Experimental Studies on Stability of Smoke Layer with a Sprinkler Water Spray

Abstract

The adverse effects of a sprinkler on smoke exhaust systems used to be debated in designing fire safety provisions. However, very few experimental studies on the interaction of a sprinkler with the smoke layer have been reported; therefore, this study investigates and reports on the interaction of a smoke layer with a sprinkler water spray by a specially designed rig with 25 tests. Smoke spreading from a fire chamber was collected in an adjacent hall. The stability of the smoke layer was then studied by the discharged water spray. The ratio of spray drag to smoke buoyancy is proposed to determine smoke stability.

Keywords:

• experiments
• stability
• smoke layer
• sprinkler
• smoke exhaust

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 50536030) and the Foundation of Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Urban and Industrial Safety, Nanjing University of Technology (Grant 2008UIS001).