Heat release rate: The single most important variable in fire hazard

Heat release rate measurements are sometimes seen by manufacturers and product users as just another piece of data to gather. It is the purpose of this paper to explain why heat release rate is, in fact, the single most important variable in characterizing the ‘flammability’ of products and their co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFire safety journal Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 255 - 272
Main Authors Babrauskas, Vytenis, Peacock, Richard D.
Format Journal Article Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1992
Elsevier Science
Subjects
Applied sciences
Building technical equipments
Buildings
Buildings. Public works
Exact sciences and technology
Fire protection
Fire safety. Legislation
Fire hazard
Combustion velocity
Construction materials
Fire safety
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Summary:Heat release rate measurements are sometimes seen by manufacturers and product users as just another piece of data to gather. It is the purpose of this paper to explain why heat release rate is, in fact, the single most important variable in characterizing the ‘flammability’ of products and their consequent fire hazard. Examples of typical fire histories are given which illustrate that even though fire deaths are primarily caused by toxic gases, the heat release rate is the best predictor of fire hazard. Conversely, the relative toxicity of the combustion gases plays a smaller role. The delays in ignition time, as measured by various Bunsen burner type tests, also have only a minor effect on the development of fire hazard.
ISSN:0379-7112
DOI:10.1016/0379-7112(92)90019-9