A WAY TO CHARACTERIZE THE RANGE

OF VALIDITY OF A FIRE MODEL

Kevin McGrattan

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

Taylor Myers

University of Maryland

College Park, Maryland, USA

US NRC/EPRI Fire Model Validation Study NUREG-1824

Big fires in a small space…

Small fires in a big space…

2.2 m

22 m

Credit USN and Bob Vettori (NIST)

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

Fire Froude Number

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

Flame Height relative to Ceiling Height Lf /H

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

Relative Distance along the Ceiling, rcj/H

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

Target distance relative to FireDiameter

rrad/D

rrad

W

L

D

H

Lf

rcj

Global Equivalence Ratio

Characteristic Fire DiameterRelative to Cell Size D*/dx

W

L

D*

H

Lf

rcj

Acknowledgments:

Dave Stroup, Mark Salley – US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Francisco Joglar – SAIC/EPRI

References

NUREG-1824, V&V of Selected Fire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications

NUREG-1934, Nuclear Power Plant Fire Modeling Application Guide