• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.22-30
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• 2019

In 2018, overload, overcurrent, insulation aging, and a contact failure caused 659 electric fires. There is almost no failure of electrical socket outlets during their manufacturing or installation period. After several months or several years, overload or overcurrent of electrical socket outlets leads to a contact failure or short circuit which causes an electric fire. Therefore, this paper analyzed for thermal characteristics based on a current value and the change in insulation resistance along with a temperature rise caused by electrical socket outlets and the state of laboratory use in workplaces. As a results, regarding the thermal characteristics based on the current value of each installation year, a temperature increase was related to a current value, an installation year, and whether the contact unit is corroded. Insulation resistance began to decrease when a temperature increased to a certain level. With a lapse of installation year, the temperature at which insulation resistance began to decrease was lowered. This paper can be applicable for the survey data about electrical socket outlet induced fire accidents and management guidelines.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.145-151
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• 2014

Not only in Korea, but also in other countries, most helicopter accidents occur at low altitude. Analysis on accidents data collected both in Korea and other countries has brought two conclusions. Firstly, helicopter operations during the night hours carries a high risk. Secondly, the most common cause of night hour operations is loss of control due to the flight illusion. As an operation relying on a night vision in particular has a very high accident hazard, accompanying instruments such as NVG are ought to be provided. Hence, a thorough preparation and inspection on missions for night forest fire extinguishing should be required and perfect guidelines/road maps and enough training programs for the operation should be provided before the engagement in missions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.60-71
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to propose a quantitative toxicity endpoint distance suitable for the initial response of firefighters by comparing and analyzing the commonly applied toxic level of concern (T-LOC), specifically emergency response planning guidelines (ERPG), acute exposure guideline levels (AEGL), and immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH). This is to protect the fire brigade, which responds to toxic chemical accidents first during the golden time. Using areal locations of hazardous atmospheres, a damage prediction program, the amount of leakage for both acidic and basic substances, along with the endpoint distance, were analyzed for alternative accident and worst-case accident scenarios. The results showed that the toxicity endpoint distance, serving as a compromise between Level-3 and Level-2 of T-LOC, was longer than ERPG-3 and shorter than ERPG-2 with IDLH, while its values were analyzed in the order of ERPG-2, AEGL-2, IDLH, AEGL-3, and ERPG-3. It is suggested that the application of IDLH in an emergency (red card) and ERPG-2 endpoint distance in a non-emergency (non-red card) can be utilized for the initial response of the fire brigade.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.56-57
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• 2017

Recently, the nation's elderly facilities have grown rapidly since the implementation of the long-term care law in 2008. Also, older adults who use older facilities are also growing. With the increase in the number of fires, increasing the number of fires is also a social issue. In this study, the study conducted an investigation into the smoke control system to analyze the smoke control methods of the elderly and elderly citizens in order to secure the safety of the elderly facilities in the event of a fire, and investigated the smoke control status of the elderly in Korea.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.16-22
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• 2017

In Korea, performance-based fire safety designs are being discussed to deal with the various risks of fire in complex and diverse types of structure. However, performance-based fire safety designs are not actively employed because it is difficult to estimate the fire characteristics related to the various factors in buildings. In this study, real scale fire tests were conducted based on fire severity levels and fire loads provided in He New Zealand Building Code, in order to use the results as guidelines and fundamental data for performance-based designs. In the real scale fire tests conducted in a 10MW full-scale calorimeter, wood cribs were placed in a $2.4(L){\times}3.6(W){\times}2.4(H)m$ mock-up of a compartment which had one $0.8(L){\times}2.0(H)$ opening for different fire loads and heating was continued until all of the wood cribs were burned down. The heat release rate started to increase rapidly 90 seconds after the wood cribs caught fire. In the test with a fire load level 1, the maximum heat release rate of 4743.4 kW was reached at 244 second. In the test with fire load level 2, a maximum heat release rate of 5050.9 kW was reached at 497 second. In the test with fire load level 3, a maximum heat release rate of 4446.9 kW was reached at 677 second.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.92-107
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• 2023

Recently, along with the continuous increase in the supply of electric vehicles, electric vehicle fire accidents are also showing a rapidly increasing trend. Electric vehicle fires last for a long time compared to fires in internal combustion engine vehicles and have problems with the risk of secondary explosions and the generation of large amounts of smoke. In particular, electric vehicle fires in underground roads, which are semi-enclosed spaces, may amplify the problems of existing electric vehicle fires. On the other hand, there are no domestic response guidelines for electric vehicle fires occurring inside underground roads. Therefore, an awareness of fire accidents was confirmed through a survey of the general public, and electric vehicle fire characteristics and primary considerations were derived from stakeholders related to electric vehicle fires in underpasses. Through this, the guidelines for responding to electric vehicle fires on underground roads were established.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.134-140
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• 2020

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Korea are required to be maintained using a defense in-depth approach to prevent leakage of radioactive substances outside the plant and allow safe shutdown in the event of a fire. Periodic testing must be conducted to ensure that the fire protection facilities perform as required by the laws for various nuclear reactor types. In June 2017, for the first time in Korea, a nuclear plant, Kori Unit 1, was permanently shut down. It was prepared for decommissioning in accordance with the fire protection regulations imposed by the regulatory body. However, a standard protocol is necessary for systematically establishing the fire protection program for decommissioning of NPPs in the future. Therefore, the nuclear legal systems of countries with many operating nuclear power plants, such as the United States, Japan, Canada, and various European countries, were reviewed and guidelines for establishing a fire protection program for decommissioning NPPs was suggested; the fire protection requirements stated by Reg Guide 1.191 (Decommissioning fire protection program for NPPs during decommissioning and permanent shutdown) were used as a model. Suggestions for establishing legal regulations to optimize fire protection programs and secure basic technology for decommissioning NPPs were also made.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2024

Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are widely used in various sectors, such as transportation (e.g., electric vehicles (EV)) and energy (e.g., energy storage facilities) due to their high energy density, broad operating temperature (-20 ℃ ~ 60 ℃), and high capacities. LIBs are powerful but fragile on external factors, including pressure, physical damage, overheating, and overcharging, that cause thermal runaway causing fires and explosions. During a LIB fire, a large amount of oxygen is generated from the decomposition of ionogenic materials. A water fire extinguisher that helps with cooling and suffocating must be essentially required at the same time. In fact, however, it is difficult to suppress LIB fires in the case of EVs because a LIB is installed with a battery pack housing that interrupts direct extinguishing by water. Thus, this study aims to investigate effective fire extinguishing measurements for LIB fires by using an EV. Relevant documents, including research articles and reports, were reviewed to identify effective ways of LIBs fire extinguishing. A real-scale fire experiment generating thermal runaway was carried out to figure out the combustion characteristics of EVs. This study revealed that the most effective fire extinguishing measurements for LIB fires are applying fire blankets and water tanks. However, there is still a lack of adequate regulation and guidelines for LIB fire extinguishment. Taking this into account, developing functional fire extinguishment measurements and available regulatory instruments is an urgent issue to secure the safety of firefighters and citizens.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.36-46
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• 2012

Structure Insulated Panel (SIP) is an wooden structure material with which structure and insulation functions are satisfied. Hence, it would be a cost-effective model to implement low energy house which has higher insulation and structure performance and which the wall thickness is able to be reduced. In this study, performance of thermal insulation and fire resistance were evaluated in order to verify applicability to low energy house. Fire resistance test is performed on vertical load bearing members for partitions, and the test results satisfy one hour of fire resistance condition according to KS F 2257. The members include two layers of fireproof gypsum board with thicknesses of 12.5mm attached to SIP. Thermal insulation performance is satisfied with the 2012 standard ($0.225W/m^2{\cdot}K$). As the performance of resistance and thermal insulation are satisfied, SIP is expected to be applied to low energy building materials. In the future, the structural safety will be confirmed by structural performance and seismic performance test and the guidelines for distribution will be drawn up.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.126-133
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• 2018

Korea has been preparing and operating crisis management standardized manuals so that over 30 disaster types that need to be managed at the national level can be selected and systematically managed. This study analyzed the crisis alert levels of two standard manuals related to the case with reference to the contents of the Framework Act on the Management of Disaster and Safety and National Crisis Management Basic Guidelines. According to the Act and Guidelines, crisis alerts are issued before a crisis or disaster, but the criteria of crisis alerts of the two manuals showed that the national crisis had already occurred and the disaster occurred due to a marine vessel accident at the serious level. In addition, the results of timing of issuance of crisis alert were reviewed. If the signs can be identified, a crisis alert may be issued prior to the occurrence of the incident, but a crisis alert cannot be issued when an incident occurs without a sign. In the case of an incident where there are no signs, but there is a possibility of spreading to a national level disaster, the disaster management supervision agency could issue a crisis alert.