, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and crowd dynamics, respectively. Although there are advantages to coupling the ASET and RSET analysis to quantify tenability conditions and reevaluate evacuation time within a building, the coupling process is computationally complex, requiring multiple steps. The coupling setup can be time-consuming, particularly when the results are limited to the modeled scenario. In addition, the procedure is not uniform throughout the industry. This paper presents the successful one-way coupling of CFD and crowd dynamics modeling through a new simplified methodology that captures the impact of fractional effective dose (FED) and reduced visibility from smoke on the individual evacuee’s movement and the human interaction. The simulation tools used were Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and Oasys MassMotion for crowd dynamics. The coupling was carried out with the help of the software development kit of Oasys MassMotion in two different example geometries: an open-plan room and a floor with six rooms and a corridor. The results presented in this paper show that, when comparing an uncoupled and a coupled simulation, the effects of the smoke lead to different crowd density profiles, particularly closer to the exit, which elongates the overall evacuation time. This coupling method can be applied to any geometry because of its flexible and modular framework.