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Engineering Laboratory

Fire Research Division

Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 25 of 27
Sandia FLAME facility with FDS 7 beta

Advanced Fire Modeling

Ongoing
OBJECTIVE: To develop and maintain robust, validated fire models—and the associated visualization and analysis tools—for (1) performance-based design, (2) forensics (fire reconstruction), and (3) fire research applications in the built and natural environments. TECHNICAL IDEA: The development first

Advanced Gas-Phase Fire Retardants Project

Completed
Objective: By 2016 1, to provide data on and an understanding of the role of particle formation in limiting the action of gas-phase active phosphorous-based fire retardants added to polymers. What is the new technical idea? To effectively develop new fire retardants, industry needs an

Automated Tools for Material Property Calibration

Ongoing
Objective: To develop open source, freely available tools for property calibration and maintain archived, version-controlled material property sets with demonstrated accuracy. These tools should be: Accurate: Parameters predict experimental data Realistic: Values agree with physics Efficient: Fast
Smoke swirls around a white smoke detector on a ceiling.

Building Fire Safety Evaluation

Ongoing
Objective: To enable a reduction in residential fire deaths and injuries by conducting targeted research on advanced household fire alarms and cooking fire hazard reduction, and developing a system for evaluating the impact of new fire protection technology on residential life safety. What is the

Design Fires for Structures Project

Completed
Objective: By 2016 to develop (1) the measurement science to fully characterize, deliver, and measure repeatable structurally significant fires for use in large-scale structural fire experiments and (2) a performance-based design framework linking fire intensity measures with expected structural
FireEPS

Engineered Fire Safe Products

Ongoing
Objective To develop a database that maintains the tools (experimental and analytical), measurement data (for model calibration and validation), material property sets, and validation data needed to enable quantitative prediction of material flammability behavior (e.g., ignition, steady burning, and
fire fighter ventilating a building

Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings Program

Ongoing
Objective: To develop and apply advances in fire and structure-fire measurement capabilities and behavior predictive computational tools, standardized fire testing tools and methodologies, advanced fire detection technologies, and advanced fire resistant materials to enable innovative, cost

Fire Risk Reduction in Communities Program

Ongoing
Objective: To develop and deploy advances in measurement science to improve the resilience of communities and structures to unwanted fires through innovative fire protection and response technologies and tactics. What is the new technical idea? There are two new technical ideas, using measurement
The National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) will be used as a test bed for green house gas emissions, at near industrial-scale, for performance evaluation and calibration of instruments used for CEMS and relative accuracy testing audits (RATA)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Transport

Completed
Objective - Create a well-characterized highly accurate reference measurement system at near industrial scale to demonstrate a framework for conducting low-uncertainty measurements of carbon dioxide emissions, and to improve and evaluate atmospheric dispersion models for reducing model uncertainties
High temperatures and heat flows in NIST fire research melted a hole in a SCBA mask. A pressure sensor (brass fitting that was mounted on the face of the headform) is visible through the hole in the lens.

High Temperature Performance of Fire Fighter Equipment

Ongoing
OBJECTIVE: To improve the safety and effectiveness of fire fighters by developing science-based standard test methods that characterize the performance of fire fighting equipment and gear under fire environment conditions. TECHNICAL IDEA: This project aims to improve the performance of fire fighter

Impact of Material Composition on Ignitability and Fire Growth

Ongoing
Volume 1 Experimental Observations of the Burning Behavior of Combustible Solids in Parallel Panel Configuration at Full-Scale ( NIST Technical Note 2282 ) Report Summary This report provides an overview of measurements (e.g., heat release rate, gaseous species production, and flame-to-surface heat

Low Heat Release Upholstered Furniture

Ongoing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: The objective is to reduce the fire hazard of residential upholstered furniture by providing 1) a methodology and guidance on non-fire-retardant mitigation strategies that will result in L-RUF, 2) robust standard reference cigarettes for smoldering ignition testing and the
Compartment fire test of a two-story steel gravity frame with composite floors.

Measurement of Structural Performance in Fire

Ongoing
Objective - To support the development of performance-based building codes, validate computational tools for structural fire resistance, and apply new metrology techniques to characterize structural responses to fire through large-scale experiments. What is the new technical idea? Innovation in
NFRL Strongwall

National Fire Research Laboratory: Operations and Safety

Ongoing
Objective: By 2016, to develop the research portfolio and standard operating procedures including standard test protocols, finalized safety program, and robust business and operational model for large-scale fire-structural experiments. What is the new technical idea? Currently there is no research

National Fire Research Laboratory: Advanced Metrology

Ongoing
OBJECTIVE: To develop, improve, and maintain capabilities necessary to safely conduct measurements of large fire behavior and structural-fire response with quantified accuracy. ​ TECHNICAL IDEA: The new and unique measurement capabilities of the National Fire Research Laboratory allow scientists and

NIST/NRC Fire Research Collaborations

Ongoing
Objective: To provide measurement data and analysis tools that enable accurate, efficient, probabilistic risk assessments for fire scenarios in nuclear power plants. Recent Research: Brief descriptions and links to technical reports developed from recent NIST/NRC collaborations focused on Cable
Photo montage showing fill the airplane with fire-fighting foam, a spilled glass of wine on the tablecloth. Cleaning clothes and furniture from stains, Discarded Fast Food Wrappers Littered on Ground, wateproof jacket with water droplets on it. Jacket using the gore-tex technology.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Ongoing
Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) constitute a family of compounds that are distinguished by partial or complete fluorination of alkyl hydrocarbons. Dubbed “forever chemicals”, the unique chemistry of PFAS imparts a high level of stability, making the compounds resistant to
Modeling and Validation

Performance-based Design for Structures in Fire - Modeling and Validation

Ongoing
Objective: To produce validated computational tools and technical guidance enabling the development of performance­-based standards for the cost-effective fire resistance design and assessment of structures. What is the new technical idea? The focus of this project is to develop a comprehensive
First Responders

Public Health Risks to First Responders

Ongoing
OBJECTIVE: To identify a firefighter’s relative risk of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) released from their protective gear. TECHNICAL IDEA: The new technical idea is to determine the type, root source, and release mechanism of PFAS from FFG, which could be used to restrict

Quantifying Firebrand Exposures for WUI Ignition Potential

Ongoing
Objective - To quantify the threat of firebrand (ember) exposure from WUI fires on structures and structural materials. What is the new technical idea? Despite the increasing frequency and losses from WUI fires, compared to fires within structures, there has been relatively little research on WUI

Reduced Ignition and Flame Spread with Nano-Engineered Foam Project

Completed
Objective: By 2015 2, to develop the measurement science that enables (1) design and manufacturing of low fire hazard soft furnishings through commercialization of low heat release, inexpensive, and EHS compliant nanoparticle-based fire retardant foam, (2) to assess the EHS attributes of

Safety of Building Occupants Project

Completed
Objective: By 2016 1, to develop the framework for a model that will predict the evacuation decision-making of occupants in a building fire. This model will improve the accuracy of egress modeling tools used in performance-based design (PBD) of buildings. What is the new technical idea? To develop a
A fireball rushes out of the opening of a small metal compartment in a concrete room.

Smart Fire Fighting

Ongoing
Objective: Develop the measurement science that enables fusion of cyber-physical systems from buildings, apparatus, personal protective equipment, and robotics that enhances situation awareness, operational effectiveness, and fire fighter safety. What is the new technical idea? The new technical