Abstract:

To effectively control the smoke spread in large flat-space ships, the oil pool mass loss rate, chamber temperature distribution, thermal insulation efficiency, and smoke control effect were investigated during large-scale fires. The experimental study was performed under three different smoke screen heights (0.35, 0.55, and 0.70 m) and mechanical ventilation conditions in a chamber with dimensions of 30 m×24 m×2.3 m. The results indicated that the increase in smoke screen height caused a decrease in the peak value of the oil pool mass loss. The smoke screen height had a more significant impact on the smoke temperature in the chamber's upper layer than that of the lower layer. The peak temperature above 1.4 m was significantly decreased, whereas no significant change in the peak temperature below 1.4 m was observed. The average ceiling temperature and thermal insulation efficiency decreased with the increase in the smoke screen height. The thermal insulation efficiency increased from 28.2% to 50.8% under the combined smoke control mode, and it increased from 29.4% to 54.7% under the independent smoke control mode.

Key words: large flat-space, ship fire, smoke control, smoke screen, mechanical ventilation, smoke control mode, thermal insulation efficiency