Reconstruction of a Multi-item Room Fire in an ISO 9705 Room

• Published in: Fire technology 2021-09, Vol.57 (5), p.2339-2366
• Main Authors: Alsanie, Abdel Q., Iqbal Mahmud, H. M., Moinuddin, Khalid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bedrooms; Burning; Burning rate; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Civil Engineering; Classical Mechanics; Cotton; Engineering; Furniture; Heat release rate; Heat transfer; Physics; Solid fuels
• ISSN: 0015-2684; 1572-8099
• DOI: 10.1007/s10694-021-01090-5

A series of fire experiments were conducted in an ISO 9705 room in an attempt to reconstruct a multi-item room fire produced by individual items. Fuel items represented typical shapes and sizes of furniture in a bedroom including a double bed, bedside tables, wardrobe, dressing table and chair. As all of the fuel items were made of seasoned pine timber, these are termed as “mock furniture”. Double bed and bedside tables also had cotton sheets above them. The ignition was attained by using a steel tray of methylated spirit. This study is motivated by the fact that multi-item solid fuel-burning experimental results are rarely available. First, a number of standalone items within the ISO room were burnt separately. Then, all of the items were placed within the ISO room, and the fire was allowed to spread throughout the room from one item to another. An attempt was made to reconstruct the full room burning from individual item burning. The heat release rate of the reconstructed fire is different from that of the full room multi-item furniture burn experiment. A list of possible causes has been explained.