Haejun Park

A means to estimate thermal and kinetic parameters of coal dust layer from hot surface ignition tests

A method to estimate thermal and kinetic parameters of Pittsburgh seam coal subject to thermal runaway is presented using the standard ASTM E 2021 hot surface ignition test apparatus. Parameters include thermal conductivity (k), activation energy (E), coupled term (QA) of heat of reaction (Q) and pre-exponential factor (A) which are required, but rarely known input values to determine the thermal runaway propensity of a dust material. Four different dust layer thicknesses: 6.4, 12.7, 19.1 and 25.4mm, are tested, and among them, a single steady state dust layer temperature profile of 12.7 mm thick dust layer is used to estimate k, E and QA. k is calculated by equating heat flux from the hot surface layer and heat loss rate on the boundary assuming negligible heat generation in the coal dust layer at a low hot surface temperature. E and QA are calculated by optimizing a numerically estimated steady state dust layer temperature distribution to the experimentally obtained temperature profile of a 12.7 mm thick dust layer. Two unknowns, E and QA, are reduced to one from the correlation of E and QA obtained at criticality of thermal runaway. The estimated k is 0.1 W/mK matching the previously reported value. E ranges from 61.7 to 83.1 kJ/mol, and the corresponding QA ranges from 1.7 x 10(9) to 4.8 x 10(11)J/kg s. The mean values of E (72.4 kJ/mol) and QA (2.8 x 10(10)J/kg s) are used to predict the critical hot surface temperatures for other thicknesses, and good agreement is observed between measured and experimental values. Also, the estimated E and QA ranges match the corresponding ranges calculated from the multiple tests method and values reported in previous research.

Shake Table Testing of a Full-Scale Five-Story Building: Post-Earthquake Fire Performance

Following the series of shake tests on the full-scale, five-story BNCS building, a set of six live burn tests was conducted on the third floor. The fires ranged in size from about 500kw to 2000kW, depending on compartment configuration, fuel and ventilation controls. Fire duration was limited to less than 15 minutes to avoid structural damage. The focus of the fire tests was to assess the potential for smoke and fire spread given seismic damage to such systems as wall and ceiling systems, doors, window openings, vertical shafts, firestop material and fire sprinkler systems. Tests were conducted with the sprinkler system off. Testing revealed the propensity for horizontal and vertical fire and smoke spread given damage to interior compartment barriers, the elevator system and the external balloon framing system. Data on the fires, temperature profiles, smoke and fire spread will be presented.

Integration of fire safety and building design

A new framework is presented to facilitate better incorporation of building fire safety performance options into the building design process. Based on the building design process and key design decisions undertaken at each phase, a knowledge set is developed to aid building designers to understand better the effects of design decisions on building fire performance. This also minimizes potential competing objectives in later design phases by sharing necessary concerns in advance. Drawing on the knowledge set, a conceptual building fire safety evaluation tool illustrates how primary building designers and fire safety engineers can quantitatively assess fire safety performance for different solutions. It is shown how building fire safety performance attributes can be arranged by building design phase, how various scenarios can be explored, and how appropriately balanced building design and fire safety design solutions can be identified at different phases of the building design process.

Observations from the fire and collapse of the faculty of architecture building, delft university of technology

On May 13, 2008, a fire occurred at the Faculty of Architecture Building at the Delft University of Technology (TUD) in the Netherlands. The fire ultimately led to the collapse of a major portion of the building. Data was collected on this fire event by an international team that included researchers from the Netherlands and from the U.S. The data collection effort was followed by a preliminary structural analysis to identify possible contributing causes to the structural collapse. This paper will provide an overview of this fire event, a description of the structural system of the building, and results of preliminary analysis of structural response to the fire. The paper will conclude with a discussion of broader lessons learned on structural fire safety from this event