Fire loading
The fire loading of a building or compartment is a way of establishing the potential severity of a hypothetical future fire. It is the heat output per unit floor area, often in kJ/m2, calculated from the calorific value of the materials present. Fire loading is used for evaluating industrial safety risks.
An empty room with cement floor and ceiling, cinderblock walls, and no flammable materials would have approximately zero fire loading; any fire entering such a room from elsewhere will find nothing to feed on. However, nearly anything that makes a room useful (such as furniture, electrical appliances, or computer equipment), or attractive (such as wood panelling, acoustic tile, carpeting, curtains, or wall decorations), will increase the fire loading. Some usages inherently carry high fire loading as a side effect (an art gallery and studio, for example, is likely to contain large amounts of canvas, paints, solvents, and wooden framing). Buildings under construction or renovation tend to carry high fire loads in the form of construction materials, solvents, and fuel for generators.
One reason to determine fire loading is to determine the need for and the capacity of possible safety measures, such as ensuring adequate fire detection and evacuation, or installation of a fire sprinkler system or other fire suppression system.
References
- v
- t
- e
- Backdraft
- Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE)
- Boilover
- Combustibility and flammability
- Conflagration
- Dangerous goods (HAZMAT)
- Deflagration
- Detonation
- Dust explosion
- Enthalpy of vaporization
- Explosive
- Fire class
- Fire control
- Fire loading
- Fire point
- Fire triangle
- Flammability diagram
- Flammability limit
- Flammable liquid
- Flashover
- Flash point
- Friction loss
- Gas leak
- Heat transfer
- Jet fire
- K-factor (fire protection)
- Pool fire
- Pyrolysis
- Spontaneous combustion
- Structure fire
- Thermal radiation
- Water pressure
- Active fire protection
- Automatic fire suppression
- Condensed aerosol fire suppression
- Detonation flame arrester
- External water spray system
- Fire bucket
- Fire prevention
- Fire protection
- Fire retardant
- Fire-retardant fabric
- Fire retardant gel
- Fire-safe polymers
- Fire safety
- Fire sprinkler system
- Fire suppression system
- Firefighting foam
- Flame arrester
- Flame retardant
- Flashback arrestor
- Fusible link
- Gaseous fire suppression
- Hypoxic air technology for fire prevention
- Inerting system
- Intumescent
- Passive fire protection
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Relief valve
- Spark arrestor
- Tank blanketing
- Vehicle fire suppression system
- Annulus (firestop)
- Area of refuge
- Booster pump
- Compartmentalization (fire protection)
- Crash bar
- Electromagnetic door holder
- Electromagnetic lock
- Emergency exit
- Emergency light
- Exit sign
- Fire curtain
- Fire cut
- Fire damper
- Fire door
- Fire escape
- Fire extinguisher
- Fire hose
- Fire hydrant
- Fire pump
- Fire sprinkler
- Firestop
- Firestop pillow
- Firewall (construction)
- Grease duct
- Heat and smoke vent
- Occupancy
- Packing (firestopping)
- Penetrant (mechanical, electrical, or structural)
- Penetration (firestop)
- Pressurisation ductwork
- Safety glass
- Smoke control
- Smoke damper
- Smoke exhaust ductwork
- Smokeproof enclosure
- Standpipe (firefighting)
and services
- Template:Fire
- Template:Firefighting
- Template:HVAC
- Category
- Commons
This article relating to firefighting is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e