Smoke Movement In The Hot Smoke Zone
The volume of combustion products entrained in a rising plume in the hot smoke zone is relatively small, compared with the volume of air in the total mixture. Consequently, the smoke produced by a fire will approximate the volume of air drawn into the rising plume. Figure 7-6A illustrates the process.
In situations in which the height of the plume, as measured from the top of the fire to the level of the smoke layer,k is more than about twice the height of the solid body of flame, it is reasonable to estimate the amount of smoke using developed formulas.
In general, the equations given in this chapter for conditions in the hot smoke zone should be used where the fire is small compared to the height of the space involved. For locations where this is not true, approaches such as those contained in Section 7, Chapter 7, "Venting Practices"; Section 11, Chapter 5, "Deterministic Computer Fire Models"; and Section 11, Chapter 10, "Simplified Fire Growth Calculations" are more appropriate.
Smoke Movement In The Cold Smoke Zones
As smoke is transmitted from the area of fire origin, it is cooled by entrainment of air; by the transfer of heat from the smoke body to building materials, primarily those in the walls and ceilings; and, as the smoke cools, by radiant energy losses. When smoke from a fire flows through a relatively small crack, the entrainment of cool air on the unexposed side tends to cool the smoke very quickly. When the leakage is through larger openings, there may be less entrainment relative to the mass of smoke movement at such junctures and, therefore, cooling will be slower. Once the smoke has cooled to a significant degree, however, it is transported in the same manner as any other pollutant, and the primary moving forces are those presented by the stack effect, the wind effect, and mechanical air movement systems.
When hot smoke is transported from one area of a building to another through a confined passageway, such as a duct, shaft, or stairwell, there will be little or no cooling due to entrainment. In such cases, cooling will be limited to heat lost by conduction from the moving smoke to the shaft material. Often, this loss is modest, and hot smoke can be transported significant distances with only minor cooling by such confined passageways.