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Carbon Monoxide Levels in Structure Fires: Effects of Wood in the Upper Layer of a Post-Flashover Compartment Fire.
Published
Author(s)
B Y. Lattimer, U Vandsburger, R J. Roby
Abstract
This experimental study was performed to determine the effects of wood pyrolyzing in a high-temperature, vitiated compartment upper layer on the environment inside the com-partment and an adjacent hallway. This was done by comparing species concentrations and temperature measurements from tests with and without wood in the compartment upper layer. Experiments were performed with a window-type opening and a door-type opening between the compartment and the hallway. In these tests, the wood in the compartment upper layer caused CO concentrations inside the compartment to increase, on average, to 10.1% dry, which is approximately 3 times higher than levels measured without wood in the upper layer. Down the hallway 3.6 m from the compartment with wood in the upper layer, CO concentrations were measured to be as high as 2.5% dry. The use of the global equivalence ratio concept to predict species formation in a compartment was explored for situations where wood or other fuels pyrolyze in a vitiated upper layer at a high temperature.
carbon monoxide, structures, wood, compartment fires, flashover, data analysis, fuels, experiments, oxidation, global equivalence ratio
Citation
Lattimer, B.
, Vandsburger, U.
and Roby, R.
(1998),
Carbon Monoxide Levels in Structure Fires: Effects of Wood in the Upper Layer of a Post-Flashover Compartment Fire., Fire Technology, , -1, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916858
(Accessed October 20, 2025)