AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON CRIB FIRES IN A CLOSED COMPARTMENT

An experimental investigation on burning behavior of fire in closed compartments is presented. Fire experiments were performed in a closed compartment of interior dimensions 4 x 4 x 4 m (length x width x height) with ply board cribs as fire source. The parameters including the gas temperature, mass loss rate, heat flux, flame temperature, and compartment pressure were measured during the experiments. Experimental results indicated that the providing sudden ventilation to the closed compartment had great influence on the behavior of fire. The mass loss rate of the burning crib increased by 150% due to sudden ventilation which results in the increase in heat release rate by 198 kW. From the perspective of total heat flux, compartment pressure, and gas temperatures closed compartment with sudden ventilation were more hazardous.