Work

Impact of Fire Source Locations and Ventilation Strategies on Indoor Environments: An FDS Simulation Study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper analyzes smoke control strategies in high-rise building stairwells, with particular focus on their application to existing buildings without smoke exhaust openings at the top of the stairwell. This study is necessary to support the optimization of fire safety in a wide range of existing high-rise buildings in Bucharest, Romania, where stairwells operate without upper smoke vents. The scientific challenge addressed is the comparative evaluation of natural ventilation and mechanical pressurization applied at the lower part of the stairwell in order to assess their influence on smoke and heat propagation. The motivation of this work is related to emergency response, as firefighters require a clear understanding of smoke movement and evacuation conditions depending on the fire location and ventilation mode. Three-dimensional CFD simulations were performed, using a fire source validated against experimental data, to analyze temperature, pressure, airflow velocity, visibility, and toxic gas concentration for different fire-floor locations. The results show that natural ventilation alone is ineffective, while single-point mechanical pressurization improves conditions only during the early fire stage. The findings contribute to better-informed firefighter decision-making by clarifying stairwell conditions during intervention in existing high-rise buildings.

Source: Fire

DOI: 10.3390/fire9010022

Authors: Dan-Adrian Ionescu, Vlad Iordache, Iulian-Cristian Ene, Ion Anghel

Institutions: Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Academia de Politie Alexandru Ioan Cuza

Language: English

Topic: Fire dynamics and safety research

Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896