The onset of fire within a compartment can pose a hazard to the occupants and the structure containing the compartment. Fire suppression systems aim to either extinguish or suppress an incipient fire before loss of life or damage to the structure can occur. The geometry and use of the compartment as well as the fuel packages within must be taken into account when choosing an appropriate fire suppression system. This thesis explores novel suppression methods inside of compartments. Los Alamos National Laboratories came to the University of Texas Fire Research Group (UTFRG) to characterize and investigate the fire danger inside of nuclear gloveboxes. The first suppression method discussed explores activation tests of a commercial automatic fire suppression system (Fire Foe [superscript TM]) containing heptaflouropropane (FE-36) fire suppressant conducted within a glovebox at the UTFRG's burn structure. Temperature and time to activation data of ten tests at four different fire sizes, three 13 kW, one 20 kW, three 25 kW, and three 50 kW, was taken. Gas temperatures from experiments were compared against NIST's Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) gas temperatures with good agreement. The time and spatially averaged net heat flux on a virtual Fire Foe [superscript TM] tube from the FDS simulations were passed to a thermo-physical, semi-empirical, sub-model to predict activation with poor agreement from experimental activation times. A Bayesian parameter inference was later run on the sub-model. While the Bayesian inference approach is able to match sub-model temperatures to experimental temperatures, some non-physical values for heat transfer coefficients and view factors were observed at the lower heat release rate fires. Micro combustion calorimetry (MCC) was used to determine heat of combustion of glovebox glove material and cone calorimetry tests were run to find ignition time versus incident heat flux. Using standard ignition time models, effective model parameters were calibrated. Thermal characterization of the glove material showed that the heat of combustion found from MCC was within the range of heats of combustion for other non-halogenated materials found in the literature. Analysis of the time to ignition tests showed that the glove material should be modeled as thermally thick when one would expect thin behavior. This behavior was attributed to possible heat losses from the back of the glove material. Dry water is expected to have similar suppression characteristics as water mist systems because the dry water particle sizes are on the order of water mist droplet sizes. The major benefit with dry water is the low pressures needed to drive the aerosol. An issue encountered with the dry water was flowing it in the way one would flow normal water. It was found that at low normal and shear stresses, the dry water clathrates would release the water held inside. A possible low shear delivery mechanism was discussed that avoids the ratholing effect. A continuous dry water production system was also designed. Filter loading tests were conducted to determine the quality of the dry water collected from the batch and continuous cases. It was observed that the ratio of water to silica for the continuous case reaches the batch value and is similar to results found in the literature. For the batch dry water it was observed that the particle size of the dried clathrates does vary with rotational speed of the blender and is independent of the type of water used (tap or deionized). / text

I denna studie har det utforskats skillnader mellan två olika typer av brandsläckningssystem:traditionella vattensprinklersystem och högtrycksvattendimma med avseende påbrandskyddsegenskaper samt miljö och hållbarhetsaspekterna. Syftet med denna studie är attförbättra förståelsen av de två olika systemen och dess användning för brandbekämpning.Traditionella vattensprinklersystem visade sig erbjuda effektiv branddetektion och respons tackvare värmekänsliga glasbulber och var särskilt effektiva i stora öppna utrymmen. Dessutomframstod dessa två vattensprinklersystemen som mycket lämpliga för miljöer med hög fibrositetsom till exempel sågverk.Högtrycksvattendimma erbjuder flera fördelar, såsom tidig branddetektion och respons, samt enmer effektiv brandsläckningsförmåga. Systemet använder små vattendroppar som avges medhögt tryck, vilket skapar en större täckningsyta och leder till upp till 90% mindrevattenanvändning. Detta minskar risken för vattenskador och gör systemet särskilt lämpligt föranvändning i trånga utrymmen och för skydd av objekt som Li-jonbatterier, samt i de flestaandra miljöer med undantag för dem där material med hög fibrositet förekommer.Miljömässigt visade sig vattendimma vara överlägsen utifrån flera olika aspekter. Det gällermindre vattenanvändning vilket därmed leder till mindre miljöfarligt brandvatten som behöverhanteras efter brandsläckning. Det uppnås även högre energieffektivitet och därmed lägrekoldioxidutsläpp på grund av att pumpen inte behöver hantera lika mycket vatten som med etttraditionellt sprinklersystem. Högtrycksvattendimma bidrar även till förbättrad luftkvalitet föratt den fokuserar på att bekämpa de farliga brandgaserna.Sammanfattningsvis har denna studie bidragit med viktiga insikter och analytiska slutsatser,som erbjuder en förstärkt förståelse av de jämförda brandskyddssystemen. Analyserna påvisaratt både högtrycksvattendimma och traditionella vattensprinklersystem har sina specifikafördelar beroende på deras tillämpningsområden. Syftet med studien var att undersöka ochjämföra dessa två system med avseende på deras brandbekämpningsförmåga för att bidra till enmer effektiv och optimerad brandbekämpning. Det har bristat med information från tidigarestudier vilket gör ämnet väldigt intressant att undersöka mer för framtida studier. / This study explores differences between two types of fire suppression systems: traditional watersprinkler system and high-pressure water mist system from the perspective of fire protection aswell as environmental properties. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding ofthese two systems and their use for fire protection.Traditional water sprinkler systems systems showed to offer effective fire detection and quickresponse thanks to heat-sensitive glass bulbs. It was also particiularly more effective in largeopen spaces. Traditional water sprinklers have also appeared to be effective for enfironmentswith high fibrosity, such as sawmills.High-pressure water has shown several advantages, such as early fire detection and responsetime, as well as a more efficient fire extinguishing capacity. The system uses small waterdroplets discharged at high pressure, which creates a larger coverage area and leads to up to90% less water usage. This reduces the risk of water damage and makes the system particularlysuitable for use in confined spaces and for protecting objects like lithium-ion batteries, as wellas in most other environments except those with high fibrosity.From an environmental perspective, water mist proved to be superior from several aspects. Thisincludes reducing water usage, which leads to less, environmentally hazardous firewater, thatneeds to be managed after extinguishing a fire. Higher energy efficiency is also achieved,resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions because the pump does not need to handle as muchwater as a traditional sprinkler system. High-pressure water mist also contributes to improvedair quality by suppressing hazardous fire gases.In conclusion this study has shown important insights and conclusions, offering a betterunderstanding of the compared fire protection systems. The analyses indicate that both high-pressure water mist and traditional water sprinkler systems have their specific advantagesdepending on their usage areas. The purpose of the study was to investigate and compare thesetwo systems with regard to their fire-fighting capabilities, contributing to a more efficient firesuppression. There has been a lack of information from previous studies, making the subjectvery interesting to explore more in future studies.

Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l'étude de l'interaction entre une aspersion par brouillard d'eau et un feu. Il s'appuie sur une modélisation existante figurant dans le code à champs « Fire Dynamics Simulator ». L'approche consiste en premier lieu à appréhender, par le biais d'une synthèse bibliographique, les phénomènes physiques mis en jeu lors d'un feu en tunnel et lors d'une aspersion par brouillard d'eau. Ensuite, un travail d'évaluation est mené. L'évaluation se veut évolutive, en commençant par des cas simples à l'échelle du laboratoire afin de travailler le plus indépendamment possible sur certaines parties du modèle d'aspersion, pour ensuite s'intéresser à la configuration tunnel. Ce travail d'évaluation permet de mieux cerner les aptitudes du code à simuler les phénomènes physiques mis en jeu lors d'un feu en tunnel soumis ou non à une aspersion. Des comparaisons sont effectuées avec plusieurs essais réalisés entre 2005 et 2008 sur une maquette de tunnel à échelle 1/3. Une fois cette évaluation accomplie, l'outil est exploité pour améliorer notre compréhension des phénomènes d'interaction entre le brouillard d'eau, la ventilation du tunnel et le feu. En particulier, l'influence de l'aspersion sur l'écoulement longitudinal est analysée, le rôle énergétique du brouillard d'eau est mesuré et les modes de transfert de chaleur associés aux gouttes sont quantifiés. Cette exploitation permet également d'évaluer numériquement l'influence de quelques paramètres sur l'efficacité de l'aspersion telles que la vitesse de ventilation longitudinale, la puissance du feu et la taille des gouttes pulvérisées. En dernier lieu, le code champs est exploité dans le cadre d'une étude numérique exploratoire en vue d'une campagne d'essais en bâtiment pour appréhender l'interaction entre l'aspersion, la nappe de fumée et le désenfumage mécanique / This work deals with the study of the phenomena involved when a water mist is sprayed in a tunnel fire environment. It relies on an extensive use of numerical simulations using the CFD code "Fire Dynamics Simulator". The first chapter of this thesis provides an overview of the tunnel fire characteristics and the phenomena involved when the water mist is sprayed. A bibliographical review on the research on tunnel fires with or without any mitigation system is conducted, allowing to outline the reason and the context for this research. In the second and third chapters, the computational tool undergoes testing. It is verified and validated based on comparison with analytical solutions and experimental cases of increasing complexity: from the laboratory scale for assessing one particular part of the water spray model (chapter 2) up to the tunnel scale (chapter 3). For the last case, the code validation makes use of the results of a reduced scale (1/3rd) tunnel fire test campaign conducted between 2005 and 2008. Once the validation is achieved, the computational tool is used intensively in the third chapter in order to improve the understanding of the interaction phenomena between water mist, tunnel longitudinal ventilation and fire. In particular, the water mist influence on the tunnel air flow is studied, the water mist heat contribution is quantified and the heat transfered to the droplets is identified. Furthermore, the CFD code is used to assess the impact of the longitudinal air velocity, the heat release rate and the water droplet size on the water mist efficiency. The last chapter illustrates how a CFD code can be used on a given situation, here a compartment fire test campaign, in order to foresee the interaction between the water mist, the smoke layer and the smoke extraction.