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NIST Report of Test FR 4016

Home Smoke Alarm Project, Manufactured Home Tests
Report of Test FR 4016
February, 2005

Richard D. Peacock, Jason D. Averill, Richard W. Bukowski, and Paul A. Reneke
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology

This Report of Test documents a series of full scale tests conducted as part of research into the performance of smoke alarms. The twenty seven experiments conducted as part of this test series were performed in a manufactured home. Another series of tests, conducted in a two-story house, consisted of a total of nine experiments with instrumentation similar to those included in this report and is reported in NIST Report of Test 4017, also available on this web site. The data collected is presented without analysis or interpretation in order to provide access to the data by interested parties.

Introduction

The overall purpose of the project is to determine how different types of fire alarms can respond to threatening residential fire settings in order to permit occupant egress. Full-scale tests of current smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide alarms in actual homes with appropriate contents as fuels provide a base of data to evaluate the performance of modern residential alarm technologies. Fire scenarios (including ignition source, first item ignited, and room of fire origin) were selected based upon a statistical analysis of available fire loss data. Selected fires include a mattress fire in a bedroom, upholstered chair fire in a living area, and a cooking oil fire in a kitchen.

This report documents experimental test series in the program conducted to characterize the environment in typical residential fire scenarios. Data presented include the time varying concentrations of CO, CO2, and O2, smoke obscuration, and temperature at multiple locations in the structure. Additional details of instrumentation design and location, along with uncertainty estimates for the measurements is included NIST Technical Note 1455 [1].

Test Data

Data for each of the 27 tests, numbered 1 through 15 and 30 through 41 are available. For each of the tests, a summary of the test conditions and ignition source are presented below. Spreadsheets of all test data are included. Graphs of the data are available here. Description of the column headings in the spreadsheets is available separately for tests 1 through 15 and for tests 30 through 41. Uncertainty in the measurements is discussed in the full report.


For the non-modified smoke alarms, heat alarms, and telltale sprinklers, only an activation time is available. Uncertainty in the measurements is discussed in the full report.

Activation Time for Non-Modified Smoke Alarms, Heat Alarms, and Sprinkler

Test

Description

Non-modified Smoke Alarms

Heat Alarm

Telltale Sprinkler

 

 

Photo

Ion

Ion

 

 

SDC01

Smoldering Chair in Living Room                  

3412

5192

5247

--*

--

SDC02

Flaming Chair in Living Room                     

78

24

28

130

--

SDC03

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom (Test aborted due to ignition failure)

--

--

--

--

--

SDC04

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom                   

3871

--

--

--

--

SDC05

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom                      

42

32

32

140

147

SDC06

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom                   

3443

5998

5998

--

6073

SDC07

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom                      

85

43

47

205

137

SDC08

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom             

2339**

3697

3699

3798

3745

SDC09

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)

95

29

29

3724

127

SDC10

Flaming Chair in Living Room                     

108

--

44

369

194

SDC11

Smoldering Chair in Living Room                  

883

3971

3963

--

4359

SDC12

Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove                   

741

--

751

1453

1437

SDC13

Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove                   

690

588

682

1388

1388

SDC14

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)

2648

3402

3406

--

3414

SDC15

Flaming Chair Living Room                        

231

203

199

--

351

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SDC30

Smoldering Chair in Living Room (Test aborted due to Ignition Failure)

--

--

--

--

--

SDC31

Smoldering Chair in Living Room                  

4245

4905

4911

8084

8103

SDC32

Flaming Chair in Living Room (Test Aborted due to Ignition Failure)

--

--

--

--

--

SDC33

Flaming Chair in Living Room

106

20

22

16

--

SDC34

Smoldering Chair in Living Room                  

1668

3548

3712

3900

--

SDC35

Flaming Chair in Living Room                     

108

22

22

138

--

SDC36

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom (Burn Room Door Closed)

72

38

44

99

124

SDC37

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom                   

1632

1746

1736

--

--

SDC38

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom                      

95

39

37

1145

139

SDC39

Flaming Mattress in Bedroom       

90

34

34

120

126

SDC40

Smoldering Mattress in Bedroom                   

2570

--

--

--

--

SDC41

Vegetable Oil on Kitchen Stove                   

642

136

230

1244

1262



* No data available ** Triggered alarm for 40 s at 2339; second alarm at 3707 s

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the Fire Metrology Group and others, including N. Bryner, W. Walton, T. Cleary, D. Stroup, W. Twilley, J. Lee, G. Roadarmel, J. McElroy, M. Selepak, D. Weinert, M. Donnelly, M. Nyden, C. Davis, and L. DeLauter. G. Forney developed the web conversion for the test data. In addition, an in-kind contribution from the National Research Council-Canada measured toxicological species with FTIR within the manufactured home. The measurements were taken by Dr. J. Siu and Dr. J. Kanabus-Kaminska. The results are pending further analysis.  

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).

Created January 10, 2011, Updated August 25, 2016