• Title/Summary/Keyword: Suffocation by smoke

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A Numerical Study on the Effects of the Smoke Exhaustion on Safe Evacuation in Emergency Situations during Fires on Ships

  • Kim, Won-Ouk
    • Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.85-89
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    • 2013
  • Sometimes, an evacuation should be executed from a ship for many reasons. This study considers on emergency evacuation on fire in a ship, one of the many reasons for evacuation. Due to the characteristic of fire, the most loss of life is known to be caused by suffocation resulted by smoke. To reduce the suffocation by smoke, the time available for evacuation should be improved for the higher survival rate of crews. In this study, crews' survival times and Evacuation time are analyzed quantitatively in during fire in the same sealed space in two different cases of the natural ventilation and the forced ventilation.

Assessment of Flame Retardancy for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Containing Metal Powder and Flame Retardant (금속분말-난연제 함유 ABS의 난연 특성 평가)

  • Song, Young-Ho;Chung, Kook-Sam
    • Fire Science and Engineering
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    • v.21 no.2 s.66
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    • pp.30-35
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    • 2007
  • The flame retardancies by the addition of metal powder and flame retardant were evaluated to present as the fundamental data to decrease the fire hazard of polymers and life losses by suffocation and poisoning. For this study, the experiments of flame retardancy were conducted as follows : weight loss rate using thermogravimetric analysis, the measurement of the limiting oxygen index(LOI) and char yield. And smoke mass concentration and CO yield were measured. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene containing metal powder and flame retardant reduced weight loss rate and increased LOI and char yield with the decreased smoke mass concentration and CO yield. It was found that the most effective complex was tricresyl phosphate-Mo complex.

The Performance of the Combined Operation of Sprinkler and Smoke Curtain for Smoke Control in the Sloped Stairway Corridor (경사통로로 전파되는 연기에 대한 스프링클러와 제연커텐의 통합제연성능)

  • Jeon, Heung-Kyun;Choi, Young-Sang;Choo, Hong-Lok
    • Fire Science and Engineering
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    • v.20 no.4 s.64
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2006
  • In this study, CFD computer simulations by FDS are carried out in order to confirm the performance of the combined operation of both sprinkler system and smoke curtain of 0.54 m depth installed for cooling and blocking the smoke which propagates beneath the sloped ceiling of a stairway corridor of which dimensions are 17.92 m long, 4.00 m wide, and 6.12 m high. It is shown that the response time of sprinklers decreases with fire size and it increases more about 1.1 second in case without smoke curtain than in case with smoke curtain, that the time of smoke transport from the fire source to the stairway outlet decreases considerably with fire size, and that the delay effect of smoke transport is not related to the sprinkler system, whether it is operated or not. This study shows that the combined operation of both sprinkler system and smoke curtain is very effective in smoke cooling, but it is a little for effect on smoke blockage. Although the hazard of skin burn due to radiative heat flux from hot smoke layer is decreased by spray cooling effect, the hazard of smoke suffocation and the weakening of visibility is increased by smoke downdrag and the turbulence of smoke-air mixing due to water spray. These conditions may result in preventing occupants from going out of the stairway during evacuation.

A Study on the Combustion Characteristics of Organic Insulation Materials According to the Gas Toxicity Evaluation Method (가스유해성 평가방법에 따른 유기단열재의 연소특성에 관한 연구)

  • Shim, Ji-Hun;Lee, Jae-Geol;Han, Kyoung-Ho;Kim, Ju-Wan;Song, Seok-Hun;Jo, Hyung-Won;Yoon, Do-Young
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.60 no.4
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    • pp.519-524
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    • 2022
  • Domestic building finishing materials are being evaluated according to KS F 2271 standards according to the notification of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and this test is evaluated using laboratory animals. In this study, experiments were conducted on highly combustible organic insulation materials such as EPS, urethane, and phenolic foam. The purpose of this study was to analyze the cause of the behavioral suspension of the experimental mice by measuring the average behavioral suspension time of the mice caused by the harmful gas generated when these three types of insulation materials were burned. FTIR analysis and smoke density experiment were performed as a cause analysis method for the behavioral suspension of mice, and the experimental results were analyzed by dividing the causes of behavioral suspension into suffocation by particulate matter and toxic inhalation by gaseous substances. As a result of the test, urethane was evaluated as the most harmful insulation material, and as a result of FTIR analysis and smoke density test as a cause analysis for the gas toxicity test results, it is judged that the behavioral stop of the rats by suffocation is higher than the effect of toxic inhalation. This study is a basic study on the cause analysis of harmful gases, and it will be necessary to prepare the toxicity basis and analyze various materials and gases.

A study on the efficiency advancement for evacuation of the crews by ship structural improvement (선박 구조 개선을 통한 승무원의 피난 효율 향상을 위한 연구)

  • Kim, Wonouk;Lee, Myoungho;Kim, Jongsu
    • Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.342-348
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    • 2014
  • Onshore great fires can normally be extinguished by firefighters using special firefighting equipment and its suitable method. However, offshore fires on the ships are to be extinguished by the crew without any supports from the onshore. Also, crews working on board are exposed to high risk of emergency evacuation due to the complicated structure arrangement of the ships and different accident types such as fire and ship collisions. As most of damage and loss of life in fire are associated with suffocation, shortening of evacuation time is an important factor to improve a survival rate. In this study, visibility in the accommodation area is analyzed by using the temperature and smoke flow which are obtained by the Fire Dynamic Simulator(FDS) as a Three-Dimensional Fire Analysis program to understand the survival rate of the crew upon the fire. The fire doors for most of ships are designed to close automatically when the fire alarm is activated. These automatic closing of the fire doors is a very effective system to delay the spread of flame and smoke flow for the unmanned spaces of the fire protected area. However, if the crew cannot escape within the estimated time, the crew inside the fire protected area will be damaged a lot. In this paper, the comparative analysis between the evacuations by using the fire door from the fire protected area and the suggested fire shielding structure in this study is carried out by the smoke flow rate and the temperature rise rate.

Experimental Study on Flow Direction of Fire Smoke in DC Electric Fields (DC 전기장 내에서 발생하는 화재연기 진행 방향에 대한 실험적 연구)

  • Park, Juwon;Kim, Youngmin;Seong, Seung Hun;Park, Sanghwan;Kim, Ji Hwan;Chung, Yongho;Yoon, Sung Hwan
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.675-682
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    • 2021
  • Fire accidents on land and at sea can cause serious casualties; specifically, owing to the nature of marine plants and ships, the mortality rate at sea from suffocation in confined spaces is significantly higher than that on land. To prevent such cases of asphyxiation, it is essential to install ventilation fans that can outwardly direct these toxic gases from fires; however, considering the scale of marine fires, the installation of large ventilation fans is not easy owing to the nature of marine structures. Therefore, in this study, we developed a new concept for fire safety technology to control toxic gases generated by fires from applied direct current (DC) electric fields. In the event of a fire, most flames contain large numbers of positive and negative charges from chemi-ionization, which generates an "ionic wind" by Lorentz forces through the applied electric fields. Using these ionic winds, an experimental study was performed to artificially control the fire smoke caused by burning paper and styrofoam, which are commonly used as insulation materials in general buildings and ships. The experiments showed that a fire smoke could be artificially controlled by applying a DC voltage in excess of ±5 kV and that relatively effective control was possible by applying a negative voltage rather than a positive voltage.

Experience of a Disaster Medical Assistant Team activation in the fire disaster at Jecheon sports complex building: limitation and importance of rescue (제천 스포츠복합건물 화재 재난에서의 권역재난의료지원팀 활동 경험 고찰: 한계점과 구조의 중요성)

  • Jung, Seung Gyo;Kim, Yoon Seop;Kim, Oh Hyun;Lee, Kang Hyun;Kim, Kwan-Lae;Jung, Woo Jin
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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    • v.29 no.6
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    • pp.585-594
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    • 2018
  • Objective: This study was designed to report on the progress of the fire at Jecheon sports complex and to assess the adequacy of Disaster Medical Assistant Team (DMAT)'s activities in response to the fire disaster. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review based on camera recordings and medical records that were recorded at the disaster site for assessment of activities. We cooperated with firefighters, police officers, local hospital medical staffs and public health personnel in Jecheon in order to classify patients in the disaster field and to understand the patients' progress. Results: At 15:53, the first request for emergency rescue came to the 119 general emergency call center, and a request for DMAT activation came at 16:28. DMAT arrived at the site at 17:04 and remained active until the following day at 00:43. The total number of casualties was 60, including 27 minimal (Green) patients, 29 expectant (Black) patients, three delayed (Yellow) patients, and one immediate (Red) patient. There were 32 patients who received on-site care by DMAT. Two patients were transferred from a local hospital to Wonju Severance Christian Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Conclusion: Twenty-nine victims were found in the sports complex building, and there were 31 mildly to moderately injured patients in this fire disaster. The main cause of death was thought to be smoke suffocation. Although DMAT was activated relatively quickly, it was not able to provide effective activity due to the late rescue and difficulty with fire suppression.

A Study on the Effects of an Increase in the Height of Ship's Accommodation Area on Safe Evacuation in Emergency Situation (선박 거주구역의 높이가 피난안전에 미치는 영향에 대한 연구)

  • Kim, Won-Ouk;Kim, Jong-Su
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.69-73
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    • 2011
  • Unlike land fires, Fires on board a ship are not likely to be extinguished by skilled human resources using a variety of fire fighting equipments, but have to be brought under control on board a ship itself despite of difficult task. There are more cases of deaths from suffocation by smoke than from an increased temperature by heat in fires on board ships, because crew fail to secure a sufficient visibility range enough to escape from the scene of a fire or to leave the ship as early as possible. On the assumption that the height of ship's accommodation area increases from 2.0m to 2.3m comparable to the height of apartments on the ground in Korea, behaviors of fire smokes between the cases of 2.0m and 2.3m heights were compared and analyzed. Based on the blue print of the existing Training Ship "Hanbada", a new blueprint with the 30 cm height adjustment was additionally created. FDS (Fire Dynamic Simulator), which was created by the NIST in the United States and is the most widely distributed simulator for fires, was used to conduct a simulation and predict results. The results of simulation on the basis of temperature of $60^{\circ}C$ showed a safe evacuation period of time at the position 10m apart from the scene of a fire to increase by 55.8 seconds, when the height of ship's accommodation area increased from 2.0m to 2.3m. The results of simulation on the basis of visibility range of 6m showed the safe evacuation periods of time at the positions 10m, 20m and 30m apart from the scene of a fire to increase by 27.1 seconds, 109.2 seconds and 73.3 seconds, respectively, as the height of ship's accommodation area increased from 2.0m to 2.3m. This means that crew can escape more safely from a scene of fires on board when the height of ship's accommodation area is increased and equal to the height of living room in a building on land.