A Simple Predictive Method for Room Fire Behavior

Simple predictive equations for the room fire behavior were proposed. These were obtained by applying simple predictive method for pre-flashover compartment fire temperature proposed by McCaffrey et al. to ventilation controlled fire. These equations can easily predict the temperature inside the compartment, the rate of heat loss due to ventilation and the rate of heat loss to compartment boundary. These can be used when the room fire is ventilation controlled regime. The results of the prediction using the simple equations were compared with the results of a more detailed computer model. Through this comparison, it was confirmed that these simple predictive equations are practical useful to estimate ventilation controlled compartment fire behavior, even though there is a little error caused by neglecting heat loss by radiation through the openings.