Comprehensive CFD Simulation of Fire in a Retail Premise with Analysis of Leakage Effect

Abstract

Comprehensive simulations of fire in a retail premise from a blind validation study are presented. The simulations were made using a self-developed parallel CFD program SMAFS [1], with the turbulent flow, turbulent combustion, thermal radiation, soot formation, and the interactive heat transfer inside solid boundary all computed. The results are extensively compared with experimental measurement showing good agreement. Detailed result analysis shows the important effect of flow leakage in such a fire scenario. It is found that the leakage can alter the ventilation condition and has important influence on the gas temperature profile at low height and the flow profile at the ventilation opening. This indicates that care should be taken with the consideration of leakage in a proper CFD simulation of fire in relevant scenarios.

Acknowledgments

Computation was performed with financial support from Swedish Räddningsverkets (Swedish National Rescue Service Board), which is gratefully acknowledged.