Past Work
Characterizing the Flammability of Storage Commodities Using an Experimentally Determined B-number
M.S. Thesis Topic (Dec. 2009) - Link to M.S. thesis paper
In warehouse storage applications, it is important to classify the burning behavior of commodities and rank them according to material flammability for early fire detection and suppression operations. In this study, the large-scale effects of warehouse fires are decoupled into separate processes of heat and mass transfer. As a first step, two nondimensional parameters are shown to govern the physical phenomena at the large-scale, a mass transfer number, and the soot yield of the fuel which controls the radiation observed in the large-scale. In this study, a methodology is developed to obtain a mass-transfer parameter using mass-loss (burning rate) measurements from bench-scale tests.
Two fuels are considered, corrugated cardboard and polystyrene. Corrugated cardboard provides a source of flaming combustion in a warehouse and is usually the first item to ignite and sustain flame spread. Polystyrene is typically used as the most hazardous product in large-scale fire testing. A mixed fuel sample (corrugated cardboard backed by polystyrene) was also tested to assess the feasibility of ranking mixed commodities using the bench-scale test method. The nondimensional mass transfer number was then used to model upward flame propagation on 20-30 foot stacks of Class III commodity consisting of paper cups packed in corrugated cardboard boxes on rack-storage. Good agreement was observed between the model and large-scale experiments during the initial stages of fire growth.
Characterizing Flammability of Corrugated Cardboard Using a Cone Calorimeter
Link to poster explaining research methods and results
Fall 2008-Fall 2009
In warehouse storage applications, it is important to classify the burning of cardboard because it provides a source of flaming combustion and is usually the first item to ignite and sustain flame spread. This study develops a methodology to obtain a non-dimensional mass transfer number (or Spalding’s B-number) by using the mass loss measurements from a cone calorimeter. The small-scale experimental measurements are used to model upward flame propagation on a 20-30 foot high rack-storage warehouse commodity packed in corrugated cardboard boxes. Good agreement is observed between the simple model and large scale experiments during the initial stages of fire growth.
Small-Scale Compartment Commodity Testing
Fall 2008 – Fall 2009
The purpose of this work is to reduce the scale of commodity tests (group A polystyrene cups and class III paper cups) in order to generalize the heated conditions of the individual cells or compartments as they burn in order to create a compartmental model that is independent of the type of fuel inside. Ultimately, the benefit of this small-scale approach to the commodity tests is that the data and simplified model can be applied to many different problems such as fire suppression or fire modeling.
Structural Design Fire Safety Final Project Details
Spring 2008
Compiled for UHD ENGR 4411 while I was a teaching assistant in the Fire Protection Engineering Technology program. Deals with coupling fire models with structural models to test for structural failure. Fire Dynamics Simulator was used with MASTAN2.
Adequate Grid Resolution for Fire Dynamics Simulator
2008
Notes that I compiled related to the D* method of selecting an adequate grid resolution for fire simulation in FDS. The D* method relates heat release rate (kW) and grid dimensions.
Fire Model Validation: Burning Rate of a Small Pool of Ethanol in a Glass Pan
Spring 2008
This test was performed in the Fire Dynamics course (Professor: Dr. Alberto Gomez-Rivas) for the Safety and Fire program at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD). This writeup describes the experimental setup of the test as well as the fire model inputs used in Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). With this data, we can obtain a mass loss rate throughout the experiment. Using the data and FDS, we can compare the observed vs. predicted mean flame height, mass over time, mass loss rate, and time to consume all fuel.
Fire Spread and Structural Stability in an Open Arena Fire Model
Fall 2007
Fire Dynamics Simulator was used to evaluate many aspects of an arena fire model with exposed internal beam supports, including the structural stability, time to evacuation, influence of sprinklers on the model, and the effect of the heavy fuel load on the fire growth. The results show us that, without fire sprinklers, the building is in danger of collapsing within minutes of the growth stage of the fire and will present a fatal danger of heat and smoke to all occupants within an ever shorter time. The model that included sprinklers had the nearest single sprinkler head activate and extinguish the model in roughly 1.5 minutes with little to no danger to the occupants or structural elements.
Verification and Validation of Fire Models: A Model of Thermally-Induced Cable Failure
Summer 2007
The primary objective of CAROLFIRE is to characterize the different modes of electrical failure within bundles of cable used in nuclear power plants for power, control, instrumentation, and systems monitoring. A secondary objective is to create a simple thermal model of a single cable that predicts electrical failure when a given interior region of a cable reaches a certain temperature.
Evaluating Smoke Detector Spacing Guidelines Using Fire Modeling and Simulation
View Poster
Fall 2006
Fire modeling is used to evaluate the effectiveness of different smoke detector spacings. Currently in the U.S., the most widely used and accepted spacing between smoke detectors is 30 feet, as recommended by many leading fire alarm codes. From the results of this project, the 30 foot spacing appeared as a good compromise of economic detector coverage with the priority of life safety and an early warning to immediate fire conditions.