Hazard of Thermal Radiation from a Hot Smoke Layer in Enclosures to an Evacuee

Abstract

The architectural fire safety design of corridors as a component of emergency building evacuation is examined from the perspective of a maximum escape distance by the occupant in order not to experience skin pain or skin burn from exposure to the thermal radiation of a hot smoke layer. In this work, empirical expressions have been proposed to approximate an evacuee to study the thermal hazard. The maximum escape distance is calculated from the exposure time limit of the evacuee and the thermal radiant heat flux falling upon the evacuee's head at some walking speeds. The range of the maximum escape distance and its dependence on corridor's parameters are determined for the typical width of a corridor, the smoke layer temperature and the smoke layer depth. The length of a corridor for safe escape can be determined as a function of the corridor's width, smoke layer depth and temperature, at the walking speeds of evacuees. The maximum escape distance can be used as a quantitative design criterion for the design of corridors and similar structures where a hot smoke layer is expected.