Evaluation of heat release rate equations used in standard test methods

Abstract

A thorough review was recently conducted to verify the correctness of equations being used to calculate heat release rate in standard test methods. The review incorporated 17 different standard test methods from American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Uniform Building Code (UBC), California Technical Bulletin (CA TB), International Standards Organization (ISO), and British Standards (BS). The standard test methods reviewed were ASTM D5424, ASTM D5537, ASTM E1354, ASTM E1537, ASTM E1590, ASTM E1623, ASTM E1822, NFPA 264, NFPA 265, NFPA 266, NFPA 267, CA TB 129, CA TB 133, UBC 8‐2, UBC 26‐8, ISO 5660, BS 476. Through this review, incorrect equations were found in 12 of the 17 standards with a total of 22 incorrect equations overall. The following paper provides the correct heat release rate equations and a summary of the review. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Detailed Derivations of Formulas for Heat Release Rate Calculations Revisited: A Pedagogical and Systematic Approach

“…The use of cumbersome nomenclature, and a myriad of subscripts, superscripts, and super-superscripts, also burdened the readers. Without a complete appreciation for the subtleties involved in the derivation of these equations and the underlying assumptions, incorrect use of the equations or typographical errors introduced inadvertently during transcription of the equations from the literature sources would hardly be noticed by the users, as evidenced by the survey conducted by Lattimer and Beitel [12] on the standard test methods that used the oxygen consumption principle to calculate heat release rates. Of the 17 domestic, foreign, and international standards they reviewed and examined, 12 were identified to have various typographical errors, resulting in 22 incorrect equations in all, and the misprints were found to propagate from standard to standard, most likely attributed to cut-and-paste processes and the poor notations used.…”

“….016 β ratio of amount of substance of combustion products formed to that of oxygen consumed, defined in Eq (12). …”

Experimental determination of fire heat release rate with OC and CDG calorimetry for ventilated compartments fire scenario

“…Combined with the mechanical method, this method allows the heat of combustion to be determined. Numerous contributions have discussed specific aspects of chemical methods: the uncertainties [13][14][15][16][17], the effect of soot [18,19], and the discrepancy between several formulations [20][21][22][23]. Some contributions have also pointed out the need for corrections for special applications, for example, the effect of water spray [24] or building scale experiments [25].…”