Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Extinguishing Effectiveness of Inert-Gas Agents in a Leaky Enclosure

Xiaoqin Hu and Arjen Kraaijeveld
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Xiaoqin Hu: Department of Safety, Chemical and Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5528 Haugesund, Norway
Arjen Kraaijeveld: Department of Safety, Chemical and Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5528 Haugesund, Norway

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Gas-fire-suppression systems are currently applied to some specific buildings in Norway, as sprinkler systems may not provide sufficient protection in some cases. The application of inert-gas-fire-suppression systems for hazard class 6 buildings needs further intensive validation by experimental and numerical study. Due to the presence of cracks and ventilation systems, it becomes doubtful whether inert-gas agents can extinguish a deep-seated fire located in a leaky enclosure. In this study, tests and numerical simulations were both conducted to investigate the extinguishing effectiveness of inert-gas agents for a closet fire in a leaky apartment. The results show that the location of cracks plays a nonnegligible role in determining the oxygen level in the leaky apartment. The tests and simulations demonstrated that the gas-fire-suppression system successfully extinguished the closet fire even if the activation of the gas-fire-suppression system was postponed or the path available for the inert-gas agent to reach the fire source was narrowed. However, the sprinkler system failed to achieve this. The experimental data also demonstrated that the calculation method proposed in our previous work can be used to estimate the oxygen level in a leaky enclosure.

Keywords: gas-fire-suppression systems; inert-gas agents; extinguishing effectiveness; a deep-seated fire; leakage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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