Numerical Investigation of Multi-compartment Fire Scenarios using Large Eddy Simulation (LES)

Abstract

The selected fire scenario corresponds to the Propagation d’un Incendie pour des Scenarios Multi-locaux Elementaires (PRISME) Integral Test 4, which is a multi-room configuration with a single pool fire burning Hydrogenated Tetra-Propylene (HTP) fuel and fully open doors. The objectives of the present study are to perform Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of a large scale fire propagating inside confined and ventilated compartments, and assess the capabilities of the present LES tool applied to a well specified fire scenario. A key part of this assessment is to determine whether FireFOAM can more accurately reproduce the flow variables in comparison to other commercially available fire solvers. FireFOAM utilizes the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) for combustion, discrete ordinate method for radiation, and k equation model for the Sub Grid Scale (SGS) closure. The experimental conditions are reproduced as closely as possible in the simulation. The numerical predictions focus on transient and steady-state temperature, major species concentration, velocity, and pressure in the different rooms. Detailed comparison of the FireFOAM results are made with a Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) study and the available experimental data. In general, FireFOAM shows good agreement between the LES results and the experimental data for temperature, velocity, species concentration, and pressure for most compartments. However, in comparison to FDS, FireFOAM over-predicts the fuel consumption rate. The variation in the fuel consumption rate between FireFOAM and FDS is due to the differences in the formulation of the residence time in the EDC combustion model by the two numerical codes.