DOORWAY FLOW INDUCED BY A PROPANE FIRE

A series of full-scale steady-state experiments was conducted to study the high temperature fire-induced flows through doorway openings connecting a burn room to a second room containing a hot gas layer. A propane diffusion burner served as the energy source. Fire strength and doorway width were varied. Measurements included two-dimensional velocity and temperature profiles within the opening and vertical gas temperature profiles within the rooms. It is also shown that the simple relationship between mass flow rate through the opening and ventilation parameter holds even when the opening is in the wall between two rooms.