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NIST Report of Test FR 4016
Report of Test FR 4016
February, 2005
Richard D. Peacock, Jason D. Averill, Richard W. Bukowski, and Paul A. Reneke
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
This Report of Test documents a series of full scale tests conducted as part of research into the performance of smoke alarms. The twenty seven experiments conducted as part of this test series were performed in a manufactured home. Another series of tests, conducted in a two-story house, consisted of a total of nine experiments with instrumentation similar to those included in this report and is reported in NIST Report of Test 4017, also available on this web site. The data collected is presented without analysis or interpretation in order to provide access to the data by interested parties.
Introduction
The overall purpose of the project is to determine how different types of fire alarms can respond to threatening residential fire settings in order to permit occupant egress. Full-scale tests of current smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide alarms in actual homes with appropriate contents as fuels provide a base of data to evaluate the performance of modern residential alarm technologies. Fire scenarios (including ignition source, first item ignited, and room of fire origin) were selected based upon a statistical analysis of available fire loss data. Selected fires include a mattress fire in a bedroom, upholstered chair fire in a living area, and a cooking oil fire in a kitchen.
This report documents experimental test series in the program conducted to characterize the environment in typical residential fire scenarios. Data presented include the time varying concentrations of CO, CO2, and O2, smoke obscuration, and temperature at multiple locations in the structure. Additional details of instrumentation design and location, along with uncertainty estimates for the measurements is included NIST Technical Note 1455 [1].
Test Data
Data for each of the 27 tests, numbered 1 through 15 and 30 through 41 are available. For each of the tests, a summary of the test conditions and ignition source are presented below. Spreadsheets of all test data are included. Graphs of the data are available here. Description of the column headings in the spreadsheets is available separately for tests 1 through 15 and for tests 30 through 41. Uncertainty in the measurements is discussed in the full report.
- Test 1, Smoldering Chair, Living Area
- Test 2, Flaming Chair, Living Area
- Test 3, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom (Test aborted due to ignition failure)
- Test 4, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 5, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 6, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 7, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 8, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 9, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)
- Test 10, Flaming Chair, Living Area
- Test 11, Smoldering Chair, Living Area
- Test 12, Cooking Oil Fire, Kitchen
- Test 13, Cooking Oil Fire, Kitchen
- Test 14, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)
- Test 15, Flaming Chair, Living Area
- Test 30, Smoldering Chair, Living Area (Test aborted due to ignition failure)
- Test 31, Smoldering Chair, Living Area
- Test 32, Flaming Chair, Living Area (Test aborted due to ignition failure)
- Test 33, Flaming Chair, Living Area
- Test 34, Smoldering Chair, Living Area
- Test 35, Flaming Chair, Living Area
- Test 36, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)
- Test 37, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 38, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 39, Flaming Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 40, Smoldering Mattress, Bedroom
- Test 41, Cooking Oil Fire, Kitchen
For the non-modified smoke alarms, heat alarms, and telltale sprinklers, only an activation time is available. Uncertainty in the measurements is discussed in the full report.
| Test | Description | Non-modified Smoke Alarms | Heat Alarm | Telltale Sprinkler | ||
|
|
| Photo | Ion | Ion |
|
|
| SDC01 | Smoldering Chair in Living Room | 3412 | 5192 | 5247 | --* | -- |
| SDC02 | Flaming Chair in Living Room | 78 | 24 | 28 | 130 | -- |
| SDC03 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom (Test aborted due to ignition failure) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| SDC04 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom | 3871 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| SDC05 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom | 42 | 32 | 32 | 140 | 147 |
| SDC06 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom | 3443 | 5998 | 5998 | -- | 6073 |
| SDC07 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom | 85 | 43 | 47 | 205 | 137 |
| SDC08 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom | 2339** | 3697 | 3699 | 3798 | 3745 |
| SDC09 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed) | 95 | 29 | 29 | 3724 | 127 |
| SDC10 | Flaming Chair in Living Room | 108 | -- | 44 | 369 | 194 |
| SDC11 | Smoldering Chair in Living Room | 883 | 3971 | 3963 | -- | 4359 |
| SDC12 | Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove | 741 | -- | 751 | 1453 | 1437 |
| SDC13 | Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove | 690 | 588 | 682 | 1388 | 1388 |
| SDC14 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed) | 2648 | 3402 | 3406 | -- | 3414 |
| SDC15 | Flaming Chair Living Room | 231 | 203 | 199 | -- | 351 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SDC30 | Smoldering Chair in Living Room (Test aborted due to Ignition Failure) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| SDC31 | Smoldering Chair in Living Room | 4245 | 4905 | 4911 | 8084 | 8103 |
| SDC32 | Flaming Chair in Living Room (Test Aborted due to Ignition Failure) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| SDC33 | Flaming Chair in Living Room | 106 | 20 | 22 | 16 | -- |
| SDC34 | Smoldering Chair in Living Room | 1668 | 3548 | 3712 | 3900 | -- |
| SDC35 | Flaming Chair in Living Room | 108 | 22 | 22 | 138 | -- |
| SDC36 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed) | 72 | 38 | 44 | 99 | 124 |
| SDC37 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom | 1632 | 1746 | 1736 | -- | -- |
| SDC38 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom | 95 | 39 | 37 | 1145 | 139 |
| SDC39 | Flaming Mattress in Bedroom | 90 | 34 | 34 | 120 | 126 |
| SDC40 | Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom | 2570 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| SDC41 | Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove | 642 | 136 | 230 | 1244 | 1262 |
* No data available ** Triggered alarm for 40 s at 2339; second alarm at 3707 s
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the Fire Metrology Group and others, including N. Bryner, W. Walton, T. Cleary, D. Stroup, W. Twilley, J. Lee, G. Roadarmel, J. McElroy, M. Selepak, D. Weinert, M. Donnelly, M. Nyden, C. Davis, and L. DeLauter. G. Forney developed the web conversion for the test data. In addition, an in-kind contribution from the National Research Council-Canada measured toxicological species with FTIR within the manufactured home. The measurements were taken by Dr. J. Siu and Dr. J. Kanabus-Kaminska. The results are pending further analysis.
The home smoke alarm project was sponsored by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fire Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Underwriters Laboratories. The National Fire Protection Association (In-kind contribution), and National Research Council Canada, (In-kind contribution).
References
[1] Bukowski, R.W., Peacock, R.D., Averill, J.D., Cleary, T.G., Bryner, T.G., Walton, W.D., Reneke, P.A., and Kuligowski, E.D., Performance of Home Smoke Alarms: Analysis of the Response of Several Available Technologies in Residential Fire Settings, Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1455 (2003).