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Abstract

The temperature of the hot gases during a compartment fire is important to practitioners of fire protection engineering. The classic MQH correlation provides a simple and quick estimate of this temperature. An alternate model for compartment fire temperature is proposed based on an energy balance and an empirical mass flow rate formula. This model accounts for highly insulated boundary conditions and is valid for higher (>600°C) temperatures, which are two major limitations with the MQH correlation. The transition of a compartment fire to a ventilation-limited state is then analyzed to find the maximum gas temperatures. The analysis provides the maximum temperature possible for a design fire with two important variables — vent size and thermal properties of the wall material. The effects of these two variables are investigated by assuming commonly specified wall materials and different vent sizes, thereby showing the applicability of this approach for fire engineering.

Keywords

compartment fire gas temperature MQH correlation adiabatic gas temperature ventilation-limited state.

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Compartment Fire Temperatures

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