Transport of High Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide to Locations Remote from theBurning Compartment

摘要

An experimental study was conducted to measure the effects of oxygen entrainmenton the transport of CO in building fires, and to develop a procedure for estimating CO levels during a building fire. Experiments were performed with an insulated 1/4-scale room connected to the side of a 1/4-scale hallway forming an L-shape. Measurements of CO, unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), CO2, and O2 concentrations and temperature were performed within the compartment, the hallway and post-hallway in the exhaust duct. With a fixed size opening connecting the compartment to the hallway, the oxygen entrainment was varied by changing the depth of the oxygen deficient hallway upper layer. The CO level was a function of the compartment stoichiometry and the occurrence of external burning. A procedure for predicting CO levels in building fires was also developed. The procedure account for the effects of external burning, the non-uniform transport of toxic gases in the hallway, the hallway upper-layer depth and the stoichiometry of the system on the CO levels at remote locations.