Evaluation of the Ability of Fire Dynamic Simulator to Simulate Positive Pressure Ventilation in the Laboratory and Practical Scenarios

Published

April 1, 2006

Author(s)

Stephen Kerber

Abstract

Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) is a tactic that is used on fire grounds across the world everyday, both to improve tenability after the extinguishment of a fire and/or offensively during fire attack to improve firefighting conditions. PPV has proven that it can be a useful tool on the fire ground, but it can also kill or injure fire fighters and civilians if used improperly. Data from three full-scale experiments are compared with simulations completed with the computational fluid dynamic model Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS). The full-scale experiments characterize a Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) fan in an open atmosphere, in a simple room geometry and in a room fire. All experiments qualify and quantify the comparison of the experimental results with the FDS results. A concluding scenario is modeled utilizing the calibration of the full-scale experiments to examine the effects of PPV on a fire in a two-story, colonial style house.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 7315

Report Number

7315

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

air flow, FDS, fire dynamic simulator, fire fighter, positive pressure ventilation, PPV, tactics, ventilation

Citation

Kerber, S. (2006), Evaluation of the Ability of Fire Dynamic Simulator to Simulate Positive Pressure Ventilation in the Laboratory and Practical Scenarios, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=861392 (Accessed April 28, 2026)

Additional citation formats