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NIST Technical Note 1262

Technical Reference Guide

for FAST Version 18

Walter W. Jones and Richard D. Peacock

Center for Fire Research

National Engineering Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

May 1989

^-i^*". J°\ NOTE: As of 23 August 1988, the National Bureau of ^ 1^ ^ Standards (NBS) became the National Institute of

** ^—^^—' ** Standards and Technology (NIST) when President

Reagan signed into law the Omnibus Trade and

Competitiveness Act.

U.S. Department of Commerce

Robert A. Mosbacher, Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Raymond G. Kammer, Acting Director
National Institute of Standards U.S. Government Printing Office For sale by the Superintendent

and Technology Washington: 1989 of Documents

Technical Note 1262 U.S. Government Printing Office

Natl. Inst. Stand. Techno!. Washington, DC 20402

Tech. Note 1262

126 pages (May 1989)

CODEN: NTNOEF
CX3NTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. STRUCTURE OF THE MODEL 3

3. THE PREDICTIVE EQUATIONS USED BY THE MODEL 5

4. SOURCE TERMS 8

4.1 Source Terms: Radiation (Implemented in FIRRAD) 8

4.2 Source Terms: Convective Heating (Implemented in CONVEC) 10

4.3 Source Terms: Plumes (Implemented in FIRPLM) 12

4.4 Source Terms: Vent Flow (Implemented in FLOW, FRFLOW, and

ENTRFL) 13

4.5 Source Terms: Fire (Implemented in PYROLS and CHEMIE) 18

4.6 Source Terms: Conduction (Implemented in CNDUCT) 23

5. SOURCE MODULES 26

5.1 FIRRAD (sec. 4.1) 26

5.2 CONVEC (sec. 4.2) 28

5.3 FIRPLM (sec. 4.3) 30

5.4 FLOW, FRFLOW AND ENTRFL (sec. 4.4) 31

5.5 PYROLS, CHEMIE (sec. 4.5) 38

5.6 CNDUCT (sec. 4.6) 42

6. DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA. FILE USED BY FAST 47

6.1 Version and Title 49

6.2 Time Specification 49

6.3 Ambient Conditions 51

6.4 Floor Plan Data 53

6.5 Connections 54

6.6 Thermophysical Properties of Enclosing Surfaces 57

6.7 Fire Specifications 59

6.8 Species Production 63

6.9 Files 64

6.10 Graphics Specification 66

7. FASTpIot 77

7.1 Entering Data Into FASTpIot 78

7.1.1 Commands for Reading Data 79

7.1.2 Support Commands for Data Entry 80

7.2 Generating Tables and Graphs With FASTpIot 81

7.3 Saving Data With FASTpIot 83

7.4 Changing the Default Parameters in FASTpIot 84

7.5 Getting Online Help in FASTpIot 84

iii
7.6 Exiting FASTplot 85

8. FAST_iii 86

9. ANNOTATED REFERENCES 96

10. NOMENCIj«TJRE 98

APPENDIX A: SAMPLE INPUT 107

APPENDIX B: SAMPLE OUTPUT Ill

B.l Summary of Input Data 111

B.1.1 Title 111

B.1.2 Geometrical Data 111

B.1.3 Thermophysical Properties 112

B.l.4 Fire Specifications 113

B.l.5 Initial Conditions 114

B.2 Results of Calculations 115

APPENDIX C: DISTRIBUTION AND INSTALLAnON 117

APPENDIX D: THERMAL DATABASE 120

UST OF FIGURES

page

Figure 1. Notation convention for interface, sill, and soffit. 14

Figure 2. Example of a possible flow pattern and layer numbering convention. 15

Figure 3. Schematic of entrainment and burning regions. 19

Figure 4. Heat release rate in a vitiated atmosphere. 41

Figure 5. Comparison of measured and calculated wall temperatures. 45

Figure 6. Pyrolysis rate for LFMAX=6. 62

IV
Technical Reference Guide for FAST Version 18

Walter W. Jones

Richard D. Peacock

Center for Fire Research

National Institute of Standards and Technology

FAST (fire and smoke transport) is a zone model capable of predicting the environment in a multi-compartment

structure subjected to a fire. This reference guide provides a detailed description of the source terms used in the model, data input requirements, and the output produced by version 18 of the model.

Key words: compartment fires; fire growth; mathematical models; numerical models; room fires; smoke; toxicity

1. INTRODUCTION

Considerable research has been done regarding the spread of fire and smoke from a room of fire origin to connected compartments. The work is motivated by a need to understand and predict the environmental conditions which occur as a fire develops and

spreads. Much of the attention has focused on the development of numerical models which

are able to make a reasonably accurate assessment of the environment resulting from a specified fire. We have built such a model, FAST [If.

FAST is a model to describe fire growth and smoke transport in multi-compartment

structures. The implementation consists of a set of programs to describe the structure to be

modeled, run the model and produce usable output. This reference guide describes the

equations which constitute the model, data which are used by the model and explains how to operate the model. The physical basis of zone models, their limitations, and development of

the predictive equations are described elsewhere [1] and are only summarized here. The intent

of this paper is to provide a complete description of the way the model is structured. In

Numbers in brackets refer to literature references listed in section 9 at the end of this report.
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

particular the relationship between the equations and the numerical implementation of the

equations is laid out. It is intended as a complete description of the parameters and key words

available to control various aspects of a simulation. It is hoped that there is sufficient

information provided that one could adapt the model for specialized applications.

Functionality is provided by the following programs:

FAST the model itself FAST_in interactive input

FASTplot interactive output to display data produced by the model

BUILD generate descriptor files for graphics output

FAST, FASTplot, and BUILD work on a wide variety of hardware, from supercomputers

through microcomputers. FAST_in is specific to MS DOS based microcomputers, although it does generate an ASCII data file which can be used to run FAST on other computers.

Section 2 describes the structure of the model. Section 3 deals with the mathematical

basis of the model. Section 4 is a discussion of source terms which appear in section 3, and

the titles of the subsections reference the modules within the program which actually performs

the respective calculations. Section 5 documents the relevant source code modules described

in section 4. Section 6 describes the files used by the model. Every attempt has been made

to maintain a correspondence between the terms in the mathematical formulae and those used

in the computer programs. There are differences, but the correspondence should be clear. The final sections describe the interactive programs which help put the input and output data

into usable forms. In the appendices, examples of input data files and corresponding output

are given.

The utility BUILD is not described in this paper. It is documented in reference [2], including the file structure of the picture descriptor files, the mathematical basis and the

command structure. The salient difference between the PC version and that on a mainframe

is that in the former case the interaction as well as the display are on the same screen. Otherwise, they are identical.

There are several calculations presented to illustrate particular points. The calculations

refer to the sample #5 data file. These examples are data that can not be obtained from other

models, and so show some of the unique features of FAST. A more complete description of

the model can be found in the paper by Jones [3] and the experimental work in Peacock et

aL[4].
Structure of the Model

2. STRUCTURE OF THE MODEL

The primary element of the model is a compartment. The interest in these predictive

schemes lies in the environment within the compartments, so the model is structured around

variables such as temperature, pressure, etc., in the compartment. Predictive equations for the

gas layers in each compartment are derived from conservation of mass, momentum and energy, an equation of state, and the boundary conditions to which each compartment is subject. The

term "boundary condition" refers to the transfer points at the boundaries of the compartments;

examples are vents, air conditioning ducts, etc. The actual physical phenomena which drive the

transport are then couched as source terms. Such a formulation allows the greatest flexibility

in adding, modifying, or deleting terms which are appropriate to the problem at hand.

The conservation equations used are for mass, momentum and energy. These equations

are fundamental to predictive models, and must hold in all cases. These conservation equations

are rearranged to form a set of predictive equations for the sensible variables in each

compartment. An important concession which is made for computational speed is that the

fluid momentum between the compartments is calculated, but not within a compartment. The

work term (volumetric expansion and contraction) is included in the energy equation, however.

The result is that we can not follow acoustic waves anywhere, or gravitational waves within a compartment. The concomitant improvement is that we are not limited by the Courant time

step condition for wave motion within a compartment.

Each compartment is subdivided into a few "control volumes," which we call zones. The

premise is that the details which occur within such volumes do not concern us (at present),

but their interaction does. We base this simplification on the observation that when a fire grows and spreads, the gases in a compartment stratify into distinct zones. In the present

calculation we use only two zones per compartment. There is reasonably good agreement

between theory and experiment for this choice, and there are other phenomena which put a more severe constraint on the validity of the model. An example of a compartment which

might reasonably contain more than two zones would be a long corridor whose aspect ratio

(length to width or height) is greater than 10 [17]. The general layout of the zones and the

form of the conservation equations is discussed elsewhere [1] and will not be repeated here.

FAST is formulated as a set of ordinary differential equations. It was the first model

of fire growth and smoke spread to cast the entire model in this form and was done because

of the efficiency of solving the conservation equations this way. In addition, as discussed in the

section on the form of the equations, the entire model is implemented in single precision

arithmetic. It is the only fire growth and smoke transport model done this way. Single
FAST Ibchmcal Reference Guide

precision arithmetic is faster and more compact than the equivalent code in double precision,

and often the algorithms for calculation are better^.

It is important to keep in mind that this model is based on a control volume concept.

To that end, one gives up knowledge of some of the details of the internal structure of the

problem being modeled, such as temperature variation within a zone. The model must be used

cautiously for situations where these approximations may not be valid, such as the initial filling

of a tall shaft, or a very long corridor.

2 Implementation of Algorithms by W. Kahan - notes for a lecture given at the University of California at Berkeley, 1971 and

1972.
The Predictive Equations Used by the Model

3. THE PREDICTIVE EQUAOONS USED BY THE MODEL

The space with which we are concerned usually consists of several compartments with

a hot upper zone and a relatively cool lower zone for each compartment, and objects such as

chairs, plumes and fires. Interactions occur at the boundary of these zones. Examples of

possible interactions are the flow through vents connecting compartments, the radiation from one compartment through a vent to another compartment and a plume which connects the

upper zone and the lower zone of a compartment.

Using the nomenclature in section 10, the predictive equations can be written [1]:

(1) dt

s (P -I) V

dTu ^ ^ 1 F 1 ^

dt )8 L P\ J I "u ' (^ - i)v

"^i M 'M f t , "'

dt /9 I PV^ J I •« (^ - 1)V

n

n

dV 1 ^ V ^ u I

• u • I :5il^ ^ c m T + E - rr- s dt P)9(^puu u V J

(2)

(3)

(4)

where s = Cpm^T^ + Cpm^T^ + £„ + E^ and /9 = Cp/ R = 7/(7-!) with the assumption for

the pressure P^ = ?„ = P^ = ^^R T^ = piR T^ and the constraint that the total volume of a compartment is fixed V = V„ + V^. There is a set of these equations for each compartment.
FAST 'fechnical Reference Guide

The form of the energy terms (£„, E^) is important. >\^th the choice that the reference

temperature is the ambient, we obtain

Ej = QfCj) + Q^(j) + Q^(j)

+ ) c m^^. (T.- T ) + R(T - T )ni. . (5)

i

+ ) c m. . (T.- T. )

i

and the source term "s" becomes

s = ^

Qf(j) + Q^(j) + Q^a) (6)

J

+ y y c m/" (T.- T.

iL. Z^ P i.J 1 J

) + c m. (T.- T ) + c m.T.

P J J a' V J J

J 1

The index "j" is for the layers "u" and "£" and Y is for the compartments which have

connections to the compartment under consideration. If there is more than one connection

between the compartments, then this latter summation is multi-valued. The mass flow terms

are written as

• in • out

m. , = m, . - m. . i.J i.J i.J

ZIn • out

m. , - m, .

i

k 1 T^ if j = "u"

In addition, for each compartment in which a plume is present there is a term for the reduction

in the energy release for bringing the fuel and entrained air from its initial temperature to that

of the upper layer.
The Predictive Equations Used by the Model

This form is important, especially for eq (6), as it is the means by which the numerical

implementation is done in single precision. The equations are now in a form that allows us

to consider all physical phenomena as source terms in the conservation equations.
FAST Technical Reference Guide

4. SOURCE TERMS

The conserved quantities in each compartment are described by the set of predictive

equations shown above. The form of the equations is such that the physical phenomena are source terms on the right-hand-side of these equations. Such a formulation makes the addition

(and deletion) of physical phenomena and changing the form of algorithms a relatively simple

matter.

4.1 Source lerms: Radiation (Implemented in FIRRAD)

Objects such as walls, gases and fires radiate as well as absorb radiation. Each object

has its own properties, such as temperature, emissivity, etc. As we are solving the energy

equation for the gas temperature, the primary focus is in finding out how much energy is gained or lost by the gas layers due to radiation. In order to calculate the net radiation

absorbed in a zone, a heat balance must be done which includes all surfaces which radiate to and absorb radiation from a zone. The form of the terms which contribute heat to an

absorbing layer are the same for all layers. We assume that all zones in these models are

similar so we can discuss them in terms of a general layer contribution. In order for this calculation to be done in a time commensurate with the other sources, some approximations

are necessary.

Radiation can leave a layer by going to another layer, by going to the walls, by exiting

through a vent, by heating an object, or by changing the pyrolysis rate of the fuel source.

Similarly, a layer can be heated by absorption of radiation from these surfaces and objects as well as from the fire itself The formalism which we employ for the geometry and view factor

calculation is that of Siegel and Howell [5]. Although the radiation could be done v^th a great

deal of generality, we assume that the zones and surfaces radiate and absorb like grey bodies.

The fire is assumed to be a point source and the view factor into the upper and lower

layers is calculated as a tetrahedron from the fire base to the zone interface. A plume is assumed not to radiate, and at present we do not have defined objects other than the fire. We

use a simplified geometrical equivalent of the compartment in order to calculate the radiative

transfer between the ceiling, floor and layer(s). We assume that the upper wall and ceiling,

and the lower wall and floor are equivalent to two flat plates with the gas layers in between.

See figure 5.1. Thus, this is a two wall radiation model. A difficulty arises in arriving at consistent boundary conditions commissural with the four wall convective heat transfer model.

The extended ceiling (ceiling plus upper wall) has two temperatures associated v^ith it, and

similarly for the extended floor (floor plus lower wall). The ambiguity of chosing the

temperature to use for the radiative transfer calculation can cause the upper and lower wall

temperatures to be reversed in some cases. This most commonly occurs for highly conductive
Source lenns

floor material and well insulated walls. Energy is conserved, but the radiative flux boundary

condition for the upper and lower walls is partitioned incorrectly. For the remaining discussion

we use the following notation

Fjk = Geometrical view factor of surface j by surface k

a = Stefan-Boltzmann constant = 5.67x10-* W/m^K"

a = Absorption coefficient of the upper gas layer, m'* e^i = Emissivity of the upper/lower walls

Cg = Emissivity of the upper gas layer

Using the formalism of Siegal and Howell [5] we have

D- [1 - (l-e^Xl-e^) F^J[1 - (1-e^) F^^]

n^-([(l - a-e^) F^J[1 - a-ep F,,]

(7)

n.- {[1 - (l-€ )(!-€ ) F ](1-F..)

i u g uu ii

- (1-e )(l-e )^ F .F, )aT^ - (1-c ) F. e aT^ (9) u g ui iu iw g iu u uw

- {[1 - (1-e )(l-e ) F ] F. + (1-e )(l-e ) F, ) e aT^

u g uu iu u g iu g g

As formulated in Siegal and Howell, the equations for radiative transfer are written in terms

of transmissivity. We use the "equivalent" sphere analogy to relate this to an emissivity for the

gas layer. If we assume that the gas layer is equivalent to a gaseous sphere of equivalent

volume, then we can calculate an effective radius from R=4V/A, where V is the volume, and

A the area of the ceiling plus upper wall. The transmission factor is approximately exp(-aR).

The absorptivity is then l-exp(-aR) and becomes the emissivity of an equivalent grey body

which radiates as ctT*.

>\^th these definitions we can calculate the energy radiated from the upper gas layer to the upper and lower walls respectively as

Q(upper) - A e 11 / D

u u u

' (10)
I^ST lechnical Reference Guide

Q(lower) = A^ e^ H^ / D

By summing these two terms together with the energy radiated by the fire, we obtain the negative of the heat flux absorbed by the upper layer. A heat balance with the fire is not done

simply because the amount of heat radiated by the fire is usually much greater than that

absorbed by the fire (from external sources). In other words, the radiation balance in the

compartments does not affect the temperature of the flames.

For the case when e^, = €(_ = 1 -we have a simple expression for the energy absorbed

by the gas layer, namely

Q - -a I e T^ A + (1-c )T^ (A + A ) g I g u g uw u uv

^^^^ 4 4 4 1 A - € T A , - T> + F-Quw u g u d i uv J f f

where

Ayy = Area of the vents which the gas layer "sees"

Ff = fraction of the released heat which radiates times its view factor for the gas layer

A = \ + A^.

A schematic of this is shown in section 5.1

Note that although radiation can exit a vent, we do not do specific heating of a wall or object in an adjacent compartment. Further, there is no attempt to acccount for radiation

blockage by objects or flames. The algorithm is appropriate for a compartment where the

joints are concave, so that no surface is hidden from any other surface. For "L" shaped

compartments, our view factor calculation would not be appropriate, and would overestimate

the amount of radiative transfer. All of these phenomena require a much more extensive

model which includes a ray tracing algorithm.

4.2 Source "ferms: Convective Heating (Implemented in CXDNVEC)

Convection is one of the mechanisms by which the gas layers lose (or gain) energy to

walls, objects or through openings. Conduction is a process which is intimately associated with

convection, but as it does not show up directly as a term for heat gain or loss, it will be

discussed separately. Convective heating describes the energy transfer between solids and gases. The enthalpy transfer associated with flow through openings will be discussed in the section on

flow through vents.

10
Source Icrms

Convective heat flow is energy transfer across a thin boundary layer. The thickness

of this layer is determined by the temperature difference between the gas zone and the wall or object being heated [6]. We can write the heat flux term as

Q = h (T - T )A

C eg WW (12)

where the transfer coefficient can be written as

h = 7 C (Gr Pr)^/^

c i o

(13)

The terms are

w

Gr

Pr

K

area of surfaces in contact with the zone

3 2 Grashof number = gi IT - T I/j/ T , g ^ g

-4 = Prandtl number = 0.72, = thermal conductivity of the gas = 2.72x10

= length scale ~ Jk , = coefficient which depends on orientation [6]

,

7/4

T + T l4/5

_g w

7.18x10 10

T + T

g w

For the cases of interest we use the coefficients shown below. The coefficients for

horizontal surfaces apply to a slab over a zone (cuch as ceiling surfaces). For a floor, the

conditions (Tg and T„) are reversed. For the outside boundary condiction, the condition is reversed, at least for the ceiling and floor. Physically, outside a compartment, the ceiling of

a compartment will behave as if it were the floor of a compartment over it, and similarly for

the floor of a compartment. Thus, we use the floor boundary coefficient for the outside

boundary of the ceiling and the ceiling coefficient for the outside boundary of a compartment

floor. For vertical boundaries, the coefficient remains the same on the interior and exterior.

Orientation Coefficient[Co] Condition

Vertical 0.130 all Horizontal 0.210 Tg>T.

Horizontal 0.012 Tg<T.

11
B\ST Ibchnical Reference Guide

These coefficients are for turbulent boundary layer flow. Thus they overestimate the heat

transfer which can occur in a quiescent compartment.

The boundary condition which connects the interior of the wall to the zone is fairly

straightforward. This convective heating generates a flux from the gas layer which becomes a

derivative boundary condition for the conduction algorithm. A similar boundary condition must

be applied on the exterior of the walls. The assumption made is that the exterior portion of

a wall is truly facing the ambient. This precludes a fire in one compartment heating a connected compartment through conduction. The omission is due to the difficulty of specifying

how compartment walls are connected and not to the difficulty of specifying the boundary

conditions or solving the equations. So the boundary condition for the exterior of a wall is similar to the interior, except that the exterior surface is assumed to be convecting and

radiating to the ambient. With this caveat in mind, we can use the convection routine to

calculate the boundary condition for the exterior wall also.

The current model allows for a ceiling, floor and two walls. Actually the two walls are the same material, but a separate temperature profile is maintained for the wall in contact

with the upper and lower zones respectively. Therefore we have four components for

convective heat transfer. See section 5.2 for a schematic of this division and a discussion of

how it is implemented.

43 Source Tferms: Plumes (Implemented in FIRPLNf)

Buoyancy generated by the combustion processes in a fire causes the formation of a plume. Such a plume can transport mass and energy from the fire into the lower or upper

layer of a compartment. In the present implementation, we assume that both mass and energy

from the fire are deposited only into the upper layer. In addition the plume entrains mass from the lower layer and transports it into the upper layer. This yields a next enthalpy flux

between the two layers. Actually, the flame and plume will generally radiate somewhat into

the lower layer, at least if it is not diathermous. So our approximation causes the upper layer to be somewhat hotter, and the lower layer somewhat cooler than is the case, at least in a well

developed fire. A fire generates energy at a rate Q. Some fraction, xr» will exit the fire as radiation,

some into heating additional fuel for burning, Xc and the remainder will be available to drive

the plume. This quantity is (1-xr)Q. Defining this quantity to be the convective heat release

rate, we can use the work of McCaffrey [7] to estimate the mass flux from the fire into the

upper layer.

This correlation divides the flame/plume into three regions as shown below. This

prescription agrees with the work of Cetegen et al. [8] in the intermittent regions but yields

12
Source l&nns

greater entrainment in the other two regions. This difference is particularly important for the

initial fire since the upper layer is far removed from the fire.

flaming: mJQ = 0.011 (Z/Q^')"'** 0.00 < Z/Q^' < 0.08

intermittent: m^Q = 0.026 (Z/Q^')^^ 0.08 < Z/Q^' < 0.20 (14)

plume: ihJQ = 0.124 (Z/Q^')^«^ 0.20 < Z/Q^'

McCaffrey's correlation is in general valid for all fires, everywhere. It is an extension

of the common point source plume model, with a different set of coefficients for each region.

These coefficients are experimental correlations, and are not based on theory. The theory

appears only in the form of the fitted function. The binding to the point source plume model

is for the value for Z where the mode changes, namely from flaming to intermittent to plume.

4.4 Source Tferms: Vent Flow (Implemented in FLOW, FRFLOW, and ENTRFL)

Mass flow (in the remainder of this section, the term "flow" will be used to mean mass

flow) is the dominant source term for the predictive equations because it fluctuates most

rapidly and transfers the greatest amount of enthalpy on an instantaneous basis of all the source terms. Also, it is most sensitive to changes in the environment. One of the

improvements which we have incorporated into the model is a means of calculating these flow

fields with the correct number of neutral planes. In these situations, it is possible to have up

to three neutral planes [10].

Flow at vents is governed by the pressure difference across a vent. In the control

volume approximation, it is not calculated by solving the momentum equation directly. Rather,

momentum transfer at the zone boundaries is included by using Bernoulli's solution for the

velocity equation. This solution is augmented for restricted openings by using flow coefficients

[9]. The flow coefficients allow for an effective constriction of fluid flow which occurs for vents

with sharp edges, that is for openings for which the size of the orifice changes abruptly, such

as a window in a room. The coefficients embodied in FAST are for rectangular openings in walls of compartments whose surface area is much larger than the opening.

There are two situations which give rise to flow through vents. The first, and most

usually thought of in fire problems, is that of air or smoke which is driven from a compartment

by buoyancy. The second type of flow is due to a piston effect which is particularly important

when conditions in the fire environment are changing rapidly. Rather than depending on

density differences between the two gases, the flow is forced by volumetric expansion, mostly

caused by changes in gas density or pressure. Atmospheric pressure is about 100 000 Pa, fires produce pressure changes from 1 to 1 000 Pa, and mechanical ventilation systems typically

involve pressure changes about 1 to 100 Pa. In order to solve these interactions correctly, we

must be able to follow pressure differences of about 0,1 Pa out of 10^.

13
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

The general form for the velocity field is given by

V = C S (2p|P.-P 1)^

' 1 o' (15)

where C is an orifice coefficient (==0.65 to 0.75), S is the opening area, p is the gas density on

the source side and P is the pressure on the source(i) and destination(o) sides, respectively.

We apply the above equation to rectangular openings which allows us to remove the

width from the mass flux integral. That is

flow [ -j^u L • u^ P^ dzdb -* width T^ ^] ^z

J width J height J z. (16)

T

Bf

llllllllllllllllllllllll

Figure 1. Notation convention for interface, sill, and soffit.

The simplest means to define the limits of integration is with neutral planes, that is the height

at which flow reversal occurs, or physical boundaries such as a sill or soffit. By breaking the

14
Source Terms

Restrictions

Pi ^ P4> z.<z„

Pi > P4» Zi<Z„

Pi< P2< P4, Zi>Z.

Pi > Pa, Zi> z.

Pi < P3, z. >z<

integral into intervals defined by flow reversal, a soffit, a sill, or a zone interface, the integral

itself can be done analytically. We have for the internal pressure on each side of the opening

as shown in figures 1 and 2:

Pj^(z) - P^(0) - min(z,Z^) p^g - max(z-Z^,0) p^g (17)

P^(z) - P^(0) - min(z,Z^) p^g - max(z-Z^,0) p^g (18)

where P(0) represents the base (reference) pressure at the floor. The pressure then appears

only as a difference of these two terms, namely F(z) = Pi(z) - Po(z). These equations form an

inordinately large family of curves as a function of the parameters p and Z. However, if the

restrictions found in fire scenarios are imposed then we end up with only a five possibilities as shown below.

Maximum number of neutral planes

12

3

2

1

If there were no soffits or sills to consider, then the calculation would be fairly

straightforward. However, the possibility of soffit/sill combinations requires many numerical

tests in the calculation. The first condition allows 44 different flow combinations, depending on the relative position of Hf, Bf, Z; and Z^. It contains at most a single neutral plane.

Twenty-four of these combinations are without a neutral plane and 20 with a neutral plane.

For the other cases, the interval [Bf,Hf] can be partitioned into intervals which contain at most

a single neutral plane. An important caveat is to be sure that the inequalities as shown above

are treated consistently.

The approach we have used to calculated the flow field is of some interest because of

the way it is implemented numerically. The general flow equation is

2 1

m = - C S (2p)^/^ (z.-zO (P^/^ - ^l^'^) (19)

3 <P2"^1^

For the situation when one of the endpoints (zj, or Zj) defines a neutral plane, then this expression simplifies. As a specific example, let Pj -> 0, whence the expression becomes

15
EAST lechnical Reference Guide

T3

Figure 2. Example of a possible flow pattern and layer numbering convention.

m1-^0 =

3

C S (z2-z^) (2p P^) (20)

The latter expression is much faster to evaluate than the former. We can partially ameliorate

the difference in computation speed by rewriting eq (19) in a better form, using a continued

fraction, as

X = minimum

y = maximum

m.

i-^o I

C S (2p)^ (Z2 - z-^) X +

1 + x/y ^

(21)

16
Source Terms

This form is considerably faster to evaluate, approaching the time required to evaluate eq (20).

The integration is started at the lowest point at which flow can occur, the sill or floor. Then the next change point is found. It is either a soffit or a change in the relative gas

density. Within this interval there is either a neutral plane or not. The appropriate form, eq

(20) or (21) is used. Then a check is then made to see if there is more opening through

which flow can occur. If so, then the integration process starts from the last endpoint (z^) and

continues until the soffit is reached.

A mixing phenomenon occurs at vents which is similar to entrainment in plumes. As

hot gases from one compartment leave that compartment and flow into an adjacent

compartment a door jet can exist which is analogous to a normal plume. Mixing of this type occurs for riiij >0 as shown in figure 2. To calculate the entrainment (rh43 in this example), once again we use a plume description, but with an extended source point. The estimate for

the point source extension is given by Cetegen et al. [8]. This virtual point source is chosen

so that the flow at the door opening would correspond to a plume with the heating (with

respect to the lower layer) given by

The concept of the virtual source is that the enthalpy flux from the virtual point source should

equal the actual enthalpy flux in the door jet at the point of exit from the vent using the same

prescription. Thus the entrainment is calculated the same way as was done for a normal plume.

The height of the plume is

/ 2/5 ^ z . z^/eq + V

P J P

where Vp, the virtual source point, is defined by inverting the entrainment process to yield

xq - eq / m

V = (90.9/xq)-'-*^^ if 0.00 < V <= 0.08

P . P

V = (38.5/xq)-'--''-°°^ if 0.08 < V <= 0.20

P P

V = (8.10/xq)

-"^^^ if 0.20 < V . P P

The units of this height, Zp and Vp, are not length, but rather in the reduced notation of

McCaffrey [7]. That is, the Zp defined here is the term z/Q^' used earlier. The agreement

between experiment and theory is quite good even though we are outside of the normal range

17
FAST Ibchnical Reference CJuide

of validity of a plume model. In particular, a door jet forms a flat plume whereas a normal

fire plume will be approximately circular.

The other type of mixing is much like an inverse plume and causes contamination of

the lower layer. It occurs when there is flow of the type mi2> 0. The shear flow causes vortex

shedding into the lower layer and thus some of the particulates end up in the lower layer. The

actual amount of mass or energy transferred is usually not large, but its effect can be large.

For example, even minute amounts of carbon can change the radiative properties of the gas

layer, from negligible to something finite. It changes the rate of radiation absorption by orders

of magnitude which invalidates the notion of a diathermous lower layer. This term is predicated on the Kelvin-Helmholz flow instability and requires shear flow between two

separate fluids. The mixing is enhanced for greater density differences between the two layers.

However, the amount of mixing has never been well characterized. Quintiere et al. [11]

discuss this phenomena for the case of crib fires in a single room, but their correlation does

not yield good agreement with experimental data in the general case. So we have assumed that

the incoming cold plume behaves like the inverse of the usual door jet between adjacent hot

layers; thus we have a descending plume. It is possible that the entrainment is overestimated

in this case, since buoyancy, which is the driving force, is not nearly as strong as for the usually

upright plume.

4^ Source Tfcnns: Fire (Implemented in PYROLS and CHEMIE)

At present, the model has only a specified fire implemented. A specified fire is one

for which the time dependent characteristics are specified as a function of time. Under

development are pool fire and burning furniture algorithms. The specified fire can be

unconstrained or constrained. These fires are later referred to as type 1 and type 2,

respectively. The meaning of this assignment will become clearer in the discussion of the

algorithm itself (sec. 5.5) and the data file structure (sec. 6.7). For the constrained fire, the

constraint is based on the minimum of the fuel and oxygen available for combustion. For

either, the pyrolysis rate is specified as riif, the burning rate as rhb and the heat of combustion

as h- so that the nominal heat release rate is

"^t-K^.- %^\- •^v' *b- "2)

For the unconstrained fire, rhb = "if. whereas for the constrained fire, the burning rate will be

less than the pyrolysis rate. Models of specified fires generally use a heat of combustion which

is obtained from an experimental apparatus such as the Cone Calorimeter [12]. The

shortcoming of this approach is that the pyrolysis rate is not connected to radiative feedback

18
Source Iferms

from the flame or compartment. In an actual fire, this is an important consideration, and the

speciflcation used should match the experimental conditions as closely as possible.

The energy which is released goes into radiation and enthalpy flux

QXfire) = xaOf

Oc(fire) = (l-XR)Qf.

The term Oc(fire) then becomes the driving term in the plume flow. In the actual

implementation these formulas are modified somewhat. For a specified fire there is radiation

to both the upper and lower layers, whereas the convective part contributes only to the upper

layer. For the radiative portion a view factor must be calculated. Currently we do this on the

basis of the view factor for the interface as seen from the fire source. The view factor is calculated on the basis of a tetrahedron formed by the point source fire, and the interface

rectangle.

If the fire is constrained by the amount of available oxygen, then we can calculate a species balance. The scheme is applied in three places. The first is burning in the portion of

the plume which is in the lower layer of the room of fire origin (region #1). The second is the portion in the upper layer, also in the room of origin (region #2). The third is in the vent

flow which entrains air from a lower layer into an upper layer in an adjacent compartment

(region #3). Figure 3 is a schematic of the concept of division of burning regions.

The species which are affected by this scheme are O2, CO2, CO, H2O, unburned

hydrocarbons (TUHC), and soot (OD). In a chemical equation, the individual atoms on the

left and right hand sides must balance. This is true regardless of whether the reaction is considered to be stoichiometric. We apply this idea to the combination of fuel and oxygen to

yield a balance of number density (#A'olume) as follows:

Equating like species (take the separate components of the orthonormal set representing the

constituent atoms),

In Ihe present context soot consists only of carbon. Also we do not maintain a separate variable for the number density of

soot as opposed to the mass density, so N^ is actually the production rate of carbon atoms. Thus, m^ = 12 N5.

19
Ef\ST Technical Reference Guide

Figure 3. Schematic of entrainment and burning regions.

N,

N^ =

N^ =

2 N

2 N,

(24)

(25)

(26)

This is the most general scheme which will be considered at present. The third equation (for

O2 balance) is not actually used in the following discussion but is included for completeness.

Later there is a discussion of a more general scheme and the difficulties which might be

encountered. A point to note is that we assume that the oxygen content of the fuel is negligible. If oxygen is a significant component of the fuel, the mass pyrolysis rate which is used to specify the fire should be reduced by the percentage of oxygen present.

20
Source Terms

The relative amounts of carbon and carbon monoxide are then specified with respect

to the amount of carbon dioxide produced as

N N N —S lO H

, — , with — giving the hydrogen/carbon ratio of the fuel.

^^CO^ CO2 C

These parameters are functions of time and the type of fuel. With these definitions in mind,

equate like species and take first order time derivatives to obtain

1+ r;— +

"co, "co^

Time derivatives of the densities rather than the actual densities themselves are used. Although

the balance is done for the atoms, the primary interest is in how the number of each species

is changing. Obviously, if the number density is correct for all time, then the time rate of

change of this density is also always correct.

For consistency in the model, it is more convenient to express these numbers in terms

of masses rather than mole or number density. After the transformation from number density

to mass density we have"

input:

m(fuel) = pyrolysis rate of the source (kg/sec) (region #1) or m(fuel) = m(tuhc) from a previous region (kg/sec) (region #2 and #3)

4 The terms in parenthesis (burn, fuel, tuhc etc.) are equivalent to the subscripts (b, f, tuhc, etc.) but are written out in the form

found in the parameterization in the FORTRAN implementation. It is hoped that this will clarify the use of these equations in the code itself.

21
FAST Technical Reference Guide

with the constraint:

1 32x10^

ri,(burn) - min ( [O^l^^^^^^^^

^^^ , m(fuel)) (29)

and results:

m(tuhc) = m(fuel) - m(burn) (30)

q = m(burn) x h (31)

m(oxygen) = - ^ (32)

1.32x10

m(H^O) = 9

'"^""^"1 -^ (33) m(burn)_ f H

H

C

(^1

' [^'[IV

m(CO,) 3.67m(burn)

^j^^

h[^)](--' =° +3.67 ^ "CO,

m. m(CO) = ^ f~^ 1 (35)

^°2 '^ "^CO^J

m(S) = m_- f—^ 1 (36)

The term [Oj] is the amount of entrained oxygen multiplied by a factor to force cutoff

of burning at the limiting oxygen index. The term [O2] is calculated as follows:

o2index = max (O.,(o2frac-limo2)*4.83)

o2mass = o2entr * 0.995 * (l-exp(-10*o2index))

where 4.83 is the inverse of 20.7%. The term "fuel" implies no oxygen in the present context.

If there is oxygen in the original fuel, then the net production of unburned hydrocarbons will be incorrect. If this is the case, the prescribed fuel production must be decreased by the

fraction of oxygen present. The energy balance is not affected by this change.

For region #1, the source will be the fuel source itself; for regions #2 and #3, the source will be the m(tuhc) flowing from the previous region. The number 1.32x10^ is the

22
Source Terms

heat release rate per kilogram of oxygen consumed as discussed by Huggett [13]. Thus for each

region, the burning rate is the minimum of the two possible rates, the rate due to the fuel

present, and the rate due to the oxygen present. Note that the production and fuel ratios are now in terms of masses. The limit on the hydrogen-carbon ratio should be zero to one third. Obviously this is not quite the correct effect for a general fuel such as a piece of furniture or

a cable, but should suffice at least to get started. Given the above production rates, the carbon

monoxide and soot fraction can be calculated in terms of carbon dioxide. These latter two are

just the terms in the denominator of the CO2 production rate. As pointed out earlier, an

assumption has been made that soot is composed primarily of carbon. A more complete

description should be undertaken, but this would complicate the above scheme considerably.

4.6 Source Ibmis: Conduction (Implemented in CNDUCT)

Conduction of heat through solids is not a source term in the sense discussed earlier. That is, loss or gain of energy from solids occurs by convective heating, which in turn is influenced by subsequent gain or loss through the solids. However, as much of the net heat

loss from a compartment occurs through loss to the walls and heating of interior objects, the

form of the heat propagation will be discussed here.

The equation which governs the heat transfer in solids is S = TT^'T (37) at p c

and is a linear parabolic equation. As such it must be solved by a different technique than is used for the ordinary differential equations which describe mass and enthalpy flux. The

equation is linear only if the coefficients k, p and c are constant throughout the material. This

may not be the case, especially for some materials such as gypsum for which the value of k may

vary by a factor of two or more. However, to the accuracy that we know the thermal

properties, it is a reasonable approximation. For a given wall we allow multiple layers (slabs)

whose properties can differ. As explained in section 5.6, eq (37) is then solved for each layer

as a linear system with the appropriate boundary conditions between the layers.

In order to couple these systems in a reasonable way, we appeal to the principle of time

splitting. Simply stated we have two systems of equations which can be decoupled and solved

independently as long as the time step used is short compared to the characteristic time scale

for either set of equations. For fires of interest, wall temperatures change on the order of

minutes. By using a time step of no more than 0.2 seconds, the applicability of time splitting

is assured. This decoupling breaks down for very large fires (larger than 50 MW) when the

radiant flux to a wall can cause its surface and subsurface temperatures to change in seconds

rather than minutes. Of greater interest is the number of nodes used for the actual numerical

23
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

calculation. As discussed below, we use 48 nodes (36 in the PC version) for this calculation.

This is a compromise between computer memory required and the computation time required.

The method used (discussed later) is referred to as a Crank-Nicholson scheme and is absolutely

stable and convergent. The only difficulty is that with only a few nodes, iteration may be

required if the heat flux boundary condition is changing rapidly. With a sufficient number of

nodes, a single pass through the solver is sufficient. However, this requires additional computer

memory. Most of the time, a single pass is sufficient with our choice of node structure.

Heat conduction is calculated on a compartment by compartment basis, with each

bounding surface specified and calculated independently. Any combination of compartments

and surfaces within a compartment can be specified. For example, both the ceiling and walls

might be done in the room of fire origin and only the walls in the adjacent hallway. At present

conduction is one dimensional only, perpendicular to the bounding surface. It is a limitation

in moving from compartments near the fire source to distant spaces. In particular, the

mechanism for complete mixing is flow down the walls and the degree of mbdng is affected by

heat conduction parallel to the wall, especially in the direction in which the interface is moving.

A corollary is that the wall in contact with the gas layer changes temperature instantaneously

as the layer interface moves up and down. This inconsistency would be removed with the

introduction of a two dimensional heat flow calculation. As discussed by Goldman et ai. [14]

the phenomena can be important, especially as the thermocline in the wall will influence the

direction in which the wall boundary flow propagates.

Conduction through solids occurs in two places: the compartment walls and interior

objects. The technique used is the same in both cases, although the boundary conditions on

the equation may be different. Generally a slab is cut into N intermediate slices or N+1

nodes. Then the one dimensional form of the heat equation is solved for each slice. It is the

choice of the maximum number of nodes that is a compromise between precision and

computation time. The finite difference implementation of the equation is a time-centered,

implicit scheme which is symmetric about the nodes. For interior nodes we have

and for boundary or edge nodes we have

(38)

AxQ >. f f AxC

24
Source Terms

where n'' =

2

• (Ax) pc

The former is for the interior boundary and the latter for the exterior boundary (i=N). The

temperature at the starting time at node "i" is Tj and at time t+5t is T;..

To solve this system of equations, two boundary conditions must be specified. For this problem mixed boundary conditions are used. For the inside edge (adjacent to the gas layer)

there is a heat flux which is comprised of convective and radiative components. On the outside

the ambient is fixed and an outflow boundary condition is calculated based on an average

convective heat flow coefficient and the temperature of the last node. Both boundary

conditions are represented symbolically as Q^.

One limitation of our implementation of conduction is that it serves only as a loss term

for energy. Heat lost from a compartment by conduction is assumed to be lost to the outside

ambient. In reality, compartments adjacent to the room which contains the fire can be heated,

possibly catastrophically, by conducted energy not accounted for in the model. Although

solving the conduction equations for this situation is not difficult, the geometrical specification

is. For this reason, we have chosen to assume that the outside of a boundary is always the

ambient.

We allow for multi-layered walls, floors and ceilings. This requires additional internal

boundary conditions at each material interface. Two additional nodes are necessary. These are used to force continuity of the heat flux across each interface.

25
FAST lechnical Reference Gtiide

5. SOURCE MODULES

The routines described below come directly from the FAST program. The modules

have been annotated to make them more understandable. For example, comments within the

code which are directives for changing the routines are not included. There are also comments

which appear here which are not shown in the actual code. The part that is strictly in upper

case is FORTRAN code, whereas text in lower or mixed case are extra comments.

5.1 FIRRAD (sec. 4.1)

This routine calculates the quasi-steady radiative flux between one gas layer and two

walls. The wall surfaces are the extended floor and ceiling. That is, the extended ceiling is the sum of the areas of the ceiling and upper wall, and similarly for the extended floor. This

routine is coded from the work of Siegal and Howell [5]. It assumes two flat plates facing a

single grey sphere. The view factor for a hemisphere facing a flat plate can be integrated

analytically. The lower layer is assumed to be diathermous, so it need not be taken into

account. However, the interface between the lower wall and the atmosphere in the upper layer

is the actual discontinuity area, so the view factors correspond to appropriate areas.

upper

upper layer - grey gas

lower layer - diathermous

A

1

I ower

1 s equivalent

toupper

lower

There are three surface areas of interest: A„pper, the area of the extended upper surface;

Aower the area of the extended lower surface; and Aj the area of the interface, that is the

separation between the upper and lower layers.

SUBROUTINE FIRRAD (T, TG, AW, AD, EPR, EG, QSRAD, QRADG, NC)

FAST COMMON BLOCK GOES HERE

26
Source Modules

DIMENSION T(4) ,AW(2) ,EP(2) ,PI(2) ,QRAD(4) ,QSRAD(4,NC) ,QRADG(2,NC)

DIMENSION TG(2),EPR(4)

aw(l) = \^

aw(2) = Aow„

ad = area of the discontinuity - generally same as floor area

t and tg are the wall and gas temperatures, respectively

epr and eg are the emissivities of the walls and gas layer, respectively

fll, fl2, £21 and £22 are the view factors between the surfaces

F11-1.-AD/AW(1)

F12-AD/AW(1)

F21-AD/AW(2)

F22-1.-AD/AW(2)

EP(1) = MAX(EPR(1), EPR(3))

EP(2) =MAX(EPR(2), EPR(4))

50 - EG * SIGM * TG (UPPER) **4

use of the "max" function resolves the conflict between four walls in convection and two walls

in radiation

51 - SIGM * MAX(T(1) ,T(3))**4

52 - SIGM * MAX(T(2),T(4))**4

D-(1.-(1.-EP(1))*(1.-EG)*F11)*(1.-(1.-EP(2))*F22)

1 -(1.-EP(1))*(1.-EP(2))*(1.-EG)**2*F12*F21

PI(1)=((1.-(1.-EG)*F11)*(1.-(1.-EP(2))*F22)

1 -(l.-EP(2))*(l.-EG)**2*F12*F21)*Sl

2 -(1.-EG)*F12*EP(2)*S2

3 -(1.+(1.-EP(2))*((1.-EG)*F12*F21-F22))*S0

PI(2)-( (1. - (1. -EP(1) )*(1. -EG)*F11)*(1. -F22)

1 -(l.-EP(l))*(l.-EG)**2*F12*F21)*S2

2 -(l.-EG)*F21*EP(l)*Sl

3 -((l.-(l.-EP(l))*(l.-EG)*Fll)*F21+(l.-EP(l))*(l.-EG)*F21)*S0

ONED = 1. / D

DO 10 I = UPPER, LOWER

qsrad is the radiation to the surfaces, and qradg is the total radiative heat flux into the gas

QSRADL = -EP(I) * PI(I) * ONED

QSRAD(I,NC) = QSRADL

10 QRAD(I) = QSRADL * AW(I)

QRADG (UPPER, NC) = - (QRAD(UPPER) + QRAD(LOWER))

27
I^ST lechnical Reference Guide

QRADG( LOWER, NC) =0.0

RETURN

END

52 CONVEC (sec. 4.2)

The model allows for a ceiling, floor and two walls. Actually the two walls are always

the same material, but a separate temperature profile is maintained for the wall in contact with

the upper and lower zones, respectively. Therefore we have four components for convective

heat transfer.

ceiling

upper wall ->

lower wall ->

floor

Imd Imd

h = NU = C (Gr Pr) 1/3

Orientation Coefficient Condition

walls 0.130

ceiling and floor 0.210

ceiling and floor 0.012

all Tj.g >-^ Tj.^ TXg <-V Tx^

The coefficient in the above table is the "C" in the previous equation.

Reference [6] discusses this aspect.

Division of Boundaries for Convective Heating Routine

SUBROUTINE CONVEC (IW, TG , TW, AW, QDINL, QCNVGO)

C TG = GAS LAYER TEMPERATURE

C TW = WALL TEMPERATURE OF WALL "IW"

C AW = AREA OF THIS WALL

C ANET = TOTAL AREA OF WALL "IW" IN CONTACT WITH THE GAS LAYER (TG)

C QDINL = HEAT CONVECTIVE FLUX TO THE WALL BOUNDING THIS GAS LAYER

C QCNVGO = NET CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX TO THE GAS LAYER"

28
Source Modules

FAST COMMON BLOCK GOES HERE

REAL LMD.NU

pr = Prandtl number = 0.72 for air nu = Nusselt number

Imd = lambda = an equivalent conductivity for air V = viscosity of air

The power law for turbulent flow is 1/3 and for laminar flow it is 1/4. We have simplified the

convection calculation by using only the turbulent flow power law. If a more general

relationship is used, then the following note shows how to convert the final "q" to yield the

correct relationship between the heat transfer and the heat transfer coefficient as formulated

by the Nusselt number.

PR-0.72

V-7 . 18E-10*( (TW+TG)/2 .)**(?. /-^ • ) LMD - 2.72E-4 * ( (TW+TG)*0. 5)**0.

C NOTE: GRASHOF NUMBER HAS THE L**3 DIVIDED OUT TO

C PREVENT DIVIDE BY ZERO ERRORS AS THE SURFACE

C VANISHES - DEPENDS ON THE NU(l/3) POWER.

C RESULT MUST BE MULTIPLIED BY (L**3)**(1/A)*L/(L**2) WHERE

C A IS THE POWER IN THE NUSSELT NUMBER CALCULATION AND

C L = SQRT(AW)

GR-G*ABS(TG-TW)/(V**2*TG)

GO TO (20, 30, 10, 10), IW

C VERTICAL WALL

10 NU-0.13*(GR*PR)**(l./3.)

GO TO 40

C CEILING

20 IF(TG.LT.TW) GO TO 21

NU-0.21*(GR*PR)**(l./3.)

GO TO 40

21 NU-0.012*(GR*PR)**(l./3.)

GO TO 40

C FLOOR

30 IF(TG.LT.TW) GO TO 31

NU-0.012*(GR*PR)**(l./3.)

GO TO 40

29
FAST Technical Reference Guide

31 NU=0.21*(GR*PR)**(l./3.)

40 QDINL = LMD * NU * (TG-TW)

QCNVGO = QCNVGO - QDINL * AW

RETURN

END

53 FIRPLM (sec. 43)

SUBROUTINE FIRPLMCQJL, Z, R, FMZ, EMZ, LFBT)

C "Momentum Implications for Buoyant Diffusion Flames"

C Combustion and Flame 52,149(1983)

C LFBT = FIRE TYPE FOR ENTRAINMENT MODIFICATION

C QJ = FIRE SIZE (W)

C R = MASS LOSS RATE OF THE FIRE

C FMZ = TOTAL MASS TRANSFER RATE AT THE TOP OF THE PLUME

C EMZ = NET MASS ENTRAINMENT RATE

C Z = PLUME HEIGHT

DIMENSION F(4)

DATA F/1. ,2. ,4. ,1./

C NOTE UNITS CONVERSION JOULES ->KILOJOULES

QJ = 0.001 * QJL

IF(Z.GT.O.) THEN

IF(QJ.GT.O) THEN

ZDQ=Z/ ( F ( LFBT ) *QJ ) **0 .

4

IF(ZDQ.GT.0.2) THEN

FMZ = 0.124* ZDQ**1.895 * QJ

ELSE IF (ZDQ.GT.0.08) THEN

FMZ = 0.026 * ZDQ**0.909 * QJ

ELSE

FMZ = 0.011 * ZDQ**0.566 * QJ

ENDIF

FMZ = MAX (R, FMZ/F(LFBT))

EMZ = MAX (FMZ-R, 0.0)

ELSE

FMZ = R

EMZ = 0.0

ENDIF

ELSE

FMZ=R

EMZ=0 .

30
Source Modules

ENDIF

RETURN

END

5.4 FLOW, FRFLOW AND ENTRFL (sec. 4.4)

Fluid flow is the primary mechanism for transport of mass and enthalpy from one compartment to another. We divide flow into two classes which we refer to as horizontal and

vertical flow. The terms are symbolic of the approximate direction of the flow with respect to

gravity. Vertical flow is parallel to the direction of gravity and horizontal flow is perpendicular.

Vents are then named by the same convection, so HVENT is the acronym for vents through

which there will be horizontal flow and are referred to as "horizontal vents," and WENT is the equivalent specification for vertical flow and "vertical vents." Unlike the plume model,

there is no constraint on the amount of gas entrained, except that it must satisfy the

equivalency principle discussed earlier. So it is possible for short (low soffit) vents in tall compartments to overestimate the amount of gas entrained.

The following three routines calculate fluid movement which nominally is in a horizontal

direction. The following schematic illustrates the normal rule used to deposit fluid which flows

from one compartment to another.

Tu

<f- '^

i. u

... T

^1

< i u

^ rn

.-^ ^1

T

^1

This selection rule is that the upper layer gases flow into an upper layer, and similarly

for the lower layer. However, for an outside ambient that is warmer or colder than either

layer, the in-flow must force air into one or the other, respectively. As an example, if we are modeling a warm building in a winter scenario, the air which infiltrates the building should go

into the lower layer. The modified selection rules become

31
EAST lechmcal Reference Guide

Tt(j) < T„(j) < Tt(i) < T„(i) all into lower layer

Tt(j) < T«(i) < T„(j) < T„(i)

Te(i) < Te(j) < T„(j) < T„(i)

Tt(j) < T^(i) < T„(i) < T„(j)

Tt(j) < Tt(i) < T„(i) < T„(j)

-> usual selection rules (see above)

Te(i) < T„(i) < T^Cj) < T„(j) all into upper layer

The first routine (FLOW) simply adjusts the boundary conditions for interior or exterior

flow and does the redundancy check mentioned earlier on the symmetry aspects of the

bidirectional flow.

SUBROUTINE FLOW(I, J, K, TU, Z, TL)

i and j specify two compartments, and k is the vent number (l->4)

tu and tl are the upper and lower layer temperatures respectively

z is the interface height

DIMENSION TU(N), Z(N) , TL(N) , R(4) , TM(4,4), ZN(6)

RG(I) = (RAMB(I) * TAMB(I)) / (PAMB(I)+POFSET)

C IF WE REFER TO THE OUTSIDE COMPARTMENT, THEN THE INTERFACE

C MUST REFER TO THE EXTERNAL AMBIENT, WIND INCLUDED

IF (I.LT.N) THEN

R(l) = (RAMB(I)*TAMB(I))/(PAMB(I)+POFSET) * (P(I)+POFSET)/TU(I)

R(2) = (RAMB(I)*TAMB(I))/(PAMB(I)+POFSET) * (P(I)+POFSET)/TL(I)

PI = P(I)

ZAI = HRP(I) - Z(I)

HFI = HFLR(I)

ELSE

R(l) = ERA(J)

R(2) = ERA(J)

PI = EPA(J)

ZAI = l.E+5

HFI = HFLR(J)

ENDIF

IF (J.LT.N) THEN

R(3) = (RAMB(J)*TAMB(J))/(PAMB(J)+POFSET) * (P(J)+POFSET)/TU(J)

R(4) = (RAMB(J)*TAMB(J))/(PAMB(J)+POFSET) * (P(J)+POFSET)/TL(J)

32
Source Modules

PJ = P(J)

ZAJ = HRP(J)

HFJ = HFLR(J)

ELSE

R(3) = ERA(I)

R(4) = ERA(I)

PJ = EPA(I)

ZAJ = l.E+5

HFJ = HFLR(I)

ENDIF

c START WITH THE A

c SYMMETRY

Z(J)

THIS REMOVES THE

IF(R(1) .GT.R(3)) RETURN

C FIND THE WIDTH BY MULTIPLYING THE OPENING BY THE WIDTH FRACTION FROM

C CVENT

IF (ITERPT.EQ.l) THEN

FACTOR = (QCVENT(I,J,K,ITIME1)*TIMEI1-QCVENT(I,J,K,ITIME2)*

TIMEI2) * TIMEI3

ELSE

FACTOR = QCVENT(I,J,K,LFMAX+1)

ENDIF

HHO = HHP(I,J,K)

HLO - HLP(I,J,K)

BWO - BW(I,J,K) * FACTOR

CALL FRFLOW ( PI , PJ , HFI , HFJ , ZAI , ZAJ , R , HLO , HHO , BWO , TM , I ZN , ZN

)

C KEEP TRACK OF THE NUMBER OF NEUTRAL PLANES, BUT NOT THE ACTUAL

C POSITION OF THE NEUTRAL PLANE (S)

NEUTRAL(I,J) = IZN

RETURN

END

The routine FRFLOW does the actual integration along the vertical axis of the vent, that is from Zi to Zj (see eq (16)). A more detailed discussion of the algorithm is given in reference

[15]. The effects of wind are included in the external pressure applied to a vent which is connected to the outside ambient. As such, it does not explicitly show up in the calculations,

but is part of the term EPA above. We use the equation for pressure as a function of height

as given in reference [17]. Starting with an initial temperature and pressure of T3, P3 for the

ambient at the station, we can calculate the pressure at a height H;. The station information

33
FAST Technical Reference Guide

is at a reference height Hr, and the wind speed is V^ at a relative height H^ above the

reference height H^. The form for the pressure with the wind added is

r T - 0.0065 H.^5.26^ C^* V^^ ( H^.^p,

p _> p

I a w a I T + 0.0065

a irj [^ "

2 R (T^- 0.0065H.) [itJ J

The power law p^ defines the lapse rate for the pressure, and the coefficient C„ is the relative

effect that the wind will have on an opening. It varies from -1 to +1 and is the dot product

of the wind direction vector and the vent direction.

SUBROUTINE FRFLOW(PI0, PEO ,HI ,HE, ZI ,ZE,RH,BF,HF,ALF,TM, IZN, ZN)

C PIO = PRESSURE AT A CERTAIN REFERENCE LEVEL, SIDE I C PEO = " " " " " THE SAME " " """"", SIDE E

C ZI = DISCONTINUITY HEIGHT, SIDE I (OVER REF. LEVEL)

n 7p" ^ II II II II II II II II II It II It II E< n M ti II It It ti C RH(1)= GAS DENSITY OF THE UPPER LAYER, SIDE I

rj pu f 3

'\ = " »• " " " 11 II II II II " 'I II •• 11 II n II p

C RH(2)= " " " " " " " " " LOWER " " " " " " I Q tJU / A \ ^ II 11 II 11 II II It It It It II It It It It II It II p

C BF = OPENING SILL HEIGHT (OVER REF. LEVEL)

Q up _,

It II SOFFTT " " " " " " " " " " " " C ALF - " " " WIDTH

C CD = CONSTRICTION COEFFICIENT

C ZN = TABLE OF THE NEUTRAL PLANE HEIGHTS COMPUTED IN THE

C THE OPENING: AS TWO OF THESE MAY BE EQUAL, THE DIMENSION

C IS 6, BUT THERE ARE AT MOST THREE NEUTRAL PLANE HEIGHTS.

C THE INITIAL VALUES ARE 100000 METERS.

C TM = TABLE (4, 4) OF THE MASS FLOW RATES THROUGH OPENING, EACH

C ELEMENT TM(I,J) REPRESENTING THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF THE MASS

C FLOW RATE (IF ANY) FROM I TO J (IF NOT: TM(I,J)- 0)

C 1 IS RELATIVE TO THE UPPER GASEOUS LAYER, SIDE I Q 2 " " " '• " " " •• I' T OUFR 11 It n n II II " " n n n Q

o II It II II ti II It II II TjPFER " " " " " " " SIDE E

Q

A II It ti II It II It ti II T OUER "»•"••"" •• " •• " "

DIMENSION RH(4),TM(4,4),ZN(6)

DATA G/9. 80665/ , CD/0. 7/, DMP/1.0/

DATA ZERO/0./

C INITIALIZATION

i

34
Source Mcxiules

DO 1 K-1,4

DO 1 ]>1,4

1 TM(K,L)=0

DO 2 K-1,6

2 ZN(K) - 100000.

IZN -

1-2

J-4

DPO - PIO - PEO

DPI - G * (MIN(ZI,BF-HI)*RH(2) + MAX(ZER0.BF-ZI)*RH(1)

)

DPE - G * (MIN(ZE,BF-HE)*RH(4) + MAX(ZER0,BF-ZE)*RH(3)

)

DP - DPO + DPE - DPI

TTCA - 0.6666667 * CD * ALE

C MAIN LOOP: INTEGRATION OVER INTERVALS [ZA.ZB] FROM BF TO HF

ZA - BF

10 ZB - HF

C FLOW RATE FROM OR TO ZONE 1 IF ZI <- ZA

IF(ZI.LE.ZA)THEN

I - 1

C MAKE ZB=MIN(HF,ZI) IF ZA < ZI < ZB

ELSE IF (ZI.LT.ZB)THEN

ZB - ZI

END IF

C FLOW RATE TO OR FROM ZONE 3 IF ZE <- ZA

IF(ZE.LE.ZA)THEN

J « 3

C MAKE ZB=MIN(HF,ZI,ZE) IF ZA < ZE < MIN(HF,ZI)

ELSE IF (ZE.LT.ZB)THEN

ZB - ZE

ENDIF

C EXPRESSION OF PRESSURE DIFFERENCES IN ZA AND ZB

DPA - DP

DPB = DPA+(RH(J)-RH(I))*G*(ZB-ZA)

C NO NEUTRAL PLANE IN [ZA.ZB]

35
FAST Technical Reference Guide

IF (DPA*DPB.GT. ZERO) THEN

FROM I TO J

IF (DPA.GT. ZERO) THEN

X = SQRT(DPA)

Y = SQRT(DPB)

XX = MIN(X,Y)

YY = MAX(X,Y)

Y2 - YY * YY

TM(I,J) = TTCA * SQRT(2.*RH(I))*(ZB-ZA)*(XX+YY/(1.+XX/YY))

* TTCB(DMP,Y2) + TM(I,J)

FROM J TO I

ELSE

X - SQRT(-DPA)

Y - SQRT(-DPB)

XX = MIN(X,Y)

YY = MAX(X,Y)

Y2 = YY * YY

TM(J,I) = TTCA * SQLRT(2.*RH(J))*(ZB-ZA)*(XX+YY/(1.+XX/YY))

* TTCB(DMP,Y2) + TM(J,I)

ENDIF

NEUTRAL PLANE HEIGHT IN [ZA,ZB]

ELSE IF (DPB.EQ.ZERO.AND.DPA.EQ. ZERO) THEN

IZN = IZN + 1

ZN(IZN) = (ZA+ZB)/2

ELSE

IZN = IZN+I

ZN(IZN) = ZA-(DPA/(DPB-DPA))*(ZB-ZA)

. . BOTTOM FLOW I TO J

IF(DPA.GT.DPB)THEN

TM(I,J) = TTCA*(ZN(IZN)-ZA)*SQRT(2.*RH(I)*DPA)

* TTCB(DMP,DPA) + TM(I,J)

TM(J,I) = TTCA*(ZB-ZN(IZN))*SQRT(-2.*RH(J)*DPB)

* TTCB(DMP,-DPB) + TM(J,I)

. . BOTTOM FLOW J TO I

ELSE

TM(J,I) = TTCA*(ZN(IZN)-ZA)*SQRT(-2.*RH(J)*DPA)

* TTCB(DMP,-DPA) + TM(J,I)

36
Source Modules

TM(I,J) = TTCA*(ZB-ZN(IZN))*SQRT(2.*RH(I)*DPB)

* TTCB(DMP,DPB) + TM(I,J)

ENDIF

ENDIF

C REASSIGN LOWER BOUND AND LOWER BOUND PRESSURE DIFFERENCE

IF (ZB.GE.HF) RETURN

ZA - ZB

DP - DPB

GO TO 10

END

We now can do the entrainment for the flow through vents.

SUBROUTINE ENTRFL(TU, TL, FMD, Z, FMZ)

the conversion from Watts used by FAST to the units of McCaffrey [7] is the factor .OOL

XQJ = CP * (TU-TL) * 0.001

QJ = XQJ * FMD

FMDQJ - 1. /XQJ

ZODQ - (FMDQJ/0.011)**1.767

IF(Z0DQ.LE.0.08) GO TO 10

ZODQ = (FMDQJ/0.026)**1.1001

IF(Z0DQ.LE.0.20) GO TO 10

ZODQ - (FMDQJ/0.124)**0.528

10 ZDQ = Z/QJ**0.4 + ZODQ

IF(ZDQ.GT.0.2) THEN

FMZ - 0.124 * ZDQ**1.895 * QJ

ELSE IF (ZDQ. GT. 0.08) THEN

FMZ - 0.026 * ZDQ**0.909 * QJ

ELSE

FMZ - 0.011 * ZDQ**0.566 * QJ

ENDIF

the following statement insures that the entrainment is physical. We are limited by the

correlation that we use of momentum driven jets are strictly functions of the heat release rate.

FMZ - MAX (0.0, FMZ-FMD)

RETURN

END

37
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

5^ PYROLS, CHEMIE (sec 4^

A specifled quantity is any quantity for which there is a specified time history. The

specification is set of data of the quantity of interest as a function of time. To obtain values

between the specified points, we use an interpolating polynomial. The routine PYROLS

calculates the coefficients of the interpolating polynomial and most of the specified quantities.

The values for CVENT are actually done in FLOW, but with the same interpolation

coefficients. The output from PYROLS is then used by CHEMIE to calculate the burning

rate. If a type 1 fire is selected (unconstrained) then the burning rate is set to the pyrolysis

rate, and the heat release rate is found by multiplying the burning rate by the heat of

combustion. Otherwise, the prescription discussed in section 4.5, and shown below, is used to constrain the burning rate based on both the fuel and oxygen available.

SUBROUTINE PYROLS (TIME, BFIRET, AFIRET, HFIRET, QFIRET,

. HCOMBT)

C PYROLYSIS RATE OF THE FUEL - HCRATT IS IN COMMON SINCE IT IS USED

C IN SEVERAL PLACES

FAST COMMON BLOCK GOES HERE

IF(TIME.GE.TFMAXT) GO TO 20

1 TIG - TFIRET

TI - TIG + TFIRED(IFIRED)

I - I FIRED

IF(TIME.LE.TI) GO TO 10

IFIRED = IFIRED + 1

IF(IFIRED.GT.LFMAX) GO TO 20

TFIRET - TI

GO TO 1

C TYPE 1 INTERPOLATION - ITERPT = 1

these are the interpolating coefficients

IG Til = TI - TIME

TI2 - TIG - TIME

OVTFD - 1. / TFIRED(I)

ITERPT - 1

this is the interpolating polynomial

BFIRET = (Til * BFIRED(I) - TI2 * BFIRED(I+1)) * OVTFD

AFIRET - (Til * AFIRED(I) - TI2 * AFIRED(I+1)) * OVTFD

HFIRET = (Til * HFIRED(I) - TI2 * HFIRED(I+1)) * OVTFD

38
Source Modules

QFIRET - (Til * QFIRED(I) - TI2 * QFIRED(I+1)) * OVTFD

HCRATT - (Til * HCRATIO(I)- TI2 * HCRATIO ( I+l ) ) * OVTFD

CC02T - (Til * CC02(I) - TI2 * CC02(I+1)) * OVTFD

C0C02T = (Til * C0C02(I) - TI2 * C0C02(I+1)) * OVTFD

HCOMBT - (Til * HOCBMB(I) - TI2 * H0CBMB(I+1)) * OVTFD

DO 15 J - 1, NS

IF(.NOT,ACTIVS(J)) GO TO 15

MFIRET(J) - (TI1*MPR0DR(I,J) - TI2*MPR0DR(I+1, J) ) * OVTFD * BFIRET

15 CONTItWE

TIMEIl - Til

TIMEI2 - TI2

TIMEI3 - OVTFD

ITIMEl - I ITIME2 - I+l

RETURN

the following is done at an end point

C TYPE 2 INTERPOLATION - ITERPT = 2 - NOW TIMEI* HAS NO MEANING

20 ITERPT - 2 BFIRET - BFIRED(LFMAX+1)

AFIRET - AFIRED(LFMAX+1)

HFIRET - HFIRED(LFMAX+1)

QFIRET - QFIRED(LFMAX+1)

HCRATT = HCRATIO (LFMAX+1)

CC02T - CC02 (LFMAX+1)

C0C02T - C0C02 (LFMAX+1)

HCOMBT = HOCBMB( LFMAX+1)

DO 30 J •= 1, NS

IF(.NOT.ACTIVS(J)) GO TO 30

MFIRET(J) = BFIRET * MPRODR( LFMAX+1, J)

30 CONTINUE

RETXmN

END

CHEMIE is the routine which calculates the heat release rate and species produclion.

The primary input is the mass pyrolysis rate, and the primary output is the heat generation rate. This routine is only used for a type 2 (constrained) fire.

SUBROUTINE CHEMIE (QPYROL, PYROL, ENTRAIN, NETFUEL, TARGET, LAYER)

"pyrol" is the mass pyrolysis rate from the PYROL routine, and qpyrol the heat generation rate, "entrain" is the entrainment rate (we are dealing with diffusion limited combustion) and

"netfuel" is the fuel actually burned as opposed to the possible "pyrol" value, "netxx" then are the species production rates, based on the formulae discussed in section 4.5

39
FAST Technical Reference Guide

FAST COMMON BLOCK GOES HERE

REAL NETFUEL, NEWNET, NETH20, NETC02 , NETCO, NET

REAL TMASS, NETFUL, XMASS(NS)

EQUIVALENCE (NET02 ,XMASS(2) ) , (NETC02 ,XMASS(3) ) , (NETC0,XMASS(4)

)

EQUIVALENCE (NETFUL,XMASS(7) ) , (NETH20,XMASS(8) ) , (NETC,XMASS(9)

)

INTEGER SOURCE, TARGET

DATA XMASS/NS*0.0/

"source" specifies the compartment of origin of the flow, and "layer" is the corresponding layer

from which the fuel and oxygen originate.

SOURCE = TARGET

TMASS =0.0

DO 2 LSP = 1, 9

2 TMASS = TMASS + MASS (LAYER, SOURCE, LSP)

TMASS - MAX (TMASS, MINMAS)

02FRAC = MASS(LAYER, SOURCE, 2) / TMASS

02ENTR = ENTRAIN * 02FRAC

4.83 is the inverse of 20.6 %

02INDEX = MAX(0. ,(02FRAC-LIM02)*4.83)

02MASS = 02ENTR * 0.995 * ( 1-EXP(- 10*02 INDEX)

)

OOSTOK = 13200000. / HCOMBA

QPYROL - MAX(0. ,MIN(PYROL, 00ST0K*02MASS) ) * HCOMBA

NETFUEL = QPYROL / HCOMBA

C THIS IS THE REAL KINETICS SCHEME AS DRIVEN BY DIFFUSION

NETFUL = - NETFUEL NET02 = - QPYROL / 1.32E+7

NETH20 = 9.0 * NETFUEL * HCRATT / (1+HCRATT)

NETC02 = 3.67 * NETFUEL / ( (1+HCRATT)*(1 .+1 . 57*COC02T+3 . 67*CC02T)

)

NETCO = NETC02 * C0C02T

NETC = NETC02 * CC02T

1 NETMAS (UPPER, TARGET, I) = NETMAS (UPPER, TARGET, I) + XMASS(I)

C NO POINT IN ENTRAINING FROM THE UPPER LAYER INTO THE UPPER LAYER

IF (LAYER. EQ. UPPER) RETURN

C ADD IN THE FLOW ENTRAINED BY THE PLUME

DO 8 LSP = 1, NS

IF (.NOT.ACTIVS(LSP)) GO TO 8

C PLUME CONTRIBUTION FOR ALL ENTRAINED GASES

40
Source Modules

NEWNET = ENTRAIN * MASS (LOWER, SOURCE, LSP) / OLDMAS (LOWER, SOURCE)

NETMAS (UPPER, TARGET , LSP)

NETMAS (LOWER, TARGET , LSP)

8 CONTINUE

RETURN

END

NETMAS (UPPER, TARGET, LSP) + NEWNET

NETMAS (LOWER, TARGET, LSP) - NEWNET

100

Compartment (1)

Burn in compartment upper layer (1)

Burn in compartment lower layer (1)

Compartment (2)

Fire outside (4)

\ . 1000

TIME (s)

Figure 4. Heat release rate in a vitiated atmosphere.

An example of what happens in a vitiated atmosphere can be demonstrated by example. The

data file used is the three compartment model shown in Appendix A with door heights

modified to accentuate the effect of vitiation. The building was a nominal two compartment

structure connected by a door, with another door to the outside. The door to the third

compartment was shut as part of this calculation. The fire simulated a free burn going from

zero to 100 kW over 30 seconds, and then remaining fixed at that level. That is, the pyrolysis rate was such that if no constraint existed, the fire would bum at the 100 kW level. The effect

41
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

of vitiation is shown in figure 4. During the process of filling, the effect of vitiation is such

that the total heat release in all spaces is less than the 100 kW nominal value. Eventually

there will be no accumulation of fuel, and the burning outside of the structure will make up

the difference. Compartment (3) is effectively cut off.

Figure 4 shows the total heat release rate in compartment (1) together with the

contribution of the release in the lower layer and the upper layer. As the interface approached

the fire source, the entrainment and relative contribution from the lower layer (region #1)

decreased until the fire was in the upper layer only (region #2). Subsequently, the fire burned

only in the upper layer and depleted the oxygen of this layer. Since no fuel is then burned in

the lower layer, all is available to burn in the upper layer. Also, since there was no plume in

the lower layer to pump oxygen into the upper layer, the oxygen level decreased until the fire was extinguished in regions #1 and #2 in compartment (1).

As the burning rate was constricted in compartment (1), unburned fuel began to spill

into the adjacent compartment (2) and burned in the flow from the doorway. Once again,

burning took place until the layer in this compartment reached a point where there is not

sufficient oxygen to support burning of all the fuel. At this point fuel began to flow to the

outside and burn. This sequence of events is also illustrated in figure 4.

Note that the burning in the compartments was never fully extinguished. As the fire decreased in compartment 1, and fuel began to flow out, the layer moved up somewhat so that

burning once again took place in the lower layer. After 400 seconds, a steady state was

reached where some fuel was burned in the lower layer, and the remaining fuel is deposited

in the upper layer. This then became a source of fuel to burn upon exiting to compartment

(2) and subsequently to the outside, compartment (4). A steady state was reached in

compartment #2 at about 600 seconds. From this time on, the vent fire to the outside grew.

The calculation was terminated prior to the latter reaching a steady state.

The vent specification for this calculation is

HVENT 1 2 1 0.81 0.55 0.00

HVENT 2 4 1 0.79 0.75 0.00

HVENT 2 3 1 0.00 0.00 0.00

5.6 C3SfDUCr (sec. 4.6)

"CNDUCT' solves a series of linear parabolic equations which describe heat flow through

a solid. Each boundary is partitioned into N+1 nodes (N slabs) and looks something like

42
Source Modules

N

in

(qdinl)

-> Q

out

(qdoutl)

A set of these nodes exists for each boundary. The boundary can consist of up to three

materials, whose properties can differ. The solver is applied to each layer (slab) of the

boundary, with appropriate boundary conditions at the real physical boundaries, and between

the slabs. The solver uses a time centered, space centered (Crank-Nicholson) successive over

relaxation method to solve the temperature field for given boundary conditions. The boundary

conditions are the heat flux at the interior and exterior nodes. Because of the possible change

in material properties, we imposed the additional constraint that both the temperature and

gradient of the temperature must be continuous across the interior interfaces. We do not

allow for a film resistance between the various materials. The "B" coefficients are defined in Mitchell and Griffiths [16]. The specific form is not transparent because of the time and space

centering formulation of the solver.

SUBROUTINE CNDUCT (QDINL , QDOUTL , DT , NC , NWW)

C NSLB NUMBER OF SLABS . IN. WALL. NWW

C FLW SLAB THICKNESS (M)

C CW SPEC HEAT (J/KG/K) . C RW DENSITY (KG/M*3) . C FKW CONDUCTIVITY (J/M/S/K)

C QDOT HEAT FLUX (J/S/M*2)

C TWJ TEMP PROFILE (K)

C DT TIME STEP (S)

nmaxit is the maximum number of iterations allowed for the solver.

PARAMETER (NMAXIT=100)

FAST COMMON BLOCK GOES HERE

INTEGER NODE(0:MXSLB)

REAL XM(MXSLB) ,MAXDIF,B(NN) ,DX(MXSLB) ,FK(MXSLB)

REAL EPS, NEWT(NN), OLDT(NN) , Rl(MXSLB), R2(MXSLB)

DATA EPS/0.9/, MAXDIF/0.0/

43
FAST Ibchnical Reference Ghiide

C PRECALCULATE CONSTANTS

NTOT - NSL - NSLB(NWW,NC)

DO 4 I = 1, NSL

4 NTOT - NTOT + NDIV(I ,NWW,NC)

DO 1 I - 1, NTOT

NEWT(I) = TWJ(NWW,NC,I)

1 OLDT(I) - TWJ(NWW,NC,I)

DO 2 I = 1, NSL

FK(I) = 1. / FKW(I,NWW,NC)

DX(I) - FLW(I,NWW,NC) / FLOAT(NDIV(I ,NWW,NC)

)

XM(I)=FKW(I,NWW,NC)*DT/(DX(I)*DX(I)*RW(I,NWW,NC)*CW(I,NWW,NC)*2.)

R1(I) - 1. / (l.+XM(I))

R2(I) = 1. / (l.+2.*XM(I))

IF (XM(I).GT.(.5)) THEN

diagnostic write

STOP 'CNDUCT'

ENDIF

2 CONTINUE

C NOTE THE CHANGE IN QDOUTL TO OBTAIN EXTERIOR CONVECTION FROM

C THE "CONVEC" ROUTINE - ALSO THERE IS A SIGN CHANGE REQUIRED TO

C MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF THE B COEFFICIENTS

DUMY - 0.0

CALL CONVEC(NWW, TWE(NWW,NC) , TWJ(NWW,NC,NTOT) , 1.0, QDOUTL, DUMY)

QDOUTL = -QDOUTL

NODE(O) =

DO 3 I = 1, NSL

3 NODE(I) = NDIV(I,NWW,NC) + NODE(I-l)

NODE(O) = 1

NODE (NSL) = NODE (NSL) - 1

ITER =

C CALCULATE B VALUES

B(1)=(0LDT(1)+XM(1)*(0LDT(2)-0LDT(1)+QDINL*DX(1)*FK(1)))*R1(1)

DO 15 J = 1,NSL

DO 15 I = N0DE(J-1)+1, NODE(J)

15 B(I)=(OLDT(I)+XM(J)*(OLDT(I-l)-2.*OLDT(I)+OLDT(I+l)))*R2(J)

B(NTOT) =( OLDT ( NTOT )- XM(NSL)*(OLDT(NTOT )-OLDT( NTOT- 1)+QD0UTL

* DX(NSL)*FK(NSL)))*R1(NSL)

44
Source Modules

C NOW CALCULATE THE NEW TEMPERATURE FOR THE NEXT TIME STEP

20 ITER - ITER + 1

MAXDIF =0.0

IF (ITER.GT.NMAXIT) GOTO 300

C CALCULATE THE FIRST NODE DATA

TCHK - NEWT(l)

NEWT(1)-(XM(1)*(NEWT(2)+DX(1)*QDINL*FK(1)))*R1(1) + B(l)

MAXDIF = MAX(MAXDIF,ABS(NEWT(1)-TCHK))

C CALCULATE THE INTERIOR NODE DATA

DO 35 J = 1, NSL

DO 30 I = N0DE(J-1)+1, NODE(J)

TCHK = NEWT(I)

NEWT(I) =(XM(J)*(NEWT(I-1)+NEWT(I+1)))*R2(J) + B(I)

30 MAXDIF - MAX(MAXDIF,ABS(NEWT(I)-TCHK))

35 CONTINUE

C CALCULATE THE LAST NODE DATA

TCHK = NEWT(NTOT)

NEWT(NTOT) - (-XM(NSL) * (QDOUTL*DX(NSL)*FK(NSL) - NEWT(NTOT-l) )

)

* Rl(NSL) + B(NTOT)

MAXDIF = MAX(MAXDIF,ABS(NEWT(NTOT)-TCHK))

C CHECK THE CONVERGENCE CRITERION

IF (MAXDIF.GT.EPS) GOTO 20

C CONVERGENCE ACHIEVED IF WE GET TO HERE

DO 7 I - l.NTOT

7 TWJ(NWW,NC,I) - NEWT(I)

RETURN

C NO CONVERGENCE AFTER NMAXIT ITERATIONS

300 diagnostic output

STOP 'CNDUCT'

END

Figure 5 shows a comparison of measured and calculated temperatures of a wall for the

three compartment data file in Appendix A. The experimental data is discussed by Peacock

et al. [4].

45
FAST lechnical Reference Ghiide

40

^ 30

O

20

Experiment [4 3

1000

TIME (s)

2000

Figure S. Comparison of measured and calculated wall temperatures.

46
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

6. DESCRIFnON OF THE DAIA FILE USED BY FAST

The computer model requires a description of the problem to be solved. The following

description is for the input data used by the model. In general, the order of the data is not

important. The one exception to this is the first line which specifies the version number and

gives the data file a title.

The data are grouped as

Version and title (6.1)

Time specification (6.2)

Ambient conditions (6.3)

Floor plan data (6.4)

Connections (6.5)

Thermophysical properties of the enclosing surfaces (6.6)

Fire specifications (6.7)

Species production (6.8)

Files (6.9)

Graphics specification (6.10).

The number of lines in a given data set will vary depending for example on the number of

openings or the number of species tracked. A sample input data file is given in Appendix A.

A number of parameters such as heat transfer and flow coefficients have been set within the

program as constants. Please refer to the section on source terms to ascertain the values for

these parameters.

Each line of the input data file begins with a key word which identifies the type of data on the line. The key words which are currently available are

CEILI

CHEMI

CO

CT

CVENT

DEPTH

DUMPR

EAMB

FAREA

FHIGH

FLOOR

FMASS

FQDOT

specify name of ceiling descriptor(s)

miscellaneous parameters for kinetics

CO/CO2 mass ratio

fraction of fuel which is toxic

opening/closing parameter

depth of compartments

specify a file name for saving time histories

external ambient

area of the base of the fire height of the base of the fire specify the name of floor property descriptor(s)

pyrolysis rate heat release rate

(N)

(5)

(lfmax+1)

(lfmax+1)

(Ifmax + 4)

(N)

(1)

(3)

(lfmax+1)

(lfmax+1)

(N)

(lfmax + 1)

(lfmax+1)

47
FAST Ibctmical Reference Guide

FnME

HCL

HCN

HCR

HEIGH

HI/F

HVENT

INTER

LFBO

LFBT

LFMAX

LFPOS

OD

RESTR

TAMB

TIMES

WENT

VERSN

WALLS

WIDTH

WIND

length of time intervals

hcl/pyrolysis mass ratio

hcn/pyrolysis mass ratio

hydrogen/carbon mass ration of the fuel

interior height of a compartment

absolute height of the floor of a compartment

specify vent which connect compartments horizontally

initial height of the upper/lower interface

compartment of fire origin

type of fire number of time intervals

position of the fire in the compartment

C/CO2 mass ratio

specify a restart file ambient inside the structure time step control of the output

specify a vent which connects compartments vertically

version number and title specify the name of wall property descriptor(s)

width of the compartments

scaling rule for wind effects

(Ifmax)

(lfmax+1)

(lfmax+1)

(lfmax+1)

(N)

(N)

(7)

(2)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(1)

(Ifmax +1)

(2)

(3)

(5)

(3)

(fixed format 2)

(N)

(N)

(3)

The number in parenthesis is the maximum number of entries for that line. "N" represents the

number of compartments being modeled and "Ifmax" is the number of time intervals used to describe the fire, detailed below in section 6.7. The outside (ambient) is designated by one more than the number of compartments, N+1. So a three compartment model would refer to the outside as compartment four.

Each line of input consists of a label followed by one or more alphanumeric parameters

associated with that input label. The label must always begin in the first space of the line and

be in capital letters. Following the label, the values may start in any column and all values

must be separated by either a comma or a space. Values may contain decimal points if needed

or desired. They are not required. Units are standard SI units. Most parameters have default

values which can be utilized by omitting the appropriate line. These will be indicated in the

discussion. The maximum line length is 128 characters, so all data for each key word must fit in this number of characters. For each entry which requires more than one type of data, the

first entry under the column "parameter" indicates the number of data required.

48
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

6.1 Version and Title

This line must be the first line in the file. It is the line that FAST keys on to determine

whether it has a correct data file. The format is fixed, that is the data must appear in the

columns specified in the text.

Label

VERSN

Parameter

(2)

Version

Number

Title

Comments

The VERSN line is a required input.

The version number parameter specifies the

version of FAST for which the input data file was

prepared. Normally, this would be 18. It must be

in columns 8-9.

The title is optional and may consist of letters,

numbers, and/or symbols that start in column 11

and may be up to 50 characters. It permits the user to uniquely label each run.

Example:

VERSN 18 Simulation for Building XYZ

62, Time Specification

Label Parameter Comments Units

TIMES (5) The TIMES line is required data.

Simulation Simulation time is the length of time over which

Time the simulation takes place. The maximum value

for this input is 86400 seconds (1 day). The

simulation time parameter is required.

49
FAST Technical Reference Guide

Print

Interval

Dump

Interval

The print interval is the time interval between

each printing of the output values. If omitted or

less than or equal to zero, no printing of the

output values will occur.

The dump interval is the time interval between

each writing of the output to the dump file. The

dump file stores all of the output of the model at the specified interval in a format which can be

efficiently retrieved for use by other programs.

Section 6.9 provides details of the dump file. A

zero must be used if no dump file is to be used.

There is a maximum of 50 intervals allowed. If the choice of this parameter would yield more

than 50 writes, it is adjusted so that this limit is not exceeded.

Display

Interval

Copy Count

The display interval is the time interval between

each graphical display of the output as specified in the graphics specification, section 6.10. If omitted, no graphical display will occur. There is a limit on the display of 50 for the microcomputer

versions and 100 for the mainframe versions of

FAST This parameter is not adjusted; rather

graphs will be truncated to the first 50 or 100

points, respectively.

Copy count is the number of copies of each

graphical display to be made on the selected hard

copy device as specified in the graphics

specification, section 2.9. If omitted, a value of

zero (no copies) is assumed.

Examples:

TIMES 360

TIMES 360 10 30

TIMES 900 30 10 10

In the first example, a simulation time of 360 seconds is specified. The output values will not

be printed or stored in a dump file. No graphical display of the output will occur. In the

second example, a 360 second simulation with printed output every 10 seconds and output to a dump file every 30 seconds is specified. No graphical display of the output values will be

generated. In the third example, all parameters are specified. A 900 second simulation with

50
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

printed output every 30 seconds, output to a dump file every 10 seconds and a graphical display

with no copies will occur every 10 seconds. Note the free field format of these parameters - multiple spaces between parameters are permitted.

63 Ambient Conditions

The ambient conditions section of the input data allows the user to specify the

temperature and pressure and station elevation of the ambient atmosphere, as well as the

absolute wind pressure to which the structure is subjected. There is an ambient for the

interior and for the exterior of the building. The key word for the interior of the building is TAMB and for the exterior of the building is EAMB. The form is the same for both. The

key word for the wind information is WIND. The wind modification is applied only to the

vents which lead to the exterior. Pressure interior to a structure is calculated simply as a lapse

rate based on the NOAA tables [17]. For the exterior, the nominal pressure is modified by

H.^Pw

5(p) - Cw pV, where

This modification is applied to the vents which lead to the exterior ambient. The pressure

change calculated above is modified by the wind coefficient for each vent. This coefficient,

which can vary from -1.0 to +1.0, nominally from -0.8 to +0.8, determines whether the vent

is facing away from or into the wind. The pressure change is multiplied by the vent wind

coefficient and added to the external ambient for each vent which is connected to the outside.

Label Parameter Comments

TAMB

or EAMB

(3) These data are optional.

Ambient Ambient temperature is the temperature of the K

Ibmperature ambient atmosphere. Default is 300.

Ambient The ambient pressure is the pressure of the Pa

Pressure ambient atmosphere. Default is 101300.

51
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

Station The station elevation is the elevation of the point

Eievation at which the ambient pressure and temperature

(see above) are measured. The reference point

for the elevation, pressure and temperature must

be consistent. This is the reference datum for

calculating the density of the atmosphere as well

as the temperature and pressure inside and

outside of the building as a function of height.

Default is 0.

m

WIND (3) This line is optional.

M^d Speed \\^nd speed at the reference elevation. The

default is 0.

m/s

Reference Height at which the reference wind speed is Height measured. The default is 10 meters.

Lapse Rate The power law used to calculate the wind speed

Coefficient as a function of height. The default is 0.16.

m

The choice for the station elevation, temperature and pressure must be consistent.

Outside of that limitation, the choice is arbitrary. It is often convenient to choose the base of

a structure to be at zero height and then reference the height of the building with respect to that height. The temperature and pressure must then be measured at that position. Another

possible choice would be the pressure and temperature at sea level, with the building elevations

then given with respect to mean sea level. This is also acceptable, but somewhat more tedious

in specifying the construction of a building. Either of the these choices works though because

consistent data for temperature and pressure are available from the Weather Service for either

case.

Examples:

TAMB 300

TAMB 288 101000 200.

The first example sets the ambient temperature to 300 Kelvin, but leaves the ambient pressure

at 101300 and the reference elevation at meters. The second specifies a temperature of 15

degrees Celsius at 200 meters and a pressure of 101000 Pa. In both of these cases the external

ambient is set to the same values. An example of different inside and outside values is a warm

building in a winter setting and might be described as

52
Description of the Data Rle Used by FAST

TAMB 288 101305 0.0

EAMB 270 101315 0.0

6.4 Floor Plan Data

The floor plan data section allows the user to portray the geometry of the structure being modeled. The size and location of every room in the structure MUST be described. The

maximum number of rooms is dependent upon the local implementation of FAST. Usually a

total of 10 rooms (plus the outdoors) is available for a single simulation. For the PC versions, a maximum of six compartments (plus the outdoors) is allowed. The structure of the data is such that the compartments are described as entities, and then connected in appropriate ways.

It is thus possible to have a set of rooms which can be configured in a variety of ways. In

order to specify the geometry of a building, it is necessary to give its physical characteristics.

Thus the lines labelled HI/F, WIDTH, DEPTH AND HEIGH are all required. Each of these

lines requires "N" data entries, that is one for each compartment.

Label Parameter Comments Units

HI/F Floor Height The floor height is the height of the floor of

each room with respect to station elevation

specified by the TAMB parameter. The reference

point must be the same for all elevations in the

input data. The number of values on the line

must equal the number of rooms in the simulation.

m

WIDTH Room Width Room width specifies the width of the room. The

number of values on the line must equal the

number of rooms in the simulation.

m

DEPTH Room Depth Room depth specifies the depth of the room. The number of values on the line must equal the

number of rooms in the simulation.

m

HEIGH Room Height Room Height specifies the height of the room. The number of values on the line must equal the

number of rooms in the simulation.

m

Example:

HI/F . 0.0 0.0

53
FAST Ibchmcal Reference Cruide

WIDTH 6.1 4.6 4.6

DEPTH 9.1 14.3 4.3

HEIGH 3.6 2.4 2.4

This floor plan data specifies the sizes for a three room simulation with rooms sizes of 6.1 x

9.1 X 3.6 m, 4.6 x 14.3 x 2.4 m, and 4.6 x 4.3 x 2.4 m, respectively. All rooms are at the same

elevation at a reference height of 0.0 m.

6^ Cbnnections

The connections section of the input data file describes any horizontal or vertical vents

between rooms in the structure. These may include doors between rooms in the structure,

windows in the rooms (between rooms or to the outdoors), or vertical openings between floors

of the structure. Openings to the outside are included as openings to the room with a number

one greater than the number of rooms described in the floor plan data section. Doors,

windows, and the like are called horizontal vents because the direction of the vent, or vent

connection, is in the horizontal direction. The key word is HVENT Horizontal vents may be

opened or closed during the fire with the use of the CVENT key word. For vertical vents,

such as scuddles, the key word is WENT; at present there is not an equivalent mechanism for

opening or closing the vertical vents. The form for horizontal and vertical vents is necessarily

different.

Label

HVENT

Parameter Comments

(7) Required to specify connections between

compartments. No openings prevents flow. Each

HVENT line in the input file describes one

horizontal vent between rooms in the structure (or

between a room and the outdoors). The first six entries on each line are required. There is an

optional seventh parameter to specify a wind

coefficient.

Units

First Room The first room is simply the first connection.

Second Room The second room is the room number to which

the first room is connected.

The order has one significance. The height of the

sill and soffit are with respect to the first compartment specified.

54
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

Vent Number

Width

Soffit

SiU

Wind

WENT (3)

There can be as many as four vents between any

two compartments. This number specifies which

vent is being described. It can range from one to

four.

The width of the opening.

Position of the top of the opening above the floor

of the room number specified as the first room.

Sill height is the height of the bottom of the

opening above the floor of the room number

specified as the first room.

The wind coefficient is the cosine of the angle

between the wind vector and the vent opening.

This applies only to vents which connect to the

outside ambient (specified with EAMB). The

range of values is -1.0 to +1.0. If omitted, the

value defaults to zero.

Required to specify a vertical connection between

compartments. Each WENT line in the input

file describes one vertical vent between rooms in

the structure (or between a room and the

outdoors). There are three parameters, the

connected compartments, and the effective area of

the vent.

m

m

m

First Room

Second Room

The first room is simply the first connection.

The second room is the room number to which

the first room is connected.

Area

The order has one significance. The height of the

sill and soffit are with respect to the first compartment specified.

This is the effective area of the opening. For a hole, it would be the actual opening. For a

diffuser, then the effective area will be somewhat

less than the geometrical size of the opening.

55
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

Examples:

HVENT 1 2 1 1 1 2 1

HVENT 1 3 1 1 1 2 1

HVENT 2 4 1 1 3 2 1 6

WENT 1 3 3.0

Assuming the three room structure as described in the floor plan data section, the above

examples describe two openings 1.1 x 1.5 m betweens rooms 1 and 2 and between rooms 1 and

3. An 1.3 X 2.1 m opening between room 2 and the outside (room 4 for a three room

simulation) is raised 0.6 m off the floor of room 2.

HVENT 2 4 21. 3 2.1 0.61.0

This specifies vent #2 between compartment (2) and the outside, with a wind coefficient of 1.0,

which implies that the vent is facing directly into the wind.

CVENT is a parameter which is used to open a close vents. It multiples the width in

the vent flow calculation. The default is 1.0 which is a fully open vent. A value of 0.5 would

specify a vent which was halfway open.

Label Parameter Comments Units

CVENT (LFMAX+4) Specify closing value. Each CVENT line in the

input file describes one horizontal vent between rooms in the structure (or between a room and

the outdoors).

First Room The first compartment.

Second Room The second room is the room number to which

the first room is connected.

Vent Number This number specifies which vent is being

described. It can range from one to four.

These parameters correspond to the first three

parameters in HVENT.

Wdth Fraction that the vent is open. This applies to (LFMAX+1) the width only. The sill and soffit are not

changed.

%

56
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

CVENT has a form similar to HVENT but in addition contains the opening data. The

additional data is in the same form as all the time dependent specifications, namely a value for

each endpoint in the heat release curve. The form is CVENT C#l C#2 V# X X X x,...

By way of example, the default value for CVENT for the example show above with LFMAX=5

would be

CVENT 1 2 1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

and would specify that the first vent between compartments (1) and (2) would be open at all times. Another example would be

CVENT 1 3 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

and would specify that the first vent between compartments (1) and (3) would be half open

all of the time. These fractions refer to the width given in the HVENT specification and for

the cases above would be 1.1 meters.

6.6 Thermophysical Properties of Enclosing Surfaces

The thermophysical properties of the enclosing surfaces are described by specifying the

thermal conductivity, specific heat, emissivity, density, and thickness of the enclosing surfaces

for each room. If the thermophysical properties of the enclosing surfaces are not included,

FAST will treat them as adiabatic (no heat transfer). Since most of the heat conduction is through the ceiling and since the conduction calculation takes a significant fraction of the

computation time, it is recommended that initial calculations be made using the ceiling only.

Adding the walls generally has a small effect on the results and the floor contribution is usually

negligible. Clearly, there are cases where the above generalization does not hold, but it may

prove to be a useful screening technique. Currently, thermal properties for materials are read

from a thermal database file unique to FAST. The data in the file for FAST simply gives a name (such as CONCRETE) which is a pointer to the properties in the thermal database.

(For computers which do not support extensions, the ".DAT' is dropped.) For the PC version,

this is an installation parameter. All of these specifications are optional. The thermal

properties are assumed to be constant; that is, we do not account for the variation with

temperature or water content.

The thermophysical properties are specified at one condition of temperature, humidity,

etc. There can be as many as three layers per boundary, but they are specified in the thermal

database itself.

57
EAST lechnical Reference Guide

Label Parameter Comments Units

CEILI (N)

WALLS (N)

FLOOR (N)

The label CEILI indicates that the names of

thermophysical properties on this line describe the

ceiling material. If this parameter is present,

there must be an entry for each compartment.

The label WALLS indicates that the names of

thermophysical properties on this line describe the

wall material. If this parameter is present, there

must be an entry for each compartment.

The label FLOOR indicates that the names of

thermophysical properties on this line describe the

floor material. If this parameter is present, there

must be an entry for each compartment.

Examples:

CEILI OFF

WALLS CONCRETE

REDOAK

CONCRETE

CONCRETE

CONCRETE

The corresponding thermal data base might appear as

CONCRETE 1,,75 1000. 2200. 0.1500 0.94

BRICK 0,,18 900. 790. 0.016 0.90

REDOAK 0.,15 1300. 640. 0.025 0.99

The names of the materials can be any ASCII string up to 8 characters. So a valid name is $%#@**% although this admittedly does not convey much information. The key word "OFF'

is used to tell the model not to compute the heat loss for the ceiling in compartment (1). In

this case the FLOOR parameter is not present at all, so there will be no heat transfer through

the floor in any room and the calculation will not be done for the ceiling in compartment (1),

where the key word "off is present. This is most useful for doing the heat transfer calculation

in the burn room and adjacent rooms and then turning it off in distant compartments. See

Appendix D for a complete description of the form of the thermal database.

58
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

6.7 Fire Specifications

The fire specifications allow the user to describe the fire source in the simulation. The

location and position of the fire is specified along with the chemical properties of the fuel. Finally, the fire is described with a series of mass loss rate, fuel height, and fuel area inputs.

All of these specifications are optional and each line requires a single number. The defaults

for the fire specification is a methane burner in the center of compartment (1). The defaults

shown for each key word reflect the values for methane.

Ubel Parameter Comments Units

LFBO Room of Room of fire origin is the room number in which

Fire Origin the fire originates. Default is 1.

LFBT Rre l^pe This is a number indicating the type of fire.

1 Unconstrained fire 2 Constrained fire.

The default is 1. See sections 4.5 and 5.5 for a discussion of the implications of this choice.

LFPOS Fire

Position

The fire position is the area of the room in which

the fire originates and is one of the following

values:

1 Center of the room,

2 Corner of the room, or 3 Along a wall of the room, but not near

a comer of the room.

The fire position is used to account for the

entrainment rate of the plume, which depends on

the location of the fire plume within the

compartment. Fire positions 2 and 3 should only

be used when the fire is very close to the corner

or wall respectively. The default is 1.

59
FAST Ifechnical Reference Gniide

CHEMI (6) Chemical kinetics and miscellaneous parameters.

Molar

Weight

Molecular weight of the fuel vapor. This is the

conversion factor from mass density to molecular

density for "tuhc." Default is 16. It is used only

for conversion to ppm, and has no effect on the

model itself

Relative The initial relative humidity in the system. This is %

Humidity converted to kilograms of water per cubic meter

from the table from "Dynamical and Physical

Meteorology" by Haltiner and Martin (1957)

Limiting The limit on the ratio of oxygen to other gases in %

0]^gen the system below which a flame will not burn.

Index This is applicable only to type (LFBT) 2 or later

fires. The default is 10.

Heat of Heat of combustion of the fuel. Default is Combustion 50000000.J/kg

Initial Typically, the initial fuel temperature is the same K

Fuel as the ambient temperature as specified in the

Temperature ambient conditions section.

Gaseous Minimum temperature for ignition of the fuel as K

Ignition it flows from a compartment through a vent into

Ibmperature another compartment. The default is the initial

fiiel temperature.

60
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

LFMAX Number of This is the number of time intervals for the mass

Intervals loss rate, fuel height and species inputs. The mass

loss rate, fuel height and species are entered as series of points with respect to time. This is referred to in this document as a specified fire. A sufficient number of intervals should be selected

to provide a reasonable approximation (using

straight line segments) for the input variables

which specify the fire. A example of this is shown

in figure 6. The mass loss rates Pi-Pt are

specified over the time intervals Ij-I^. The number

of points specified must be one greater than the

number of time intervals. For example, if there

are six mass loss points there should be a total of

five time intervals (or one interval between every

two consecutive points). The maximum number of

intervals allowed in version 18 of FAST is 21.

FTIME lime Interval

(LFMAX)

Time interval is the time between each point

(mass loss rate, fuel height and species) specified

for the fire. The total duration of the fire is the

sum of the time intervals. This time is independent of the simulation time which is specified for

the TIMES label. If the simulation time is longer

than the total duration of the fire, the final values

specified for the fire (mass loss rate, fuel height,

fuel area, and species) will be continued until the

end of the simulation. The number of values on

the line must equal the number of time intervals

specified by LFMAX, above.

FMASS Mass Loss The rate at which fuel is pyrolyzed at times

Rate corresponding to each point of the specified fire. (LFMAX+1)

kg/s

FHIGH

FQDOT

Fiiel Height

(LFMAX+1)

Heat Release

Rate

(LFMAX+1)

The height of the base of the flames above the

floor of the room of fire origin for each point of

the specified fire.

The heat release rate of the specified fire.

m

W

61
FAST Ibchnical Reference Guide

0.10

O

CO 0.05

200 400 600 SOO 1000 1200

TIME (s)

li I: l3 I I. I

Figure 6. Pyrolysis rate for LFMAX=6.

With the three parameters, the heat of combustion (HOC) from CHEMI, FMASS and

FQDOT, the pyrolysis and heat release rate are over specified. The model uses the last two

of the three to obtain the third parameter. That is, if the three were specified in the order

HOC, FMASS and FQDOT, then FQDOT would be divided by FMASS to obtain the HOC

for each time interval. If the order were FMASS, FQDOT and HOC, then the pyrolysis rate would be determined by dividing the heat release rate by the heat of combustion. If only two

of the three are given, then those two will determine the third, and finally, if none or only one

of the parameters is present, the defaults shown will be used.

Example:

LFBO 1

LFBT 1

LFPOS 1

CHEMI 0.0 0.0 10. 18100000. 300

LFMAX 7 FMASS .014 .0014 .025 .045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041

62
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

FAREA .5 .5.5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5

FHIGH .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25

FTIME 20. 20. 50. 50. 100. 100. 400.

In the example, a specified fire (LFBT 1) originates in room number 1 (LFBO 1) in the center

of the room (LFPOS 1). A seven segment (LFMAX) fire is specified. The fuel burns with

a heat of combustion of 18100000 J/kg. The initial relative humidity is 0%, the molecular

weight is 16 (zero is not allowed, so the default is used) and the limiting oxygen index is 10%.

Since the type of fire is 1, an unconstrained fire, this latter parameter has no meaning in this context.

.0014 .025 .045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041

.5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5

.25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25

20. 20. 50. 50. 100. 100. 400.

In this example, the specified fire is constrained with a limiting oxygen index of 1%. Since

LFBO is not given, the default compartment (1) is used, and the position of the fire is in the

center of the room. The default heat of combustion of 50000000 kJ/kg is used.

LFBT 2

LFMAX 7 FMASS .014

FAREA .5

FHIGH .25

FTIME

6.8 Species Production

Species production rates are specified in the manner similar to the fire, entering the

rates as a series of points with respect to time. The species which are followed by FAST are

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Monoxide

Concentration-Time Product

Hydrogen Cyanide

Hydrogen Chloride

Nitrogen

Oxygen

Soot (Smoke Density)

Total Unburned Hydrocarbons

Water

For a type one (LFBT=1) fire, only the concentration-time product of pyrolysate(ct),

hydrogen cyanide(hcn) and hydrogen chloride(hcl) can be specified. No other species are

followed. For a type two (LFBT=2) fire, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide,

soot, unburned fuel and water are followed. In all cases, the unit of the production rates is

63
E^ST 'Kchnical Reference Chiide

kg/kg. However, the meaning of the production rates is different for the several types of

species. For either fire, the production rates for ct, hen and hcl are with respect to the

pyrolysis rate of the fuel. For the others, carbon monoxide, water, etc.. the production rate

is specified with respect to the basic carbon production in the form of a ratio with carbon

dioxide. For carbon monoxide, for example, the specification will be CO/CO2. Thus we can

not consider a pure hydrogen flame, but this is unlikely in the situations of interest.

Label Parameter Comments Units

SPECIES (LFMAX+1)

HCN, HCL Production

and CT Rate

For each species desired a series of production

rates are specified for each of the time points

input for the specified fire. The program

performs a linear interpolation between these

points to determine the time of interest.

Units are kilogram of species produced per

kilogram of fuel burned. The input for CT is the

kilograms of "toxic" combustion products produced

per kilogram of fuel burned.

kg/kg

HCR

OD

Production

Rate

of the Fuel

Yield

The mass ratio of hydrogen to carbon as it kg/kg

becomes available from the fuel. This parameter

affects primarily the rate of production of water.

The ratio of the mass of carbon to carbon dioxide kg/kg

produced by the oxidation of the fuel. CO Yield The ratio of the mass of carbon monoxide to kg/kg

carbon dioxide produced by the oxidation of the

fuel.

6.9 Files

There are several files which FAST uses to communicate with its environment. They

are 1) a configuration file, 2) the thermal database, 3) a "dump" file, and 4) a restart file. The

output of the simulation may be written to a disk file for further processing by programs such

as FASTplot or to restart FAST. At each interval of time as specified by the dump interval

in the TIMES label, the output is written to the file specified. For efficient disk storage and

optimum speed, the data is stored in an internal format and cannot be read directly with a text editor.

64
Description of the Data Rle Used by FAST

Label Parameter Comments Units

DUMPR Dump File The name specifies a file (up to 17 characters) to which the program outputs for plotting are

written. Dump file is an optional input. If omitted, the file will not be generated. Note that

in order to obtain a history of the variables, this parameter must be specified and also the dumper

interval (under TIMES) must be set to a non-zero

value.

RESTR Restart

FUe

The name specifies a file (up to 17 characters)

from which the program reads data to restart the

model. This data must have been generated

(written) previously with the dump parameter

discussed earlier. A time step is given after the

name of the file and specifies at what time the

restart should occur. THRMF Thermal The name specifies a file (up to 20 characters)

Database from which the program reads thermophysical

data. If this parameter is not specified, then

either the default (THERMAL.DAT) is used, for

the name is read from the configuration file. DEFCG Configuration

File

The name specifies a file (up to 20 characters)

from which the program reads configuration

information data.

Example:

DUMPR FAST1.DAT

RESTR filename n

THRMF thermal. tpf

where "filename" was created in a previous run using the DUMP parameter,

starting time and must be one of the times at which a dump was generated,

if a data set were run with

"n" specifies the

As an example,

VERSN 18 title. .

TIMES 360 60 10

DUMPR MYFILE

65
I^ST Technical Reference Guide

then every 10 seconds a snap shot of the time histories of all variables would be generated.

So a restart might be done at 300 seconds with the following

VERSN 18 new title

TIMES 900 60

RESTRT MYFILE 300

with no requirement that the restart must be at the last dump point. The only caveat is to check the listings to be sure that a dump was generated at the desired point. For those cases where too many dump intervals are requested, the interval is recalculated, and a message is written to the output device.

6.10 Graphics Specification

A graphics specification can be added to the data file. Details of the meaning of some

of the parameters is best left to the discussion of the device independent graphics software used

by FAST [2]. However, the information necessary to use it is straightforward. The general

structure is similar to that used for the building and fire specification. One must tell the prog- ram "what to plot," "how it should appear," and "where to put it."

The key words for "where to put it" are DEVICE where to plot it BAR bar charts

GRAPH specify an x-y plot

TABLE put the data into a table • PALETTE specify the legend for CAD views

VIEW show a perspective picture of the structure WINDOW the size of the window in "user" space.

The complete key word is required. That is, for the "where to put it" terms, no abbreviations are allowed. Then one must specify the variables to be plotted. They are

VENT, HEAT, PRESSUR, WALL, TEMPERA, INTERFA,

H2O, CO2, CO, OD, O2, TUHC, HCN, HCL, CT

As might be expected, these are the similar key words to those used in the plotting

program, FASTplot. In this case, we have a reduced set. The application and use of FAST

and FASTplot are different.

66
Description of tiie Data FOe Used by FAST

For each key word there are parameters to specify the location of the graph, the colors and

finally titles as appropriate. For the variables, there is a corresponding pointer to the graph

of interest.

The form of each "where to put it" variable is described below

Label

DEVICE

WINDOW

Parameter

Plotting

Device

(6)

Comments

The Plotting Device specifies the hardware device

where the graphics is to be displayed. For the PC

version, this key word should be omitted. If it must be included for compatibility reasons, set it to 4. For other computers, it is installation

dependent. In general it specifies which device

will receive the output.

The window label specifies the user space for

placement of graphs, views,...

XI left hand side of the graph in any user desired

units.

Yb

Zf

bottom of the graph in any user desired units.

forward edge of the 3D block in any user desired

units.

Xr right hand side of the graph in any user desired

units.

Yt

Zb

top of the graph in any user desired units.

rear edge of the 3D block in any user desired

units. These definitions refer to the 3D plotting

block that can be seen. The most common values

(which are also the default) are

XI = 0. Yb = 0. Zf = 0. Xr = 1279.

Yt = 1023.

Zb = 10.

67
FAST lechnical Reference Gmide

This is not a required parameter; however, it is often convenient to define graphs in terms of the

units that are used. For example, if one wished

to display a house in terms of a blueprint, the

more natural units might be feet. In that case, the parameters might have the values

XI = 0. Yb = 0. Zf = 0. Xr = 50.

Yt = 25.

Zb = 30.

GRAPH (10) Up to five graphs may be displayed at one time on the graphics display. Each graph is identified

by a unique number (1-5) and placed in the

window at a specified location. Xl,Yb,Zf,Xr,Yt

and Zb have a meaning similar to WINDOW.

However, here they specify where in the window

to put the graph.

Graph

Number

The number to identify the graph. Allowable

values are from 1 to 5. The graphs must be

numbered consecutively, although they do not

have to be given in order. It is acceptable to define graph 4 before graph 2 but if graph 4 is to be used, then graphs 1 through 3 must also be

defined.

XI Left hand side of the graph within the window in

the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the graph within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D (three dimensional) block

within the window in the same units as that of the

window.

Xr Right hand side of the graph within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

68
Description of the Data File Used by FAST

Yt Top of the graph within the window in the same

units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in

the same units as that of the window.

Color

Abscissa Title

The color of the graph and labels which is specified as an integer from 1 to 15. Refer to DEVICE (NBSIR 85-3235) for the colors cor- responding to the values for the color.

Title for the abscissa (horizontal axis). To have

blanks in the title, use the underscore character

Ordinate Htle Title for the ordinate (vertical axis). To have

blanks in the title, use the underscore character

TABLE (7)

Tkble Number

Up to five tables may be displayed at one time on

the graphics display. Each table is identified by a unique number and placed in the window at a specified location. Xl,Yb,Zf,Xr,Yt and Zb have a meaning similar to WINDOW. However, here

they specify where in the window to put the table.

The table number is the number to identify the

table. Allowable values are from 1 to 5. The

tables must be numbered consecutively, although

they do not have to be given in order. It is acceptable to define table 4 before table 2 but if table 4 is to be used, then tables 1 through 3

must also be defined.

XI Left hand side of the table within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the table within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D block within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

69
FAST T^hnical Reference Guide

Xr Right hand side of the table within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yt Top of the table within the window in the same

units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in the same units as that of the window.

VIEW (24) Up to five views may be displayed at one time on

the graphics display. Each view is identified by a unique number and placed in the window at a specified location. Xl,Yb,Zf,Xr,Yt and Zb have a meaning similar to WINDOW. However, here

they specify where in the window to put the view.

^ew Number \^ew number is the number to identify the view.

Allowable values are from 1 to 5. The views must

be numbered consecutively, although they do not

have to be given in order. It is acceptable to define view 4 before view 2 but if view 4 is to be

used, then views 1 through 3 must also be

defined.

XI Left hand side of the view within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the view within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D block within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Xr Right hand side of the view within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yt Top of the view within the window in the same

units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in

the same units as that of the window.

70
Description of the Data Rle Used by FAST

File File is the filename of a compatible "BUILD" file, as discussed later.

H-ansform The Transfonn Matrix is a 16 number matrix

Matrix which allows dynamic positioning of the view

within the window. The matrix (10 10

0100001) would show the image as it would

appear in a display from BUILD.

PALETTE (15)

Palette

Number

XI

The PALETTE label performs a specialized

function for showing colors on the views. A four

entry table is created and used for each type of

filling polygon used in a view. Up to five palettes

may be defined. Each palette is identified by a unique number and placed in the window at a specified location. XI, Yb, Zf, Xr, Yt and Zb

have a meaning similar to WINDOW. However,

here they specify where in the window to put the

palette.

Palette number is the number to identify the

palette. Allowable values are from 1 to 5.

Left hand side of the palette within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the palette within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D block within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Xr Right hand side of the palette within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Yt Top of the palette within the window in the same

units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in the same units as that of the window.

71
E^ST Ibchnical Reference Guide

Color

and

Label

There are four pairs of color/text combinations,

each corresponding to an entry in the palette.

The color number is an integer from 1 to 15 and

the text can be up to 50 characters (but

remember the 128 character maximum). As

before, spaces are indicated with an underscore

character " ".

BAR (9) Up to five bar charts may be displayed at one

time on the graphics display. Each bar chart is identified by a unique number and placed in the

window at a specified location. Xl,Yb,Zf,Xr,Yt

and Zb have a meaning similar to WINDOW.

However, here they specify where in the window

to put the bar chart.

Bar Chart The number to identify the bar chart.

Number values are from 1 to 5.

Allowable

XI Left hand side of the bar chart within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the bar chart within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D block within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Xr Right hand side of the bar chart within the

window in the same units as that of the window.

Yt Top of the bar chart within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Abscissa Title Title for the abscissa (horizontal axis). To have

blanks in the title, use the underscore character

72
Description of the Data Rle Used by EAST

Ordinate Title Title for the ordinate (vertical axis). To have

blanks in the title, use the underscore character

LABEL (10) Up to five labels may be displayed at one time on

the graphics display. Each label is identified by a unique number and placed in the window at a specified location. XI, Yb, Zf, Xr, Yt, and Zb

have a meaning similar to WINDOW. However,

here they specify where in the window to put the

label. It is assumed that time is always to be

displayed if any labels are present. To this end,

label 1 is always used for the time in the units

HH:MM:SS.

Label Number Label number is the number to identify the label. Allowable values are from 1 to 5.

XI Left hand side of the label within the window in

the same units as that of the window.

Yb Bottom of the label within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Zf Forward edge of the 3D block within the window

in the same units as that of the window.

Xr Right hand side of the label within the window in the same units as that of the window.

Yt Top of the label within the window in the same

units as that of the window.

Zb Back edge of the 3D block within the window in

the same units as that of the window.

Text The text to be displayed within the label. To

have blanks in the title, use the underscore

character " ".

73
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

Anglel,

Angle2

Angles for display of the label in a right

cylindrical coordinate space. At present only the

first angle is used and represents a positive

counterclockwise rotation; set the second angle to

zero. Both angles are in radians.

In order to see the variables, they must be assigned to one of the above displays,

is accomplished with the variable pointers as

This

(Variable) (nmopq) (Compartment) (Layer) . 12345

Variable is one of the available variables VENT, HEAT, PRESSUR, WALL, TEMPERA,

INTERR\, N2, O2, CO2, CO, HCN, HCL, TUHC, H^O, OD, CT used as a label for the line. The species listed correspond to the variable "SPECIES" in R\STplot. In the variable list of

E\ST, all are contained in the variable TOXICT. (nmopqr) is a vector which points to

index display in

(1) n -> bar chart

(2) m -> table

(3) -> view

(4) p

-> label

(5) q -> graph

respectively. These numbers vary from 1 to 5 and correspond to the value of "n" in the "where

to put it" specification. Cbmpartment is the compartment number of the variable and Layer

is "U" or "L" for upper and lower layer, respectively.

Examples:

WINDOW - 100 1280 1024

GRAPH 1 250. 170. 0. 1220. 900.

LABEL 1 970. 960. 0. 1231. 1005.

LABEL 2 690. 960. 0. 987. 1005.

LABEL 3 90. 920. 0. 730. 1020.

LABEL 4 400. 610. 0. 687. 660.

LABEL 5 400. 270. 0. 687. 320.

TEMPERA 1 1 U

TEMPERA 1 1 L

5 TIME CELSIUS

15 00:00:00 0. 0. 13 TIME_[S] 0. 0,

4 Single_Compartment_demo 0. 0,

1 U_layer_temperature .1 , 1 l_layer_temperature .0 0,

In this case, a new window is defined, along with one graph and five labels. Both temperature

variables are assigned to graph 1. One quirk is not obvious. It is assumed that time is always

to be displayed if any labels are present. To this end, label 1 is always used for the time in

74
Description of the Data FUe Used by FAST

the units HH:MM:SS. Graph 1 has the label "TIME" on the abscissa and "CELSIUS" on the

ordinate.

WINDOW 100 1280 1024 1100 GRAPH 1 120. 300. 0. 600. 920. 10. 3 TIME PPM GRAPH 2 740. 300. 0. 1220. 920. 10. 3 TIME CELSIUS

LABEL 1 970. 960. 0. 1231. 1005. 10. 15 00:00:00 0. 0. LABEL 2 690. 960. 0. 987. 1005. 10. 13 TIME [S] 0. 0. LABEL 3 200. 050. 0. 520. 125. 10. 14 C0|D2|0 CONCENTRATION 0. CO 1 1 U TEMPERA 2 1 U TEMPERA 2 1 L

This file sets up two graphs with the CO data from the upper layer of compartment (1) in the

first graph and both the upper and lower layer temperatures displayed on the second graph.

WINDOW -100 1280 1024 1100 GRAPH 1 150. 300. 0. 620. 920. 10. 3 TIME PPM

LABEL 1 390. 960. 0. 651. 1005. 10. 15 00:00:00 0. LABEL 2 110. 960. 0. 407. 1005. 10. 13 TIME [S] 0. LABEL 3 200. 050. 0. 520. 125. 10. 14 0|D2J0 CONCENTRATION 0. TABLE 1 700. 300. 0. 1200. 920. 10. HEAT 10 1 U 02 10 1 1 U TEMPERA 10 1 U TEMPERA 10 1 L

0.

Here the four variables HEAT, 02, and TEMPERATURE are displayed in table 1 and 02 is shown in graph 1.

WINDOW -100 1280 1024 1100 VIEW 1 800. 390. 150. 1200. 900. 200. DEMOFA.DAT 1.41 .48 1.33 0... VIEW 2 420. 200. 50 . 720. '500. 100. DEMOFA.DAT 1.53 -.46 1.21 0. .. GRAPH 1 50. 290. 0. 300. 490. 10. 13 TIME PPM GRAPH 2 150. 650. 0. 500. 850. 10. 13 TIME m|U-1 GRAPH 3 510. 690. 0. 740. 890. 10. 13 TIME CELSIUS

GRAPH 4 810. 120. 0. 1160. 320. 10. 13 TIME HEIGHT

LABEL 1 760. 960. 0. 1021. 1005. 10. 14 00:00:00 0. 0. LABEL 2 50. 10. 0. 250. 70. 10. 2 TEST IN ONE ROOM 0.57079

LABEL 3 70. 960. 0. 367. 1005. 10. 13 FIRE_[W] ~ 0. 0. LABEL 4 480. 960. 0. 777. 1005. 10. 13 TIME [S] 0. 0. LABEL 5 300. 960, 0. 475. 1005. 10. 14 0. 0. TABLE 1 220. 50. 0. 520. 250. 10. HEAT 5 1 U OD 1 1 1 U 00 2 2 1 U CO 1 1 1 1 U CO 2 1 U TEMPERA 110 3 1 U TEMPERA 2 1 U INTERFA 1 1 4 1 U INTERFA 2 1 U

Two views are specified, both emanating from the file "demofa.dat" with different transforms.

Four graphs, three labels and one table will be displayed. All variables will be taken from the

75
FAST Technical Reference Guide

upper layer in compartment (1), and they will go to both views, in determining the hazard

calculation. The variables will also be shown in table 1 and in the four graphs, respectively.

76
FASTplot

7. FASTplot

The FAST model predicts the environment produced by a fire in one of several

compartments, or rooms, and follows smoke and toxic gases from one compartment to another,

separately predicting values for each of the variables in both the upper and lower layers. The

results for "FAST' are written to a special data file (the "dump" file) after each prescribed time

step. FASTplot is intended to provide a post processing visual interface to generate graphs and

tables from the time histories saved by the model. FASTplot has the capability to form a list of variables, read in their values at each time interval, list the values in tabular form, plot the

values, and save the variables in a formatted file for use with other software. In addition, it has the capability to read dump files created by other programs to plot along with FAST data.

For the FAST dump files, the variables currently available are

boundary surface temperature (ceiling, floor)

entrained mass flow in the plume

hcl wall surface concentration

heat release in lower layer

heat release in upper layer

heat release in flame out a vent

heat release rate of the fire layer height

layer temperature mass flux from the plume into the upper layer

pyrolysis rate of the fuel

pressure

radiation field to a target

species density^

total radiative heat flux into the layer

total convective heat flux into the layer

vent flow

vent entrainment

volume of the upper layer

The command for starting the program is simply FASTPLOT. After identifying

information, a "command prompt" appears and commands to direct the generation of the tables

and graphs may be entered.

WALL "C

ENTRAIN kg/s

HCL kg/m^

LPLUME kW

UPLUME kW

VHRE kW

HEAT RELEASE kW

INTERFACE m

TEMPERATURE °C

PLUME kg/s

PYROLYSIS kg/s

PRESSURE Pa

TARGET W/m'

SPECIES %,ppm

RADL^TION W

CONVECTION w

VENT kg/s

JET kg/s

VOLUME m'

For nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, fuel (tuhc) and water, the units are percent. For carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, the units are parts per million. For optical depth the unit is inverse meters, and CT is gram-minutes per cubic meter.

77
FAST Ibchnical Reference Guide

Commands available at the "command prompt" are ADD LIST

ASCII PLOT

AGAIN RAPID

CLEAR READ

DEE\ULT REVIEW

DELETE SAVE

END SHIFT

HELP TENAB

HLE VARL^BLE

These commands can be broken into five major groups that describe the process used

to generate tabular or graphical output with R\STplot. The following is a description of each

of the commands. At least three characters must be used to identify a command.

7.1 Entering Data Into FASTplot

E\STplot can currently read three types of data files:

• data created by the E\ST model (EAST dump files),

• data created by the TENAB model* (TENAB dump files), and

• data created in specially formatted ASCII text files from other programs including

RAPID, a program developed by CFR for analysis of large-scale fire tests.

Several commands are available within E\STplot to read these data files. They are FILE,

AGAIN, and ADD (for FAST files), ASCII and RAPID (for ASCII text files), and TENAB

(for TENAB files). In addition, several commands provide ancillary functions to support data

entry.

* Hazard I Technical Reference Guide, NIST Handbook.

78
FASTplot

7.1.1 Commands for Reading Data

ADD This command is used to build a list of FAST variables to be read into

the active list. When an option is requested, ADD may be entered by

itself or together with a list of variables that are to be added. If it is entered alone, there will be a request for the variables that are to be

added to the list. For example:

> ADD

- INPUT VARIABLES TO BE ADDED>

or > ADD TEMP,PRES,

For each variable selected there is a series of questions that will be asked

to identify the type of that variable wanted. A question asked about all variables is: WHICH COMPARTMENT? ->

For layer dependent variables, the user is asked to input the layer (U for

upper or L for lower):

WHICH LAYER? ->

If VENTFLOW is chosen the compartment origin and destination will be

requested as will the vent number; if SPECIES is selected the species

name (Oj, CO2,...) will be requested.

The maximum number of variables allowed in the active list at any one

time is 20. If the list is full or the variable is presently in the active list the addition will be disallowed and another option requested.

ASCII Read a file in columnar ASCII format. The next query will be for the

columns to read. In order for this to work, there must be a column

which corresponds to the default column as selected the "DEFAULT'

command. Normally this will be time, but can be any other column as desired.

FILE The FILE command allows the user to specify the FAST dump file name

for subsequent ADD commands. FILE applies only to FAST dump files.

79
FAST lechnical Reference CKiide

RAPID Read a file in the RAPID format. The next query will be for the

channels to read. In order for this to work, there must be a channel

which corresponds to the default channel as selected the "DEFAULT"

command. Normally this will be the time channel, but can be any other

channel as desired.

TENAB Read a file in the TENAB format. The TENAB program produces

estimates for a number of tenability criteria for persons exposed to a fire environment predicted by the FAST model. The user must enter the

"person number" and the desired criteria to be read from the file. The

possibilities are:

Tenab Variable List

1. Fractional Effective Dose Due to Gases - Bukowsld

2. Fractional Effective Dose Due to Gases - Purser

3. Fractional Effective Dose Due to C02 - Purser

4. Temperature - Deg C

5. Fractional Effective Dose Due to Convective Heat

6. CT (G-MIN/M3)

7. Flux (KW-MIN/M2)

8. Derksen Curve

7.L2 Support Commands for Data Entry

The AGAIN, CLEAR, DELETE, READ, and REVIEW commands allow the user to view and manipulate the list of variables read with the data entry commands.

AGAIN This will repeat the input of a list of variables for a new file. The

program maintains a list of the most recently acquired FAST variables.

First, get a file with "FILE," then get a set of variables. Once again

using "FILE," get a new file and then use AGAIN to get the same list of variables on this new file. This function simplifies direct comparisons

between runs of FAST.

CLEAR This command empties the current variable list.
FASTplot

DELETE When this option is entered the present list of variables will be printed

to the screen and the user will be asked to input the variables to delete

by the number associated with them on the list. They must be entered on a single line separated by commas or blanks. If the variable number

that is input does not correspond to one that is currently on the list it will be skipped. After the deletions have been processed a new list is presented and another option requested. If the list is presently empty

then that fact will be stated in an error message. One caution is in order. The variables are deleted by the number in the list, rather then

by rank ordering within a group. This is important in conjunction with use of the AGAIN command.

READ READ is used to force a read of the data files. This is most useful for

script files which can be processed automatically to display data. It is equivalent to pressing an <enter> at the "read prompt" in the interactive

mode.

REVIEW At times the user may wish to see what is presently on his list before

entering a command. This may be done with the REVIEW command.

It will print out the current list along with the compartment number,

species, and layer of each of the variables. After the printing of the

entire list, the option request is again displayed.

12 Generating Ikbles and Graphs With FASTplot

The commands LIST and PLOT allow the user to generate a table of values of selected

variables or a graph of selected variables. The SHIFT command allows the user to shift the

abscissa or ordinate axis of a variable.

LIST

PLOT

List the values of any of the variables on the list to the screen. The

variables to be listed and the time range of the list is entered. On PC

versions, the list can be printed with the PRINT SCREEN key once it appears on the screen,.

After entering the PLOT command, the current list of variables will be

displayed along with their numbers. They should be entered in a string

separated by commas or blank spaces. For example:

81
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

ENTER VARIABLES TO BE PLOTTED ->1,2,3,4

or ENTER VARIABLE TO BE PLOTTED ->1 2 3 4

Variables to be plotted together on a single graph are grouped in

parenthesis. For example:

ENTER VARIABLES TO BE PLOTTED -> (1,2,3,4)

Normally, the program will scale the axes automatically. However, if the

automatic formatting option has been turned off, then before the graph

is drawn, the user is given the opportunity to change the range of the X

and Y axes and the graph legends. The maximum and minimum value

of the X and Y axes will be displayed, followed by a request for a change in each. If no change is desired simply enter an <enter > and

the next axis change will be displayed:

The Min/Max for Temperature are

X = 0.00 TO 2000.00

Y - 0.00 TO 1000.00

<enter> If no changes are desired.

Xmin = 0.00, Change to - Xmax = 2000.00, Change to - Ymin = 0.00, Change to - Ymax = 1000.00, Change to =

Similar prompts are made for the legends for each graph. The user is allowed to change the text for each curve label and the position. If no

changes are desired, the <enter> key may be pressed to accept the

suggested values for the legend text and position:

Legend for 1 (Temperature 1 U ) is |R 1 U| . : <enter> For no change:

Legend for 2 (Temperature 2 U ) is |R 2 U| . : <enter> For no change:

Legend for graph 1 is at X- 40.00, Y= 945.49

<enter> If no changes are desired.

X = 40.00, Change to = Y = 945.49, Change to =

82
FASTpIot

When all the changes (if any) have been made the graph of that

particular variable will be plotted. After the graph has been completed

the option request will be displayed and a new option may be entered.

SHIFT SHIFT is used to adjust the variable axes. The required input is a

selection of the axis to shift, the amount of shift, and a list of channels.

Please note that shifting the time axis for a single variable will shift the

time axis for all variables associated with that particular file. Such an

effect occurs because only one vector of values is kept for the time line

for each file.

73 Saving Data With FASTpIot

The save command allows the user to create an ASCII text file in one of two formats.

These files may be used for future FASTpIot runs or for exporting FAST or TENAB data to other programs.

SAVE A command to save the values of the variables in the list into a file. The format used will depend on the option chosen in "DEFAULX"

columnar data for spreadsheet and charting programs, or row data for

making the data directly compatible with our data processing program

(RAPID) designed for the reduction of experimental data in the Center

for Fire Research.

The user will be asked for the name to be used for the file. A check

will be made to see whether that file presently exists or not. If it does,

the user will be asked if he wants to write over the old file with this new

data. If his answer is NO, nothing will be placed in the file and other

option requested. If, however, he does want the file rewritten, or the file does not already exist, the new file will be created and the data stored

in it.

Columnar data is straightforward, with each variable listed. The time

channel will be the first column. For files in the row format, each

variable in the list will be saved with the following line at the beginning

of each block of data:

I6,I6,A6,* COMMENT

83
FAST Ibchnical Reference Guide

The first 16 will be for the number of data points for that variable, the

next 16 is for the number given to that variable on the list, and the A6

is the actual variable name. Everything after the * is a comment block

and will be filled with information relevant to that particular variable,

such as species number, compartment number, layer, etc. The actual

numerical data will be written using the format 7E11.5.

7.4 Qianging the Default Parameters in FASTpIot

The DEFAULTS command allows the user to change a number of default parameters

within FASTpIot. These defaults specify the format of the graphical output and assumed values

for some of the input parameters (ones where the user may simply press the <enter> key).

DEFAULT This enables the user to set default parameters for the following, with

the system default show to the right in parenthesis:

COMPARTMENT NUMBER (1)

VENTFLOW DESTINATION (2)

LAYER (U)

CHARACTER SET (4)

OUTPUT (not appropriate for PC versions)

GRAPHICS DEVICE (

" ") - will be

implemented in the future

AUTO SCALING (Y)

CHANNEL FOR ABSCISSA (999)

FACTOR FOR ABSCISSA (1)

The purpose of this option is to change the defaults available for other

commands and data input. Output and Graphics Device should not be

reset on the PC versions. Channel for abscissa refers to the RAPID data

reduction program, NBS Special Publication 722 (1986). Factor for

abscissa refers to the column used when reading ASCII data files.

7.5 Getting Online Help in FASTpIot

The HELP and VARIABLES command provides some simple online help for using

FASTpIot.

84
FASTplot

HELP This command may be entered at any time that the user is asked for an

option. Its purpose is to list to the screen, the available commands and

a brief explanation, after which another option will be asked for.

VARIABLES Show the list of variables which are available, one shown at the beginning of section 7.

This list is identical to the

7.6 Exiting FASTplot

The END command terminates the execution of FASTplot. If desired, any data which

has been read into FASTplot should be saved prior to entering this command. Any data not

saved will be lost upon exiting the program and must be reentered if it is to be used again.

85
B\ST Technical Reference Guide

8. FAST_in

FAST_in is an interactive interface (front end) for the FAST model. As such, it is designed to guide a user through the creation and modification of a data file which can be used

in running the model. FAST_in is not a general purpose fire growth and smoke transport

model, although it does have limited capability for doing calculations and estimates. Rather,

it is a text oriented editor used to create FAST data files while FAST is a general purpose

model with graphics display. While some of the more intricate inputs available with the FAST

model are not available from within FAST_in, basic data files can be created with FASTJn and

further edited with any general purpose text editor.

The user interface is organized into a series of screens, each of which addresses a

general area of the process of modeling a fire. General and key word help is always available

except within the key word help section itself The top of the screen shows which section is active. These names are shown below and are roughly descriptive of the area which is covered.

These correspond to sections in the data file discussed in section 5. The bottom of the screen shows what special keys are active, or indicates what action is expected. If data can be entered,

then the range and units will be shown if appropriate. For example, room width will be in

units of length, whereas a title has no dimensions.

The "screens" are

Initialization only at the beginning

1 Overview

2 Ambient Conditions

3 Geometry

4 Thermal Properties

5 Thermal Database

6 Fire Specification

7 Calculations,...

primary sections

8 Results

9 Information and Settings

show results of calculation

show the current version numbers

and make permanent changes in the

colors ans units

Note that the Initialization screen (screen 0) and the output screens (screens 7-9) do

not correspond to sections of the data file. Rather, they are used to retrieve and save the data

86
FAST_m

file created with FAST_in or to run the model with the current data set. Refer to section 6

for the details of the data entered on each screen.

1. Overview Title and time specifications from section 6.1 and 6.2

2. Ambient Conditions Ambient conditions from section 6.3

3. Geometry Floor plan data and connections from sections 6.4 and 6.5

4. Thermal Properties Thermophysical properties of enclosing

5. Thermal Database surfaces from section 6.6

6. Fire Specification Fire specifications from sections 6.7 and 6.8

In general, the program requests either data from the keyboard, or selection information from the function keys (or mouse if present). Any active function keys will be shown at the bottom of the screen. If the meaning is not clear, the show k^ function key, 19, will give

further explanation. Otherwise, there will be directions as to what further actions are possible.

If alphanumeric input (data) is being requested, the entry must always be completed by pressing

the <enter> key. For function keys, only a single keystroke is required. Some of the function

keys are active throughout FAST_in; others are specific to certain screens. Those specific to individual screens are described in more detail on the following pages. Those active throughout

the program are presented below.

key key label function

fl go to page Allows you to move directly from one screen to another within

FAST_in. From any screen, pressing <fl> brings up a menu

listing all the screens in FAST_in. Using the mouse or the arrow

keys, select the screen of interest and press <enter> or the left mouse button.

£2 return Allows you to move directly from the current screen to the

previous screen within FAST_in. As an example, if you are on

the thermal properties screen and press <Page Down> to move

to the thermal database screen, pressing <£2> will return you to the thermal properties screen. Pressing <f2> again will take you

again to the thermal database screen. This switching may be

continued as long as desired.

G help You may press the HELP key, G, at any time to receive context

sensitive help describing the current screen or current quantity

being entered. Pressing <B> a second time brings up a list of

keywords for which more detailed help is available.

f8 change units You may temporarily change the working engineering units

displayed by FASTJn and used for data entry at any lime by

pressing <f8> and selecting the quantity to be changed with the

87
I^ST lechnical Reference Guide

up and down arrow keys. Pressing the right or left arrow keys

changes the working units of the currently selected quantity. To

change the units permanently, you must modify the installation

parameters.

O show keys provides a brief description of the function keys currently active

and can be used to provide a quick reference of the current

function of each of the keys.

flO quit is used to end the program.

FAST_in v 2.1 Initialization 04/12/88

FILE: DATA. DAT

|file| jhelpj | 1R [ 3R | | |keys{unit jquit| input=>

On the Initialization screen, the FAST input file to be edited with FAST_in is selected.

The name of any DOS file may be entered by typing in the name of the file or the user may

press the select file key, fl, to see a list of files in the current working directory. By default,

all files with an extension of . DAT are presented in the list. If desired, one may type a file matching pattern (such as *.* to see all files in the subdirectory) before pressing <fl>.

In addition to showing the name of the current screen, "Initializtion" in this case, the

name of the module, its version number and the current date are shown. The latter two can

change, as the program is enhanced, and when it run on dates different than shown in the

figure.

If a completely new data file is to be created, two generic data sets are built into the

program. Key <f5> may be pressed to use a single room case and key <f6> may be pressed

to' use a three room case.

88
FAST in

FAST_in v 2.1 Overview

File: DATA. DAT Title: demo #1 a single compartment

Geometry Time Ambi entCondi t i ons

Compartments 1 Simulation 180 Temperature 26.9

Vents... 1 Print Pressure 1.0E+05 HVAC connect Dump 5 Station elv. 0.0 Display 5 Wind speed

Scale height Power law

0.0

10.0 0.1600

Fire Specification

Type Specified fire( const rained)

Species tracked 02 C02 CO TUNC H20 OD

Range: Alphanumeric ( 50) Units: Name or Title

CT

04/12/88

|goto[rtrnjhelp| ' ' j junit j keys {quit j input=> single compartment

The Overview screen presents a summary of the FAST data file. The title, simulation

time, print interval, dump interval, and display interval may be changed on the screen. See

sections 5.1 and 5.2 for detailed information on the parameters. All other information

presented is changed on other screens of the program and is included here (in the "protected

text" color) to provide a summary of the data set.

FAST_in v 2.1 Ambient conditions 04/12/88

(internal) (external]

Temperature 26.9 Pressure 1.0E+05 Station elv. 0.0

26.9

1.0E+05 0.0

Wind speed

Scale height Power law

0.0

10.0 0.1600

Compartments 1 Vents... 1 HVAC connect

Maximun pressure differential

Maximum elevation change

Total internal volume

2.32

.030

.6

Range: -73.1 to 76 jgoto|rtrn|help| |

.9 Units:

1 1

1 1

Temperature in CELSIUS

un i t j keys | qu i 1 1 i nput=>

89
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

On the Ambient Conditions screen, the internal and external ambient temperature,

pressure, and station elevation along with information on external wind may be changed.

Ambient conditions are detailed in section 5,3. The wind speed, scale height, and power law

are used to calculate the wind coefficient for each vent connected to the outside. The wind

velocity is specified at some reference height. The power law then provides a lapse rate for

the wind speed. An assumption is that the wind velocity vanishes at the surface. The formula

used to calculate the wind speed at the height of any vent is (wind speed) • ((vent

height)/(scale height))^'^" '^\ The wind is applied to each external opening as a change in pressure outside of the vent. It is further modified by the wind coefficient used for the

openings.

FAST_in v 2.1 Geometry 04/12/88

Dimensions

Compartment Number: 1 Width: 3.30

Depth: 4.30

Height: 2.30

Floor elevation: 0.0

Vents(doors...)

with respect to first room # width sill soffit wind

1 1.07 0.0 2.0 0.0

wrt second room # sill soffit

2 0.0 2.0

- absolute - a si I a sof Vent(1->4)

0.0 2.0 1

Range: 0.0 to 150.0 Units:

|goto|rtrn|help|ADO |DEL |0/C |SWPG

Distance in METER

unit j keys j quit j i nput=>

On the Geometry screen, information on the sizes of all of the rooms and vents are entered. Sections 5.4 and 5.5 provide details. The screen is divided into an upper and lower

"page," one for the room dimensions and one for the vent information. The SWITCH PAGE

key, £7, toggles between the two pages, A room or vent may be added or deleted using the

ADD key, f4 or the DELETE key, £5, The OPEN/CLOSE key, C6, allows specification of vent

position over the course of the fire as detailed by the CVENT parameter in E\ST.

90
FAST in

FAST_in v 2.1 Thermal properties

Conipartinent Number 1

04/12/88

Ceiling properties: OFF

Floor properties: OFF

Wall properties: OFF

Range: Alphanumeric ( 8)

j go |rtrnjhelpJADD |DEL

Units: Name or Title

j |unit j keys j quit j input=>

The Thermal Properties screen details the materials used for the ceilings, walls, and

floors of all of the rooms as detailed in section 5.6. The name of a material contained in the

FAST Thermal Database may be entered by first positioning the highlighted selection bar over

the entry of interest and typing the material name exactly as it appears in the FAST thermal

database, lb make the process easier, a material name may be selected on the Thermal

Database screen below, and designated for the currently selected surface by pressing the ADD

PICKED key, f4. To specify an adiabatic surface, press the DELETE key, £5, to turn OFF the

heat transfer calculation for that surface. If the word NONE appears, it means that the name

entered does not appear in the Thermal Database.

FAST_in v 2.1 Thermal Dataisase 04/12/88

Conduct Specif

i

Density Thickne Emissiv * COOES * DFIR30 0.0002 0.9000 790.0 0.0160 0.9000 PINEUOOD 0.0001 2.50 540.0 0.0160 0.8000

CONCRETE 0.0018 1.00 2200.0 0.1500 0.9400 REDOAK 0.0002 1.30 640.0 0.0160 0.9000

FIBER 0.0 1.25 240.0 0.0160 0.9000 GYPSUM 0.0002 0.9000 800.0 0.0160 0.9000

WOOD 0.0 1.00 250.0 0.0160 0.9800 DFIRO 0.0001 1.40 510.0 0.0127 1.00 0FIR10 0.0002 1.50 560.0 0.0160 0.9000 GLASS 0.0014 0.7600 2500.0 0.0160 0.9500 GLASFIBR 0.0 0.7200 32.0 0.0160 0.9000

KAOUOOL 0.0002 1.05 128.0 0.1160 0.9700

GYP1 0.0001 0.9000 800.0 0.0250 0.9000

GYP2 0.0001 0.9000 800.0 0.0500 0.9000

BRICK1 0.0002 0.9000 790.0 0.0160 0.9000

UB 0.0001 1.17 4050.0 0.0250 0.8000

Range: 0.0 to 0.0900 Units : Conductivity in KI LOJOULE/SECOND/METER/CELS

j go jrtrr |help|ADD [DEL jPICKl junit j keys 1 quit

j

i nput=>

91
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

The contents of the FAST thermal database may be examined or changed on the

Thermal Database screen. A new material may be added by pressing the ADD key, f4, or an

existing one deleted by pressing the DELETE key, £5. A material can be chosen (and later added in the Thermal Properties screen) by positioning the highlighted selection bar over the

material and pressing the PICK MATERIAL key, f6. The thermophysical data file can not be

changed (saved after editing) by FAST_in, although it will shown as changed on the "save files" screen if changes have been made at this point.

FAST_in v 2.1 Fire Specification 04/12/88

Heat of C Lim 02 Rel Hum. GMU Pos Room Type

1.8E+04

2

3.00

.OE+04

0.0 16.0 1 1 2

1 1.8E+04 *** * * * * *

2 1.8E+04

3 1.8E+04 1 4 1.8E+04 1

1 5 1.8E+04 1 .OE+04 + 6 1.8E+04

7 1.8E+04

8 1.8E+04

0.0

0. 160. 320. 480. 640. 800

Pyrolysis Heat_release Height Area H/C C0/C02 C/C02 HCN HCL Ct

Range: 0.0010 to 6. OE+04 Units: Heat of Combustion in KILOJOULE/KILOGRAM

I go |rtrn|help|ADD JDEL JMOD [unit [keys [quit j input=>

All data pertaining to the combustion properties are entered on this screen. The heat

of combustion, mass loss rate, and species yields are entered, along with selection of the fire room and fire type as described in the data file format section. Note that fire chemistry is only

allowed for constrained (type 2) fires. A species may be added or deleted from the calculation using the ADD key (f4) or the

DELETE key, £5. The time intervals may be modified by pressing the MODIFY TIME key,

f6.

92 i
FAST in

FASTJn V 2.1 Calculate,... 04/12/88

run this data set <fA> time maximum 180 (seconds)

quick estimates <f5> asks for a time interval

run time graphics (FAST) <f6> no

save data f ile(s) <f7>

write to log file <f8> no

1 go |rtrn|help| j | Iniiitl

1 1 1 iquit,

Once data for a test case has been entered or modified using FAST_in, you may run

the data set using a version of the FAST model, or save the data to disk to run with the

complete version of FAST. To run the model, press <f4>. To save the data to a disk file, press <f7>. You may also append a simple graphics descriptor to the FAST data file by

pressing <f6>. The resulting display will show selected variables in a simple X-Y plot on the screen as the model calculates the results. If problems are encountered with FAST_in, you can document the problem by generating a log file with the <f8> function key and repeating the

sequence of commands which generates the problem.

93
FAST Technical Reference Guide

FAST_in v 2.1 Results - temp.. 04/12/88

Time: 0.0

Compartment Number: 1

Upper layer temp: 26.9

Lower layer temp: 26.9 Upper volume: 0.0326

Layer depth: 0.0023 Ceiling temp: 26.9 Upper wall temp: 26.9

Floor temp: 26.9 Plume flow rate: 0.0 Pyrolysis rate: 0.0

Fire size: 0.0 Vent fire: 0.0 0.0 Pressure: 0.0

Units: Temperature in CELSIUS

1 go |rtrnjhelp| FF j

1

1 j [unit j keys] quit

j

When the installation program is run, the default units are set. However, during a run

of FAST_in, it is possible to change the units, for that session. The key to set units is <f8>

when it is shown as active. This will allow a change for the current session. To change the

units permanently, rerun the installation program. The screen for the units section looks like

FAST_in v 2.1 Set Units

Base Unit Current Units Possible Units

04/20/89

Temperature KELVIN

Pressure PASCAL

Length METER Energy JOULE Mass KILOGRAM

Time SECOND Time SECOND

KELVIN CELSIUS RANKINE FAHRENHEIT

I

To change units, highlight the basic unit to be changed, then point to the unit desired. Pointing is done either with the cursor keys or the mouse.

<esc> to exit, <f3> for help

94
FASTin

The time scale for most phenomena is set with the first entry. This refers to rates such as mass per unit time. The second is to accommodate English units in a natural way. In these

units, conductivity is in BTU/hour/... as opposed to Joules/second/.., In most cases, they will be set to the same unit, but if the "English" option is used, then they will be different. Of

course, they can be set to different values manually.

For the most part, the remaining screens follow the same type of format. When the

function keys are active, one can move through the "screens" with the "go" command, or by

using <PgUp> and <PgDn>. The "Home" key moves the program to the "Overview" section

and the <End> key will go to the "Calculate,..." section.

After one has become familiar with FAST_in, it is desirable to use some additional

features which are available. They include making permanent changes to units and colors

within FAST_in itself rather than returning to the installation procedure. Also, one can run

the model directly, as long as "run time" graphics are not desired. To activate these features, run the installation module and exit with the <©> key instead of <flO>.

95
E^ST l^hnical Reference Guide

9. ANNOTATED REFERENCES

[1] Jones, WW, A Multicompartment Model for the Spread of Fire, Smoke and Toxic

Gases. Fire Safety Journal 9, 55 (1985).

The papers by Jones [1], and Jones and Peacock [10] are the most complete

descriptions of the use of differential equations in the problem of modeling fire growth and smoke transport. The original work on multicompartment models was written by T Tanaka, A Mathematical Model of a Compartment Fire, BRI

(Japan) No. 70 (1977). It is somewhat difficult to follow, partly due to language

and partly to notation,

[2] Jones, WW and Fadell, AB., A Device Independent Graphics Kernel, NBSIR 85-

3235 National Bureau of Standards (USA) (1988).

[5] Siegal, R. and Howell, J.R., Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer, McGraw Hill Book Co.,

New York (1981).

[6] Schlichting, H., Boundary Layer Theory, translated by J. Kestin, Pergammon Press, New

York (1955).

Schlichting is the most complete of the works on boundary layer theory

especially the 7th edition, but somewhat difficult to read due to its completeness.

An alternative which is much easier to follow is by Pitts, D.R. and Sissom, L.E.,

Heat Transfer, McGraw Hill, New York (1977).

[7] McCaffrey, B.J,, Momentum Implications for Buoyant Diffusion Flames, Combustion and

Flame 52, 149 (1983).

There are several plume models for fires. The one that has proved to be most

in agreement with experimental data is that of McCaffrey [7]. Cetegan et al. have studied the door jet entrainment phenomena in great detail and their

virtual plume concept works very well when used with McCaffrey's correlation.

[8] Cetegan, B.M., Zukoski, E.E., and Kubota, T, Entrainment and Flame Geometry of

Fire Plumes, Ph.D. Thesis of Cetegen, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

(1982).

[9] Quintiere, J.G., Steckler, K., and Corley, D., An Assessment of Fire Induced Flows in Compartments, Fire Science and Technology 4, 1 (1986).

96
Annotated References

[10] Jones, WW. and Peacock, R.D., Refinement and Experimental Verification of a Model

for Fire Growth and Smoke Transport, Proceedings of the Second International

Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Tokyo (1988).

[11] Quintiere, J.G., Steckler, K., and McCaffrey, B.J., A Model to Predict the Conditions

in a Room Subject to Crib Fires, First Specialist Meeting (International) of the

Combustion Institute, Talence, France (1981).

[12] Babrauskas, V, Development of the Cone Calorimeter - A Bench Scale Heat Release

Rate Apparatus Based on Oxygen Consumption, Fire and Materials 8, 81 (1984).

[13] Huggett, C, Estimation of Rate of Heat Release by Means of Oxygen Consumption

Measurements, Fire and Materials 4, 61 (1980).

The papers by Babrauskas [12] and Huggett [13] deal with a very specific piece

of the chemistry which is extant in fires. Their concept allows us to finesse the

very difficult question of the composition of the fuel, by providing an

experimental relation between the net oxygen used by the products of

combustion and the heat released by the fire.

[14] Goldman, D. and Jaluria, Y., Effect of Buoyancy on the Flow in Free and Wall Jets,

ASME Winter Annual Meeting, Miami (1985).

[15] Jones, WW. and Bodart, X., Buoyancy Driven Flow as the Forcing Function of Smoke

Transport Models, NBSIR 86-3329, National Bureau of Standards (USA) (1986).

[16] Mitchell, AR. and Griffiths, RE, The Finite Difference Method in Partial Differential

Equations, J. Wiley & Sons, New York (1980).

[17] U.S. Standard Atmosphere (1976), a joint publication of the National

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration.

[18] Zukoski, E.E., Heat Transfer in Unwanted Fires, Proceedings of the ASMEJASME Thermal Engineering Joint Conference 1, Hawaii (1987).

97
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

10. NOMENCLATURE

The variables used in the formulae are listed here. There are a few exceptions for local

variables which are used only in a section for expository purposes. In general, most of these

variables can be indexed by compartment (single i) or by the layer in a given compartment (u or £). The variables shown in the implementation section correspond roughly to the

mathematical variables shown here. Due to the limitations of character sets for computers,

there can not be an exact correspondence, but the crosswalk should be clear. The first list is for the earlier discussion. The next list is for the numerical model as it is currently

implemented.

Variables used in the mathematical description of the model:

A area (m^)

Aupper - extended upper wall - ceiling plus wall contiguous to upper

layer

A^^„ - extended lower wall - floor plus lower wall

A^ - area of surfaces in contact with a zone (upper or lower)

Ad - area of interface between the two layers (discontinuity)

B sill height of a vent (m)

C coefficient (dimensionless)

C - flow coefficient = 0.72 for doorways (nominal value: range is 0.55 to 1.0)

Q - convective heat transfer coefficient (which depends on orientation)

C„ - wind coefficient - dot product of the wind vector and vent direction

c heat capacity

Cp - heat capacity of a gas at constant pressure

c^ - heat capacity of a gas at constant volume

c - heat capacity of a solid

D denominator in radiative heat balance matrix

E rate of change of total energy (Joules/s) - consists of enthalpy plus

specific energy - E is used because we are really referring to a change

in the internal energy density of the gas; h = m

* Cp is part of this term

Eu - upper layer

E^ - lower layer

ei rate of entrainment in plume in region (i) - used for vitiated combustion - refer to pj

98
Nomenclature

F view factor (dimensionless)

Ff product of the fraction of fire which goes into radiation and a view factor

Gr Grashof number - see eq (13)

g

gravitational constant (9.80 m/s^)

H height (m)

H - soffit height of a vent

H^ - height at which the wind speed is measured - relative to H^.

Hr - station elevation

Hj - height at which to calculate the pressure (including wind effects)

h heat of combustion (J/kg) or convective heat coefficient (J/m^/K)

I time interval in seconds

m time rate of change of mass (kg/s)

liij - total (net) mass flow into compartment i

liiu - total (net) mass flow into the upper layer of a compartment

m^ - total (net) mass flow into the lower layer of a compartment

irijj - net flow from compartment j into compartment i

rifg'- net flow from compartment i into compartment j

riiij = rii^ -ittjj - in eq (20), (21), i-K) is used to indicate in to out

rile - entrained mass

riif - pyrolysis rate of the fire

riib - burning rate of the fire (<riif)

m species mass density (kg/m')

m„ where xx is H20,C02,CO,S(soot),H,0,C,02,THUC,HCL,HCN,N2 and fuel

N species number density or molar density (#/m')

N„ where xx is H20,C02,CO,S(soot),H,0,C,02,THUC,HCL,HCN,N2 and fuel

99
FAST Ibchnical Reference Guide

Nu is the Nusselt number, a function of Gr and Pr. It is not used explicity

in any calculation, but is to show the relationship with standard

heat and mass transfer theory.

P pressure (Pa)

Pu - upper layer

P^ - lower layer

Pr - reference pressure (assumption Pr = Pu = P^ for temperature and

density calculations)

Pi - pressure at the base of compartment i Pj - pyrolysis rate - used only in the explanation of the fire specification in figure 6

Pj - ambient pressure at a given height Hr

P», - pressure at a height Hj including wind effects

Pi plume flow rate for the vitiated combustion calculation - subscript refers to the region (1,2 or 3), which are show in figure 3; corresponding term is e;

p^ power for the pressure lapse rate in the equation for the pressure including wind

Pr Prandtl number (0.72)

Q heat release rate for a chemical or physical process - this does not include any

enthalpy flux (Watts)

Of - chemical heat release rate from a fire Or - radiation heating of a gas by a wall surface or other gas layer

Oc - convective heating of gas by a wall surface

Ok - from surface 'k' Og - net heating of a gas by all radiative processes

R "universal" gas constant (=289 J/kg/K) d

S surface area of a vent (m^)

s rate of total energy change in a compartment (sum of E's) ; T temperature (K) J Tu - upper layer 1 T^ - lower layer \ T^ - upper wall

T^^ - lower wall

Tr - reference temperature - limit -> Ta

T3 - ambient either inside or outside of the structure

T^, - temperature of the volatiles (after gasification)

100
Nomenclature

t time (s)

V total volume of a compartment (m')

Vu - upper layer

V^ - lower layer

V^ - wind speed (m/s) given at a height H^ above the terrain

Vp length of the virtual plume in vent flow calculations - used with the

virtual offset Zp - both are in reduced units - see page 17ff

Z length (m) used for plume length, layer thickness and height of neutral plane(m)-

z - same meaning as Z except used as an integration parameter

Z, - height of the hot layer interface (room height - layer thickness)

7 ratio of heat capacities ==1.4 for air

a Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67x10-* W/m^K')

a absorption coefficient of the gas (m"^)

e emissivity (dimensionless)

Cu - upper gas layer in a compartment

e^ - lower gas layer in a compartment

K thermal conductivity (J/m/s/K)

1/ kinematic viscosity (mVs)

p mass density (kg/m^)

Pu - upper layer

Pi - lower layer

p, - i varies from 1 to 4 which represents upper and lower layers, as shown in figures 1 and 2

17 condition number in the conduction equation - eq (39)

X fraction of heat release rate which goes into some process

Xr fraction of heat release rate which goes into radiation

Xc fraction of heat release rate which goes into convective motion

Xe fraction of pyrolosate which burns

n numerator of heat balance matrix for upper layer contribution

101
FAST Ibchnical Reference Guide

n .numerator of heat balance matrix for lower layer contribution

In the flow calculation, the indices have a special meaning. The reference is from "i," the inside compartment, to "o" the outside compartment. In this case, the index is 1 for the

upper layer of "i," 2 for the lower layer of "i," 3 for the upper layer of "o," and 4 for the lower

layer in "o." This terminology applies to temperatures, densities and mass flow only for the

flow calculation as done in section 4.4 The "i" and "o" are chosen by a selection rule discussed

in section 6,4

Variables used by FAST in the common blocks mocola, mocolc, mocold and mocole

AA(NR,NR,4) flow from lower layer to lower layer (kg/s)

ACnVS(NS) logical switch to tell which species are active (interacts with "allowed")

AnRED(NV) area of fire (m^2)

AO(IFT) area of simple fitting ift (m^2)

APS(NR) current area of the specified fire (m ^ 2)

AR(NR) floor area of a compartment (in current version ceiling=floor)

AS(NR,NR,4) flow from lower to upper layer (kg/s)

ASL(NR,NR,4) entrainment from upper into lower layer (kg/s)

BnRED(NV) burning rate (kg/s)

BFLO(IB) mass flow rate through branch ib (kg/s)

BR(NR) breadth of a compartment (m)

BW(NR,NR,4) width of vent (m) (modified by qcvent)

CC02(NV) net carbon production rate (fraction relative to co2)

CE(IB) effective mass flow coefficient for resistance branch ib

CNAME(NWAL,NR) name (pointer) of thermal property specied for a boundary

CO(IFr) flow coefficient for simple fitting ift C0C02(NV) relative co/co2 production rate CONFGFIL name of a configuration file (not required)

CP heat capacity of AIR at constant pressure (J/kg/K)

CRDATE(3) creation date of the model (day, month and year)

CW(MXSLB,NWAL,NR) specific heat of a thermal material

DA(ID) area of duct id (m ^ 2)

DE(ID) effective diameter of duct id (m)

DELTAT time step used by the model, currently 1.0 seconds

DFMAX(K) derivative of fan curve at hmax(k)

DFMIN(K) derivative of fan curve at hmin(k)

DL(ID) length of duct id (m)

DPZ(I,K) hydrostatic pressure difference between node i and kth node

DR(NR) depth of a compartment (m)

DUCTAR(ID) absolute roughness of duct walls

EME(NR) plume entrainment rate (kg/s)

EMP(NR) pyrolysis rate of the fire source (kg/s)

102
Nomenclalure

EMS(NR) plume flow rate into the upper layer (kg/s)

EPW(NWAL,NR) emissivity of the interior wall surface (non)

ERA(NR),EPA(NR),ETA(NR) exterior equivalents of ramb, pamb, and tamb: era,epa,eta

EXxx exterior equivalents of ta, pa and ra: exta, expa, exra FKW(MXSLB,NWAL,NR) thermal conductivity of a material slab

FLW(MXSLB,NWAL,NR) thickness of a slab (m)

G gravity constant (9.806 m/s)

GAMMA cp/cv for air - 1.4

GMWF gram molecular weight (in grams, default ->16)

HCOMBA heat of combustion - initialization only

HCRATIO(NV) hydrogen/carbon ratio in the fuel - time dependent

HEATLP(NR) heat release rate in the plume in the lower layer (W)

HEATXJP(NR) heat release rate in the plume in the upper layer (W)

HEATVF(NR) heat release in a vent (sum of all vents between two compartments l->4)

HFIRED(NV) height of the base of the fire - time dependent (m)

HFLR(NR) absolute height of the floor of a compartment (m)

HH(NR,NR,4) top of vent (soffit) - distance from floor (m)

HHP(NR,NR,4) absolute height of the soffit (m)

HL(NR,NR,4) height of the sill relative to the floor (m)

HLP(NR,NR,4)absolute height of the sill (m)

HMAX(K),HMIN(K) max and min head pressure for fan(k)

HOCBMB(NV) heat of combustion of a specified fire (J/kg)

HR(NR) interior height of a compartment (m)

HRL(NR) absolute height of the floor (m)

HRP(NR) absolute height of the ceiling (m)

HVBCO(K,J) coefficients of fan curve polynomial

HVELXT(II) elevation of exterior nodes relative to station (m)

HVEXCN(MEXT,NS) species concentration at external the nodes

HVFLOW(I,J) mass flow rate to node i from the jth node to which it is connected

HVGHT(I) elevation of node i HVNODE(I,J) mapping between external and internal nodes (2,MNODE)

HVP(I) relative pressure at node i HWJ(NW,NR) hcl density on the wall (grams/m^ initialized to 0)

IBRD(ID) pointer to resistive branch with duct id IBRF(IFT) pointer to resistive branch with fitting ift IC(I,K) pointer to kth resistive branch connected to node i IDIAG not used

IFIRED current interpolation time for specified fire - integer pointer

IN(I,K) pointer to kth node connected to node i in hvac system

ITMMAX maximum number of time steps (#)

ITMSTP current time step (#)

IVERS current version

LCOPY number of "hard" copies for each graphics output - used for movies

LCW(MXSLB,NTHMX) local heat capacity

103
E^ST Ibchnical Reference Guide

LDIAGO dump interval (#)

LDIAGP display (graphics) interval (#)

LEPW(NTHMX) local emissivity

LFBO compartment of origin (1 to nr-1)

LFBT type of fire (1, 2, ...) LFKW(MXSLB,NTHMX) local conductivity

LFLW(MXSLB,NTHMX) local thickness (m)

LFMAX number of intervals in a fire specification

LFPOS position of the fire in a room (1 to 4) - affects entrainment only

LIM02 limiting oxygen index in percent (default is 10%)

LNSLB(NTHMX) local number of slabs in a material (used in reading from the database)

LOGERR unit for error logging - set to zero if not to log erros LPRINT print interval

LRW(MXSLB,NTHMX) local mass density of a material slab

MASS(2,NR,NS) mass in a layer of species ns (1 to ns)

MAXCT number of entries in the thermal database (max is 57 now)

MFIRET(NS) mass release rate of species ns - transient

MINMAS minimum mass in mass(...)

MPRODR(NV,NS) species production rate for specified fire - see tech ref for details

MPSDAT(3) date of this run N number of compartments in use (including the outside)

N2,N3,N4 n+l,2n+l,3n+l

NA(IB) starting node for branch ib NBR number of branches

NCNODE(I) number of branches coonnected to hvac node i NCONFG or 1 if a graphics descriptor is present

NDIV(MXSLB,NWAL,NR) number of interior nodes in a wall material (of mxslb slabs)

NDT number of ducts

NDUMPR or 1 if a dump file specification is present

NE(IB) exit node number of branch ib NEUTRAL(NR,NR) number of neutral planes for a vent - not very useful

NEXT number of exterior nodes

NF(IB) if duct, fan number if a fan

NR\N number of fans

NFC(K) number of polynomial coefficients for fan k

NFT number of simple fittings

NLIST(NTHMX) list of thermal names used by the current thermal database

NLSPCT number of species in this run NMl actual number of compartments (N-1)

NNODE number of nodes in the hvac system

NOPNMX not used

NRESTR restart time (0 means no restart)

NRFLOW not used

NSLB(NWAL,NR) number of slabs in a particular wall

104 i
Nomenclature

NSMAX maximum simulation time (seconds)

NW(NR,NR) switch for horizontal vents - coded for 1 to 4 by powers of 2

NWV(NR,NR) switch for vertical vents

ONTARGET(NR) absolute radiation from the upper layer to a target (less ambient)

P(NT) solution vector of pressure, upper temperature, lower temperature, volume

PA ambient pressure at the measured station

PAMB(NR) ambient pressure in a compartment prior to the fire PMAX(N'I^,PMIN(NT) limits on the values in p

POFSET a pressure offset to help solve the stiffness problem

PPMDV(2,NR,NS) mass concentration (kg/m^3)

PREF default reference pressure (1.03 e+5)

QC(2,NR) net convective heat loss from a zone (Watts)

QF(2,NR) net heat generation rate of a fire into a zone (Watts)

QFTRED(NV) heat release rate for specified fire QMAX(K),QMIN(K) flow rate at hmax(k) and hmin(k)

QR(2,NR) net radiative loss from a zone (Watts)

QRADRL fraction of heat which leaves a fire as radiation

RA default station ambient (inside) density (kg/m^3)

RAMB(NR) initial (ambient) mass density in a compartment

RELHUM initial relative humidity (defauh ->0%)

RGAS "universal" gas constant

ROHB(IB) density of gases in branch ib RR(ID) relative roughness of walls of duct id

RW(MXSLB,NWAL,NR) material density of a boundary slab (kg/m^3)

SA(NR,NR,4) flow field upper to lower (kg/s)

SAL station elevation (m) - default to zero SAU(NR,NR,4) entrainment rate into the upper layer

SIGM Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67x10"' W/m'/K^

SS(NR,NR,4) flow field from upper to upper layer (kg/s)

STIME current simulation time (s) - corresponds to itmstp

SWITCH(NWAL,NR) logical switch for wall conduction - switch...,nr) is used for output

TA station ambient temperature (K)

TAMB(NR) ambient temperature in a compartment (K)

TBR(IB) absolute temperature of gases in branch ib TE pyrolysis temperature of the fuel

TERRORS(NTHMX) code for errors in the thermal database

TF[RED(NV) time interval specification

TFIRET current time for interpolation

TFMAXT maximum time for the specified fire TGIGNT ignition temperature for a well stirred gas - limits fires in vents

THDEF(NTHMX) logical for whether thermal name is correctly defined

THRMFILE*20 name of the thermal database

TOXICT(2,NR,NS) conglomeration of stuff for output - see Tech Ref.

TREF default reference temperature

lOS
FAST Ibchmcal Reference Guide

TWE(NWAL,NR) temperature of the gas external to a compartment boundary

TWJ(NWAL,NR,NN) temperature profile in the boundaries (ceiling, floor, upper/lower wall)

VOL(IBR) volume of branch ibr

VR(NR) volume of a compartment

WAREA(NR,NR) area of a vertical vent

WINDC(NR) wind coefficient for a vent facing the outside

WINDPW wind power law coefficient

WINDRF wind reference height (m)

WINDV wind reference velocity at windrf

PARAMKIERS:

MBR maximum number of branches

MCON maximum number of connections to a node

MDT maximum number of ducts

MEXT maximum number of exterior nodes

MFAN maximum number of fans

MFCOE maximum number of fan coefficients

MFl' maximum number of simple fittings

MNODE maximum number of nodes

MOPT maximum number of options allowed on the command line

NR maximum number of compartments

NN maximum number of nodes in a boundary (walls, ceilings and floor)

NT maximum number of equations to be solved (4*nr+2*nr*ns)

NIHMX maximum number of thermal definitions

NV maximum number of time intervals

NS maximum number of species to be tracked

NWAL number of discrete wall surfaces (ceiling, upper wall ,..) currently 4

MXSLB maximum number of different materials in a wall (now 3)

UPPER,LOWER upper, lower layer pointers (=1,2)

106
Sample Input

APPENDIX A: SAMPLE INPUT

The first four examples are included in the distribution as demo-fn.dat where n=l->4.

The fifth file is simply another example and is the file 3R in FAST_in.

The first example is for a single compartment. This is also the IR data file referred

to in FAST_in. In the latter case the graphics descriptors are not included.

VERSN 18 demo #1 a single compartment

TIMES 180 5 TAMB 300. HI/F 0. WIDTH 3.3

DEPTH 4.3

HEIGH 2.3 HVENT 1 2 1 1.07 2.0 0.0

CEILI GYPSUM

FLOOR WOOD

LFBO 1 LFBT 2 LFMAX 7

CHEMI 0.0 0.0 1.0 18100000 300. FMASS .0014 .1D014 .025 .045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041 FAREA .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 FHIGH .25 .;25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 FTIME 20. 20. 50. 50. 100. 100. 400.

CD 02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 CO 02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 WINDOW -100 1280 1024 1100 GRAPH 1 120. 300. 0. 600. 920. 10. 5 TIME PPM GRAPH 2 740. 300. 0. 1220. 920. 10. 5 TIME CELSIUS

LABEL 1 970. 960. 0. 1231. 1005. 10. 15 00:00 :00 0. 0. LABEL 2 690. 960. 0. 987. 1005. 10. 13 TIME [S] 0. 0. LABEL 3 200. 050. 0. 520. 125. 10. 2 C0JD2 |0_C0NCENTRATI0N 0. CO 1 1 U TEMPERA 2 1 U TEMPERA 2 1 L

Demonstration #2 is a similar run, but showing other types of displays which are

available.

18 demo #2 a single compartment but plot other stuff

5 VERSN 18 demo ) TIMES 180 TAMB 300.

HI/F 0. WIDTH 3.3

DEPTH 4.3

HEIGH 2.3

HVENT 1 2 CEILI KAOWOOL

FLOOR CONCRETE

1 1.07 2.0 0.0

107
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

LFBO 1 LFBT 1 LFMAX 7

LFPOS 1 CHEMI 0.0 0.0 6.00 18100000 300. FMASS .014 .0014 .025 .045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041 FAREA .5 .5 .5 ,5 .5 .5 .5 .5 FHIGH .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25

FT I ME 20. 20. 50. 50. 100. 100. 400. WINDOW -100 1280 1024 1100 GRAPH 1 150. 300. 0. 620. 920. 10. 3 TIME PPM

LABEL 1 390. 960. 0. 651. 1005. 10. 15 00:00:00 0. 0. LABEL 2 110. 960. 0. 407. 1005. 10. 13 TIME [S] 0. 0. LABEL 3 200. 050. 0. 520. 125. 10. 14 0|D2;o CONCENTRATION 0. TABLE 1 700. 300. 0. 1200. 920. 10. HEAT 10 1 U 02 10 1 1 U TEMPERA 10 1 U TEMPERA 10 1 L

This is the data set which produces the NIKE site evaluation scenario.

VERSN 18 demo #3 the original nike site evaluation

TIMES 180 5 TAMB 300. HI/F 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 WIDTH 3.3 2.4 2.9 2.4 3.3 2.4 DEPTH 4.3 18.8 9.9 9.9 4.3 4.3

HEIGH 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3

HVENT 1 2 1 1.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 2 3 1 1.07 2.0 0.0 HVENT 3 7 1 0.95 .15 0.0

HVENT 2 4 1 1.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 4 7 1 .95 .10 0.0

HVENT 2 5 1 1.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 2 6 1 0.10 2.0 0.0

CEILI GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM

LFBO 1 ROOM OF FIRE ORIGIN

LFBT 1 TYPE OF FIRE (GAS BURNER)

LFMAX 7 NUMBER OF INTERVALS OF FIRE GROWTH LFPOS 1 POSITION OF THE FIRE (CENTER)

CHEMI .0 0.0 1.0 18100000 300. FMASS .0014 .0014 ,.025 . 045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041 FAREA .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 .5 FHIGH .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 .25 FTIME 100. 100. 50,. 50. 100. 100. 400. CO 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 WINDOW 1280 1024 1100 VIEW 1 300 600 150 1200 900 200 DEM0-F3T.PIC 1000010000100001

VIEW 2 300 300 150 1200 600 200 DEM0-F3B.PIC 1 -1 1 572 572 1 LABEL 1 820. 960. 0. 1081. 1005. 10. 14 0. 0. LABEL 2 50. 50. 0. 1080. 100. 10. 10 |Nike Site evaluation 1.57

LABEL 3 70. 960. 0. 367. 1005. 10. 03 FIRE TkWl ~

0. 0. LABEL 4 640. 960. 0. 937. 1005. 10. 03 TIME 0. 0. LABEL 5 360. 960. 0. 635. 1005. 10. 14 0. 0. TABLE 1 200. 20, . 950. 250. 10. HEAT 5 1 U TEMPE 1 1 1 U INTER 1 1 1 U CO 1 1 1 U

i

I

108
Sample Input

TEMPE 2 1 U

INTER 2 1 U CO 2 1 U

The fourth demonstration data file is used to generate a dump file for trying FASTplot.

VERSN 18 demo # 4 a f ive conpartment calculation with save's TIMES 180 15 5 TAMB 300. Hl/F 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 WIDTH 3.3 2.4 2.9 2 .4 3.3

DEPTH 4.3 18.8 9.9 9.9 4.3

HEIGH 2.3 2.3 2.3 2 .3 2.3 HVENT 12 11.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 2 3 11.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 3 6 10.95 .15 0.0

HVENT 2 4 11.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 2 5 11.07 2.0 0.0

HVENT 4 6 10.10 2.0 0.0 CEILING GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM GYPSUM

FLOOR READOAK READOAK READOAK READOAK READOAK

LFBT 2 LFMAX 7 LFPOS 1 CHEMI 0.0 0.0 6.00 18100000 300. FMASS .0014 .0014 .025 .045 .050 .0153 .0068 .0041 FAREA .5 .5 .5 . 5 .5 .5 .5 .5 FHIGH .25 .25 .25 • 25 .25 .25 .25 .25 FTIME 100. 100. 50. 50 . 100. 100. 400. CO 0.05 0.05 0.05 .05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 DUMPR demo-H.dmp

WINDOW -100 1280 1024 1100 GRAPH 1 120. 300. 0. 600. 920. 10. 7 TIME PPM GRAPH 2 740. 300. 0. 1220. 920. 10. 7 TIME CELSIUS

LABEL 1 970. 960. 0. 1231. 1005. 10. 15 00:00:00 0. 0. LABEL 2 690. 960. 0. 987. 1005. 10. 13 TIME_[S] 0. 0. LABEL 3 200. 050. 0. 520. 125. 10. 14 C0|D2|0 CONCENTRATION 0. CO 1 1 U CO 1 2 U CO 1 3 U CO 1 4 U CO 1 5 U TEMPERA 2 1 U TEMPERA 2 2 U TEMPERA 2 3 U TEMPERA 2 4 U TEMPERA 2 5 U

The fifth example is a three compartment scenario, and referenced in the interactive program

as 3R. The results obtained by running this data set are shown in Appendix B.

VERSN 18 An1 example of a co< TIMES 180 10 TAMB 300. 101300. 0. HI/F 0.00 0.00 0.00 WIDTH 2.34 2.44 2.84 DEPTH 2.34 13.19 2.34

HEIGH 2.16 2.44 2.44

109
FAST 'Kchnical Reference Guide

CEILI KAOWOOL GYPSUM GYPSUM

WALLS KAOWOOL GYPSUM GYPSUM

FLOOR CONCRETE CONCRETE CONCRETE

HVENT 1 2 1 0.81 1.60 0.00

HVENT 2 3 1 0.79 2.00 0.00

HVENT 2 4 1 1.02 2.00 0.00

CHEMI 0.0 0.0 6. 50026000. 300. LFBO 1 LFBT 2 LFPOS 1 LFMAX 2 FMASS 0.0000 0.0018 0.0019

FHIGH 0.50 0.50 0.50

FT I ME 30 1000.

The corresponding thermal data file for these examples is

CONCRETE 1.75 1000. 2200. .15 REDOAK .15 1300. 640. .016 GYPSUM .16 900. 800. .016 WOOD .07 1000. 250. .016 KAOWOOL .22 1047. 128. .116.94 CONCRETE, NORMAL WEIGHT

.9 RED OAK

.9 GYPSUM BOARD (PLASTERBOARD)

.98 WOOD, CHARRED, DRY

.97 Glass fiber insulation

110
Sample Output

APPENDIX B: SAMPLE OUTPUT

The output of the R\ST program consists of two major parts. The first is a summary

of the input data and the initial conditions. The second consists of the calculated results at the

end of each print interval. A sample of the program output is shown in Appendix B. The

particular example comes from the three compartment data file (3R) shown in Appendix A

Due to the effect of the computer's internal precision on the solution of the equations, it is possible that the results from other computers will differ slightly from those found in Appendix

B. The output is labeled and most of it is self explanatory. There are however, a number of

abbreviations used which are explained in the following sections along with a general description of the output. The output pertaining to each of the compartments is listed across the

page beginning with compartment one in the left most column and proceeding to the right to the highest number compartment.

B.1 Summary of Input Data

The summary of input data is divided into three sections. These are geometrical data,

thermophysical properties, and the fire specifications. A title precedes these sections and lists the version number and any title which was in the data file.

B.1.1 Title

FAST version 18.2 - created Hay 16, 1988 An example of a constrained fire

B.1.2 Geometrical Data

This section lists the run title, the total number of compartments, depth, height, area, and volume for each compartment. It also gives the ceiling and floor height with respect to the reference datum. This is followed by the connections between the compartments. Each

compartment is listed vertically down the page and horizontally across the page and the

connections between compartments are given at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal

lists. The final compartment in the horizontal list is the exterior space. The parenthetical

numbers in the vertical compartment list are the number of openings for each compartment.

For example, if the maximum number of openings between any two compartments is three,

there would be three parts for each compartment in the vertical list. Each part consists of the

following:

111
E^ST Ibchnical Reference Guide

1) opening width (BW) (m)

2) height of top of opening above floor (HH) (m)

3) height of bottom of opening above floor (HL) (m)

4) height of top of opening above reference datum (HHP) (m)

5) height of bottom of opening above reference datum (HLP) (m) i

Total compartments = 3

FLOOi;I PLAN

Width 2.3 2.4 2.8

Depth 2.3 13.2 2.3

Height 2.2 2.4 2.4 Area 5.5 32.2 6.6

Volume 11.8 78.5 16.2 Ceiling 2.2 2.4 2.4 Floor 0.0 0.0 0.0

CONNECTIONS

1 < 1) Width 0.00 0.81 0.00 0.00

Soffit 0.00 1.60 0.00 0.00

Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

a. Soffit 0.00 1.60 0.00 0.00

a. Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

2 ( 1) Width 0.81 0.00 0.79 1.02 Soffit 1.60 0.00 2.00 2.00

Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

a, Soffit 1.60 0.00 2.00 2.00

a.Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

3 ( 1) Width 0.00 0.79 0.00 0.00

Soffit 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00

Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

a. Soffit 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00

a.Sill 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

B.1.3 Thermophysical Properties

This section lists the thermophysical properties of the ceiling, floor, upper and lower

walls respectively for each compartment. Although the thermophysical properties of the upper

and lower walls are the same, they are presented separately to correspond to the temperature

of the upper and lower temperature layers of the compartment. The information first shown

are the names as given in the data file. Following this is a listing of the conductivity, specific

heat, density, thickness and emissivity obtained for each of the thermophysical items which can be found. If the program was unable to find all names, it will quit at this point.

i

MATERIAL NAMES

Ceiling: KAOWOOL GYPSUM GYPSUM

Walls: KAOWOOL GYPSUM GYPSUM

112
Sample Output

Floor: CONCRETE CONCRETE CONCRETE

THERMAL DATA BASE USED: THERMAL.DAT

Name Conductivity Specific heat Density Thickness Emissi

CONCRETE 1.75 1.000E+03 2,200E+03 0.150 0.940 GYPSUM 0.160 900. 800. 1.600E-02 0.900

KAOWOOL 0.220 1.047E+03 128. 0.116 0.970

B.1.4 Fire Specifications

This section consists of three parts. The first part lists the compartment number of the

room of fire origin, the time step used in calculating the results, how often output is to be

printed, the number of intervals for which the mass loss rate is specified, the total time over which the results will be printed, the fire location within the room of origin, and the fire type.

Compartment of origin is 1 Print interval (seconds) 900

Number of fire specification intervals is 2 Total time (seconds) 900

Fire position 1 Limiting oxygen index (%) = 6.0

Initial relative humidity (%) = 0.0

Fire type is a SPECIFIED (CONSTRAINED)

The second part lists the initial fuel temperature, the ambient air temperature, and the

ambient sea level reference pressure for the interior and exterior,

Pyrolysis temperature (K) = 300. Ambient air temperature (K) = 300. Ambient reference pressure (Pa) = 101300. Reference elevation (m) = 0. External annbient temperature (K) = 300. External reference pressure (Pa) = 101300. Reference elevation (m) = 0.

The third part lists for each specified point of the fire, the mass loss rate of the burning

fuel, the height of the base of the fire with respect to the floor, the heat of combustion and

the fractional production rates of the species. Also listed is the duration of each time interval.

Fmass= 0.00 1.80E-•03 1.90E-03 Hcomb= 5.00E+07 5.00E+07 5.00E+07

Fc|dot= 0.00 9.00E+04 9.50E+04

Fhigh= 0.50 0.50 0.50 C/C02= 0.00 0.00 0.00 C0/C02= 0.00 0.00 0.00

H/C= 0.33 0.33 0.33

Ftime= 30. 1,00E+03

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FAST lechnical Reference Guide

B.1.5 Initial Conditions

This section shows the conditions in the structure at the beginning. If this is a restart, then the conditions will be at the time step used for the restart.

Time = 0.0 seconds

.

Upper temp(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0

Lower tenip(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0 Upper vo (m**3) .0 0.1 0.0 Layer depthdn) .0 0.0 0.0 Ceiling temp(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0 Up wall temp(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0

Low wall temp(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0

Floor tenip(K) 300 .0 300.0 300.0

Plume flow(kg/s) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

Pyrol rate(kg/s) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

Fire size(W) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+OO Plume in ul(W) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

Plume in ll(U) O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

Vent 1fire(W) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

Radiant(W/m^2) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+OO On target(W/m*2) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+OO Convect(W/m^2) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

0.000E+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+OO

Pressure(Pa) 0.000E+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

Upper layer species

N2 % 79.3 79.3 79.3

02 % 20.7 20.7 20.7

C02 % 0.000 0.000 0.000 CO ppiii 0.000 0.000 0.000 TUHC % 0.000 0.000 0.000

H20 % 0.000 0.000 0.000

00 1/m 0.000 0.000 0.000

Lower layer species

N2 % 79.3 79.3 79.3

02 % 20.7 20.7 20.7

C02 % 0.000 0.000 0.000

CO ppm 0.000 0.000 0.000

TUHC % 0.000 0.000 0.000

H20 % 0.000 0.000 0.000

00 1/m 0.000 0.000 0.000

300.0

O.OOOE+OO

114
Sample Output

BJZ Results of Calculations

The final part of the output consists of the calculated results at the end of each print

interval. The first line of the output is the simulation time. In this example the results have

only been listed for 900 seconds (see the data file in Appendix A). Following the time are the

temperatures of the upper and lower layers, the upper layer volume and thickness, and the

temperatures of the ceiling, upper (UW.TEMP) (K) and lower walls, and the floor.

300.0

Time = 900.0 seconds •

Upper tenip(K) 633.5 404.0 338.8

Lower teflip(K) 327.1 307.7 305.8

Upper vol(in**3) 5.3 32.0 9.1 Layer depth(m) 1.0 1.0 1.4 Ceiling tenip(K) 502.8 345.5 315.1 Up wall teinp(K) 466.2 333.4 311.0

Low wall tempOC) 396.3 310.8 303.4

Floor teinp(K) 313.2 301.9 300.2

Next is the flow rate of combustion products and entrained air into the upper layer

from the plume, the pyrolysis rate of the fuel, the enthalpy release rate of the fire, the total radiant heat transfer to the upper layer, the total convective heat transfer from the surfaces

surrounding the layers to the upper and lower layers respectively, and the difference between

the current pressure and the initial pressure at the floor.

Plume flow(kg/s) 2.202E-01 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

Pyrol rate(kg/s) 1.887E-03 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

Fire size(W) 9.440E+04 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO

O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO Plume in ul(W) O.OOQE+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO Plume in ll(W) 9.440E+04 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00

Vent fire(W) O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+00 O.OOOE+OO O.OOOE+00

Radiant(W/m"2) -1.886E+02 -5.015E+01 -2.953E+00 9.011E+02 1.388E+02 3.524E+01 On target(U/m"2) 6.978E+02 6.610E+00 1.272E-01 Convect(W/m^2) 1.031E+03 4.779E+02 1.596E+02 8.980E+02 3.824E+02 1.225E+02 -4.021E+02 -6.817E+00 5.125E+00

4.546E+00 1.485E+00 1.445E+00 Pressure(Pa) -1.152E+00 -4.932E-01 -4,514E-01

The final part of the results consists of the species concentration for each compartment.

The total mass of each specie in the upper layer is given for each compartment (kg).

Depending on the species, a concentration (ppm) or opacity (m') is also given. For CT, the

concentration-time product, only the time integrated (from time=0) concentration (mg-min/l)

for the upper layer in each compartment is given. The use of this time integrated concentration is discussed in reference [8].

115
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

Upper layer species

N2 % 77.4 78.4 78.4

02 % 16.1 18.5 18.5 C02 % 2.17 1.06 1.02 CO |J»J<» 0.000 0.000 0.000 UHC % 0.000 0.000 0.000

H20 % 4.33 2.11 2.05

00 1/m 0.000

Lower

0.000

layer species

0.000

N2 % 79.2 79.2 79.0

02 % 20.6 20.6 20.1 C02 % 7.921E-02 7.783E-02 0.302 CO ppm 0.000 0.000 0.000 UHC % 0.000 0.000 0.000

H20 % 0.158 0.156 0.603

00 1/m 0.000 0.000 0.000

116
Distribution and Instalialion

APPENDIX C: DISTRIBUTION AND INSTALLATION

The installation process which is described applies to the PC version of the model. For

mainframe applications, the installation is somewhat more complex, and the authors need to be contacted directly.

For the PC version, the model is distributed on various media, such as 3 1/2 or 5 1/4

disks. All files should be copied to a single directory on a hard disk. Then look at the

readme.doc file (if present) for instructions. The following files shown below should be

present:

BUILD.EXE

COLORTSTEXE

DATADAT

DEMO.BAT

DEMO-Fl.* (4)

DEMO-F3B.PIC

DEMO-F3TPIC

DEVPONT* (2)

FASTEXE

FAST_IN.EXE

FASTPLOTEXE

HLPTXTV18

INSTALL.EXE

LISTTHRM.EXE

RELEASE.DOC

SWU8*.*

SYSTEM*.* (13)

TEQUIPTEXE

TESTGAEXE

THERMAL.TPF

build graphics descriptions

diagnostic

standard data file run FAST with demonstration data files data files for demonstration (see appendix a)

graphics data files for demo #3

n n II II

data file for stroke (non filled) characters

FAST model

interactive input program

interactive output program

help text for FAST_in

program to set colors, file names and units (FAST_in)

list the contents of the thermal database

overview and version history

another demonstration, showing the stack effect

bit mapped font files' diagnostic

find out what the graphics adaptor is - returns an integer

default thermal database

The purpose of each program is BUILD - generate 3D pictorial representations for display by FAST

COLORTST - show the color palette used by FAST (not FASTJn)

These files are to be replaced by a filled stroke (vector) font, at which time there will be only a single file.

117
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

FAST - the main model of fire growth and smoke transport

FASTplot - post processing of FAST dump files for tables and graphs

FAST_in - interactive program to generate FAST data files INSTALL - defined colors, units and default path names for the models

LISTTHRM - list the properties in the thermal database

TEQUIPT - check for available equipment: math coprocessor and display

TESTGA - find out what we think the graphics adaptor is - diagnostic only

The command line arguments for the executable tasks are BUILD [/Gnnn]

COLORTST - no arguments

FAST [/N] [/L] [/Gnnn] [input or configuration file] [output file] FASTplot [/N] [/L] [/Gnnn] [script file] FASTJn [/N] [/L] [/Gnnn] [configuration file] INSTALL - no arguments

LISTTHRM - no arguments

TEQUIPT - no arguments

TESTGA - no arguments

The options are

/L turn on the log feature - writes to a xxx.log file /N turn off the header/copyright notice

/Gnnn where nnn is an alternative graphics adaptor

It is necessary to run the installation program before doing anything else. The

important settings are the name of the thermal database and the path to the data files. Even

if the name is to remain the same, the model(s) will need the configuration file which is generated by running the installation program. The name of the default configuration file is "DEFAULTS.FCG" and must reside in the same directory as the models. To leave the defaults

in place, simply exit each section of the program. The colors and units which are set in this program apply only to the interactive interface, FAST_in. It is essential that this file not be

modified. All information in the file can be modified by the installation program. The

subsequent programs do not check for integrity of this file and if it is not in the correct form

they will most likely terminate in an unpredictable way.

The first test should be to run the demonstration files. Enter the command "DEMO" -

it should run a sequence of four calculations. If nothing appears then use the two diagnostic

programs to check for the presence of the proper equipment. This set of programs requires

a minimum of 490K bytes and a graphics adaptor. Note that the 490K is free memory, so

generally, 640K of memory (RAM) is required since the operating system takes between 80 and

120K.

118
Distribution and Installation

Both FAST and FAST_in use a configuration file. They will attempt to find the default

file DEFAULTS.FCG unless the configuration file is specified on the command line. FAST

also requires a data file. If this is given on the command line, it is used, otherwise the model

will look in the configuration file (default or specified) to find the file last edited with

FAST_in. There are two conditions which will cause FAST to quit. The first is if it cannot

find a data file, and the second is if there are thermophysical properties which are not defined.

The /L option will turn on an error logging feature which describes what each program

is doing. It is an ASCII file, so it can be examined. However, it is really only useful if there

appears to be a "bug" and help is requested. In this case, we will require a copy of the log

file, which was generated when the failure occurred. If a problem arises, rerun the particular

program with this feature turned on, duplicate the problem, and send a copy of the appropriate

data file(s) together with this log file.

The /G option is used to specify an alternative display adaptor. If the model does not seem to be picking the correct adaptor, then this will be useful. The only case we have found

is the Compaq portable which use a high resolution plasma display, but which has the capability

for CGA output. When using the CGA output, the option /GC:4 needs to be used to override

the default and force the model to use the CGA driver.

119
FAST lechnical Reference Guide

APPENDIX D: THERMAL DATABASE

Thermal data is read from a file which is in an ASCII format. The default name used

is THERMAL.TPE Another name can be used by selecting it during installation, or by using

the key word THRMF in the R\ST datafile. The relationship is by the name used in

specifying the boundary. The example shown in section 6.6 was for concrete, brick and redoak.

Any name can be used so long as it is in the thermal database. If a name is used which is not

in the database, then EAST_in will turn off the conduction calculation, and EAST will stop

with an appropriate error message. The form of an entry in the database is

name conductivity specific heat density thickness emissivity

and the units are

name 1 to 8 alphanumeric characters

conductivity Watts/meter/Kelvin

specific heat Joules/kilogram/Kelvin

density kilograms/cubic meter

thickness meters

emissivity dimensionless.

The default database that comes with FAST (THERMAL.TPF) is

Name Conductivity Specific heat Density Thickness Emissivity

DFIR30 1800

PINEWOOD 1200

CONCRETE 1 75

REDOAK 1500

FIBER 0500

GYPSUM 1600

WOOD 0700

DFIRO 1300

DFIRIO 1500

GLASS 1 40

GLASFIBR 0360

KAOWOOL 2200

GYPl 1200

GYP2 1200

BRICK 1800

900 790 0160 0.9000

2500 540 0160 0.8000

1000 2200 1500 0.9400

1300 640 0160 0.9000

1250 240 0160 0.9000

900 800 0160 0.9000

1000 250 0160 0.9800

1400 510 0127 1.00

1500 560 0160 0.9000

760 2500 0160 0.9500

720 32 0160 0.9000

1047 128 1160 0.9700

900 800 0250 0.9000

900 800 0500 0.9000

900 790 0160 0.9000

120
Thermal Database

The output listing of FAST, and the thermal data base screen for FAST_in show a table of

"codes." The code is an eight character string whose fields are

1-3 number of nodes if it exceeds 'NN' which is currently 48 (36 for the PC version)

4 always blank

5 too many slabs - greater than mxslb (S)

6 inconsistent number of slabs - all properties must have the same number of slabs (I)

7 duplicate names - the first in the list will be used (D)

8 used in the present calculation (U)

121
NBS-n4A (REV. 2.80) U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET (See instructions)

1. PUBLICATION OR

REPORT NO. NIST/TN-1262

2. Performing Organ. Report No 3. Publication Date

May 1989

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Technical Reference Guide for FAST Version 18

5. AyTHOR(S)

Walter w. Jones and Richard D. Peacock

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION (If joint or other than NBS. see instructions) NATIONAL INSTrrUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

(formerly NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

GAITHERSBURG, MD 20899

7. Contract/Grant No.

8. Type of Report & Period Covered

Final

9. SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS (Street, City. State. ZIP)

Same as item #6

10. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

[^^ Document describes a computer program; SF-I8S, PIPS Software Summary, is attached.

11. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bibliography or literature survey, mention it here) FAST (fire and smoke transport) is a zone model capable of predicting the

environment in a multi -compartment structure subjected to a fire. This reference

guide provides a detailed description of the source terms used in the model,

data input requirements, and the output produced by version 18 of the model.

12. KEY WORDS (Six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only proper names; and separate key words by semicolons)

compartment fires; fire growth; mathematical models; numerical models;

room fires; smoke; toxicity

13. AVAILABILITY

[X] Unlimited

I I For Official Distribution, Do Not Release to NTIS rn Order From Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

20402.

Q31 Order From National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA. 22161

14. NO. OF

PRINTED PAGES

126

15. Price

USCOMM-DC 6043-P80

*U. S. COWERNBIENT PRINTING OFriCE 11999-242-31 1 i04069


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