Research on the impact of diesel generator fire on building structures of enclosed spaces

Abstract

Actuality. Violation of operating rules and underestimation of real temperature regimes of fires in generator stations lead to an increase in fire hazard and the risk of loss of load-bearing capacity of building structures. Insufficient consideration of real temperature regimes of fires in diesel generator stations makes it difficult to ensure fire resistance and operational reliability of buildings and structures. In this regard, there is a need for scientifically substantiated research into the thermal effects of diesel generator fires to form effective and safe spatial planning and design solutions. Purpose. Study of the nature of the development of a diesel generator fire in a closed room by combining numerical modeling and full-scale fire tests to determine critical temperature regimes and thermal loads on building structures in order to substantiate the fire safety requirements of generator station premises. Main results. The work experimentally and numerically investigated the temperature regime of a diesel generator fire in a closed room, established critical thermal loads and dangerous zones that can lead to the loss of the bearing capacity of metal, reinforced concrete and brick structures. Comparison of the results of full-scale fire studies and computer modeling in the FDS environment showed their consistency with a deviation of 12-15%, which confirms the possibility of using numerical modeling to substantiate the fire resistance requirements of generator station premises. Established the spatial-temporal dependencies of the change in the temperature regime of a diesel generator fire in a closed room depending on the height and distance from the combustion center, and also determined critical temperature ranges for different zones of the room. Quantitative dependencies of thermal loads on enclosing and supporting structures on the diesel fuel combustion scenario were obtained, which allow predicting the loss of fire resistance of structures and justifying the requirements for their fire resistance class and fire zoning of generator station premises. Conclusions. As a result of the conducted numerical and full-scale fire studies, it was established that fires of diesel generator sets in closed rooms are characterized by rapid development and formation of critical temperature regimes, capable of leading to the loss of the bearing capacity of building structures in a short time. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of using computer modeling together with experimental studies for the scientific substantiation of fire safety requirements and fire resistance of generator station premises in buildings of various functional purposes.