Influence of Passageway Fires on Ventilation Flows

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chaiken, Robert F. ; Hwang, Charles C. ; Lee CK ; Singer JM
• Description:
  The influence of passageway fires on ventilation flows was investigated in three horizontal fire tunnels: 1. a laboratory-scale fire tunnel network, 2. a small-scale fire-plume tunnel, and 3. a large-scale simulated mine gallery. Wood was used in the first and third tunnel and gas-burners were used in the second one to generate passageway fires. Experimental measurements included gas mass flow rate, velocity, temperature and pressure in the passageway and exhaust fans. The overall and local effects of the fires were investigated by comparing these measurements obtained before and during the fires. Results show that a passageway fire essentially increases the flow network by virtue of volatile fuel mass injection and high combustion temperatures. The ventilation air flow rate is consequently throttled to lower values than that before the fire. At severe throttling, reverse flow occurs. Conditions for reverse flow are characterized by two Froude numbers based on gas velocity and density upstream of the fire, and height of the passageway. The Froude numbers and the characteristics of the passageway fire are necessary to analyze mine ventilation/fire interaction and to predict mine ventilation patterns during fires. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Movements Laboratories Mining Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-flow Laboratory-testing Mine-disasters Mine-fires Mining-industry Ventilation-systems
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  0895202719
• Publisher:
  American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRC - Pittsburgh Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  448-454
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028084
• Citation:
  Second International Mine Ventilation Congress, November 4-8, 1979, Reno, NV. P Mousset-Jones, ed., New York: American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., 1980 Oct; :448-454
• Editor(s):
  Mousset-Jones P
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Second International Mine Ventilation Congress, November 4-8, 1979, Reno, NV
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b60b9ba486c321479d6e28121a8f3dca3419d855464fc4a0217878e599d8722543fb23dee47a7f9c8387b5497e1b073ca4c7c6f1e925446c45fba7ef59d213f9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221084/cdc_221084_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]