Improvement of heat and smoke confinement using air curtains in informal shopping malls

The present study numerically analyzes, from an evacuation perspective, the heat and smoke propagation in case of a fire incident in typical informal shopping malls with air curtains employed at critical locations and compared the same with no air curtains in place. Three different designs of shopping malls, having the commonly observed geometric and architectural features and multiple origins of fire with clothing as fuel, are examined. The effect of the distribution and arrangement of clothing fuel inside the stores on the propagation of heat and smoke is evaluated. Encouraging results are obtained in terms of the effectiveness of the air curtains in mitigating the spread of heat and smoke and in increasing the safe evacuation time. About 37% of the fire-generated heat could be confined within the fire-source store by discharging the air curtain jet at a velocity of 10 m/s. Implementation of a two-stage air curtain barrier, at the fireorigin and the staircase, might confine up to 68% of the heat towards the staircase. Since the practically observed fuel density within these stores inevitably shows flashover to occur, the effect of an alternate and more standardized clothing arrangement on the fire safety is also analyzed. The findings of the present study could provide a comprehensive insight into the role and effectiveness of air curtains in confining the heat/smoke and hence assisting safe evacuation in case of fire incidents in informal shopping malls.

Automated summary

This study numerically analyzes the heat and smoke propagation in informal shopping malls during fire incidents from an evacuation perspective. The effectiveness of air curtains in mitigating the spread of heat and smoke and increasing the safe evacuation time is evaluated. The findings also analyze the impact of optimized clothing arrangement on fire safety.