Experimental studies of mechanical venting for smoke control in tall office buildings

Tests have been conducted on four tall buildings to determine the rate of air extraction required to produce enough pressure difference across a fire floor enclosure to prevent smoke from spreading to other floors. Over-all and component leakage values of the floor enclosures were determined; and the effect on the required exhaust rates of various modes of operating the building air-handling systems were investigated. A graphic method was developed for selecting the correct exhaust fan, taking into account leakage flow from floor spaces into the exhaust shaft as well as the exhaust flow from the fire floor.Des essais ont \ue9t\ue9 faits dans quatre b\ue2timents de grande hauteur en vue de d\ue9terminer le taux d'extraction d'air exig\ue9 pour produire une diff\ue9rence de pression suffisante sur un \ue9tage en proie \ue0 un incendie de facon \ue0 emp\ueacher la propagation de la fum\ue9e aux autres \ue9tages. On a d\ue9termin\ue9 les fuites totales et individuelles, et on a \ue9tudi\ue9 l'influence des divers modes de fonctionnement des r\ue9seaux de traitement d'air dans les b\ue2timents sur les taux d'extraction exiges. Une m\ue9thode graphique a \ue9t\ue9 mise au point pour le choix d'un ventilateur d'extraction convenable, en tenant compte des fuites partant des aires de planchers et atteignant les gaines d'\ue9vacuation d'air et du d\ue9bit d'\ue9vacuation d'air de l'\ue9tage en proie aux flammes.Presented at the 1978 ASHRAE Semiannual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA, Jan 29--Feb 2, 1978Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye