Physical fire tests and importance of the oxygen consumption calorimetry

Abstract

In carrying out physical tests in fire research, there are bench-scale tests, intermediate scale tests, full-scale burning tests, and real-scale tests. These tests are established for different reasons and must account for repeatability and reproducibility. Oxygen consumption calorimetry is the most important apparatus and must be installed properly. The heat release rates in burning combustibles can be measured by monitoring the transient oxygen concentrations with smoke collected under an exhaust hood with a proper fan-duct system. This equipment can support high-quality fire research and carry out appropriate hazard assessment on developing fire-safe products. As prohibitive resources are required and causing environmental challenges, collaboration among different places on handling these full-scale burning tests is desired.