Near and far field contamination modeling in a large scale enclosure: Fire Dynamics Simulator comparisons with measured observations

The occurrence of a fire, no matter how small, often exposes objects to significant levels of contamination from the products of combustion. The production and dispersal of these contaminants has been an issue of relevance in the field of fire science for many years, though little work has been done to examine the contamination levels accumulated within an enclosure some time after an incident. This phenomenon is of great importance when considering the consequences associated with even low level contamination of sensitive materials, such as food, pharmaceuticals, clothing, electrical equipment, etc. Not only does such exposure present a localized hazard, but also the shipment of contaminated goods places distant recipients at risk. It is the intent of this paper to use a well-founded computational fluid dynamic (CFD) program, the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a large eddy simulation (LES) code developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to model smoke dispersion in order to assess the subject of air contamination and post fire surface contamination in a warehouse facility. Measured results are then compared with the results from the FDS model. Two components are examined: the production rate of contaminates and the trajectory of contaminates caused by the forced ventilation conditions. Each plays an important role in determining the extent to which the products of combustion are dispersed and the levels to which products are exposed to the contaminants throughout the enclosure. The model results indicate a good first-order approximation to the measured surface contamination levels. The proper application of the FDS model can provide a cost and time efficient means of evaluating contamination levels within a defined volume. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.