THE HISTORY OF HEAT RELEASE MEASUREMENTS IN FIRE TESTS Javier O.

Trevino Priest & Associates Consulting LLC

In fire science, Heat Release Rate is defined as the amount of heat produced by a burning object during a specified time interval. Heat from a fire is generally composed of a convective plume (Hot Smoke) and a radiative component (Infrared radiation from the actual fire). In 1982, the Oxygen Depletion Method was developed and is still in use today. Prior to 1982, various schemes were used to estimate the heat release rate of fires. Mass Loss Method Knowing the heat of combustion of a homogeneous material allowed early researchers to estimate the heat release rate by measuring the mass loss rate of the burning item. One simply measured the mass loss rate (kg/s) of the burning item, multiplied this by the effective heat of combustion (MJ/kg) and an efficiency factor (unit-less) to calculate the heat release rate in terms of kilowatts (or BTUs per second using a conversion factor). The problem with this approach is it only works for homogeneous materials (wood, plastics, liquid fuels, etc.), not real world items such as furniture and other items consisting of an assembly of materials. Load cell or platform transducers can be used to determine the mass-time history of the primary burning specimen. For complex objects, mass loss rate measurements cannot be converted directly to heat release rates due to the unknown heat of combustion of the materials and the unknown completeness of the combustion reaction. But for simple homogeneous specimens, the mass loss method can be quite accurate. In fact, today a Mass Loss Rate Cone Calorimeter standard is being developed by ASTM. Substitution Method Researchers sometimes used the substitution method for estimating the HRR of real world items involving many different materials. The method involves burning the item of interest and passing the hot gases through a collection stack fitted with thermocouples. A second burn test is then performed using a gas burner to replicate the temperature curve. The flow rate of fuel is then converted to HRR via a simple fuel flow/heat of combustion calculation to determine the HRR of the gas. The simple fact that two test burns are required to estimate the HRR of the item of interest made this scheme cumbersome at best. Heat Balance Engineering During a fire test of a complex object in a ventilated enclosure, one can conduct a heat balance estimate of heat release rate by instrumenting the room with strategically placed thermocouples and plume velocity probes. The strategic locations include the doorway, the upper layer at various depths, on the walls (inside and out), in the incoming air stream, and other locations where data is needed to conduct the heat balance equations. A complex set of heat balance equations can then be used to estimate the HRR of the burning item(s). However, the technique requires extensive knowledge of heat transfer, fire dynamics and other disciplines in order to obtain a reasonably accurate estimate. Oxygen Consumption Method In 1980, an important paper was published by Huggett (prompted via liquid and gas hydrocarbon fuels research by Thornton in 1917) that showed that many solid carbonaceous materials (wood, fuels, plastics, fabrics, foams, paper, etc.) produce a relatively fixed amount of heat (MJ) for every mass (kg) of oxygen consumed. Hugget discovered that for most common flammable materials the Fuel Value E = 13.1 MJ/kg 5%. This prompted the development of the Oxygen Consumption technique (1982 Babrauskas, et.al.) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST then called NBS National Bureau of Standards). The technique is so simple it can be described in one paragraph: The procedure involves burning the item of interest under a collection hood connected to a blower. The blower is at one end of an exhaust duct producing a suction flow through the duct. Only three measurements are required to calculate the Heat Release Rate. One simply measures the flow rate, temperature, and oxygen concentration in the duct to calculate the HRR with up to 95% accuracy. This is because the

driving factor in the equation uses the fuel value term Huggett discovered. The technique requires the installation of a hood and an exhaust duct for collecting all of the combustion products leaving the fire room. Moreover, it requires measurement of the oxygen concentration, differential pressure, and temperature in the duct. Increased accuracy of heat release measurements is obtained if carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are also measured in the exhaust duct. The gas concentrations, along with the mass flow rate in the duct, can be used to calculate the heat release rate. Further details can be found in corresponding test standards and in textbooks addressing the subject of heat release in fires. Using this technique, heat release rates can be determined accurately and semi-continuously, throughout a test by measuring the oxygen concentration and calculating the heat release rate by using the oxygen consumption principle. Calibrating an Oxygen Consumption Calorimeter involves various air flow calibrations in the duct, and gas burner test fires. The original HRR formulas contain complicated terms such as the Reynolds number, velocity profile, reference temperature, etc., which require some sort of estimation or calibration. This has proven to be cumbersome. However, the calibration procedure was simplified by comparing the full scale heat release formulas to the formulas used in the cone calorimeter. In 1998, Trevino, Janssens, and Grand developed a novel calibration procedure for Oxygen Consumption Calorimeters which is used in many fire standards in NFPA and ASTM today. The procedure simplified how one obtains the calibration factors in the HRR formula as follows: HRR = E x C x f(O2, dP, T) Where E = 13.1 MJ/kg C = Calibration factor, and f is a function involving the three main measurement variables (velocity probe pressure, Oxygen Concentration, duct flow temperature). The calibration steps are: Cth = 22.1 x A (Duct area, m2) Weigh Fuel Tank Burn Propane at fixed HRR for a specific period of time while measuring HRR and THR Weigh Fuel Tank Again THR (fuel) = Hc x Wt. Loss (Hc = 46.54 MJ/kg) C = Cth x THR(fuel)/THR(msr) or inverse depending on if C needs adjustment up or down with respect to Cth.

This technique is similar to that of the cone calorimeter, but uses total heat release instead of HRR. The integration of the HRR smooths out instrument noise, unexpected data spikes, etc. and provides a time averaged calibration of the HRR. Single Thermocouple Correlation It has been found (Trevino) that a single thermocouple correctly placed in the room doorway in the ASTM Room (8 ft x 12 ft x 8 ft high) can be used to estimate HRR to near flashover levels. It was discovered that this thermocouple follows the HRR curve shape very precisely. A correlation formula can be used to estimate the HRR for a variety of HRR curves (single peak, double peak, monotonically increasing, steady state etc.). The problem with this is it requires a large database of room burn tests to come up with the correlation formula and this type of data is typically privately owned (i.e., lab clients). Although this technique seems backwards in technology compared to Oxygen Depletion Calorimetry, it provides users a simplified method of estimating HRR with simple instruments once the correlation function is developed. Today, Trevino and other researchers are working out the details and will publish their findings in the near future. This will eliminate the need for future users to have the large database required to develop the correlation function.