Smoke Extraction in Buildings: Presented by

SMOKE EXTRACTION IN BUILDINGS
Presented by
Vysakh Manohar
GATE-Chennai
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 1

INTRODUCTION
Effective smoke extraction in buildings has been

one of the inevitable considerations in the
building design as the number of buildings and
the concern of people about the regular fire
accidents in buildings are increasing much.
This presentation includes a brief description
about the different design consideration
principles and methods to be taken care for the
effective heat extraction in different types of
buildings .

What is smoke?
By product of combustion or pyrolysis .

Mixture of liquid , solid particulate matter and
gaseous products.
It is a cocktail of carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide ,HCL and HCN

FIRE TIME LINE
00.00- Household is asleep
00.30- Fire ignites and grows in downstairs
1.04- Fire spreads and smoke begins to fill
In the room.
1.35- Smoke layer descends rapidly and
temperature exceeds 88 deg
1.50 Smoke detector sounds an alarm.
2.30- Temperature becomes 205 deg
2.48- smoke pours into other rooms

3.03-Temperature in the room becomes more
than 260 deg
3.20-upstairs,corridors,all the rooms are filled
with smoke
3.41- flashover occurs , temperature becomes
760 deg
3.50 Two minutes after the alarm sound,
only the second exit will be the way out
4.33- Flames will be apparent from the
outside , the first evidence of fire visible
from outside.

Will follow similar scenario in other location
The variations will be based on
1-fire size
2-size of building
3-flammable materials in the building
4-alarm systems
5-safety measures available

GETTING THE DESIGN RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING
Factors affected
1. Design fire size

2. Stack and wind effects
3. Temperature effect of fire
4. HVAC and ventilation systems
5. Climate
6. Expansion of ducts
COMMON SAFETY METHODS
Use sprinklers
Smoke curtains
HVAC system incorporating F & S dampers.
Extraction fans
Alarm systems
Pressurisation
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings

8
HAZARDS OF DANGEROUS SMOKE
Impair visibility
Coughing,nausea,vomiting
Generation of high temperature
Irritation and respiratory problems
Bronchospasms and hypoxia
Inflict death if it contains dangerous gases
Even low concentration of CO can cause diminished
coordination and increased disorientation
Amount of oxygen is reduced- suffocation
Exacerbate corrosive nature of HCL
Smoke Pathways
Air and service ducts connecting floors
HVAC/ventilation systems
Extract duct systems
Gaps between wall and floor constructions
Stairwells
Lift shafts
Need of smoke extraction
for life safety and reducing property loss
for fire fighter access
To clear smoke after a fire smoke purging

Smoke extraction design objectives
Effective protection of building occupants by
maintaining tenable conditions on egress
systems.
Reliable and functional fire fighting controls
used by firefighters to increase visibility and
reduce heat exposure.

Make up air routes
External doors
Louvers in wall or roof
Central air plant configured to supply air
From adjacent unaffected areas
avoid mixing of smoke and make up air

extraction points-avoid creation of hole
Smoke Production and movement
Amount of smoke produced is dependent on
size of fire
Path through which it goes
Plume height

Fundamental design factors
1. Design fire size

2. Smoke layer depth
3. Identify smoke reservoirs
4. Calculate smoke volume and temperature
5. Minimum number of extract points
6. Vent or fan size and fan temperature rating
7. Inlet air
8. Duct work
Design fire size
Fire starts small and becomes large

Vent area=2.5 % of floor area-otherwise
mechanical
6 ac/hour is used often
Design fire size is greatly dependent on building
contents.
Based on the largest fire source
Cannot surely withstand post flash over
conditions

Heat output of fire
National bureau of standards in USA

Based on time-
safe escape time
brigade response time

Acceptable smoke layer depth
Smoke layer base should be above the people
2.5 m-single storey
3 m - upper storey of 2 storey

Smoke reservoirs
If smoke is held in a too large reservoir-lose

buoyancy
2000 m^2 - natural extraction
2600 m^2 -powered extraction
Smoke curtains can be used to reduce
horizontal spread

Smoke- volume, mass flow rate and
temperature
T=Q/m cp
1/3 is gained by building structure

Minimum no of extract points
M cr is not exceeded
No smoke need to travel more than 30 m to
extraction point

Inlet air
To make up the smoky gases

At least 1.5m beneath smoke layer
If natural inlet is given
Inlets should be away from the outlets
Inlet velocity should be less than 3 m/s

Ductwork
Must be able to withstand anticipated temp-
From the formula
HVCA specification DW144
For sprinkled buildings
To limit fire spread
-fire protection of steel ducts
-construct from proprietary material
- use fire and smoke dampers

Fire resisting requirement of ductwork
To prevent fire inside one duct to breaking out to

other compartment.
To prevent fire from outside enter into duct and

then enter another fire compartment
To prevent fire from outside enter into duct and

the break out into other compartment

Performance criteria for fire resisting
duct work
Stability
Integrity
Insulation

Other things to be noted
Duct must be able to retain at least 75% of its

size after the smoke removal.
Sound or thermal insulation should not be
raised to ignition temperature.
Fire stopping seals should be used
Buckling or collapse.

Construction of fire resisting smoke
extract ducts
a) galvanized steel duct with additional

protection
b) fire resisting boards(eg . calcium silicate)
c)proprietary fire resistant ductwork
eg : PROMATECT-H
Protection of duct with fire resisting
board

Ductwork construction from fire
resisting board

Spreading of smoke

Design guide for different building
types
Multi-storey office and similar buildings
Warehouse
Underground car parks/basement
Atrium buildings
Shopping malls

Multi storey office and similar
buildings
Phased evacuation
Evacuation time will be varying
Smoke should not spread
1, smoke extraction
2, pressurisation
The recirculation of air in normal hvac system
is prevented by dampers

Important design considerations
The system is not for providing a smoke free
layer
Both supply and extract ducts should be
having fire resistance equal to that of the
floors /walls
Exhaust fans should be able to run at the
highest expected temperature

The power supply to the system must be
duplicated
The power and instrumentation cabling should be

of fire resistant type
Smoke and fire dampers should be having

suitable specification-UL555s
class-I,II,III,IV
in high storey buildings-wind pressure

Ware houses

Underground car parks/basement

ATRIUM CONSTRUCTIONS
Fully enclosed atrium
Partially opened atrium
Fully opened atrium

Fully enclosed atrium

Enclosures are 2 types
1- fire resisting enclosure-fire resisting

glazing
2- enclosure of limited combustibility but

not fire resisting

Partially enclosed atrium

Fully open atrium

Shopping malls

Extract from single shops
Smoke is prevented to enter to mall area
Very large fans are not required
But complex and costly
Shops must be sprinkled
Combined duct work is used to reduce cost

Extract from mall

Channeling screens

Limitations
With high atriums there is a cut off point of
mass flow rate of 150 to 250 kg/s-
economically impractical.
Temperature stratification
Cooling effect

Fire,smoke and building code agencies
Industrial risk insurers (IRI)
Southern building code congress inc(SBCCI)
National fire protection association(NFPA)
Underwriters Laboratories(UL)
British standards(BS)
National Building Standards(NBS)

CONCLUSION
By following discriminative approaches and
methods needed for different types of
buildings and constructions provided by the
different approved agencies ,the threat from
fire and smoke can be reduced to a
considerable level.

References
Promat International Ltd
National Fire protection Association,Guide for
smoke and heat venting,NFPA-204 M
BS 5839: Fire Protection and alarm systems in
buildings,Part1 2002
Underwriters Laboratories,Leakage rated
dampers for use in smoke in control
systems,UL555 S

THANKING YOU ALL..

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SMOKE EXTRACTION IN BUILDINGS

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 1

Effective smoke extraction in buildings has been

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 2

By product of combustion or pyrolysis .

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 3

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 4

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 5

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 6

1. Design fire size

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings

Extract duct systems

Gaps between wall and floor constructions

for life safety and reducing property loss

for fire fighter access

To clear smoke after a fire smoke purging

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 11

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 12

avoid mixing of smoke and make up air

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 14

1. Design fire size

Fire starts small and becomes large

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 16

National bureau of standards in USA

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 17

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 18

If smoke is held in a too large reservoir-lose

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 19

1/3 is gained by building structure

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 21

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 22

To make up the smoky gases

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 23

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 25

To prevent fire inside one duct to breaking out to

To prevent fire from outside enter into duct and

To prevent fire from outside enter into duct and

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 26

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 29

Duct must be able to retain at least 75% of its

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 30

a) galvanized steel duct with additional

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 32

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 33

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 34

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 38

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 39

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 41

The power and instrumentation cabling should be

Smoke and fire dampers should be having

in high storey buildings-wind pressure

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 43

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 44

Fully enclosed atrium

Partially opened atrium

Fully opened atrium

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 45

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 47

1- fire resisting enclosure-fire resisting

2- enclosure of limited combustibility but

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 48

Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Smoke Extraction In Buildings 49