2019/12/13 by Harmathy, T. Z.
#Performance of: #Tenue #charge calorifique normalisée #chaudière #efficiency #essai de résistance au feu #fire resistance test furnaces characteristics #fire resistance tests #furnace gas effects #furnace size effects #furnaces #normalized heat load #theorem of uniformity of normalized heat load #éfficacité
paper · doi:10.4224/40001699
The characteristics of fire resistance test furnaces are examined. It is shown that the efficiency of a furnace, as measured in terms of the heat load it imposes on a test specimen, depends markedly on the size of the furnace and the nature of the furnace gas. Only with large furnaces heated by gases of high radiation potential (near-black gases) can the test results be regarded as meaningful and reproducible. Relining a defective furnace with a material of very low thermal inertia, though helpful, is unlikely to bring its performance up to the required level. Methods of determining the efficiency of test furnaces are outlined. The theorem of uniformity of normalized heat load is of satisfactory validity when applied to real-world compartment fires. The normalized heat load is recognized as a succinct descriptor of fires with respect to their destructive potential. As such, it forms the basis for correlating real- world fires with standard test fires.