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1
Huang, Kai. "Population and building factors that impact residential fire rates in large U.S. cities /." View online version, 2009. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/287.
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2
Chau, Kam-chiu Lawrence. "The ecology of fire in Hong Kong /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1994. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18933798.
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3
Ierardi, James A. "A computer model of fire spread from engine to passenger compartments in post-collision vehicles." Link to electronic version, 1999. http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-052499-135914/unrestricted/thesis.pdf.
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4
Candy, Katherine. "Mapping fire affected areas in northern Western Australia - towards an automatic approach." Thesis, Candy, Katherine (2004) Mapping fire affected areas in northern Western Australia - towards an automatic approach. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2004. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/500/.
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Wildfires across northern Australia are a growing problem with more than 2.5 million hectares being burnt each year. Accordingly, remote sensing has been used as a tool to routinely monitor and map fire histories. In northern Western Australia, the Department of Land Information Satellite Remote Sensing Services (DLI SRSS) has been responsible for providing and interpreting NOAA-AVHRR (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data. SRSS staff utilise this data to automatically map hotspots on a daily basis, and manually map fire affected areas (FAA) every nine days. This information is then passed on to land managers to enhance their ability to manage the effects of fire and assess its impact over time.
The aim of this study was to develop an algorithm for the near real-time automatic mapping of FAA in the Kimberley and Pilbara as an alternative to the currently used semimanual approach. Daily measures of temperature, surface reflectance and vegetation indices from twenty nine NOAA-16 (2001) passes were investigated. It was firstly necessary to apply atmospheric and BRDF corrections to the raw reflectance data to account for the variation caused by changing viewing and illumination geometry over a cycle.
Findings from the four case studies indicate that case studies 1 and 2 exhibited a typical fire response (visible and near-infrared channels and vegetation indices decreased), whereas 3 and 4 displayed an atypical response (visible channel increased while the near-infrared channel and vegetation indices decreased). Alternative vegetation indices such as GEMI, GEMI3 and VI3 outperformed NDVI in some cases. Likewise atmospheric and BRDF corrected NDVI provided better performance in separating burnt and unburnt classes.
The difficulties in quantifying FAA due to temporal and spatial variation result from numerous factors including vegetation type, fire intensity, rate of ash and charcoal dispersal due to wind and rain, background soil influence and rate of revegetation. In this study two different spectral responses were recorded, indicating the need to set at least two sets of thresholds in an automated or semi-automated classification algorithm. It also highlighted the necessity of atmospheric and BRDF corrections.
It is therefore recommended that future research apply atmospheric and BRDF corrections at the pre-processing stage prior to analysis when utilising a temporal series of NOAAAVHRR data. Secondly, it is necessary to investigate additional FAA within the four biogeographic regions to enable thresholds to be set in order to develop an algorithm. This algorithm must take into account the variation in a fire's spectral response which may result from fire intensity, vegetation type, background soil influence or climatic factors.
5
Candy, Katherine. "Mapping fire affected areas in northern Western Australia - towards an automatic approach." Candy, Katherine (2004) Mapping fire affected areas in northern Western Australia - towards an automatic approach. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2004. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/500/.
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Wildfires across northern Australia are a growing problem with more than 2.5 million hectares being burnt each year. Accordingly, remote sensing has been used as a tool to routinely monitor and map fire histories. In northern Western Australia, the Department of Land Information Satellite Remote Sensing Services (DLI SRSS) has been responsible for providing and interpreting NOAA-AVHRR (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data. SRSS staff utilise this data to automatically map hotspots on a daily basis, and manually map fire affected areas (FAA) every nine days. This information is then passed on to land managers to enhance their ability to manage the effects of fire and assess its impact over time.
The aim of this study was to develop an algorithm for the near real-time automatic mapping of FAA in the Kimberley and Pilbara as an alternative to the currently used semimanual approach. Daily measures of temperature, surface reflectance and vegetation indices from twenty nine NOAA-16 (2001) passes were investigated. It was firstly necessary to apply atmospheric and BRDF corrections to the raw reflectance data to account for the variation caused by changing viewing and illumination geometry over a cycle.
Findings from the four case studies indicate that case studies 1 and 2 exhibited a typical fire response (visible and near-infrared channels and vegetation indices decreased), whereas 3 and 4 displayed an atypical response (visible channel increased while the near-infrared channel and vegetation indices decreased). Alternative vegetation indices such as GEMI, GEMI3 and VI3 outperformed NDVI in some cases. Likewise atmospheric and BRDF corrected NDVI provided better performance in separating burnt and unburnt classes.
The difficulties in quantifying FAA due to temporal and spatial variation result from numerous factors including vegetation type, fire intensity, rate of ash and charcoal dispersal due to wind and rain, background soil influence and rate of revegetation. In this study two different spectral responses were recorded, indicating the need to set at least two sets of thresholds in an automated or semi-automated classification algorithm. It also highlighted the necessity of atmospheric and BRDF corrections.
It is therefore recommended that future research apply atmospheric and BRDF corrections at the pre-processing stage prior to analysis when utilising a temporal series of NOAAAVHRR data. Secondly, it is necessary to investigate additional FAA within the four biogeographic regions to enable thresholds to be set in order to develop an algorithm. This algorithm must take into account the variation in a fire's spectral response which may result from fire intensity, vegetation type, background soil influence or climatic factors.
6
Steiner, Nicholas R. "Lessons from the investigation and analysis of real fires." Thesis, London South Bank University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.265355.
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McNamara, Marjorie Schratz. "Simple Fires." NCSU, 2004. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-02272004-204740/.
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"Suspended in Mid-Air while Looking under the Bed" begins and loosely foreshadows this collection of poetry and short stories. I am a storyteller, pulled by both family and place in my life. In this thesis, I play impresario and follow each short story with poems which resonate with that story. The first poems and short stories speak from places in my life: Ireland, Prague, and Malawi. Then my storytelling comes closer to family with a fictional account of my great-grandparents Wilhelm and Ana Krane, who immigrated to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in the 1880's. My story of family continues through relationships, reunions, my parents, and ends with the contemporary world when my translation of Charles Baudelaire merges into a poem about Iraq.
8
Monson, Elizabeth Ida. "Simulations of Controlled Fires Using the One-Dimensional Turbulence Model with Application to Fire Spread in Wildland Fires." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3163.
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The mechanism of flame propagation in fuel beds of wildland fires is important to understand and quantify fire spread rates. Fires spread by radiative and convective heating and often require direct flame contact to achieve ignition. The flame interface in an advancing fire is unsteady and turbulent, making study of intermittent flames in complex fuels difficult. This thesis applies the one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model to a study of flame propagation by simulating a lab-scale fire representative of the flame interface in a fuel bed and incorporating solid fuel particles into the ODT code. The ODT model is able to resolve individual flames (a unique property of this model) and provide realistic turbulent statistics. ODT solves diffusion-reaction equations on a line-of-sight that is advanced either in time or in one spatial direction (perpendicular to the line-of-sight). Turbulent advection is modeled through stochastic domain mapping processes. A vertical wall fire, in which ethylene fuel is slowly fed through a porous ceramic, is modeled to investigate an unsteady turbulent flame front in a controlled environment. Simulations of this configuration are performed using a spatial formulation of the ODT model, where the ODT line is perpendicular to the wall and is advanced up the wall. Simulations include radiation and soot effects and are compared to experimental temperature data taken over a range of fuel flow rates. Flame structure, velocities, and temperature statistics are reported. The ODT model is shown to capture the evolution of the flame and describe the intermittent properties at the flame edge, though temperature fluctuations are somewhat over predicted. A solid particle devolatilization model was included in the ODT code to study the convective heating of unburnt solid fuels through direct flame contact. Here the particles are treated as sweet gum hardwood and a single-reaction, first order decomposition model is used to simulate the devolatilization rates. Only preliminary results were presented for a simple case, but this extension of the ODT model presents new opportunities for future research.
9
Olwell, David H., and Alan R. Washburn. "Internetting of fires." Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/24462.
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Perry, Christopher Harton. "Synthesizing interactive fires." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62329.
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Dunn, Michael J. "Full-Scale Testing of Fire Suppression Agents on Unshielded Fires." University of Canterbury. Civil Engineering, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8241.
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A comparison is made between CAFS (compressed air Foam), HPD (High Pressure Discharge) and HPD with Class A Solution on unshielded post flashover compartment fires. Extinguishment was carried out by trained fire fighters using hand held lines, whilst the method of attack was carried out following New Zealand Fire Service operating procedures. The effectiveness of each method was determined, by recording the heat release rate using the method of Oxygen Calorimetry. Knockdown effectiveness was also evaluated by recording internal compartment temperatures with the use of thermocouples. In addition comments from firefighters have been recorded and video footage reviewed so that a qualitative assessment could also be made.
It was found that CAFS performed more effectively than HPD or Class A solution, in that less water was needed to obtain a similar knockdown performance. No noticeable benefit was obtained when Class A solution was added to the unmodified HPD line. The biggest advantage of CAFS over the other methods was the ability in being able to attack the compartment indirectly from a distance, which has additional benefits with respect to fire fighter safety.
12
LeBlanc, David. "Fire Environments Typical of Navy Ships." Digital WPI, 2002. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-theses/610.
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Current test methodologies used to evaluate the performance of protective clothing do not adequately determine the provided level of protection. The heat fluxes imposed by current evaluation methods are not specifically related to fire environments typical to those the clothing is designed provide protection against. The U.S. Navy is in the process of developing an improved process for testing the fire resistance of daily wear uniforms and protective gear. The first phase of this project involves evaluating currently used evaluation methods and identifying the severity of fire environments that would be expected aboard Navy ships. The examination of the test protocols currently in use identifies major weaknesses, providing the justification for a new test protocol. The first step in developing an improved test protocol is to determine the types of fire scenarios that would be expected aboard Navy vessels. The nearly infinite number of possible fires are reduced to 6 typical cases involving spray fires, pool fires and furniture fires in both compartmented and unconfined cases. An analysis of the environments produced by these types of fires is presented. The effects of compartmentation parameters are also investigated to determine the critical factors that affect the expected fire environment. Expected heat fluxes for all scenarios are presented at a number of distances from the fire.
13
Young, Elizabeth Anne. "Standardising Design Fires For Residential and Apartment Buildings: Upholstered Furniture Fires." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1959.
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This purpose of this research was to develop a credible set of furniture design fires for
residential/apartment buildings and determine a methodology for incorporating compartment effects in
design fires. Design fires can be defined using various outputs, the most important being the HRR
profile, and depending on the application the following may also be relevant:
· Smoke production rates
· Soot yield
· Species production rates
· Temperature profiles
· Visibility
· Heat fluxes
· Mass loss rate of the fuel
· Flame spread
There were three phases to this project: The first phase of this project was a comprehensive data and
literature review to determine the amount of experimental data available and commonly accepted
burning characteristics for upholstered furniture; armchairs, 2-seater sofas, 3-seater sofas, beds and
bedding assemblies, and commonly accepted burning characteristics and compartment effects. A large
proportion of the review provided only qualitative guidance for design fires.
In the second phase the data collected during the review was collated and used to quantitatively
analyse key fire characteristics. These were
· peak HRR,
· time to peak HRR,
· growth rate,
· total heat released and
· maximum CO/CO2 ratio.
A methodology was developed to statistically analyse experimental data using BestFit, and where there
was sufficient data the 98th percentile of the statistical analysis was used as a quantitative guide for
furniture design fires. Similarly, compartment effects were incorporated into the design fires by
analysing and comparing the experimental data from free burn and room burn tests of the same
furniture item. The same statistical analysis was used to determine likely changes in the key fire
characteristics mentioned above.
A methodology for determining design fires for upholstered furniture was devised, however the small
number of data sets available for analysis meant the quantitative results were only indicative.
The third phase was to attempt to model furniture fires using FDS, which determined that at the time of
this project, FDS was not capable of modelling simple furniture fires accurately. The simulation results
varied significantly from the experimental results and a number of limitations were identified. Therefore
FDS should not be used to create design fires using the heat of combustion method, which relies on the
users’ definition of material properties.
14
Pool, Christiaan Frederik. "The effect of modified fuel loads on fire behaviour in Pinus patula and Eucalyptus macarthurii stands in the Mpumalanga Highveld forestry region of South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1010958.
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The effectiveness of harvesting slash treatments are questionable when wild fires, fuelled by post harvesting slash, burn out of control. In order to quantify effectiveness of various slash treatments, fire behaviour in Pinus patula and Eucalyptus macarthurii compartments in the Highveld area (Piet Retief) of Mpumalanga, South Africa, were assessed after application of five different post-harvesting slash treatments. Treatments included mulching, chopper rolling, windrowing, removal of slash (inter-windrowing) and broadcasting. Independent fuel and environmental variables were measured prior and during application of fire to the study areas and effects on fire behaviour were compared afterwards. Dependant fire behaviour variables such as the rate of spread, fire temperature and flame height were measured in respective slash treatment plots and compared. Results of the study indicated that fire behaviour assessed in mulched areas in both the P. patula and E. macarthurii compartments were significantly less intense when compared to fire behaviour in chopper roll, broadcast and windrow treatments. Fire behaviour in mulched plots compared favourably with areas where harvesting slash was removed (inter-windrow treatment). Comparisons between fuel loads of different treatments also indicated accelerated mineralization of organic material in mulched areas. Mulching of harvesting slash seems to be an effective method to restrict fire behaviour in post-harvesting compartments and should be considered as part of a fire management strategy.
15
Archibald, Robert D. "Fire and the persistence of tuart woodlands /." Access via publisher's site, 2006. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20071130.140115.
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Kodandapani, Narendran. "Fire regimes and their ecological effects in seasonally dry tropical ecosystems in the Western Ghats, India." Diss., Connect to online resource - MSU authorized users, 2006.
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17
Berkley, Evelyn L. "Temporal and spatial variability of fire occurrence in Western Oregon, A.D. 1200 to present /." view abstract or download file of text, 2000. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p1402785.
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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Oregon, 2000.Computer optical disc in pocket of back cover titled: Animated time series of fire occurrence in Western Oregon, A.D. 1200-2000. Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-110). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to UO users.
18
Bjervig, Joel, and Johan Slagbrand. "Thermal Imaging Platform for Drones : Cost-effective localization of forest fires." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för teknikvetenskaper, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-385834.
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A device for identifying forest fires in an early stage has been developed during the course of this project. Attached to a drone, this prototype will provide a live-stream to a web server displaying a blended frame, made of a thermographic image showing thermal radiation and a regular photography with the visible light. The platform consists of a small single-boarded computer, a thermal camera sensor and a regular camera module. All powered by a power bank and fitted into a custom made 3D printed plastic case. At startup the computer automatically executes scripts written in Python, initializing its sensor components and processes the captured images which finally gets transmitted to a live-stream via a web server connection. Everything described above worked well, but originally the intent was for the web interface to provide a map with the current location coordinates of the drone. Since a module for mobile communication with support for GPS was not acquired, any implementation of such kind was impossible. However, several drone models already possess the feature to obtain such coordinates.
19
Parkes, Anthony Richard. "The impact of size and location of pool fires on compartment fire behaviour." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/3444.
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An understanding of compartment fire behaviour is important for fire protection
engineers. For design purposes, whether to use a prescriptive code or performance
based design, life safety and property protection issues are required to be assessed. The
use of design fires in computer modelling is the general method to determine fire safety.
However these computer models are generally limited to the input of one design fire,
with consideration of the complex interaction between fuel packages and the
compartment environment being simplified. Of particular interest is the Heat Release
Rate, HRR, as this is the commonly prescribed design parameter for fire modelling. If
the HRR is not accurate then it can be subsequently argued that the design scenario may
be flawed. Therefore the selection of the most appropriate fire design scenario is
critical, and an increased level of understanding of compartment behaviour is an
invaluable aid to fire engineering assumptions.
This thesis details an experimental study to enhance the understanding of the impact and
interaction that the size and location of pool fires within an enclosure have upon the
compartment fire behaviour. Thirty four experiments were conducted in a reduced scale
compartment (½ height) with dimensions of 3.6m long by 2.4m wide by 1.2m high
using five typical ventilation geometries (fully open, soffit, door, window and small
window). Heptane pool fires were used, located in permutations of three evenly
distributed locations within the compartment (rear, centre and front) as well as larger
equivalent area pans located only in the centre. This thesis describes the experimental
development, setup and results of the experimental study. To assist in the classification
of compartment fire behaviour during the experiments, a ‘phi’ meter was developed to
measure the time dependent equivalence ratio. The phi meter was developed and
configured to measure O₂, CO₂ and CO. The background development, calibration, and
experimental results are reported. A review of compartment fire modelling using Fire
Dynamics Simulator, has also been completed and the results discussed.
The results of this experimental study were found to have significant implications for
Fire Safety Engineering in that the size of the fire is not as significant as the location of
the fire. The effect of a fire near the vent opening was found to have a significant impact
on compartment fire behaviour with the vent located fuel source increasing the total
compartment heat release rate by a factor of 1.7 to that of a centrally placed pool fire of
the same total fuel area. The assumption that a fire located in the centre of the room
provides for the highest heat release rate is not valid for post-flashover compartment
fires. The phi meter was found to provide good agreement with the equivalence ratio
calculated from total compartment mass loss rates, and the results of FDS modelling
indicate that the use of the model in its current form can not be applied to complex pool
fire geometries.
20
Ho, San-Ping. "Water spray suppression and intensification of high flash point hydrocarbon pool fires." Link to electronic thesis, 2003. http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-0829103-153046.
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Feasey, R. "Post-Flashover Design Fires." University of Canterbury. Civil Engineering, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8266.
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This report reviews the modelling of post-flashover fires and compares the various methods of predicting temperature versus time in post-flashover compartment fires, including the historical development of theoretical approaches.
The report specifically addresses the use of the COMPF2 model as implemented in the
COMPF2PC computer programme, as a prediction tool for post-flashover fire temperatures. Aspects of the computer code are compared with theory and experimental data. The results of many COMPF2PC simulations are compared with test fire data, in order to determine how best to characterise the input data to achieve the best simulation results with the computer programme.
It is found that with careful selection of input data, COMPF2PC can provide good prediction of post flashover fire temperatures for compartments with a fire load of greater than15 kg of wood per square metre of floor area, and for ventilation factors
A˯√H/A˕ ≥ 0.04. Reliability of temperature prediction is poorer for ventilation factors
(A˯√H/A˕) significantly less than 0.04.
Guidelines for use of the COMPF2PC programme are provided.
Based on the methodology developed during simulation of test fires, generalised fire temperature versus time curves are developed for a single compartment size and a range of compartment material properties. The generalised COMPF2PC temperature versus time curves are compared with those of alternative models in common use.
It is found that for a fire of fire load 1200 MJ m-² of floor area, in a compartment of medium thermal inertia, depending on ventilation, the COMPF2PC model predicts fires which either have a significantly higher maximum temperature or longer duration (or both), than those predicted by the Eurocode Parametric fire, and the "Swedish" fire model of Magnusson and Thelandersson. This may have a significant impact on the calculation of time equivalent fires.
Recommendations for future development of the COMPF2PC programme are provided.
22
Сукач, Р. Ю., and М. М. Р. Мних. "Prevention of forest fires." Thesis, Львівський державний університет безпеки життєдіяльності. ХVІ Міжнародна науково-практична конференція молодих вчених, курсантів та студентів “Проблеми та перспективи розвитку забезпечення безпеки життєдіяльності”. ст. 171-172. м. Львів 2021 р, 2021. http://sci.ldubgd.edu.ua:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/9059.
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Luisi, Domenico. "Conceptual design and specification of a microsatellite forest fire detection system /." Online version of thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/5771.
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Balfour, Victoria Nairn. "The effect of forest fires on runoff rates the role of duff removal and surface sealing by vegetative ash, western Montana /." Diss., [Missoula, Mont.] : The University of Montana, 2007. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-12202007-181528/.
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Parsons, Russell Andrew. "Spatial variability in forest fuels simulation miodeling and effects on fire behavior /." CONNECT TO THIS TITLE ONLINE, 2007. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05272008-141125/.
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Oregon, Rogelio S. "Smart fires a COTS approach to tactical fire support using a smartphone." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/5469.
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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.Communications in wartime are critical. The United States Marine Corps communicates well using a variety of radios, each for a specialized and limited purpose. However, the USMC could potentially benefit from the exploration of combining communication capabilities in a single device by leveraging commercial off-the-shelf software and expanding the existing network infrastructure. This thesis seeks to resolve this gap in capabilities by providing a fire support application prototype that serves as a proof-of-concept for rapidly developable applications that would have an immediate positive impact, providing enhanced warfighter capabilities. If successful, this application could be further developed and fielded, and thus improve warfighting capabilities and inform future efforts in an effort to accomplish improved network management and the efficient use of existing and future communication technologies.
27
Neviackas, Andrew. "Inverse fire modeling to estimate the heat release rate of compartment fires." College Park, Md.: University of Maryland, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/7290.
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Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2007.Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Fire Protection Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Kotsovinos, Panagiotis. "Analysis of the structural response of tall buildings under multifloor and travelling fires." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/8007.
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The last decades have seen a surge in the construction of tall buildings all over the world. Due to their, often, innovative and complex layouts, tall buildings can pose unique challenges to architects and engineers. Previous tall building failures raised significant concerns on the applicability of prescriptive fire design for these structures. The use of structural fire engineering can enhance the safety of a tall building under fire by strengthening any vulnerable areas in the structure and at the same time reduce the costs of fire protection by removing it when unnecessary. Commercial finite element and specialist structural fire engineering software have their advantages and disadvantages. In this thesis, the object-oriented and open-source finite element software OpenSees is presented along with its development with structural fire capabilities by the author and other researchers at the University of Edinburgh. Specifically, new pattern, element, section and material classes have been introduced. All the developed code follows the object-oriented paradigm and is consistent with the ethos of the existing framework. Verification and validation studies of the developed code are also presented. Several procedures including that for dynamic analysis of structures in fire for the collapse assessment of structures are discussed. The development of OpenSees with structural fire capabilities allows the collaboration of engineers across geographical boundaries and disciplines using a community tool. In this work, the behaviour of tall buildings under different fire scenarios has been modelled using the developed OpenSees code. Firstly, the collapse mechanisms of generic tall buildings are investigated, namely the strong and weak floor mechanisms are demonstrated, and criteria are established on when each of these mechanisms occurs. The parametric study performed demonstrated that the weak floor collapse is less probable for generic composite buildings however this type of failure can become easier to appear as the number of floors in fire increase. The effect of vertically travelling fires on these mechanisms is also examined. The results of the study show that slower travelling rates delay or avoid the global failure of a tall building compared to quicker travelling rates allowing for the time required for steel members to regain their strength during cooling to ambient temperature. However, it was seen that higher tensile membrane forces were observed in the floors as the travelling rates increased which could result in possible connection failure. Most of the research and design codes, such as Eurocode, typically assume a uniform thermal environment across the floor area of a structure when defining the design fire. However, in reality fires are more likely to travel in large enclosures, hence there is a need to understand how tall buildings behave under more realistic fire conditions such as travelling fires. A methodology for defining the thermal environment of large enclosures using travelling fires has been recently developed at the University of Edinburgh. Taking into account OpenSees' programmable architecture and its recent inclusion with heat transfer capabilities by other researchers, there was a collaborative effort in order to understand the thermal and structural response of a generic composite tall building under horizontally travelling fires. The findings of the study showed that larger travelling fire sizes produce quicker heating to the steel beams while smaller fire sizes produce higher peak temperatures in the concrete slab. The structural analysis also demonstrated that travelling fires produced higher midspan deflections in comparison to Eurocode parametric fires and higher plastic deformations which is an indication of higher damage. Further work focused on looking at the behaviour of tall buildings under the combined scenario of horizontally and vertically travelling fires. The results of the study showed that the travelling fires produce lower maximum compressive and tensile membrane forces in the composite floor compared to the Eurocode parametric fires for the building examined and thus in a multi-floor scenario the columns are pulling-in less after large deflections develop in the floor. More specifically, the short-hot fire produced the most demanding response. This suggests that in long floors where uniform heating is really impossible, the time of failure predicted by parametric fires in a multi-floor scenario can be more onerous. The outcomes of this work can aid designers when considering the structural fire response of tall buildings in a performance based design context. It was demonstrated that multi-floor fires could be a threat for tall buildings, and thus this possibility should be considered in design. The use of more realistic fire definition for large enclosures, such as travelling fires, should also be considered. The travelling fire methodology can provide an enhanced level of confidence for the safety of a building since it can represent a range of similar fires to those that may occur in a real fire scenario.
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Tsatsoulas, Dimitrios. "Industrial fires in northern greece. The influence of flame retardant coating on timber fires." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.489861.
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This Thesis deals with the problem of fire protection mainly in industrial units in the region of Northern Greece. The region represents a large enough sample to allow applications of the findings to the rest of Greece. The approach adopted was two Parts: Part 1: Collection and analysis of ali significant industrial fires in Northern Greece between 1999-2003. Fire incident data were gathered from the Greek Fire Service, National Statistical service, Greek Insurance Union. In total seven hundred and three (703) fire incidents were analyzed. Analysis involved categorizing according industry type. Further analysis for the biggest categories of Timber and Textile industries with respect to place of origin, ignition sources, first ignited materials, time of ignition, degree of spread, financial loss. The data were further processed to provide the probability of fire breaking, fire spread and the expected financial loss was determined using Extreme Value Theory. The main finding ofthe statistical analysis were: • Although the Textile and Timber industries account for lees than 6% of the industrial units they account for 47% ofall fire incidents • The largest values of probability of fires breaking -out were' mostly seen in the ' production and machinery areas, due to electricity, followed by fires breaking in storage areas due to electrical causes or arson. • Event tree analysis showed that the' probability of the fire spreading beyond the item first ignited was large(about 70%) for Textile and Timber industries in comparison. to other countries. The statistical analysis showed clearly that prevention of fire spread beyond the first item ignited would have a major impact on the reduction of fire losses. 24% of first-ignited materials were wooden surfaces. In the category of timber industries alone, this figure was 55%. -. ~ ,'.. ~ ....- -.' .•. Part2 : As a possible solution to the problem the effect of three (3) typical intumescent flame retardants (latest technology) on the most common types of Timber in Greek industries was examined in small (cone calorimeter) and medium scale (1m3 enclosed fire rig) experiments combined with online effluent gas analysis equipment (FTIR). Analysis involved thermal behavior, smoke production and toxic species analysis of the samples. The main findings ofthe experimental analysis were: • No ignition' and lower toxic emissions compared to untreated samples were . observed at 35kW/m2 (small scale). • The same behavior was observed in those cases where wooden surfaces located next to ignition source had been treated (medium scale). As a next step the experimental and statistical data was employed in an event-tree analysis for cases of fires in Timber industries Based in this analysis it was estimated that the probability of a fire spreading beyond the first ignited materials in case of treatment with - . . -- - ._- flame retardants reduced by 58% A tentative cost benefit analysis using a typical industrial unit supported the use of flame retardants on a financial basis with a payback period of two (2) years. It is proposed that the application of intumescent flame retardants on wooden surfaces located close to ignition sources in the most probable areas for a fire to break out, could be a safe and effective approach in reducing fire losses in industries.
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Blanco, Ricardo De Jesus. "City of a hundred fires." FIU Digital Commons, 1997. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1693.
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These poems capture the "coming of age" experiences encountered by a Cuban-American narrator in the United States and in Cuba. The poems in the book appear chronologically, that is to say, not in the order they were written, but according to the age of the poet-speaker, ranging from early adolescence to young adulthood. The poems in Part I reveal the fragmented traditions and heritage inherited by a first generation Cuban-American, while questioning the complex merging of the two cultures encountered by the poet-speaker. In Part II, the majority of the poems are set in Cuba, as the poet-speaker travels through the living history of his "homeland" to explore the cultural roots discovered in its landscapes, traditions, relatives and towns, like Cienfuegos-"the city of a hundred fires". The style and language of the poetry become unique to the poet-speaker's own cultural vision, the Cuban-American experience transformed to lyric poetry.
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Cleary, Matthew John. "CMC Modelling of Enclosure Fires." University of Sydney. Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/696.
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This thesis describes the implementation of the conditional moment closure (CMC) combustion model in a numerical scheme and its application to the modelling of enclosure fires. Prediction of carbon monoxide (CO) in the upper smoke layer of enclosure fires is of primary interest because it is a common cause of death. The CO concentration cannot be easily predicted by empirical means, so a method is needed which models the chemistry of a quenched, turbulent fire plume and subsequent mixing within an enclosed space. CMC is a turbulent combustion model which has been researched for over a decade. It has provided predictions of major and minor species in jet diffusion flames. The extension to enclosure fires is a new application for which the flow is complex and temperatures are well below adiabatic conditions. Advances are made in the numerical implementation of CMC. The governing combustion equations are cast in a conserved, finite volume formulation for which boundary conditions are uniquely defined. Computational efficiency is improved through two criteria which allow the reduction in the size of the computational domain without any loss of accuracy. Modelling results are compared to experimental data for natural gas fires burning under a hood. Comparison is made in the recirculating, post-flame region of the flow where temperatures are low and reactions are quenched. Due to the spatial flux terms contained in the governing equations, CMC is able to model the situation where chemical species are produced in the high temperature fire-plume and then transported to non-reacting regions. Predictions of CO and other species are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data over a range of lean and rich hood-fire conditions. Sensitivity of results to chemistry, temperature and modelling closures is inves- tigated. Species predictions are shown to be quite different for the two detailed chemical mechanisms used. Temperature conditions within the hood effect the for- mation of species in the plume prior to quenching and subsequently species predic- tions in the post-flame region are also effected. Clipped Gaussian and ß-function probability density functions (PDFs) are used for the stochastic mixture fraction. Species predictions in the plume are sensitive to the form of the PDF but in the post-flame region, where the ß-function approaches a Gaussian form, predictions are relatively insensitive. Two models are used for the conditional scalar dissipation: a uniform model, where the conditional quantity is set equal to the unconditional scalar dissipation across all mixture fraction space; and a model which is consistent with the PDF transport equation. In the plume, predictions of minor species are sensitive to the modelling used, but in the recirculating, post-flame region species are not significantly effected.
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Stern-Gottfried, Jamie. "Travelling fires for structural design." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/5244.
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Traditional methods for specifying thermal inputs for the structural fire analysis of buildings assume uniform burning and homogeneous temperature conditions throughout a compartment, regardless of its size. This is in contrast to the observation that accidental fires in large, open-plan compartments tend to travel across floor plates, burning over a limited area at any one time. This thesis reviews the assumptions inherent in the traditional methods and addresses their limitations by proposing a methodology that considers travelling fires for structural design. Central to this work is the need for strong collaboration between fire safety engineers to define the fire environment and structural fire engineers to assess the subsequent structural behaviour. The traditional hypothesis of homogeneous temperature conditions in postflashover fires is reviewed by analysis of existing experimental data from wellinstrumented fire tests. It is found that this assumption does not hold well and that a rational statistical approach to fire behaviour could be used instead. The methodology developed in this thesis utilises travelling fires to produce more realistic fire scenarios in large, open-plan compartments than the conventional methods that assume uniform burning and homogeneous gas phase temperatures which are only applicable to small compartments. The methodology considers a family of travelling fires that includes the full range of physically possible fire sizes iv within a given compartment. The thermal environment is split into two regions: the near field (flames) and the far field (smoke away from the flames). Smaller fires travel across a floor plate for long periods of time with relatively cool far field temperatures, while larger fires have hotter far field temperatures but burn for shorter durations. The methodology is applied to case studies showing the impact of travelling fires on generic concrete and steel structures. It is found that travelling fires have a considerable impact on the performance of these structures and that conventional design approaches cannot automatically be assumed to be conservative. The results indicate that medium sized fires between 10% and 25% of the floor area are the most onerous for a structure. Detailed sensitivity analyses are presented, showing that the structural design and fuel load have a larger impact on structural behaviour than any numerical or physical parameter required for the methodology. This thesis represents a foundation for using travelling fires for structural analysis and design. The impact of travelling fires is critical for understanding true structural response to fire in modern, open-plan buildings. It is recommended that travelling fires be considered more widely for structural design and the structural mechanics associated with them be studied in more detail. The methodology presented in this thesis provides a key framework for collaboration between fire safety engineers and structural fire engineers to achieve these aims.
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Moqbel, Shadi. "CHARACTERIZING SPONTANEOUS FIRES IN LANDFILLS." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2009. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/2695.
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Landfill fires are relatively common incidents that landfill operators encounter which have great impact on landfill structure and the environment. According to a U.S. Fire Administration report in 2001, an average of 8,300 landfill fires occurs each year in the United States, most of them in the spring and summer months. Subsurface spontaneous fires are considered the most dangerous and difficult to detect and extinguish among landfill fires. Few studies have been conducted on spontaneous fires in landfills. Information regarding the thermal behavior of solid waste is not available nor have measurements been made to evaluate spontaneous ignition of solid waste. The purpose of this research was to provide information concerning the initiation of spontaneous ignition incidents in landfills, and investigate the conditions favoring their occurrence. This study enabled better understanding of the self-heating process and spontaneous combustion in landfills. Effects of parameters critical to landfill operation on spontaneous combustion were determined. Spontaneous combustion occurs when materials are heated beyond the ignition temperature. Temperature rise occurs inside the landfill due to exothermic reactions which cause self-heating of the solid waste. Oxygen introduction leading to biological waste degradation and chemical oxidation is believed to be the main cause of rising solid waste temperatures to the point of ignition. A survey was distributed to landfill operators collecting information regarding spontaneous firs incidents in their landfills. Survey results raised new questions necessitating further study of subsurface fires incidents. Subsurface spontaneous fires were not restricted to any landfill geometry or type of waste (municipal, industrial, commercial, and construction and demolition). Results showed that landfill fires occur in landfills that do and do not recirculate leachate. Although new methods have been developed to detect subsurface fires, landfill operators depend primarily on visual observation of smoke or steam to detect the subsurface fires. Also, survey results indicated that excavating and covering with soil are the most widespread methods for extinguishing subsurface fires. Methane often has been suspected for initiating spontaneous subsurface firs in the landfill. However, combustible mixture of methane and oxygen requires very high temperature to ignite. In this study it was shown that spontaneous fires are initiated by solid materials with lower ignition points. Laboratory tests were conducted evaluating the effect of moisture content, oxygen concentration and leachate on spontaneous ignition of solid waste. A new procedure for testing spontaneous ignition is described based on the crossing-point method. The procedure was used to study the spontaneous combustion of solid waste and determine the auto-ignition temperature of the solid waste components and a synthesized solid waste. Correlations have been established between auto-ignition temperature, specific weight and energy content and between self-heating temperature and specific weight. Correlations indicated that compaction can help avoid spontaneous combustion in the landfill. Dense materials require higher energy to increase in temperature and limit the accessibility of oxygen. In the experimental work, moisture was found to promote both biological and chemical self-heating. Increasing moisture content lowers the solid waste permeability and absorbs more energy as it evaporates. Dissolved solids in leachate were found to promote self-heating and ignition more than distilled water. Varying oxygen concentrations indicated that heat generation occurs due to chemical oxidation even at oxygen concentration as low as 10% by volume. However, at 10% by volume oxygen, solid waste did not exhibit thermal runaway nor flammable combustion. At 0% by volume oxygen, tests results indicated occurrence of self-heating due to slow pyrolysis. A numerical one-dimensional energy model was created to simulate temperature rise in landfill for four different scenarios. Using the results from the laboratory experiment, the model estimated the heat generation in solid waste due to chemical reactions. Results from the scenario simulations indicated that moisture evaporation is the major heat sink in the landfill. The model showed that gas flow has a cooling effect due to increasing amount of evaporated water and can control the temperature inside the landfill. The model showed that a temperature higher than the biological limit can be maintained in the landfill without initiating spontaneous fire.Ph.D.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Engineering and Computer Science
Environmental Engineering PhD
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Kozlowski, Donald F. "Pre-fire functional condition and post-fire channel changes in northern Nevada streams 1999-2001 fires /." abstract and full text PDF (free order & download UNR users only), 2007. http://0-gateway.proquest.com.innopac.library.unr.edu/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1447637.
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Dell'Orfano, Michael E. "Fire Behavior and Fuel Modeling of Flammable Shrub Understories in Northeastern Pine-Oak Forests." Digital WPI, 2004. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-theses/1070.
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"This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of BEHAVE: Fire Behavior Prediction and Fuel Modeling System in predicting fire behavior in the Northeastern pine-oak forest. This fuel complex is composed primarily of a litter and huckleberry shrub understory with a pitch pine and oak overstory. Measurements of fuel bed physical characteristics, weather and fire behavior are taken from a series of prescribed burn studies in Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. Site-specific fuel models are constructed which provide the necessary inputs for fire predictions. Observed spread rates and flame lengths are over-predicted by BEHAVE for burns conducted during the winter (dormant season) and under-predicted for burns conducted during the summer (growing season). Attempts to improve winter predictions are successful when the litter moisture is adjusted in order to account for the live wintergreen which increases the overall moisture content of the surface fuels. A sensitivity study is performed where each input parameter is varied over a reasonable interval in order to view its impact on predictions. The model’s high sensitivity to fuel bed depth and 1-hr surface-area-to-volume ratio appear to be the cause for fire prediction deviations during the winter, while the high live fuel moisture contents appear to overwhelm and suppress fire behavior predictions during the summer. It is concluded to overwhelm and suppress fire behavior predictions during the summer. It is concluded that BEHAVE’s representation of fuel complexes as a homogeneous fuel bed with constant properties does not take into account the unique features of the litter and shrub components. An alternative, simple model of fire spread is developed which treats each component as a separate fuel bed. The model is based on a measurement of the heat release rate which can be determined directly through the principle of oxygen consumption calorimetry. Future work using small- and large- scale testing apparatus will help determine the ignition process of the live shrubs and the effect of parameters such as moisture content on the burning characteristics of the fuels. "
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Xing, Hui Juan. "Dynamics of confined fire plumes : a study of interactions between fires and surfaces." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390744.
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Gilreath, John M. "Validation of variables for the creation of a descriptive fire potential model for the Southeastern Fire District of Mississippi." Master's thesis, Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2006. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-06152006-135531.
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Lorenzo, Díaz María del Carmen. "La economía de los incendios forestales Modelos de ocurrencia y de asignación de recursos /." Online version, 1998. http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/13294.
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Mikalsen, Ragni Fjellgaard [Verfasser]. "Fighting flameless fires : initiating and extinguishing self-sustained smoldering fires in wood pellets / Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen." Magdeburg : Universitätsbibliothek Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1219965162/34.
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Thompson, Christy L. "Carrying wet laundry & starting fires." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0005/MQ42216.pdf.
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Bragin, Maxim Vladimirovich. "Mechanisms of hydrogen ignition and fires." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.515886.
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Rooney, Gabriel Gerard. "Buoyant flows from fires in enclosures." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.284999.
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Garrison, Trent. "The Environmental Effects of Coal Fires." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/ees_etds/31.
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There are thousands of subterranean coal fires in the world that, because of incomplete combustion, emit a wide variety of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds to the atmosphere, water, and soil at concentrations that could pose health risks to humans and wildlife. The main goals of this study were to (1) review methods that are used to characterize physical and chemical characteristics of coal-fire sites, (2) determine relationships between gas emissions and physical and chemical characteristics of coal-fire sites, using a combination of regression and multivariate statistical methods, and (3) determine the concentrations of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in water and soil at two coal-fire sites in eastern Kentucky. More specifically:
The objective of Chapter 1 was to review past works and list technologies used over time. Eight years of coal-fire collection technologies were reviewed. A variety of methods and technologies were identified. Qualitative and quantitative preferences were noted.
The objective of Chapter 2 was to identify and list uncontrolled coal-fire variables. These variables include complete/incomplete combustion; fire temperature and size; distance to fire; relative humidity and moisture in the system; geology, geochemistry, and age of coal; condition of the mine, sampling time of day; sampling equipment differences; and human error. A secondary objective of this chapter was to determine which coal-fire gases have strong relationships by using the principal component analysis (PCA) software JMP. The strongest relationship was between CO and H2S. Temperature and CH4 were also important. This indicates that incomplete combustion and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation are likely occurring, setting the stage for Chapter 3.
The objective of Chapter 3 was to identify and define the extent of soil and water hydrocarbon contamination at the Truman Shepherd and Lotts Creek coal fires in eastern Kentucky. No groundwater contamination was detected at either location. Soil contamination was found at both, but was much higher at Lotts Creek, potentially because of sorption onto soil organic matter (which is reduced at Truman Shepherd by an excavation attempt) and other physicochemical mechanisms. Soil contamination was localized to relatively small areas around coal-fire vents.
Based on the results, future studies should consider: Attempting to duplicate these results in other geologic regions Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from coal fires to consider their contribution to climate change. Coal-fired power plants are regulated, but coal fires, which produce many more harmful gases, are not Determining the feasibility of an oxygen-injection system to engender more complete combustion, therefore possibly reducing harmful gases Determining the feasibility of electricity production from coal fires Adopting a consistent federal coal-fire policy
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Abdul, Reheem Faiz F. "Quantification of smoke produced in fires." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/11342.
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Buang, Azizul. "Boilover in liquid hydrocarbon tank fires." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2014. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/15186.
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Boilover is a violent ejection of certain liquid hydrocarbons due to prolonged burning during a storage tank fire. It happens due to vaporization of the water sub-layer that commonly resides at the base of a storage tank, resulting in the ejection of hot fuel from the tank, enormous fire enlargement, formation of a fireball and an extensive ground fire. Boilover is a very dangerous accidental phenomenon, which can lead to serious injuries especially to emergency responders. The boilover can occur several hours after the fuel in a storage tank caught fire. The delayed boilover occurrence is an unknown strong parameter when managing the emergency response operations. Modelling and simulation of the boilover phenomenon will allow the prediction of the important characteristics features of such an event and enable corresponding safety measures to be prepared. Of particular importance is the time from ignition to the occurrence of boilover. In order to establish a tool for the prediction of the boilover events, it is essential to understand what happens within the fuel during a fire. Such understanding is important in order to recognize and determine the mechanisms for the hot zone formation and growth which are essentials, especially for predicting the onset time of boilover. Accordingly, boilover experiments and tests were planned and carried out at field scale by the Large Atmospheric Storage Tank FIRE (LASTFIRE) project with the intentions to evaluate the nature and consequences of a boilover, and to establish a common mechanism that would explain the boilover occurrence. Undertaking field scale experiments, however, is difficult to carry out so often due to high costs and high safety concerns. In order to obtain more detailed measurements and visual records of the behaviour of the liquids in the pool, a novel laboratory scale rig has been designed, built and commissioned at Loughborough University. The vessels used in the field scale tests and the laboratory scale rig were instrumented with a network of thermocouples, in order to monitor the distribution in temperature throughout the liquid and its variation with time. The temperature distribution variation as a function of time enabled the recognition of the phases of the evolution of the hot zone and hence the mechanism of boilover. The rig has allowed well defined and repeatable experiments to be performed and hence enable to study and assess boilover in a reproducible manner. In addition, visualisation of the fuel behaviour during the experiments could be obtained to better understand the formation and growth of hot zone, the boiling of water layer and hence the boilover occurrence. A number of small and larger scale experiments had been completed to obtain a wide spectrum of results, evaluating the effect of tank diameters, fuel depth, and water depth on the rate and extent of the boilover. The analysis of the results had elucidated further the processes of the hot zone formation and its growth, and hence mechanisms involved in the boilover occurrence. The important observation was that there are three stages observed in the mechanism of boilover incidence. At the start of the fire there is a stage when the hot zone is formed. This is followed by a period when the bottom of the hot zone moves downwards at a pseudo constant rate in which the distillation process (vaporisation of the fuel s lighter ends) is taking place. The final stage involved the heating up of the lowest fuel layer consisting of components with very high boiling points and occurrence of boilover. Based on the observations of the mechanisms involved in the hot zone formation and its growth, predictive calculations were developed which focus on the provision of an estimate on the time to boilover upon the establishment of a full surface fire and an estimate of the amount of fuel remaining in the tank prior to the occurrence of the boilover. A predictive tool was developed in order to provide predictions on the important parameters associated with a boilover event i.e. the time to boilover, the amount of fuel remaining in the tank prior to boilover and hence the quantity of fuel that would be ejected during boilover and the consequences of a boilover i.e. fire enlargement, fireball effects and the ground area affected by the expulsion of oil during a boilover event. The predictive tool developed is capable of providing good estimates of onset time to boilover and predicts consequences of the boilover. The tool predicting the time to boilover of the LASTFIRE field scale test and the laboratory scales tests was shown to produce predictions that correlated with the observed time to boilover. Apart from the time to boilover, the predictive calculation is also able to provide an estimate of fuel amount remained in the tank at the instance of boilover occurrence. Consequently, the tool is capable of predicting the quantity of burning fuel being ejected and hence the area affected by the extensive ground fire surrounding the tank. The predictive results are conservatives but yet show good agreement with observed time to boilover in real boilover incidents. Certain considerations in the development of safe and effective fire fighting strategies in handling fire scenario with a potential of boilover occurrence, can be assessed using the predictive tool developed.
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Ciullo, Vito. "Measurements of wildland fires by drone." Thesis, Corte, 2020. http://www.theses.fr/2020CORT0005.
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Les travaux menés dans cette thèse concernent le développement d’un dispositif de mesure des caractéristiques géométriques de feux de végétation en utilisant un système de stéréovision multimodale porté par drone. A partir d’images stéréoscopiques aériennes acquises dans les domaines du visible et de l’infrarouge, les points 3D de feux sont calculés et les caractéristiques géométriques tels que sa position au sol, vitesse de propagation, hauteur, longueur, largeur, inclinaison de flamme et surface sont estimées.La première contribution importante de cette thèse est le développement d’un système de stéréovision multimodale portable par drone. Ce dispositif intègre des caméras travaillant dans les domaines du visible et de l’infrarouge, un ordinateur Raspberry Pi, des batteries électriques, des récepteurs GPS et une carte inertielle. Il permet d’obtenir des images stéréoscopiques multimodales géoréférencées.La seconde contribution importante de cette thèse est la méthode d’estimation des caractéristiques géométriques de feux à partir d’images stéréoscopiques aériennes.Le dispositif d’estimation de caractéristiques géométriques a été évalué en utilisant une voiture de dimensions connues et les résultats obtenus confirment la bonne précision du système. Il a été également testé avec succès sur un feu extérieur ne se propageant pas. Les résultats obtenus pour des feux de végétation se propageant sur un terrain de pente variable sont présentés en détailThis thesis presents the measurement of geometrical characteristics of spreading vegetation fires with a multimodal stereovision system carried by an Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle.From visible and infrared stereoscopic images, 3D fire points are computed and fire geometrical characteristics like position on the ground, rate of spread, height, length, width, flame tilt angle and surface are estimated.The first important contribution of this thesis is the development of a multimodal stereovision portable drone system. This device integrates cameras working in the visible and infrared domains, a Raspberry Pi computer, electric batteries, GPS receptors and an Inertial Measurement Unit. It allows to obtain georeferenced stereoscopic multimodal images.The second important contribution of this thesis is the method for the estimation of the fire geometrical characteristics from aerial stereoscopic images.The geometrical characteristics estimation framework have been evaluated on a car of known dimensions and the results obtained confirm the good accuracy of the device. It was also successfully tested on an outdoor non propagating fire. The results obtained from vegetation fires propagating on terrain with slope changes are presented in detail
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Connolly, Raymond J. "The spalling of concrete in fires." Thesis, Aston University, 1995. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/14310/.
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The occurrence of spalling is a major factor in determining the fire resistance of concrete constructions. The apparently random occurrence of spalling has limited the development and application of fire resistance modelling for concrete structures. This Thesis describes an experimental investigation into the spalling of concrete on exposure to elevated temperatures. It has been shown that spalling may be categorised into four distinct types, aggregate spalling, corner spalling, surface spalling and explosive spalling. Aggregate spalling has been found to be a form of shear failure of aggregates local to the heated surface. The susceptibility of any particular concrete to aggregate spalling can be quantified from parameters which include the coefficients of thermal expansion of both the aggregate and the surrounding mortar, the size and thermal diffusivity of the aggregate and the rate of heating. Corner spalling, which is particularly significant for the fire resistance of concrete columns, is a result of concrete losing its tensile strength at elevated temperatures. Surface spalling is the result of excessive pore pressures within heated concrete. An empirical model has been developed to allow quantification of the pore pressures and a material failure model proposed. The dominant parameters are rate of heating, pore saturation and concrete permeability. Surface spalling may be alleviated by limiting pore pressure development and a number of methods to this end have been evaluated. Explosive spalling involves the catastrophic failure of a concrete element and may be caused by either of two distinct mechanisms. In the first instance, excessive pore pressures can cause explosive spalling, although the effect is limited principally to unloaded or relatively small specimens. A second cause of explosive spalling is where the superimposition of thermally induced stresses on applied load stresses exceed the concrete's strength.
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Díaz, Avalos Carlos. "Space-time analysis of forest fires /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/6375.
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Havens, Michael E. "Dynamic allocation of fires and sensors." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2002. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion-image/02sep%5FHavens.pdf.
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Hakkarainen, Tuula. "Studies on fire safety assessment of construction products /." Espoo [Finland] : Technical Research Centre of Finland, 2002. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2002/P459.pdf.
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