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NIST Report of Test FR 4019
Report of Test FR 4019
December, 2003
Thomas G. Cleary
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
This Report of Test presents data from a series of tests designed to study common household nuisance alarms as part of research into the performance of smoke alarms.
Introduction
The purpose of these tests was to study common household nuisance alarm scenarios and develop a basis for residential nuisance source testing. All tests were performed in the manufactured home used fire test series 1while it was located inside the large fire laboratory at NIST. The full details of these tests can be found in NIST Technical Note 1455 [1]. NIST TN 1455 also includes uncertainty estimates for each measurement. The test data from the nuisance source and controlled incipient fire source tests are given in spreadsheet electronic files.
Test Data
The table below cross-references Excel workbook filenames with the corresponding tests described in Chapter 6 of NIST TN 1455. The data include the aerosol concentrations, flow velocities, temperature, relative humidity, and detector sensor outputs gathered for each test. Each test workbook consists of three worksheets that contain data from instruments, sensors, and velocity probes. Please refer to Chapter 6 for details on these measurements. Individual sensor outputs were presented in engineering units where the output voltages of the photo and ionization units were expressed as equivalent extinction values in the FE/DE during smoldering cotton wick calibration tests, and the CO cell output was related to the CO concentrations developed in the cotton wick calibration tests. Two caveats must be given regarding this data set. First, zero offset adjustments and filtering of the sensor data should be conducted to eliminate calibration offset shifts and spurious data points that occasionally occur, and second, these files often include data after the nominal end of the test, when doors may have been opened, food removed from heat sources, etc. The test descriptions and plots in Chapter 6 indicate the nominal end of each test along with the timeline of events up to that point. The test series ran consecutively from MHN06 to MNH47 (data for the first five tests were not included). Those tests that present results not included in Chapter 6 were nominal repeats of other tests.
| Test filename | Description | Test Referenced in Chapter 6 |
| Toasted bread, fan off | Figure 125 | |
| Toasted bread, fan off (open window) | Figure 126 | |
| 225 g of bacon on gas burner, fan off | Figure 131 | |
| 225 g of bacon on gas burner, fan off | Figure 132 | |
| Broiled pizza, fan off | Figure 145 | |
| 150 g, (1/3 package) of spaghetti, fan off | Figure 150 | |
| 300 g (2/3 package) of spaghetti, fan off | Figure 151 | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) butter, fan off | Figure 135 | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) butter, fan off | Figure 136 | |
| Two cigarettes, fan off | Figure 154 | |
| Four hamburgers broiled, fan off | Figure 148 | |
| Four hamburgers broiled, fan on | Figure 149 | |
| 10 tortillas, fan off | Figure 143 | |
| xThree hamburgers fried, fan off | Figure 140 | |
| Two bagel halves toasted, fan off | Figure 129 | |
| Two bagel halves toasted, fan on | Figure 130 | |
| Toasted bread, fan on | Figure 127 | |
| Toasted bread, fan on | Figure 128 | |
| 225 g (1/2 package) of spaghetti, lid on, fan off | Figure 152 | |
| Three hamburgers fried, fan on (open window) | Figure 141 | |
| Three hamburgers fried, fan on | Figure 142 | |
| 225 g (1/2 package) of spaghetti, lid on, fan off | Results not included | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) margarine, cast iron pan, fan off | Results not included | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) margarine, cast iron pan, fan on | Figure 139 | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) butter, cast iron pan, fan on | Figure 138 | |
| 14 g (1 tbls) butter, cast iron pan, fan off | Figure 137 | |
| Bake/broil pizza, fan off | Figure 146 | |
| Bake/broil pizza, fan on | Figure 147 | |
| 450 g of french fried potatoes, fan off | Figure 144 | |
| Four tea candles, fan off | Figure 153 | |
| 225 g of bacon on electric range, fan off | Figure 133 | |
| 225 g of bacon on electric range, fan on | Figure 134 | |
| Two cigarettes, fan off | Figure 155 | |
| Four hamburgers broiled, fan on | Results not included | |
| Smoldering PU foam block, fan off, (flamed) | Figure 160 | |
| Smoldering PU foam block, fan off (stopped) | Figure 161 | |
| Smoldering PU foam block, fan on | Figure 162 | |
| Smoldering PU foam block, fan off | Figure 163 | |
| Eight wood blocks on hotplate, fan off | Figure 158 | |
| Eight wood blocks on hotplate, fan on | Figure 159 | |
| 32 cotton wicks, fan off | Figure 156 | |
| 32 cotton wicks, fan on | Figure 157 |
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges the efforts of M. Selepak in his assistance with running the tests.
The home smoke alarm project was sponsored by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fire Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Underwriters Laboratories. The National Fire Protection Association (In-kind contribution), and National Research Council Canada, (In-kind contribution).
References
[1] Bukowski, R.W., Peacock, R.D., Averill, J.D., Cleary, T.G., Bryner, T.G., Walton, W.D., Reneke, P.A., and Kuligowski, E.D., Performance of Home Smoke Alarms: Analysis of the Response of Several Available Technologies in Residential Fire Settings, Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1455 (2003).