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Sample records for large-scale fire performance

Large-scale pool fires

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Steinhaus Thomas

2007-01-01

Full Text Available A review of research into the burning behavior of large pool fires and fuel spill fires is presented. The features which distinguish such fires from smaller pool fires are mainly associated with the fire dynamics at low source Froude numbers and the radiative interaction with the fire source. In hydrocarbon fires, higher soot levels at increased diameters result in radiation blockage effects around the perimeter of large fire plumes; this yields lower emissive powers and a drastic reduction in the radiative loss fraction; whilst there are simplifying factors with these phenomena, arising from the fact that soot yield can saturate, there are other complications deriving from the intermittency of the behavior, with luminous regions of efficient combustion appearing randomly in the outer surface of the fire according the turbulent fluctuations in the fire plume. Knowledge of the fluid flow instabilities, which lead to the formation of large eddies, is also key to understanding the behavior of large-scale fires. Here modeling tools can be effectively exploited in order to investigate the fluid flow phenomena, including RANS- and LES-based computational fluid dynamics codes. The latter are well-suited to representation of the turbulent motions, but a number of challenges remain with their practical application. Massively-parallel computational resources are likely to be necessary in order to be able to adequately address the complex coupled phenomena to the level of detail that is necessary.
Fires in large scale ventilation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregory, W.S.; Martin, R.A.; White, B.W.; Nichols, B.D.; Smith, P.R.; Leslie, I.H.; Fenton, D.L.; Gunaji, M.V.; Blythe, J.P.

1991-01-01

This paper summarizes the experience gained simulating fires in large scale ventilation systems patterned after ventilation systems found in nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The series of experiments discussed included: (1) combustion aerosol loading of 0.61x0.61 m HEPA filters with the combustion products of two organic fuels, polystyrene and polymethylemethacrylate; (2) gas dynamic and heat transport through a large scale ventilation system consisting of a 0.61x0.61 m duct 90 m in length, with dampers, HEPA filters, blowers, etc.; (3) gas dynamic and simultaneous transport of heat and solid particulate (consisting of glass beads with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 10μ) through the large scale ventilation system; and (4) the transport of heat and soot, generated by kerosene pool fires, through the large scale ventilation system. The FIRAC computer code, designed to predict fire-induced transients in nuclear fuel cycle facility ventilation systems, was used to predict the results of experiments (2) through (4). In general, the results of the predictions were satisfactory. The code predictions for the gas dynamics, heat transport, and particulate transport and deposition were within 10% of the experimentally measured values. However, the code was less successful in predicting the amount of soot generation from kerosene pool fires, probably due to the fire module of the code being a one-dimensional zone model. The experiments revealed a complicated three-dimensional combustion pattern within the fire room of the ventilation system. Further refinement of the fire module within FIRAC is needed. (orig.)
The Phoenix series large scale LNG pool fire experiments.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simpson, Richard B.; Jensen, Richard Pearson; Demosthenous, Byron; Luketa, Anay Josephine; Ricks, Allen Joseph; Hightower, Marion Michael; Blanchat, Thomas K.; Helmick, Paul H.; Tieszen, Sheldon Robert; Deola, Regina Anne; Mercier, Jeffrey Alan; Suo-Anttila, Jill Marie; Miller, Timothy J.

2010-12-01

The increasing demand for natural gas could increase the number and frequency of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker deliveries to ports across the United States. Because of the increasing number of shipments and the number of possible new facilities, concerns about the potential safety of the public and property from an accidental, and even more importantly intentional spills, have increased. While improvements have been made over the past decade in assessing hazards from LNG spills, the existing experimental data is much smaller in size and scale than many postulated large accidental and intentional spills. Since the physics and hazards from a fire change with fire size, there are concerns about the adequacy of current hazard prediction techniques for large LNG spills and fires. To address these concerns, Congress funded the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to conduct a series of laboratory and large-scale LNG pool fire experiments at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This report presents the test data and results of both sets of fire experiments. A series of five reduced-scale (gas burner) tests (yielding 27 sets of data) were conducted in 2007 and 2008 at Sandia's Thermal Test Complex (TTC) to assess flame height to fire diameter ratios as a function of nondimensional heat release rates for extrapolation to large-scale LNG fires. The large-scale LNG pool fire experiments were conducted in a 120 m diameter pond specially designed and constructed in Sandia's Area III large-scale test complex. Two fire tests of LNG spills of 21 and 81 m in diameter were conducted in 2009 to improve the understanding of flame height, smoke production, and burn rate and therefore the physics and hazards of large LNG spills and fires.
Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Urban, David; Ruff, Gary A.; Ferkul, Paul V.; Olson, Sandra; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; T'ien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Cowlard, Adam J.; Rouvreau, Sebastien; Minster, Olivier;

2014-01-01

An international collaborative program is underway to address open issues in spacecraft fire safety. Because of limited access to long-term low-gravity conditions and the small volume generally allotted for these experiments, there have been relatively few experiments that directly study spacecraft fire safety under low-gravity conditions. Furthermore, none of these experiments have studied sample sizes and environment conditions typical of those expected in a spacecraft fire. The major constraint has been the size of the sample, with prior experiments limited to samples of the order of 10 cm in length and width or smaller. This lack of experimental data forces spacecraft designers to base their designs and safety precautions on 1-g understanding of flame spread, fire detection, and suppression. However, low-gravity combustion research has demonstrated substantial differences in flame behavior in low-gravity. This, combined with the differences caused by the confined spacecraft environment, necessitates practical scale spacecraft fire safety research to mitigate risks for future space missions. To address this issue, a large-scale spacecraft fire experiment is under development by NASA and an international team of investigators. This poster presents the objectives, status, and concept of this collaborative international project (Saffire). The project plan is to conduct fire safety experiments on three sequential flights of an unmanned ISS re-supply spacecraft (the Orbital Cygnus vehicle) after they have completed their delivery of cargo to the ISS and have begun their return journeys to earth. On two flights (Saffire-1 and Saffire-3), the experiment will consist of a flame spread test involving a meter-scale sample ignited in the pressurized volume of the spacecraft and allowed to burn to completion while measurements are made. On one of the flights (Saffire-2), 9 smaller (5 x 30 cm) samples will be tested to evaluate NASAs material flammability screening tests

Development of Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruff, Gary A.; Urban, David L.; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos

2013-01-01

exploration missions outside of low-earth orbit and accordingly, more complex in terms of operations, logistics, and safety. This will increase the challenge of ensuring a fire-safe environment for the crew throughout the mission. Based on our fundamental uncertainty of the behavior of fires in low...... of the spacecraft fire safety risk. The activity of this project is supported by an international topical team of fire experts from other space agencies who conduct research that is integrated into the overall experiment design. The large-scale space flight experiment will be conducted in an Orbital Sciences...
Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments in ISS Resupply Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Ruff, Gary A.; Urban, David

2013-01-01

Our understanding of the fire safety risk in manned spacecraft has been limited by the small scale of the testing we have been able to conduct in low-gravity. Fire growth and spread cannot be expected to scale linearly with sample size so we cannot make accurate predictions of the behavior of realistic scale fires in spacecraft based on the limited low-g testing to date. As a result, spacecraft fire safety protocols are necessarily very conservative and costly. Future crewed missions are expected to be longer in duration than previous exploration missions outside of low-earth orbit and accordingly, more complex in terms of operations, logistics, and safety. This will increase the challenge of ensuring a fire-safe environment for the crew throughout the mission. Based on our fundamental uncertainty of the behavior of fires in low-gravity, the need for realistic scale testing at reduced gravity has been demonstrated. To address this concern, a spacecraft fire safety research project is underway to reduce the uncertainty and risk in the design of spacecraft fire safety systems by testing at nearly full scale in low-gravity. This project is supported by the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Program Office in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The activity of this project is supported by an international topical team of fire experts from other space agencies to maximize the utility of the data and to ensure the widest possible scrutiny of the concept. The large-scale space flight experiment will be conducted on three missions; each in an Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus vehicle after it has deberthed from the ISS. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew allows the fire products to be released into the cabin. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the
Large scale fire experiments in the HDR containment as a basis for fire code development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosser, D.; Dobbernack, R.

1993-01-01

Between 1984 and 1991 7 different series of large scale fire experiments and related numerical and theoretical investigations have been performed in the containment of a high pressure reactor in Germany (known as HDR plant). The experimental part included: gas burner tests for checking the containment behaviour; naturally ventilated fires with wood cribs; naturally and forced ventilated oil pool fires; naturally and forced ventilated cable fires. Many results of the oil pool and cable fires can directly be applied to predict the impact of real fires at different locations in a containment on mechanical or structural components as well as on plant personnel. But the main advantage of the measurements and observations was to serve as a basis for fire code development and validation. Different types of fire codes have been used to predict in advance or evaluate afterwards the test results: zone models for single room and multiple room configurations; system codes for multiple room configurations; field models for complex single room configurations. Finally, there exist codes of varying degree of specialization which have proven their power and sufficient exactness to predict fire effects as a basis for optimum fire protection design. (author)
Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Urban, David; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; Tien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu;

2012-01-01

Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant knowhow about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due to the complexity, cost and risk associated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame structure. As a result, the prediction of the behaviour of fires in reduced gravity is at present not validated. To address this gap in knowledge, a collaborative international project, Spacecraft Fire Safety, has been established with its cornerstone being the development of an experiment (Fire Safety 1) to be conducted on an ISS resupply vehicle, such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) or Orbital Cygnus after it leaves the ISS and before it enters the atmosphere. A computer modelling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the possibility of examining fire behaviour on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This unprecedented opportunity will expand the understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The experiment is being

Re-evaluation of the 1995 Hanford Large Scale Drum Fire Test Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, J M

2007-01-01

A large-scale drum performance test was conducted at the Hanford Site in June 1995, in which over one hundred (100) 55-gal drums in each of two storage configurations were subjected to severe fuel pool fires. The two storage configurations in the test were pallet storage and rack storage. The description and results of the large-scale drum test at the Hanford Site were reported in WHC-SD-WM-TRP-246, ''Solid Waste Drum Array Fire Performance,'' Rev. 0, 1995. This was one of the main references used to develop the analytical methodology to predict drum failures in WHC-SD-SQA-ANAL-501, 'Fire Protection Guide for Waste Drum Storage Array,'' September 1996. Three drum failure modes were observed from the test reported in WHC-SD-WM-TRP-246. They consisted of seal failure, lid warping, and catastrophic lid ejection. There was no discernible failure criterion that distinguished one failure mode from another. Hence, all three failure modes were treated equally for the purpose of determining the number of failed drums. General observations from the results of the test are as follows: (lg b ullet) Trash expulsion was negligible. (lg b ullet) Flame impingement was identified as the main cause for failure. (lg b ullet) The range of drum temperatures at failure was 600 C to 800 C. This is above the yield strength temperature for steel, approximately 540 C (1,000 F). (lg b ullet) The critical heat flux required for failure is above 45 kW/m 2 . (lg b ullet) Fire propagation from one drum to the next was not observed. The statistical evaluation of the test results using, for example, the student's t-distribution, will demonstrate that the failure criteria for TRU waste drums currently employed at nuclear facilities are very conservative relative to the large-scale test results. Hence, the safety analysis utilizing the general criteria described in the five bullets above will lead to a technically robust and defensible product that bounds the potential consequences from postulated
Novel approach for extinguishing large-scale coal fires using gas-liquid foams in open pit mines.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xinxiao; Wang, Deming; Qin, Botao; Tian, Fuchao; Shi, Guangyi; Dong, Shuaijun

2015-12-01

Coal fires are a serious threat to the workers' security and safe production in open pit mines. The coal fire source is hidden and innumerable, and the large-area cavity is prevalent in the coal seam after the coal burned, causing the conventional extinguishment technology difficult to work. Foams are considered as an efficient means of fire extinguishment in these large-scale workplaces. A noble foam preparation method is introduced, and an original design of cavitation jet device is proposed to add foaming agent stably. The jet cavitation occurs when the water flow rate and pressure ratio reach specified values. Through self-building foaming system, the high performance foams are produced and then infused into the blast drilling holes at a large flow. Without complicated operation, this system is found to be very suitable for extinguishing large-scale coal fires. Field application shows that foam generation adopting the proposed key technology makes a good fire extinguishment effect. The temperature reduction using foams is 6-7 times higher than water, and CO concentration is reduced from 9.43 to 0.092‰ in the drilling hole. The coal fires are controlled successfully in open pit mines, ensuring the normal production as well as the security of personnel and equipment.
A new proposed approach for future large-scale de-carbonization coal-fired power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Gang; Liang, Feifei; Wu, Ying; Yang, Yongping; Zhang, Kai; Liu, Wenyi

2015-01-01

The post-combustion CO 2 capture technology provides a feasible and promising method for large-scale CO 2 capture in coal-fired power plants. However, the large-scale CO 2 capture in conventionally designed coal-fired power plants is confronted with various problems, such as the selection of the steam extraction point and steam parameter mismatch. To resolve these problems, an improved design idea for the future coal-fired power plant with large-scale de-carbonization is proposed. A main characteristic of the proposed design is the adoption of a back-pressure steam turbine, which extracts the suitable steam for CO 2 capture and ensures the stability of the integrated system. A new let-down steam turbine generator is introduced to retrieve the surplus energy from the exhaust steam of the back-pressure steam turbine when CO 2 capture is cut off. Results show that the net plant efficiency of the improved design is 2.56% points higher than that of the conventional one when CO 2 capture ratio reaches 80%. Meanwhile, the net plant efficiency of the improved design maintains the same level to that of the conventional design when CO 2 capture is cut off. Finally, the match between the extracted steam and the heat demand of the reboiler is significantly increased, which solves the steam parameter mismatch problem. The techno-economic analysis indicates that the proposed design is a cost-effective approach for the large-scale CO 2 capture in coal-fired power plants. - Highlights: • Problems caused by CO 2 capture in the power plant are deeply analyzed. • An improved design idea for coal-fired power plants with CO 2 capture is proposed. • Thermodynamic, exergy and techno-economic analyses are quantitatively conducted. • Energy-saving effects are found in the proposed coal-fired power plant design idea
Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Urban, David L.; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier

2012-01-01

-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal-gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame......Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant knowhow about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due...... to the complexity, cost and risk associ-ated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground...
Predicting the effect of fire on large-scale vegetation patterns in North America.

Science.gov (United States)

Donald McKenzie; David L. Peterson; Ernesto. Alvarado

1996-01-01

Changes in fire regimes are expected across North America in response to anticipated global climatic changes. Potential changes in large-scale vegetation patterns are predicted as a result of altered fire frequencies. A new vegetation classification was developed by condensing Kuchler potential natural vegetation types into aggregated types that are relatively...
Using unplanned fires to help suppressing future large fires in Mediterranean forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrián Regos

Full Text Available Despite the huge resources invested in fire suppression, the impact of wildfires has considerably increased across the Mediterranean region since the second half of the 20th century. Modulating fire suppression efforts in mild weather conditions is an appealing but hotly-debated strategy to use unplanned fires and associated fuel reduction to create opportunities for suppression of large fires in future adverse weather conditions. Using a spatially-explicit fire-succession model developed for Catalonia (Spain, we assessed this opportunistic policy by using two fire suppression strategies that reproduce how firefighters in extreme weather conditions exploit previous fire scars as firefighting opportunities. We designed scenarios by combining different levels of fire suppression efficiency and climatic severity for a 50-year period (2000-2050. An opportunistic fire suppression policy induced large-scale changes in fire regimes and decreased the area burnt under extreme climate conditions, but only accounted for up to 18-22% of the area to be burnt in reference scenarios. The area suppressed in adverse years tended to increase in scenarios with increasing amounts of area burnt during years dominated by mild weather. Climate change had counterintuitive effects on opportunistic fire suppression strategies. Climate warming increased the incidence of large fires under uncontrolled conditions but also indirectly increased opportunities for enhanced fire suppression. Therefore, to shift fire suppression opportunities from adverse to mild years, we would require a disproportionately large amount of area burnt in mild years. We conclude that the strategic planning of fire suppression resources has the potential to become an important cost-effective fuel-reduction strategy at large spatial scale. We do however suggest that this strategy should probably be accompanied by other fuel-reduction treatments applied at broad scales if large-scale changes in fire
Using unplanned fires to help suppressing future large fires in Mediterranean forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Regos, Adrián; Aquilué, Núria; Retana, Javier; De Cáceres, Miquel; Brotons, Lluís

2014-01-01

Despite the huge resources invested in fire suppression, the impact of wildfires has considerably increased across the Mediterranean region since the second half of the 20th century. Modulating fire suppression efforts in mild weather conditions is an appealing but hotly-debated strategy to use unplanned fires and associated fuel reduction to create opportunities for suppression of large fires in future adverse weather conditions. Using a spatially-explicit fire-succession model developed for Catalonia (Spain), we assessed this opportunistic policy by using two fire suppression strategies that reproduce how firefighters in extreme weather conditions exploit previous fire scars as firefighting opportunities. We designed scenarios by combining different levels of fire suppression efficiency and climatic severity for a 50-year period (2000-2050). An opportunistic fire suppression policy induced large-scale changes in fire regimes and decreased the area burnt under extreme climate conditions, but only accounted for up to 18-22% of the area to be burnt in reference scenarios. The area suppressed in adverse years tended to increase in scenarios with increasing amounts of area burnt during years dominated by mild weather. Climate change had counterintuitive effects on opportunistic fire suppression strategies. Climate warming increased the incidence of large fires under uncontrolled conditions but also indirectly increased opportunities for enhanced fire suppression. Therefore, to shift fire suppression opportunities from adverse to mild years, we would require a disproportionately large amount of area burnt in mild years. We conclude that the strategic planning of fire suppression resources has the potential to become an important cost-effective fuel-reduction strategy at large spatial scale. We do however suggest that this strategy should probably be accompanied by other fuel-reduction treatments applied at broad scales if large-scale changes in fire regimes are to be
Ecological fire use for ecological fire management: Managing large wildfires by design

Science.gov (United States)

Timothy Ingalsbee

2015-01-01

Past fire exclusion policies and fire suppression actions have led to a historic "fire deficit" on public wildlands. These sociocultural actions have led to unprecedented environmental changes that have created conditions conducive to more frequent large-scale wildfires. Politicians, the newsmedia, and agency officials portray large wildland fires as...
Analysis of large urban fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, S.W.; Reitter, T.A.; Takata, A.N.

1984-11-01

Fires in urban areas caused by a nuclear burst are analyzed as a first step towards determining their smoke-generation chacteristics, which may have grave implications for global-scale climatic consequences. A chain of events and their component processes which would follow a nuclear attack are described. A numerical code is currently being developed to calculate ultimately the smoke production rate for a given attack scenario. Available models for most of the processes are incorporated into the code. Sample calculations of urban fire-development history performed in the code for an idealized uniform city are presented. Preliminary results indicate the importance of the wind, thermal radiation transmission, fuel distributions, and ignition thresholds on the urban fire spread characteristics. Future plans are to improve the existing models and develop new ones to characterize smoke production from large urban fires. 21 references, 18 figures
Quantifying differences between computational results and measurements in the case of a large-scale well-confined fire scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audouin, L.; Chandra, L.; Consalvi, J.-L.; Gay, L.; Gorza, E.; Hohm, V.; Hostikka, S.; Ito, T.; Klein-Hessling, W.; Lallemand, C.; Magnusson, T.; Noterman, N.; Park, J.S.; Peco, J.; Rigollet, L.; Suard, S.; Van-Hees, P.

2011-01-01

Research Highlights: → We performed a numerical benchmark in the framework of an OECD experimental program of a pool fire in a well-confined compartment. → The benchmark involves 17 participants using 8 fire models, 3 CFD and 5 zone models. → We investigated the capabilities of validation metrics for a real large-scale fire. → Six quantities were compared during the whole fire duration. → It is important to consider more than one metric for the validation process. - Abstract: The objective of this work was to quantify comparisons between several computational results and measurements performed during a pool fire scenario in a well-confined compartment. This collaborative work was initiated under the framework of the OECD fire research program and involves the most frequently used fire models in the fire community, including field and zone models. The experimental scenario was conducted at the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN) and deals with a full-scale liquid pool fire in a confined and mechanically ventilated compartment representative for nuclear plants. The practical use of different metric operators and their ability to report the capabilities of fire models are presented. The quantitative comparisons between measurements and numerical results obtained from 'open' calculations concern six important quantities from a safety viewpoint: gas temperature, oxygen concentration, wall temperature, total heat flux, compartment pressure and ventilation flow rate during the whole fire duration. The results indicate that it is important to use more than one metric for the validation process in order to get information on the uncertainties associated with different aspects of fire safety.
Properties of large-scale methane/hydrogen jet fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Studer, E. [CEA Saclay, DEN, LTMF Heat Transfer and Fluid Mech Lab, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Jamois, D.; Leroy, G.; Hebrard, J. [INERIS, F-60150 Verneuil En Halatte (France); Jallais, S. [Air Liquide, F-78350 Jouy En Josas (France); Blanchetiere, V. [GDF SUEZ, 93 - La Plaine St Denis (France)

2009-12-15

A future economy based on reduction of carbon-based fuels for power generation and transportation may consider hydrogen as possible energy carrier Extensive and widespread use of hydrogen might require a pipeline network. The alternatives might be the use of the existing natural gas network or to design a dedicated network. Whatever the solution, mixing hydrogen with natural gas will modify the consequences of accidents, substantially The French National Research Agency (ANR) funded project called HYDROMEL focuses on these critical questions Within this project large-scale jet fires have been studied experimentally and numerically The main characteristics of these flames including visible length, radiation fluxes and blowout have been assessed. (authors)
Pool fires in a large scale ventilation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, P.R.; Leslie, I.H.; Gregory, W.S.; White, B.

1991-01-01

A series of pool fire experiments was carried out in the Large Scale Flow Facility of the Mechanical Engineering Department at New Mexico State University. The various experiments burned alcohol, hydraulic cutting oil, kerosene, and a mixture of kerosene and tributylphosphate. Gas temperature and wall temperature measurements as a function of time were made throughout the 23.3m 3 burn compartment and the ducts of the ventilation system. The mass of the smoke particulate deposited upon the ventilation system 0.61m x 0.61m high efficiency particulate air filter for the hydraulic oil, kerosene, and kerosene-tributylphosphate mixture fires was measured using an in situ null balance. Significant increases in filter resistance were observed for all three fuels for burning time periods ranging from 10 to 30 minutes. This was found to be highly dependent upon initial ventilation system flow rate, fuel type, and flow configuration. The experimental results were compared to simulated results predicted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory FIRAC computer code. In general, the experimental and the computer results were in reasonable agreement, despite the fact that the fire compartment for the experiments was an insulated steel tank with 0.32 cm walls, while the compartment model FIRIN of FIRAC assumes 0.31 m thick concrete walls. This difference in configuration apparently caused FIRAC to consistently underpredict the measured temperatures in the fire compartment. The predicted deposition of soot proved to be insensitive to ventilation system flow rate, but the measured values showed flow rate dependence. However, predicted soot deposition was of the same order of magnitude as measured soot deposition

The Influence of Large-Scale Circulation on Fire Outbreaks in the Amazon Region

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, L. B. M.; Romao, M.; Freitas, A. C. V.

2017-12-01

The combination of alterations in land use cover and severe droughts may dramatically increase fire outbreaks. Tropical convection in the Amazon Basin is regulated mainly by large-scale atmospheric systems such as the Walker circulation. Many of the documented drought episodes in the Amazon occurred during intense El Niño events such as those recorded in 1926, 1983, 1997-1998, and 2010. However, not all El Niño events are related to drought in the Amazon. Recent studies have also pointed out the importance of the tropical Atlantic Ocean in the modulation of the Amazonian climate, as observed during the drought episodes in 2005 and 2010. This work investigates the fire outbreak tendency in the Amazon region, and the influence of large-scale circulation on these events. Data from the Fire Program of the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC/INPE) show a substantial increase in the number of fire outbreaks in the last few years, especially during 2016. However, in the 2017 year a sharp drop in fire outbreaks reaching levels similar to the years prior to 2016 is being noted, already showing a reduction of 54% in relation to the preceding 2016 year. The 2015-2016 period was marked by one of the strongest El Niño in history. This was reflected in the increase of the number of fire outbreaks due to the increase of the drought and temperature elevation period. On the other hand, the 2017 year is being characterized by a condition of neutrality in relation to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, and have overall presented positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Atlantic. Variations of these systems and their relation to fire outbreaks is demonstrated.
Exposure doses received from a large scale fire in the restricted area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawakami, Hiroto; Yamada, Norikazu; Shimomura, Masanori; Ichiki, Takahiko; Kajimoto, Mitsuhiro; Kasahara, Fumio; Tanemura, Munenori; Tsuchino, Susumu; Okubo, Atsushi

2012-02-01

At the request of the Local Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters established in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) has estimated exposure doses of a fireman and the public during a large scale fire in the restricted area. Data on the contamination of the area were compiled and contaminants deposited on combustible materials in forests were investigated. Estimated doses during a fire vary widely due to the uncertainties and variations in assessment methods, location of the fire (radioactivity in the area, amounts of combustible substance and so on), the scale of the fire (the area of fire spreading), weather conditions (wind direction, wind speed, turbulence type and so on), and the distances of the fireman and the public from the fire. In this reports, effects of these factors were integrated as fire-effect indexes. One can easily obtain exposure doses by multiplying these indexes to the results in each of the assessing conditions. In the severer conditions such as 20 hs of fire spreading area, a contaminant concentration of 6 MBq/m"2 in the area, external dose of a fireman working in the highest air contaminated zone in the vicinity of the fire for 1 hour is estimated to be 50 μSv. If he does not wear a front mask, the internal committed dose is estimated to be 430 μSv. Sum of these doses can rise up to 480 μSv. External and internal doses of the public at the severest location in the distance of 2 km from the fire for 1 hour is estimated to be 5 μSv and 45 μSv respectively, and the sum of these doses is 50 μSv. In the stable conditions where a plume of fire can reach to a longer distance without dispersion, external and internal doses of the public at the 20 km distance from the fire for 1 hour are estimated to be 0.5 μSv and 4.5 μSv respectively, and the sum of them is less than 5 μSv. Though the total exposure dose will not exceed 1 mSv even if the fire lingers for some days, monitoring of radiation is important in
Model of large pool fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fay, J.A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)]. E-mail: jfay@mit.edu

2006-08-21

A two zone entrainment model of pool fires is proposed to depict the fluid flow and flame properties of the fire. Consisting of combustion and plume zones, it provides a consistent scheme for developing non-dimensional scaling parameters for correlating and extrapolating pool fire visible flame length, flame tilt, surface emissive power, and fuel evaporation rate. The model is extended to include grey gas thermal radiation from soot particles in the flame zone, accounting for emission and absorption in both optically thin and thick regions. A model of convective heat transfer from the combustion zone to the liquid fuel pool, and from a water substrate to cryogenic fuel pools spreading on water, provides evaporation rates for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic fires. The model is tested against field measurements of large scale pool fires, principally of LNG, and is generally in agreement with experimental values of all variables.
Model of large pool fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fay, J.A.

2006-01-01

A two zone entrainment model of pool fires is proposed to depict the fluid flow and flame properties of the fire. Consisting of combustion and plume zones, it provides a consistent scheme for developing non-dimensional scaling parameters for correlating and extrapolating pool fire visible flame length, flame tilt, surface emissive power, and fuel evaporation rate. The model is extended to include grey gas thermal radiation from soot particles in the flame zone, accounting for emission and absorption in both optically thin and thick regions. A model of convective heat transfer from the combustion zone to the liquid fuel pool, and from a water substrate to cryogenic fuel pools spreading on water, provides evaporation rates for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic fires. The model is tested against field measurements of large scale pool fires, principally of LNG, and is generally in agreement with experimental values of all variables
Simulation of a Large Wildfire in a Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Baptiste Filippi

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The Aullene fire devastated more than 3000 ha of Mediterranean maquis and pine forest in July 2009. The simulation of combustion processes, as well as atmospheric dynamics represents a challenge for such scenarios because of the various involved scales, from the scale of the individual flames to the larger regional scale. A coupled approach between the Meso-NH (Meso-scale Non-Hydrostatic atmospheric model running in LES (Large Eddy Simulation mode and the ForeFire fire spread model is proposed for predicting fine- to large-scale effects of this extreme wildfire, showing that such simulation is possible in a reasonable time using current supercomputers. The coupling involves the surface wind to drive the fire, while heat from combustion and water vapor fluxes are injected into the atmosphere at each atmospheric time step. To be representative of the phenomenon, a sub-meter resolution was used for the simulation of the fire front, while atmospheric simulations were performed with nested grids from 2400-m to 50-m resolution. Simulations were run with or without feedback from the fire to the atmospheric model, or without coupling from the atmosphere to the fire. In the two-way mode, the burnt area was reproduced with a good degree of realism at the local scale, where an acceleration in the valley wind and over sloping terrain pushed the fire line to locations in accordance with fire passing point observations. At the regional scale, the simulated fire plume compares well with the satellite image. The study explores the strong fire-atmosphere interactions leading to intense convective updrafts extending above the boundary layer, significant downdrafts behind the fire line in the upper plume, and horizontal wind speeds feeding strong inflow into the base of the convective updrafts. The fire-induced dynamics is induced by strong near-surface sensible heat fluxes reaching maximum values of 240 kW m − 2 . The dynamical production of turbulent kinetic
Numerical modeling of water spray suppression of conveyor belt fires in a large-scale tunnel.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Liming; Smith, Alex C

2015-05-01

Conveyor belt fires in an underground mine pose a serious life threat to miners. Water sprinkler systems are usually used to extinguish underground conveyor belt fires, but because of the complex interaction between conveyor belt fires and mine ventilation airflow, more effective engineering designs are needed for the installation of water sprinkler systems. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the interaction between the ventilation airflow, the belt flame spread, and the water spray system in a mine entry. The CFD model was calibrated using test results from a large-scale conveyor belt fire suppression experiment. Simulations were conducted using the calibrated CFD model to investigate the effects of sprinkler location, water flow rate, and sprinkler activation temperature on the suppression of conveyor belt fires. The sprinkler location and the activation temperature were found to have a major effect on the suppression of the belt fire, while the water flow rate had a minor effect.
Numerical modeling of water spray suppression of conveyor belt fires in a large-scale tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Liming; Smith, Alex C.

2015-01-01

Conveyor belt fires in an underground mine pose a serious life threat to miners. Water sprinkler systems are usually used to extinguish underground conveyor belt fires, but because of the complex interaction between conveyor belt fires and mine ventilation airflow, more effective engineering designs are needed for the installation of water sprinkler systems. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the interaction between the ventilation airflow, the belt flame spread, and the water spray system in a mine entry. The CFD model was calibrated using test results from a large-scale conveyor belt fire suppression experiment. Simulations were conducted using the calibrated CFD model to investigate the effects of sprinkler location, water flow rate, and sprinkler activation temperature on the suppression of conveyor belt fires. The sprinkler location and the activation temperature were found to have a major effect on the suppression of the belt fire, while the water flow rate had a minor effect. PMID:26190905
Large-scale straw supplies to existing coal-fired power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gylling, M.; Parsby, M.; Thellesen, H.Z.; Keller, P.

1992-08-01

It is considered that large-scale supply of straw to power stations and decentral cogeneration plants could open up new economical systems and methods of organization of straw supply in Denmark. This thesis is elucidated and involved constraints are pointed out. The aim is to describe to what extent large-scale straw supply is interesting with regard to monetary savings and available resources. Analyses of models, systems and techniques described in a foregoing project are carried out. It is reckoned that the annual total amount of surplus straw in Denmark is 3.6 million tons. At present, use of straw which is not agricultural is limited to district heating plants with an annual consumption of 2-12 thousand tons. A prerequisite for a significant increase in the use of straw is an annual consumption by power and cogeneration plants of more than 100.000 tons. All aspects of straw management are examined in detail, also in relation to two actual Danish coal-fired plants. The reliability of straw supply is considered. It is concluded that very significant resources of straw are available in Denmark but there remain a number of constraints. Price competitiveness must be considered in relation to other fuels. It is suggested that the use of corn harvests, with whole stems attached (handled as large bales or in the same way as sliced straw alone) as fuel, would result in significant monetary savings in transport and storage especially. An equal status for whole-harvested corn with other forms of biomass fuels, with following changes in taxes and subsidies could possibly reduce constraints on large scale straw fuel supply. (AB) (13 refs.)
Performance Health Monitoring of Large-Scale Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajamony, Ram [IBM Research, Austin, TX (United States)

2014-11-20

This report details the progress made on the ASCR funded project Performance Health Monitoring for Large Scale Systems. A large-scale application may not achieve its full performance potential due to degraded performance of even a single subsystem. Detecting performance faults, isolating them, and taking remedial action is critical for the scale of systems on the horizon. PHM aims to develop techniques and tools that can be used to identify and mitigate such performance problems. We accomplish this through two main aspects. The PHM framework encompasses diagnostics, system monitoring, fault isolation, and performance evaluation capabilities that indicates when a performance fault has been detected, either due to an anomaly present in the system itself or due to contention for shared resources between concurrently executing jobs. Software components called the PHM Control system then build upon the capabilities provided by the PHM framework to mitigate degradation caused by performance problems.
Large-Scale Controls and Characteristics of Fire Activity in Central Chile, 2001-2015

Science.gov (United States)

McWethy, D. B.; Pauchard, A.; García, R.; Holz, A.; González, M.; Veblen, T. T.; Stahl, J.

2016-12-01

In recent decades, fire activity has increased in many ecosystems worldwide, even where fuel conditions and natural ignitions historically limited fire activity, and this increase begs questions of whether climate change, land-use change, and/or altered vegetation are responsible. Increased frequency of large fires in these settings has been attributed to drier-than-average summers and longer fire seasons as well as fuel accumulation related to ENSO events, raising concerns about the trajectory of post-fire vegetation dynamics and future fire regimes. In temperate and Mediterranean forests of central Chile, recent large fires associated with altered ecosystems, climate variability and land-use change highlight the risk and hazard of increasing fire activity yet the causes and consequences are poorly understood. To better understand characteristics of recent fire activity, key drivers of fire occurrence and the spatial probability of wildfire we examined the relationship between fire activity derived from MODIS satellite imagery and biophysical, land-cover and land-use variables. The probability of fire occurrence and annual area burned was best predicted by seasonal precipitation, annual temperature and land cover type. The likelihood of fire occurrence was greatest in Matorral shrublands, agricultural lands (including pasture lands) and Pinus and Eucalyptus plantations, highlighting the importance of vegetation type and fuel flammability as a critical control on fire activity. Our results suggest that land-use change responsible for the widespread presence of highly flammable vegetation and projections for continued warming and drying will likely combine to promote the occurrence of large fires in central Chile in the future.
Global sensitivity analysis using emulators, with an example analysis of large fire plumes based on FDS simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kelsey, Adrian [Health and Safety Laboratory, Harpur Hill, Buxton (United Kingdom)

2015-12-15

Uncertainty in model predictions of the behaviour of fires is an important issue in fire safety analysis in nuclear power plants. A global sensitivity analysis can help identify the input parameters or sub-models that have the most significant effect on model predictions. However, to perform a global sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo sampling might require thousands of simulations to be performed and therefore would not be practical for an analysis based on a complex fire code using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). An alternative approach is to perform a global sensitivity analysis using an emulator. Gaussian process emulators can be built using a limited number of simulations and once built a global sensitivity analysis can be performed on an emulator, rather than using simulations directly. Typically reliable emulators can be built using ten simulations for each parameter under consideration, therefore allowing a global sensitivity analysis to be performed, even for a complex computer code. In this paper we use an example of a large scale pool fire to demonstrate an emulator based approach to global sensitivity analysis. In that work an emulator based global sensitivity analysis was used to identify the key uncertain model inputs affecting the entrainment rates and flame heights in large Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fire plumes. The pool fire simulations were performed using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software. Five model inputs were varied: the fire diameter, burn rate, radiative fraction, computational grid cell size and choice of turbulence model. The ranges used for these parameters in the analysis were determined from experiment and literature. The Gaussian process emulators used in the analysis were created using 127 FDS simulations. The emulators were checked for reliability, and then used to perform a global sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis. Large-scale ignited releases of LNG on water were performed by Sandia National
Fully predictive simulation of real-scale cable tray fire based on small-scale laboratory experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beji, Tarek; Merci, Bart [Ghent Univ. (Belgium). Dept. of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics; Bonte, Frederick [Bel V, Brussels (Belgium)

2015-12-15

This paper presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based modelling strategy for real-scale cable tray fires. The challenge was to perform fully predictive simulations (that could be called 'blind' simulations) using solely information from laboratory-scale experiments, in addition to the geometrical arrangement of the cables. The results of the latter experiments were used (1) to construct the fuel molecule and the chemical reaction for combustion, and (2) to estimate the overall pyrolysis and burning behaviour. More particularly, the strategy regarding the second point consists of adopting a surface-based pyrolysis model. Since the burning behaviour of each cable could not be tracked individually (due to computational constraints), 'groups' of cables were modelled with an overall cable surface area equal to the actual value. The results obtained for one large-scale test (a stack of five horizontal trays) are quite encouraging, especially for the peak Heat Release Rate (HRR) that was predicted with a relative deviation of 3 %. The time to reach the peak is however overestimated by 4.7 min (i.e. 94 %). Also, the fire duration is overestimated by 5 min (i.e. 24 %). These discrepancies are mainly attributed to differences in the HRRPUA (heat release rate per unit area) profiles between the small-scale and large-scale. The latter was calculated by estimating the burning area of cables using video fire analysis (VFA).
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CONTROL BY OXYGEN FIRING IN CIRCULATING FLUIDIZED BED BOILERS: PHASE II--PILOT SCALE TESTING AND UPDATED PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMICS FOR OXYGEN FIRED CFB WITH CO2 CAPTURE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nsakala ya Nsakala; Gregory N. Liljedahl; David G. Turek

2004-10-27

Because fossil fuel fired power plants are among the largest and most concentrated producers of CO{sub 2} emissions, recovery and sequestration of CO{sub 2} from the flue gas of such plants has been identified as one of the primary means for reducing anthropogenic CO{sub 2} emissions. In this Phase II study, ALSTOM Power Inc. (ALSTOM) has investigated one promising near-term coal fired power plant configuration designed to capture CO{sub 2} from effluent gas streams for sequestration. Burning fossil fuels in mixtures of oxygen and recirculated flue gas (made principally of CO{sub 2}) essentially eliminates the presence of atmospheric nitrogen in the flue gas. The resulting flue gas is comprised primarily of CO{sub 2}, along with some moisture, nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases like SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x}. Oxygen firing in utility scale Pulverized Coal (PC) fired boilers has been shown to be a more economical method for CO{sub 2} capture than amine scrubbing (Bozzuto, et al., 2001). Additionally, oxygen firing in Circulating Fluid Bed Boilers (CFB's) can be more economical than in PC or Stoker firing, because recirculated gas flow can be reduced significantly. Oxygen-fired PC and Stoker units require large quantities of recirculated flue gas to maintain acceptable furnace temperatures. Oxygen-fired CFB units, on the other hand, can accomplish this by additional cooling of recirculated solids. The reduced recirculated gas flow with CFB plants results in significant Boiler Island cost savings resulting from reduced component The overall objective of the Phase II workscope, which is the subject of this report, is to generate a refined technical and economic evaluation of the Oxygen fired CFB case (Case-2 from Phase I) utilizing the information learned from pilot-scale testing of this concept. The objective of the pilot-scale testing was to generate detailed technical data needed to establish advanced CFB design requirements and performance when firing coals and
Intermediate-scale Fire Performance of Composite Panels under Varying Loads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Alexander [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Jernigan, Dann A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Dodd, Amanda B. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-04-01

New aircraft are being designed with increasing quantities of composite materials used in their construction. Different from the more traditional metals, composites have a higher propensity to burn. This presents a challenge to transportation safety analyses, as the aircraft structure now represents an additional fuel source involved in the fire scenario. Most of the historical fire testing of composite materials is aime d at studying kinetics, flammability or yield strength under fire conditions. Most of this testing is small - scale. Heterogeneous reactions are often length - scale dependent, and this is thought to be particularly true for composites which exhibit signific ant microscopic dynamics that can affect macro - scale behavior. We have designed a series of tests to evaluate composite materials under various structural loading conditions with a consistent thermal condition. We have measured mass - loss , heat flux, and temperature throughout the experiments. Several types of panels have been tested, including simple composite panels, and sandwich panels. The main objective of the testing was to understand the importance of the structural loading on a composite to its b ehavior in response to fire - like conditions. During flaming combustion at early times, there are some features of the panel decomposition that are unique to the type of loading imposed on the panels. At load levels tested, fiber reaction rates at later t imes appear to be independent of the initial structural loading.
Forecasting wildland fire behavior using high-resolution large-eddy simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz-Esparza, D.; Kosovic, B.; Jimenez, P. A.; Anderson, A.; DeCastro, A.; Brown, B.

2017-12-01

Wildland fires are responsible for large socio-economic impacts. Fires affect the environment, damage structures, threaten lives, cause health issues, and involve large suppression costs. These impacts can be mitigated via accurate fire spread forecast to inform the incident management team. To this end, the state of Colorado is funding the development of the Colorado Fire Prediction System (CO-FPS). The system is based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model enhanced with a fire behavior module (WRF-Fire). Realistic representation of wildland fire behavior requires explicit representation of small scale weather phenomena to properly account for coupled atmosphere-wildfire interactions. Moreover, transport and dispersion of biomass burning emissions from wildfires is controlled by turbulent processes in the atmospheric boundary layer, which are difficult to parameterize and typically lead to large errors when simplified source estimation and injection height methods are used. Therefore, we utilize turbulence-resolving large-eddy simulations at a resolution of 111 m to forecast fire spread and smoke distribution using a coupled atmosphere-wildfire model. This presentation will describe our improvements to the level-set based fire-spread algorithm in WRF-Fire and an evaluation of the operational system using 12 wildfire events that occurred in Colorado in 2016, as well as other historical fires. In addition, the benefits of explicit representation of turbulence for smoke transport and dispersion will be demonstrated.
Fire management over large landscapes: a hierarchical approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kenneth G. Boykin

2008-01-01

Management planning for fires becomes increasingly difficult as scale increases. Stratification provides land managers with multiple scales in which to prepare plans. Using statistical techniques, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and meetings with land managers, we divided a large landscape of over 2 million acres (White Sands Missile Range) into parcels useful in...
Performance ceramic red mass containing mill scale of rolling in different firing temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meller, J.G.; Arnt, A.B.C; Rocha, M.R.

2014-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the properties of samples of red clay with addition of mill scale steel. This residue consists of oxides of iron has the function replace pigments used in ceramic materials. The mechanical strength of the sintered material can be associated with reactions that occur during sintering, leading to the formation of compounds provided with good mechanical characteristics, particle size of the components and the structure of the dough piece after the compactation. After chemical and microstructural characterization diffraction and fluorescence X-rays, this residue was added in the proportion of 1.45% of a commercial ceramic mass. The formulations were subjected to different temperatures and performance of the formulations was evaluated for physical characteristics: loss on ignition, linear firing shrinkage, water absorption, flexural strength by 3 and intensity of tone. The loss on ignition and linear firing shrinkage tests relate to the sintering temperature with the performance of the tested formulations. (author)
Toxic Combustion Product Yields as a Function of Equivalence Ratio and Flame Retardants in Under-Ventilated Fires: Bench-Large-Scale Comparisons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David A. Purser

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In large-scale compartment fires; combustion product yields vary with combustion conditions mainly in relation to the fuel:air equivalence ratio (Φ and the effects of gas-phase flame retardants. Yields of products of inefficient combustion; including the major toxic products CO; HCN and organic irritants; increase considerably as combustion changes from well-ventilated (Φ < 1 to under-ventilated (Φ = 1–3. It is therefore essential that bench-scale toxicity tests reproduce this behaviour across the Φ range. Yield data from repeat compartment fire tests for any specific fuel show some variation on either side of a best-fit curve for CO yield as a function of Φ. In order to quantify the extent to which data from the steady state tube furnace (SSTF [1]; ISO TS19700 [2] represents compartment fire yields; the range and average deviations of SSTF data for CO yields from the compartment fire best-fit curve were compared to those for direct compartment fire measurements for six different polymeric fuels with textile and non-textile applications and for generic post-flashover fire CO yield data. The average yields; range and standard deviations of the SSTF data around the best-fit compartment fire curves were found to be close to those for the compartment fire data. It is concluded that SSTF data are as good a predictor of compartment fire yields as are repeat compartment fire test data.
Forecasting distribution of numbers of large fires

Science.gov (United States)

Haiganoush K. Preisler; Jeff Eidenshink; Stephen Howard; Robert E. Burgan

2015-01-01

Systems to estimate forest fire potential commonly utilize one or more indexes that relate to expected fire behavior; however they indicate neither the chance that a large fire will occur, nor the expected number of large fires. That is, they do not quantify the probabilistic nature of fire danger. In this work we use large fire occurrence information from the...
Termites Are Resistant to the Effects of Fire at Multiple Spatial Scales.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah C Avitabile

Full Text Available Termites play an important ecological role in many ecosystems, particularly in nutrient-poor arid and semi-arid environments. We examined the distribution and occurrence of termites in the fire-prone, semi-arid mallee region of south-eastern Australia. In addition to periodic large wildfires, land managers use fire as a tool to achieve both asset protection and ecological outcomes in this region. Twelve taxa of termites were detected by using systematic searches and grids of cellulose baits at 560 sites, clustered in 28 landscapes selected to represent different fire mosaic patterns. There was no evidence of a significant relationship between the occurrence of termite species and time-since-fire at the site scale. Rather, the occurrence of species was related to habitat features such as the density of mallee trees and large logs (>10 cm diameter. Species richness was greater in chenopod mallee vegetation on heavier soils in swales, rather than Triodia mallee vegetation of the sandy dune slopes. At the landscape scale, there was little evidence that the frequency of occurrence of termite species was related to fire, and no evidence that habitat heterogeneity generated by fire influenced termite species richness. The most influential factor at the landscape scale was the environmental gradient represented by average annual rainfall. Although termites may be associated with flammable habitat components (e.g. dead wood, they appear to be buffered from the effects of fire by behavioural traits, including nesting underground, and the continued availability of dead wood after fire. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that a fine-scale, diverse mosaic of post-fire age-classes will enhance the diversity of termites. Rather, termites appear to be resistant to the effects of fire at multiple spatial scales.

LARGE-SCALE MECURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGY TESTING FOR LIGNITE-FIRED UTILITIES-OXIDATION SYSTEMS FOR WET FGD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael J. Holmes; Steven A. Benson; Jeffrey S. Thompson

2004-03-01

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is conducting a consortium-based effort directed toward resolving the mercury (Hg) control issues facing the lignite industry. Specifically, the EERC team--the EERC, EPRI, URS, ADA-ES, Babcock & Wilcox, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, SaskPower, and the Mercury Task Force, which includes Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Otter Tail Power Company, Great River Energy, Texas Utilities (TXU), Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Minnkota Power Cooperative, BNI Coal Ltd., Dakota Westmoreland Corporation, and the North American Coal Company--has undertaken a project to significantly and cost-effectively oxidize elemental mercury in lignite combustion gases, followed by capture in a wet scrubber. This approach will be applicable to virtually every lignite utility in the United States and Canada and potentially impact subbituminous utilities. The oxidation process is proven at the pilot-scale and in short-term full-scale tests. Additional optimization is continuing on oxidation technologies, and this project focuses on longer-term full-scale testing. The lignite industry has been proactive in advancing the understanding of and identifying control options for Hg in lignite combustion flue gases. Approximately 1 year ago, the EERC and EPRI began a series of Hg-related discussions with the Mercury Task Force as well as utilities firing Texas and Saskatchewan lignites. This project is one of three being undertaken by the consortium to perform large-scale Hg control technology testing to address the specific needs and challenges to be met in controlling Hg from lignite-fired power plants. This project involves Hg oxidation upstream of a system equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) followed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD). The team involved in conducting the technical aspects of the project includes the EERC, Babcock & Wilcox, URS, and ADA-ES. The host sites include Minnkota Power Cooperative Milton R. Young
Regional scales of fire danger rating in the forest: improved technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Volokitina

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Wildland fires distribute unevenly in time and over area under the influence of weather and other factors. It is unfeasible to air patrol the whole forest area daily during a fire season as well as to keep all fire suppression forces constantly alert. Daily work and preparedness of forest fire protection services is regulated by the level of fire danger according to weather conditions (Nesterov’s index. PV-1 index, fire hazard class (Melekhov’s scale, regional scales (earlier called local scales. Unfortunately, there is still no unified comparable technique of making regional scales. As a result, it is difficult to maneuver forest fire protection resources, since the techniques currently used are not approved and not tested for their performance. They give fire danger rating incomparable even for neighboring regions. The paper analyzes the state-of-the-art in Russia and abroad. It is stated the irony is that with factors of fire danger measured quantitatively, the fire danger itself as a function has no quantitative expression. Thus, selection of an absolute criteria is of high importance for improvement of daily fire danger rating. On the example of the Chunsky forest ranger station (Krasnoyarsk Krai, an improved technique is suggested of making comparable local scales of forest fire danger rating based on an absolute criterion of fire danger rating – a probable density of active fires per million ha. A method and an algorithm are described of automatized local scales of fire danger that should facilitate effective creation of similar scales for any forest ranger station or aviation regional office using a database on forest fires and weather conditions. The information system of distant monitoring by Federal Forestry Agency of Russia is analyzed for its application in making local scales. To supplement the existing weather station net it is suggested that automatic compact weather stations or, if the latter is not possible, simple
Synoptic-scale fire weather conditions in Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Hayasaka, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Hiroshi L.; Bieniek, Peter A.

2016-09-01

Recent concurrent widespread fires in Alaska are evaluated to assess their associated synoptic-scale weather conditions. Several periods of high fire activity from 2003 to 2015 were identified using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) hotspot data by considering the number of daily hotspots and their continuity. Fire weather conditions during the top six periods of high fire activity in the fire years of 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2015 were analyzed using upper level (500 hPa) and near surface level (1000 hPa) atmospheric reanalysis data. The top four fire-periods occurred under similar unique high-pressure fire weather conditions related to Rossby wave breaking (RWB). Following the ignition of wildfires, fire weather conditions related to RWB events typically result in two hotspot peaks occurring before and after high-pressure systems move from south to north across Alaska. A ridge in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in southwesterly wind during the first hotspot peak. After the high-pressure system moved north under RWB conditions, the Beaufort Sea High developed and resulted in relatively strong easterly wind in Interior Alaska and a second (largest) hotspot peak during each fire period. Low-pressure-related fire weather conditions occurring under cyclogenesis in the Arctic also resulted in high fire activity under southwesterly wind with a single large hot-spot peak.
Fire-safety engineering and performance-based codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Lars Schiøtt

project administrators, etc. The book deals with the following topics: • Historical presentation on the subject of fire • Legislation and building project administration • European fire standardization • Passive and active fire protection • Performance-based Codes • Fire-safety Engineering • Fundamental......Fire-safety Engineering is written as a textbook for Engineering students at universities and other institutions of higher education that teach in the area of fire. The book can also be used as a work of reference for consulting engineers, Building product manufacturers, contractors, building...... thermodynamics • Heat exchange during the fire process • Skin burns • Burning rate, energy release rate and design fires • Proposal to Risk-based design fires • Proposal to a Fire scale • Material ignition and flame spread • Fire dynamics in buildings • Combustion products and toxic gases • Smoke inhalation...
Forecasting distribution of numbers of large fires

Science.gov (United States)

Eidenshink, Jeffery C.; Preisler, Haiganoush K.; Howard, Stephen; Burgan, Robert E.

2014-01-01

Systems to estimate forest fire potential commonly utilize one or more indexes that relate to expected fire behavior; however they indicate neither the chance that a large fire will occur, nor the expected number of large fires. That is, they do not quantify the probabilistic nature of fire danger. In this work we use large fire occurrence information from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity project, and satellite and surface observations of fuel conditions in the form of the Fire Potential Index, to estimate two aspects of fire danger: 1) the probability that a 1 acre ignition will result in a 100+ acre fire, and 2) the probabilities of having at least 1, 2, 3, or 4 large fires within a Predictive Services Area in the forthcoming week. These statistical processes are the main thrust of the paper and are used to produce two daily national forecasts that are available from the U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center and via the Wildland Fire Assessment System. A validation study of our forecasts for the 2013 fire season demonstrated good agreement between observed and forecasted values.
The Design of a Fire Source in Scale-Model Experiments with Smoke Ventilation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm; Brohus, Henrik; la Cour-Harbo, H.

2004-01-01

The paper describes the design of a fire and a smoke source for scale-model experiments with smoke ventilation. It is only possible to work with scale-model experiments where the Reynolds number is reduced compared to full scale, and it is demonstrated that special attention to the fire source...... (heat and smoke source) may improve the possibility of obtaining Reynolds number independent solutions with a fully developed flow. The paper shows scale-model experiments for the Ofenegg tunnel case. Design of a fire source for experiments with smoke ventilation in a large room and smoke movement...
An assessment of fire occurrence regime and performance of Canadian fire weather index in south central Siberian boreal region

OpenAIRE

Chu, T.; Guo, X.

2014-01-01

Wildfire is the dominant natural disturbance in Eurasian boreal region, which acts as a major driver of the global carbon cycle. An effectiveness of wildfire management requires suitable tools for fire prevention and fire risk assessment. This study aims to investigate fire occurrence patterns in relation to fire weather conditions in the remote south central Siberia region. The Canadian Fire Weather Index derived from large-scale meteorol...
Temporal scaling behavior of forest and urban fires

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.; Song, W.; Zheng, H.; Telesca, L.

2009-04-01

It has been found that many natural systems are characterized by scaling behavior. In such systems natural factors dominate the event dynamics. Forest fires in different countries have been found to exhibit frequency-size power law over many orders of magnitude and with similar value of parameters. But in countries with high population density such as China and Japan, more than 95% of the forest fire disasters are caused by human activities. Furthermore, with the development of society, the wildland-urban interface (WUI) area is becoming more and more populated, and the forest fire is much connected with urban fire. Therefore exploring the scaling behavior of fires dominated by human-related factors is very challenging. The present paper explores the temporal scaling behavior of forest fires and urban fires in Japan with mathematical methods. Two factors, Allan factor (AF) and Fano factor (FF) are used to investigate time-scaling of fire systems. It is found that the FF for both forest fires and urban fires increases linearly in log-log scales, and this indicates that it behaves as a power-law for all the investigated timescales. From the AF plot a 7 days cycle is found, which indicates a weekly cycle. This may be caused by human activities which has a weekly periodicity because on weekends people usually have more outdoor activities, which may cause more hidden trouble of fire disasters. Our findings point out that although the human factors are the main cause, both the forest fires and urban fires exhibit time-scaling behavior. At the same time, the scaling exponents for urban fires are larger than forest fires, signifying a more intense clustering. The reason may be that fires are affected not only by weather condition, but also by human activities, which play a more important role for urban fires than forest fires and have a power law distribution and scaling behavior. Then some work is done to the relative humidity. Similar distribution law characterizes the
Research and management issues in large-scale fire modeling

Science.gov (United States)

David L. Peterson; Daniel L. Schmoldt

2000-01-01

In 1996, a team of North American fire scientists and resource managers convened to assess the effects of fire disturbance on ecosystems and to develop scientific recommendations for future fire research and management activities. These recommendations - elicited with the Analytic Hierarchy Process - include numerically ranked scientific and managerial questions and...
Mapping regional patterns of large forest fires in Wildland-Urban Interface areas in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Modugno, Sirio; Balzter, Heiko; Cole, Beth; Borrelli, Pasquale

2016-05-01

Over recent decades, Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) trends in many regions of Europe have reconfigured the landscape structures around many urban areas. In these areas, the proximity to landscape elements with high forest fuels has increased the fire risk to people and property. These Wildland-Urban Interface areas (WUI) can be defined as landscapes where anthropogenic urban land use and forest fuel mass come into contact. Mapping their extent is needed to prioritize fire risk control and inform local forest fire risk management strategies. This study proposes a method to map the extent and spatial patterns of the European WUI areas at continental scale. Using the European map of WUI areas, the hypothesis is tested that the distance from the nearest WUI area is related to the forest fire probability. Statistical relationships between the distance from the nearest WUI area, and large forest fire incidents from satellite remote sensing were subsequently modelled by logistic regression analysis. The first European scale map of the WUI extent and locations is presented. Country-specific positive and negative relationships of large fires and the proximity to the nearest WUI area are found. A regional-scale analysis shows a strong influence of the WUI zones on large fires in parts of the Mediterranean regions. Results indicate that the probability of large burned surfaces increases with diminishing WUI distance in touristic regions like Sardinia, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, or in regions with a strong peri-urban component as Catalunya, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana. For the above regions, probability curves of large burned surfaces show statistical relationships (ROC value > 0.5) inside a 5000 m buffer of the nearest WUI. Wise land management can provide a valuable ecosystem service of fire risk reduction that is currently not explicitly included in ecosystem service valuations. The results re-emphasise the importance of including this ecosystem service
Results of Large-Scale Spacecraft Flammability Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Ferkul, Paul; Olson, Sandra; Urban, David L.; Ruff, Gary A.; Easton, John; T'ien, James S.; Liao, Ta-Ting T.; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; Torero, Jose L.; Eigenbrand, Christian;

2017-01-01

For the first time, a large-scale fire was intentionally set inside a spacecraft while in orbit. Testing in low gravity aboard spacecraft had been limited to samples of modest size: for thin fuels the longest samples burned were around 15 cm in length and thick fuel samples have been even smaller. This is despite the fact that fire is a catastrophic hazard for spaceflight and the spread and growth of a fire, combined with its interactions with the vehicle cannot be expected to scale linearly. While every type of occupied structure on earth has been the subject of full scale fire testing, this had never been attempted in space owing to the complexity, cost, risk and absence of a safe location. Thus, there is a gap in knowledge of fire behavior in spacecraft. The recent utilization of large, unmanned, resupply craft has provided the needed capability: a habitable but unoccupied spacecraft in low earth orbit. One such vehicle was used to study the flame spread over a 94 x 40.6 cm thin charring solid (fiberglasscotton fabric). The sample was an order of magnitude larger than anything studied to date in microgravity and was of sufficient scale that it consumed 1.5 of the available oxygen. The experiment which is called Saffire consisted of two tests, forward or concurrent flame spread (with the direction of flow) and opposed flame spread (against the direction of flow). The average forced air speed was 20 cms. For the concurrent flame spread test, the flame size remained constrained after the ignition transient, which is not the case in 1-g. These results were qualitatively different from those on earth where an upward-spreading flame on a sample of this size accelerates and grows. In addition, a curious effect of the chamber size is noted. Compared to previous microgravity work in smaller tunnels, the flame in the larger tunnel spread more slowly, even for a wider sample. This is attributed to the effect of flow acceleration in the smaller tunnels as a result of hot

Designing fire safe interiors.

Science.gov (United States)

Belles, D W

1992-01-01

Any product that causes a fire to grow large is deficient in fire safety performance. A large fire in any building represents a serious hazard. Multiple-death fires almost always are linked to fires that grow quickly to a large size. Interior finishes have large, continuous surfaces over which fire can spread. They are regulated to slow initial fire growth, and must be qualified for use on the basis of fire tests. To obtain meaningful results, specimens must be representative of actual installation. Variables--such as the substrate, the adhesive, and product thickness and density--can affect product performance. The tunnel test may not adequately evaluate some products, such as foam plastics or textile wall coverings, thermoplastic materials, or materials of minimal mass. Where questions exist, products should be evaluated on a full-scale basis. Curtains and draperies are examples of products that ignite easily and spread flames readily. The present method for testing curtains and draperies evaluates one fabric at a time. Although a fabric tested alone may perform well, fabrics that meet test standards individually sometimes perform poorly when tested in combination. Contents and furnishings constitute the major fuels in many fires. Contents may involve paper products and other lightweight materials that are easily ignited and capable of fast fire growth. Similarly, a small source may ignite many items of furniture that are capable of sustained fire growth. Upholstered furniture can reach peak burning rates in less than 5 minutes. Furnishings have been associated with many multiple-death fires.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The sodium fire tests performed in the FAUNA facility on up to 12m2 fire areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherdron, W.; Jordan, S.

1983-08-01

The FAUNA test facility started operation in 1979. It serves to investigate large area sodium fires in closed containments and to study the generation, behaviour and removal of sodium fire aerosols. In this report, the experimental results of the 6 sodium pool fires are described which were performed with up to 500 kg of sodium in fire pans of 2 m 2 , 5 m 2 and 12 m 2 surface area, respectively. Both, the thermodynamic data and the data of the reaction kinetics of the fires were determined. In addition, the behaviour of the released aerosols during and after the fire was studied. On the basis of measurements of the temperature profiles at various levels above the fire areas it was shown that the convective flows above fire areas of different sizes in closed containments differ markedly and, obviously, exert an influence on the development of the fire and the release of particles. Whilst in rather small fires the gas above the pan rises as in a chimney and flows back on the walls, no chimney effect can be observed in a large pool fire. In rather large fires higher burning rates and aerosol release rates were observed. Some meters above the fire area temperatures around 300-400 0 C, temporarily even up to 700 0 C, were measured. The tests F5 and F6 were performed above all to observe the fire behaviour in terms of thermodynamics and reaction kinetics in a fully closed containment. (orig./RW) [de
Performance of a Protected Wireless Sensor Network in a Fire. Analysis of Fire Spread and Data Transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Antoine-Santoni, Thierry; Santucci, Jean-François; de Gentili, Emmanuelle; Silvani, Xavier; Morandini, Frederic

2009-01-01

The paper deals with a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) as a reliable solution for capturing the kinematics of a fire front spreading over a fuel bed. To provide reliable information in fire studies and support fire fighting strategies, a Wireless Sensor Network must be able to perform three sequential actions: 1) sensing thermal data in the open as the gas temperature; 2) detecting a fire i.e., the spatial position of a flame; 3) tracking the fire spread during its spatial and temporal evolution. One of the great challenges in performing fire front tracking with a WSN is to avoid the destruction of motes by the fire. This paper therefore shows the performance of Wireless Sensor Network when the motes are protected with a thermal insulation dedicated to track a fire spreading across vegetative fuels on a field scale. The resulting experimental WSN is then used in series of wildfire experiments performed in the open in vegetation areas ranging in size from 50 to 1,000 m2. PMID:22454563
Large sodium pool fires in a closed or in a naturally vented cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rzekiecki, R.; Malet, J.C.; Sophy, Y.; Joly, C.; Claverie, J.

1986-01-01

Within the framework of R and D studies related to LMFBR sodium handling safety, a facility named ESMERALDA 1 was provided. This permits full scale demonstration of the control of sodium fires. ESMERALDA is a French-Italian project including EDF, CEA, NERSA, NOVATOME, partners. Large pool fires studies are a part of it. (author)
Multiplatform inversion of the 2013 Rim Fire smoke emissions using regional-scale modeling: important nocturnal fire activity, air quality, and climate impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Saide, P. E.; Peterson, D. A.; da Silva, A. M., Jr.; Ziemba, L. D.; Anderson, B.; Diskin, G. S.; Sachse, G. W.; Hair, J. W.; Butler, C. F.; Fenn, M. A.; Jimenez, J. L.; Campuzano Jost, P.; Dibb, J. E.; Yokelson, R. J.; Toon, B.; Carmichael, G. R.

2014-12-01

Large wildfire events are increasingly recognized for their adverse effects on air quality and visibility, thus providing motivation for improving smoke emission estimates. The Rim Fire, one of the largest events in California's history, produced a large smoke plume that was sampled by the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) DC-8 aircraft with a full suite of in-situ and remote sensing measurements on 26-27 August 2013. We developed an inversion methodology which uses the WRF-Chem modeling system to constrain hourly fire emissions, using as initial estimates the NASA Quick Fire Emissions Dataset (QFED). This method differs from the commonly performed top-down estimates that constrain daily (or longer time scale) emissions. The inversion method is able to simultaneously improve the model fit to various SEAC4RS airborne measurements (e.g., organic aerosol, carbon monoxide (CO), aerosol extinction), ground based measurements (e.g., AERONET aerosol optical depth (AOD), CO), and satellite data (MODIS AOD) by modifying fire emissions and utilizing the information content of all these measurements. Preliminary results show that constrained emissions for a 6 day period following the largest fire growth are a factor 2-4 higher than the initial top-down estimates. Moreover, there is a tendency to increase nocturnal emissions by factors sometimes larger than 20, indicating that vigorous fire activity continued during the night. This deviation from a typical diurnal cycle is confirmed using geostationary satellite data. The constrained emissions also have a larger day-to-day variability than the initial emissions and correlate better to daily area burned estimates as observed by airborne infrared measurements (NIROPS). Experiments with the assimilation system show that performing the inversion using only satellite AOD data produces much smaller correction factors than when using all available data
The dispersion of radioactive aerosols in fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buijs, K.; Chavane de Dalmassy, B.; Pickering, S.

1989-01-01

Experimental results are reported on the resuspension, due to fire, of radioactive nuclear fuel particles from a variety of substrates. Experiments were carried out both on large and small scale. In small-scale fires uranium-plutonium oxide particles were used and in the large-scale fires cerium-europium oxide particles were used. The mechanisms of particle resuspension were investigated in separate series of experiments. It was found that in small-scale fires up to 20% of the particle inventory can be resuspended and in large-scale fires up to 75%. In both cases most of the resuspended material deposits within the fire chamber and a maximum of 2% is carried into the ventilation duct at the outlet of the fire chamber. The predominant resuspension mechanisms are bubble bursting in small-scale fires and turbulence in large-scale fires. (orig.)
Concepts for Future Large Fire Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

A. P. Dimitrakopoulos; R. E. Martin

1987-01-01

A small number of fires escape initial attack suppression efforts and become large, but their effects are significant and disproportionate. In 1983, of 200,000 wildland fires in the United States, only 4,000 exceeded 100 acres. However, these escaped fires accounted for roughly 95 percent of wildfire-related costs and damages (Pyne, 1984). Thus, future research efforts...
Using the Large Fire Simulator System to map wildland fire potential for the conterminous United States

Science.gov (United States)

LaWen Hollingsworth; James Menakis

2010-01-01

This project mapped wildland fire potential (WFP) for the conterminous United States by using the large fire simulation system developed for Fire Program Analysis (FPA) System. The large fire simulation system, referred to here as LFSim, consists of modules for weather generation, fire occurrence, fire suppression, and fire growth modeling. Weather was generated with...
Wildland Fire Behaviour Case Studies and Fuel Models for Landscape-Scale Fire Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul-Antoine Santoni

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This work presents the extension of a physical model for the spreading of surface fire at landscape scale. In previous work, the model was validated at laboratory scale for fire spreading across litters. The model was then modified to consider the structure of actual vegetation and was included in the wildland fire calculation system Forefire that allows converting the two-dimensional model of fire spread to three dimensions, taking into account spatial information. Two wildland fire behavior case studies were elaborated and used as a basis to test the simulator. Both fires were reconstructed, paying attention to the vegetation mapping, fire history, and meteorological data. The local calibration of the simulator required the development of appropriate fuel models for shrubland vegetation (maquis for use with the model of fire spread. This study showed the capabilities of the simulator during the typical drought season characterizing the Mediterranean climate when most wildfires occur.

Econometric analysis of fire suppression production functions for large wildland fires

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas P. Holmes; David E. Calkin

2013-01-01

In this paper, we use operational data collected for large wildland fires to estimate the parameters of economic production functions that relate the rate of fireline construction with the level of fire suppression inputs (handcrews, dozers, engines and helicopters). These parameter estimates are then used to evaluate whether the productivity of fire suppression inputs...
Large scale electrolysers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

B Bello; M Junker

2006-01-01

Hydrogen production by water electrolysis represents nearly 4 % of the world hydrogen production. Future development of hydrogen vehicles will require large quantities of hydrogen. Installation of large scale hydrogen production plants will be needed. In this context, development of low cost large scale electrolysers that could use 'clean power' seems necessary. ALPHEA HYDROGEN, an European network and center of expertise on hydrogen and fuel cells, has performed for its members a study in 2005 to evaluate the potential of large scale electrolysers to produce hydrogen in the future. The different electrolysis technologies were compared. Then, a state of art of the electrolysis modules currently available was made. A review of the large scale electrolysis plants that have been installed in the world was also realized. The main projects related to large scale electrolysis were also listed. Economy of large scale electrolysers has been discussed. The influence of energy prices on the hydrogen production cost by large scale electrolysis was evaluated. (authors)
Fire Resistance of Large-Scale Cross-Laminated Timber Panels

Science.gov (United States)

Henek, Vladan; Venkrbec, Václav; Novotný, Miloslav

2017-12-01

Wooden structures are increasingly being used in the construction of residential buildings. A common and often published reason to avoid wooden structures is their insufficient fire resistance, which reduces bearing capacity. For this reason, composite sandwich structures began to be designed to eliminate this drawback, as well as others. Recently, however, the trend is for a return to the original, wood-only variant and a search is underway for new technical means of improving the properties of such structures. Many timber structure technologies are known, but structures made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels have been used very often in recent years. CLT panels, also known as X-LAM, are currently gaining popularity in Europe. In the case of CLT panels composed of several layers of boards, they can be said to offer a certain advantage in that after the surface layer of a board has burnt and the subsurface layer has dried, oxygen is not drawn to the unburned wood for further combustion and thus the burning process ceases. CLT panels do not need to be specially modified or coated with fire resistant materials, although they are usually lined with gypsum-fibre fire resistant boards due to guidelines set out in the relevant standards. This paper presents a new method for the assessment of load-bearing perimeter walls fabricated from CLT panels without the use of an inner fire-retardant lining to ensure fire resistance at the level required by European standards (i.e. those harmonized for the Czech construction industry). The calculations were verified through laboratory tests which show that better parameters can be achieved during the classification of structures from the fire resistance point of view. The aim of the article is to utilize the results of assessment and testing by an accredited laboratory in order to demonstrate the possibilities of using CLT panels for the construction of multistorey as well as multi-purpose buildings in the Czech Republic.
Fire structures pine serotiny at different scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Serrano, Ana; Verdú, Miguel; González-Martínez, Santiago C; Pausas, Juli G

2013-12-01

Serotiny (delayed seed release with the consequent accumulation of a canopy seedbank) confers fitness benefits in environments with crown-fire regimes. Thus, we predicted that serotiny level should be higher in populations recurrently subjected to crown-fires than in populations where crown-fires are rare. In addition, under a high frequency of fires, space and resources are recurrently available, permitting recruitment around each mother to follow the seed rain shadow. Thus, we also predicted spatial aggregation of serotiny within populations. We compared serotiny, considering both the proportion and the age of serotinous cones, in populations living in contrasting fire regimes for two iconic Mediterranean pine species (Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster). We framed our results by quantitatively comparing the strength of the fire-serotiny relationship with previous studies worldwide. For the two species, populations living under high crown-fire recurrence regimes had a higher serotiny level than those populations where the recurrence of crown-fires was low. For P. halepensis (the species with higher serotiny), populations in high fire recurrence regimes had higher fine-scale spatial aggregation of serotiny than those inhabiting low fire recurrence systems. The strength of the observed fire-serotiny relationship in P. halepensis is among the highest in published literature. Fire regime shapes serotiny level among populations, and in populations with high serotiny, recurrent fires maintain a significant spatial structure for this trait. Consequently, fire has long-term evolutionary implications at different scales, emphasizing its prominent role in shaping the ecology of pines.
Design and performance of a skid-mounted portable compartment fire gas furnace and monitoring system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mueller K.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available A custom, portable natural gas fire furnace was designed and constructed for use at the University of Notre Dame to experimentally investigate the out-of-plane behavior of full-scale reinforced concrete (RC bearing walls under fire. The unique aspects of this furnace allowed the application of large mechanical loads and non-contact optical response monitoring to be done while subjecting the wall to elevated temperatures. The performance of the experimental furnace, mechanical loading, and response monitoring system is reported using the results from the first two RC wall test specimens.
Fluid dynamics structures in a fire environment observed in laboratory-scale experiments

Science.gov (United States)

J. Lozano; W. Tachajapong; D.R. Weise; S. Mahalingam; M. Princevac

2010-01-01

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements were performed in laboratory-scale experimental fires spreading across horizontal fuel beds composed of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) excelsior. The continuous flame, intermittent flame, and thermal plume regions of a fire were investigated. Utilizing a PIV system, instantaneous velocity fields for...
Post-fire vegetation behaviour in large burnt scars from 2005 fire season in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Bastos, A.; Gouveia, C. M.; DaCamara, C. C.; Trigo, R. M.

2012-04-01

Wildfires have a wide diversity of impacts on landscape which, in turn, depend on the interaction of fire regimes (e.g. intensity, extent, frequency) and the response of vegetation to them in short and long-terms. The increase in erosion rates and the loss of nutrients by runoff in the first months following the fire are among the major impacts of wildfires. A minimum of 30% of vegetation cover is enough to protect soils against erosion but vegetation may require a long period to reach this threshold after severe fires. Since erosion risk is strongly linked to vegetation recovery rates, post-fire vegetation monitoring becomes crucial in land management. Fire regimes in the Mediterranean have been changing in the past decades due to modifications in both socio-economic and climate patterns. Although many vegetation species in Mediterranean ecosystems are adapted to wildfires, changes in fire regime characteristics affect the ability of ecosystems to recover to their previous state. In Spain, fire is an important driver of changes in landscape composition, leading to dominance of shrubland following fire and to a major decrease of pine woodlands (Viedma et al., 2006). Remote sensing is a powerful tool in land management, allowing vegetation monitoring on large spatial scales for relatively long periods of time. In order to assess vegetation dynamics, monthly NDVI data from 1998-2009 from SPOT/VEGETATION at 1km spatial resolution over the Iberian Peninsula were used. This work focuses on 2005 fire season in Spain, which registered the highest amount of burnt area since 1994, with more than 188000 ha burnt. Burnt scars in this fire season were identified by cluster analysis. Post-fire vegetation recovery was assessed based on the monoparametric model developed by Gouveia et al. (2010) that was applied to four large scars located in different geographical settings with different land cover characteristics. While the two northern regions presented fast recovery, in the
Fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation of an epoxy based nano intumescent fire retardant coating for structural applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aziz, Hammad, E-mail: engr.hammad.aziz03@gmail.com; Ahmad, Faiz, E-mail: faizahmad@petronas.com.my; Yusoff, P. S. M. Megat; Zia-ul-Mustafa, M. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh 31750, Perak (Malaysia)

2015-07-22

Intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC) is a passive fire protection system which swells upon heating to form expanded multi-cellular char layer that protects the substrate from fire. In this research work, IFRC’s were developed using different flame retardants such as ammonium polyphosphate, expandable graphite, melamine and boric acid. These flame retardants were bound together with the help of epoxy binder and cured together using curing agent. IFRC was then reinforced with nano magnesium oxide and nano alumina as inorganic fillers to study their effect towards fire performance, microstructure and thermal degradation. Small scale fire test was conducted to investigate the thermal insulation of coating whereas fire performance was calculated using thermal margin value. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the microstructure of char obtained after fire test. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to investigate the residual weight of coating. Results showed that the performance of the coating was enhanced by reinforcement with nano size fillers as compared to non-filler based coating. Comparing both nano size magnesium oxide and nano size alumina; nano size alumina gave better fire performance with improved microstructure of char and high residual weight.
Experimental Benchmarking of Fire Modeling Simulations. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greiner, Miles; Lopez, Carlos

2003-01-01

A series of large-scale fire tests were performed at Sandia National Laboratories to simulate a nuclear waste transport package under severe accident conditions. The test data were used to benchmark and adjust the Container Analysis Fire Environment (CAFE) computer code. CAFE is a computational fluid dynamics fire model that accurately calculates the heat transfer from a large fire to a massive engulfed transport package. CAFE will be used in transport package design studies and risk analyses
Fire simulation in large compartments with a fire model 'CFAST'. Part 1. Survey of applicability for analyzing air-temperature profile in compartments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hattori, Yasuo; Suto, Hitoshi; Shirai, Koji; Eguchi, Yuzuru; Sano, Tadashi

2012-01-01

The basic performance of numerical analysis of air-temperature profiles in large-scale compartments by using a zone model, CFAST (Consolidated model of Fire growth And Smoke Transport), which has been widely applied for fire protection design of buildings is examined. Special attentions are paid to the dependence of the setting boundary conditions and the choosing model parameters. The simulations carried out under the denkyoken-test conditions, in which the air-temperature profiles in compartments and the heat-release rate of a fire have been precisely measured, indicate that the CFAST has a capability to appropriately represent the time-histories of air-temperature in the high air-temperature layer generated in the vicinity of ceiling of the compartment which includes the source of a fire, by applying the proper boundary conditions, i.e., time-histories of air-temperature in the upper (high temperature) layer given by the CFAST agree well with those of observations. The sensitivity analysis in the simulations also reveals that the appropriately setting of the boundary-conditions, especially for the heat-release ratio from a fire and the heat-transfer rate from walls of compartments to ambient air is vital. Contrary to this, the impacts of choosing numerical parameters on the air-temperature analysis are quite small. (author)
Post Fire Vegetation Recovery in Greece after the large Drought event of 2007

Science.gov (United States)

Gouveia, Célia M.; Bastos, Ana; DaCamara, Carlos; Trigo, Ricardo

2013-04-01

Fire is a natural factor of Mediterranean ecosystems. However, fire regimes in the European Mediterranean areas have been changing in the last decades, mainly due to land-use changes and climate driven factors possibly associated with climatic warming (e.g. decline of precipitation, increasing temperatures but also higher frequency of heatwaves). In Greece, the fire season of 2007 was particularly devastating, achieving the new all-time record of estimated burnt area (225 734 ha), since 1980. Additionally, we must stress that prior to the summer fire season in 2007, Greece suffered an exceptional drought event. This severe drought had a strong negative impact in vegetation dynamics. Since water availability is a crucial factor in post-fire vegetation recovery, it is desirable to assess the impact that such water-stress conditions had on fire sensitivity and post-fire vegetation recovery. Based on monthly values of NDVI, at the 1km×1km spatial scale, as obtained from the VEGETATION-SPOT5 instrument, from 1999 to 2010, large burnt scars are identified in Greece, during 2007 fire season. Vegetation recovery is then assessed based on a mono parametric regression model originally developed by Gouveia et al. (2010) to identify large burnt scars in Portugal during the 2003 fire season and after applied to 2005 fire season (Bastos et al., 2012). Some large burnt areas are selected and the respective NDVI behaviour is monitored throughout the pre and the post fire period. The vegetation dynamics during the pre-fire period is analysed and related to the extreme climatic events that characterised the considered period. An analysis is made of the dependence of recovery rates on land cover types and fire damage. Finally results are compared to results already obtained for Portugal (Gouveia et al. 2010). This work emphasises the use of a simple methodology, when applied to low resolution satellite imagery in order to monitor vegetation recovery after large fires events over
UK position paper on sodium fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaughan, G J [National Nuclear Corporation Ltd., Risley, Warrington, Cheshire (United Kingdom); Glass, D [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment, Thurso, Caithness (United Kingdom); Newman, R N [Central Electricity Generating Board, Berekely Nuclear Laboratory, Berkeley, Gloucestershire (United Kingdom); Ramsdale, S A [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Safety and Reliability Directorate, Culcheth, Cheshire (United Kingdom); Snelling, K W [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Atomic Energy Establishment, Winfrith, Dorchester, Dorset (United Kingdom)

1989-07-01

The UK has over several years developed a philosophy for the prevention, mitigation and extinguishment of sodium fires. The systems which were developed for PFR have been continuously revised and modified and from these considerations systems were proposed for CDFR. The latest phases of this development are described with reference to the CDFR plant. The current analytical and experimental work on fires, aerosols and sodium concrete reactions is also discussed. The UK are developing codes to analyse the effects of a sodium fire in a building and to model aerosol behaviour following a fire. Experimental work on small scale fires, aerosol behaviour, filtration devices and sodium concrete reaction is being carried out on a laboratory scale. Techniques for aerosol measurement and characterisation have also been developed and used both In the laboratory and large scale tests. Larger scale tests of sodium fire extinguishment techniques have also been performed. Currently a programme of tests (SOFA) of large scale fires in the open to investigate the chemical and physical changes in the aerosol and its dispersion in the atmosphere are just beginning. The UK studies are intended to both assist in the development of prevention and mitigation systems for design base and beyond design base accidents in any building which contains sodium (or sodium potassium alloy) and also to provide methods for assessing the risks from such accidents. (author)
UK position paper on sodium fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaughan, G.J.; Glass, D.; Newman, R.N.; Ramsdale, S.A.; Snelling, K.W.

1989-01-01

The UK has over several years developed a philosophy for the prevention, mitigation and extinguishment of sodium fires. The systems which were developed for PFR have been continuously revised and modified and from these considerations systems were proposed for CDFR. The latest phases of this development are described with reference to the CDFR plant. The current analytical and experimental work on fires, aerosols and sodium concrete reactions is also discussed. The UK are developing codes to analyse the effects of a sodium fire in a building and to model aerosol behaviour following a fire. Experimental work on small scale fires, aerosol behaviour, filtration devices and sodium concrete reaction is being carried out on a laboratory scale. Techniques for aerosol measurement and characterisation have also been developed and used both In the laboratory and large scale tests. Larger scale tests of sodium fire extinguishment techniques have also been performed. Currently a programme of tests (SOFA) of large scale fires in the open to investigate the chemical and physical changes in the aerosol and its dispersion in the atmosphere are just beginning. The UK studies are intended to both assist in the development of prevention and mitigation systems for design base and beyond design base accidents in any building which contains sodium (or sodium potassium alloy) and also to provide methods for assessing the risks from such accidents. (author)
A review of the physics of large urban fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brode, H.L.; Small, R.D.

1986-01-01

A review of historical urban fires can help to illustrate the nature of large fires and the devastation that they can cause. The observations and descriptions of those fires provide the basis for understanding the much larger fires that would result from a nuclear explosion. The focus of this paper is on the major physical factors that are relevant to the characterization of such fires. Atmospheric responses in the vicinity of a large smoke column are addressed, and the hazards expected to accompany nuclear fires are briefly discussed
Fire spread simulation of a full scale cable tunnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huhtanen, R.

1999-11-01

A fire simulation of a full scale tunnel was performed by using the commercial code EFFLUENT as the simulation platform. Estimation was made for fire spread on the stacked cable trays, possibility of fire spread to the cable trays on the opposite wall of the tunnel, detection time of smoke detectors in the smouldering phase and response of sprinkler heads in the flaming phase. According to the simulation, the rise of temperature in the smouldering phase is minimal, only of the order 1 deg C. The estimates of optical density of smoke show that normal smoke detectors should give an alarm within 2-4 minutes from the beginning of the smouldering phase, depending on the distance to the detector (in this case it was assumed that the thermal source connected to the smoke source was 50 W). The flow conditions at smoke detectors may be challenging, because the velocity magnitude is rather low at this phase. At 4 minutes the maximum velocity at the detectors is 0.12 m/s. During the flaming phase (beginning from 11 minutes) fire spreads on the stacked cable trays in an expected way, although the ignition criterion seems to perform poorly when ignition of new objects is considered. The Upper cable trays are forced to ignite by boundary condition definitions according to the experience found from ti full scale experiment and an earlier simulation. After 30 minutes the hot layer in the room becomes so hot that it speeds up the fire spread and the rate of heat release of burning objects. Further, the hot layer ignites the cable trays on the opposite wall of the tunnel after 45 minutes. It is estimated that the sprinkler heads would be activated at 20-22 minutes near the fire source and at 24-28 minutes little further from the fire source when fast sprinkler heads are used. The slow heads are activated between 26-32 minutes. (orig.)
Large scale and performance tests of the ATLAS online software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexandrov; Kotov, V.; Mineev, M.; Roumiantsev, V.; Wolters, H.; Amorim, A.; Pedro, L.; Ribeiro, A.; Badescu, E.; Caprini, M.; Burckhart-Chromek, D.; Dobson, M.; Jones, R.; Kazarov, A.; Kolos, S.; Liko, D.; Lucio, L.; Mapelli, L.; Nassiakou, M.; Schweiger, D.; Soloviev, I.; Hart, R.; Ryabov, Y.; Moneta, L.

2001-01-01

One of the sub-systems of the Trigger/DAQ system of the future ATLAS experiment is the Online Software system. It encompasses the functionality needed to configure, control and monitor the DAQ. Its architecture is based on a component structure described in the ATLAS Trigger/DAQ technical proposal. Regular integration tests ensure its smooth operation in test beam setups during its evolutionary development towards the final ATLAS online system. Feedback is received and returned into the development process. Studies of the system behavior have been performed on a set of up to 111 PCs on a configuration which is getting closer to the final size. Large scale and performance test of the integrated system were performed on this setup with emphasis on investigating the aspects of the inter-dependence of the components and the performance of the communication software. Of particular interest were the run control state transitions in various configurations of the run control hierarchy. For the purpose of the tests, the software from other Trigger/DAQ sub-systems has been emulated. The author presents a brief overview of the online system structure, its components and the large scale integration tests and their results
Hydrological response of a small catchment burned by experimental fire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. R. Stoof

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Fire can considerably change hydrological processes, increasing the risk of extreme flooding and erosion events. Although hydrological processes are largely affected by scale, catchment-scale studies on the hydrological impact of fire in Europe are scarce, and nested approaches are rarely used. We performed a catchment-scale experimental fire to improve insight into the drivers of fire impact on hydrology. In north-central Portugal, rainfall, canopy interception, streamflow and soil moisture were monitored in small shrub-covered paired catchments pre- and post-fire. The shrub cover was medium dense to dense (44 to 84% and pre-fire canopy interception was on average 48.7% of total rainfall. Fire increased streamflow volumes 1.6 times more than predicted, resulting in increased runoff coefficients and changed rainfall-streamflow relationships – although the increase in streamflow per unit rainfall was only significant at the subcatchment-scale. Fire also fastened the response of topsoil moisture to rainfall from 2.7 to 2.1 h (p = 0.058, and caused more rapid drying of topsoils after rain events. Since soil physical changes due to fire were not apparent, we suggest that changes resulting from vegetation removal played an important role in increasing streamflow after fire. Results stress that fire impact on hydrology is largely affected by scale, highlight the hydrological impact of fire on small scales, and emphasize the risk of overestimating fire impact when upscaling plot-scale studies to the catchment-scale. Finally, they increase understanding of the processes contributing to post-fire flooding and erosion events.
A Practical Guide to Assessing Adult Firesetters' Fire-Specific Treatment Needs Using the Four Factor Fire Scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Ó Ciardha, Caoilte; Tyler, Nichola; Gannon, Theresa A

2015-01-01

Practitioners working with offenders who have set fires have access to very few measures examining fire-specific treatment needs (e.g., fire interest, fire attitudes). In this article we examine the new Four Factor Fire Scales (Ó Ciardha et al., 2015), which may be used by practitioners to examine fire-specific treatment needs for offenders who have set deliberate fires. We present a standardized scoring procedure when using these scales, as well as an associated scoring template for practitioner use. Norm data are based on male and female firesetters (n = 378) and nonfiresetters (n = 187) recruited from 19 prison establishments (including six female establishments, one young offender institution) and 12 secure mixed-gender mental health settings. We present a full overview of all data we have collected to date relating to the Four Factor Fire Scales across prison, mental health, and young offending participants. For each population, we present mean scores as well as associated cutoff scores and reliable change indices to aid practitioners in their interpretation of scores. The Four Factor Fire Scales provide professionals working in the area with a robust template for administering, scoring, and interpreting the fire-specific factors currently identified as playing a role in deliberate firesetting behavior. Strengths and limitations of the measure are discussed.
Broad-Scale Environmental Conditions Responsible for Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart E. Marsh

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Ecosystem response to disturbance is influenced by environmental conditions at a number of scales. Changes in climate have altered fire regimes across the western United States, and have also likely altered spatio-temporal patterns of post-fire vegetation regeneration. Fire occurrence data and a vegetation index (NDVI derived from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR were used to monitor post-fire vegetation from 1989 to 2007. We first investigated differences in post-fire rates of vegetation regeneration between ecoregions. We then related precipitation, temperature, and elevation records at four temporal scales to rates of post-fire vegetation regeneration to ascertain the influence of climate on post-fire vegetation dynamics. We found that broad-scale climate factors are an important influence on post-fire vegetation regeneration. Most notably, higher rates of post-fire regeneration occurred with warmer minimum temperatures. Increases in precipitation also resulted in higher rates of post-fire vegetation growth. While explanatory power was slight, multiple statistical approaches provided evidence for real ecological drivers of post-fire regeneration that should be investigated further at finer scales. The sensitivity of post-disturbance vegetation dynamics to climatic drivers has important ramifications for the management of ecosystems under changing climatic conditions. Shifts in temperature and precipitation regimes are likely to result in changes in post-disturbance dynamics, which could represent important feedbacks into the global climate system.
Performance Evaluation Facility for Fire Fighting Thermal Imager

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung Chan; Amon, Francine; Hamins, Anthony

2007-01-01

The present study investigates the characteristics of obscuring media inside an optical smoke cell, which is a bench-scale testing facility for the evaluation of thermal imaging cameras used by fire fighters. Light extinction coefficient and visibility through the smoke cell is characterized by the measured laser transmittance. The laser transmittance along the axial direction of the smoke cell is relatively uniform at upper and lower part for various air/fuel volume flow rate. Contrast level based image quality of visible CCD camera through the smoke cell is compared with that of thermal imaging camera. The optical smoke cell can be used as well-controlled and effective laboratory-scale test apparatus to evaluate the performance of thermal imaging camera for fire fighting application

Evidence of fuels management and fire weather influencing fire severity in an extreme fire event.

Science.gov (United States)

Lydersen, Jamie M; Collins, Brandon M; Brooks, Matthew L; Matchett, John R; Shive, Kristen L; Povak, Nicholas A; Kane, Van R; Smith, Douglas F

2017-10-01

Following changes in vegetation structure and pattern, along with a changing climate, large wildfire incidence has increased in forests throughout the western United States. Given this increase, there is great interest in whether fuels treatments and previous wildfire can alter fire severity patterns in large wildfires. We assessed the relative influence of previous fuels treatments (including wildfire), fire weather, vegetation, and water balance on fire-severity in the Rim Fire of 2013. We did this at three different spatial scales to investigate whether the influences on fire severity changed across scales. Both fuels treatments and previous low to moderate-severity wildfire reduced the prevalence of high-severity fire. In general, areas without recent fuels treatments and areas that previously burned at high severity tended to have a greater proportion of high-severity fire in the Rim Fire. Areas treated with prescribed fire, especially when combined with thinning, had the lowest proportions of high severity. The proportion of the landscape burned at high severity was most strongly influenced by fire weather and proportional area previously treated for fuels or burned by low to moderate severity wildfire. The proportion treated needed to effectively reduce the amount of high severity fire varied by spatial scale of analysis, with smaller spatial scales requiring a greater proportion treated to see an effect on fire severity. When moderate and high-severity fire encountered a previously treated area, fire severity was significantly reduced in the treated area relative to the adjacent untreated area. Our results show that fuels treatments and low to moderate-severity wildfire can reduce fire severity in a subsequent wildfire, even when burning under fire growth conditions. These results serve as further evidence that both fuels treatments and lower severity wildfire can increase forest resilience. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.
Detecting Local Drivers of Fire Cycle Heterogeneity in Boreal Forests: A Scale Issue

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Annie Claude Bélisle

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Severe crown fires are determining disturbances for the composition and structure of boreal forests in North America. Fire cycle (FC associations with continental climate gradients are well known, but smaller scale controls remain poorly documented. Using a time since fire map (time scale of 300 years, the study aims to assess the relative contributions of local and regional controls on FC and to describe the relationship between FC heterogeneity and vegetation patterns. The study area, located in boreal eastern North America, was partitioned into watersheds according to five scales going from local (3 km2 to landscape (2800 km2 scales. Using survival analysis, we observed that dry surficial deposits and hydrography density better predict FC when measured at the local scale, while terrain complexity and slope position perform better when measured at the middle and landscape scales. The most parsimonious model was selected according to the Akaike information criterion to predict FC throughout the study area. We detected two FC zones, one short (159 years and one long (303 years, with specific age structures and tree compositions. We argue that the local heterogeneity of the fire regime contributes to ecosystem diversity and must be considered in ecosystem management.
Global Wildfire Forecasts Using Large Scale Climate Indices

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Huizhong; Tao, Shu

2016-04-01

Using weather readings, fire early warning can provided forecast 4-6 hour in advance to minimize fire loss. The benefit would be dramatically enhanced if relatively accurate long-term projection can be also provided. Here we present a novel method for predicting global fire season severity (FSS) at least three months in advance using multiple large-scale climate indices (CIs). The predictive ability is proven effective for various geographic locations and resolution. Globally, as well as in most continents, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant driving force controlling interannual FSS variability, whereas other CIs also play indispensable roles. We found that a moderate El Niño event is responsible for 465 (272-658 as interquartile range) Tg carbon release and an annual increase of 29,500 (24,500-34,800) deaths from inhalation exposure to air pollutants. Southeast Asia accounts for half of the deaths. Both intercorrelation and interaction of WPs and CIs are revealed, suggesting possible climate-induced modification of fire responses to weather conditions. Our models can benefit fire management in response to climate change.
Methods for Prediction of Steel Temperature Curve in the Whole Process of a Localized Fire in Large Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Guowei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on a full-scale bookcase fire experiment, a fire development model is proposed for the whole process of localized fires in large-space buildings. We found that for localized fires in large-space buildings full of wooden combustible materials the fire growing phases can be simplified into a t2 fire with a 0.0346 kW/s2 fire growth coefficient. FDS technology is applied to study the smoke temperature curve for a 2 MW to 25 MW fire occurring within a large space with a height of 6 m to 12 m and a building area of 1 500 m2 to 10 000 m2 based on the proposed fire development model. Through the analysis of smoke temperature in various fire scenarios, a new approach is proposed to predict the smoke temperature curve. Meanwhile, a modified model of steel temperature development in localized fire is built. In the modified model, the localized fire source is treated as a point fire source to evaluate the flame net heat flux to steel. The steel temperature curve in the whole process of a localized fire could be accurately predicted by the above findings. These conclusions obtained in this paper could provide valuable reference to fire simulation, hazard assessment, and fire protection design.
Landscape management of fire and grazing regimes alters the fine-scale habitat utilisation by feral cats.

Science.gov (United States)

McGregor, Hugh W; Legge, Sarah; Jones, Menna E; Johnson, Christopher N

2014-01-01

Intensification of fires and grazing by large herbivores has caused population declines in small vertebrates in many ecosystems worldwide. Impacts are rarely direct, and usually appear driven via indirect pathways, such as changes to predator-prey dynamics. Fire events and grazing may improve habitat and/or hunting success for the predators of small mammals, however, such impacts have not been documented. To test for such an interaction, we investigated fine-scale habitat selection by feral cats in relation to fire, grazing and small-mammal abundance. Our study was conducted in north-western Australia, where small mammal populations are sensitive to changes in fire and grazing management. We deployed GPS collars on 32 cats in landscapes with contrasting fire and grazing treatments. Fine-scale habitat selection was determined using discrete choice modelling of cat movements. We found that cats selected areas with open grass cover, including heavily-grazed areas. They strongly selected for areas recently burnt by intense fires, but only in habitats that typically support high abundance of small mammals. Intense fires and grazing by introduced herbivores created conditions that are favoured by cats, probably because their hunting success is improved. This mechanism could explain why, in northern Australia, impacts of feral cats on small mammals might have increased. Our results suggest the impact of feral cats could be reduced in most ecosystems by maximising grass cover, minimising the incidence of intense fires, and reducing grazing by large herbivores.
Landscape management of fire and grazing regimes alters the fine-scale habitat utilisation by feral cats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugh W McGregor

Full Text Available Intensification of fires and grazing by large herbivores has caused population declines in small vertebrates in many ecosystems worldwide. Impacts are rarely direct, and usually appear driven via indirect pathways, such as changes to predator-prey dynamics. Fire events and grazing may improve habitat and/or hunting success for the predators of small mammals, however, such impacts have not been documented. To test for such an interaction, we investigated fine-scale habitat selection by feral cats in relation to fire, grazing and small-mammal abundance. Our study was conducted in north-western Australia, where small mammal populations are sensitive to changes in fire and grazing management. We deployed GPS collars on 32 cats in landscapes with contrasting fire and grazing treatments. Fine-scale habitat selection was determined using discrete choice modelling of cat movements. We found that cats selected areas with open grass cover, including heavily-grazed areas. They strongly selected for areas recently burnt by intense fires, but only in habitats that typically support high abundance of small mammals. Intense fires and grazing by introduced herbivores created conditions that are favoured by cats, probably because their hunting success is improved. This mechanism could explain why, in northern Australia, impacts of feral cats on small mammals might have increased. Our results suggest the impact of feral cats could be reduced in most ecosystems by maximising grass cover, minimising the incidence of intense fires, and reducing grazing by large herbivores.
Small Scale Hydrocarbon Fire Test Concept

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Joachim Søreng Bjørge

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In the oil and gas industry, hydrocarbon process equipment was previously often thermally insulated by applying insulation directly to the metal surface. Fire protective insulation was applied outside the thermal insulation. In some cases, severe corrosion attacks were observed due to ingress of humidity and condensation at cold surfaces. Introducing a 25 mm air gap to prevent wet thermal insulation and metal wall contact is expected to solve the corrosion issues. This improved insulation methodology does, however, require more space that may not be available when refurbishing older process plants. Relocating structural elements would introduce much hot work, which should be minimized in live plants. It is also costly. The aim of the present study is therefore to develop a test concept for testing fire resistance of equipment protected with only air-gap and thermal insulation, i.e., without the fire-protective insulation. The present work demonstrates a conceptual methodology for small scale fire testing of mockups resembling a section of a distillation column. The mockups were exposed to a small-scale propane flame in a test configuration where the flow rate and the flame zone were optimized to give heat flux levels in the range 250–350 kW/m2. Results are presented for a mockup resembling a 16 mm thick distillation column steel wall. It is demonstrated that the modern distance insulation in combination with the heat capacity of the column wall indicates 30+ minutes fire resistance. The results show that this methodology has great potentials for low cost fire testing of other configurations, and it may serve as a set-up for product development.
Performance modeling of hybrid MPI/OpenMP scientific applications on large-scale multicore supercomputers

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu; Taylor, Valerie

2013-01-01

In this paper, we present a performance modeling framework based on memory bandwidth contention time and a parameterized communication model to predict the performance of OpenMP, MPI and hybrid applications with weak scaling on three large-scale multicore supercomputers: IBM POWER4, POWER5+ and BlueGene/P, and analyze the performance of these MPI, OpenMP and hybrid applications. We use STREAM memory benchmarks and Intel's MPI benchmarks to provide initial performance analysis and model validation of MPI and OpenMP applications on these multicore supercomputers because the measured sustained memory bandwidth can provide insight into the memory bandwidth that a system should sustain on scientific applications with the same amount of workload per core. In addition to using these benchmarks, we also use a weak-scaling hybrid MPI/OpenMP large-scale scientific application: Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC) in magnetic fusion to validate our performance model of the hybrid application on these multicore supercomputers. The validation results for our performance modeling method show less than 7.77% error rate in predicting the performance of hybrid MPI/OpenMP GTC on up to 512 cores on these multicore supercomputers. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.
Performance modeling of hybrid MPI/OpenMP scientific applications on large-scale multicore supercomputers

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu

2013-12-01

In this paper, we present a performance modeling framework based on memory bandwidth contention time and a parameterized communication model to predict the performance of OpenMP, MPI and hybrid applications with weak scaling on three large-scale multicore supercomputers: IBM POWER4, POWER5+ and BlueGene/P, and analyze the performance of these MPI, OpenMP and hybrid applications. We use STREAM memory benchmarks and Intel\\'s MPI benchmarks to provide initial performance analysis and model validation of MPI and OpenMP applications on these multicore supercomputers because the measured sustained memory bandwidth can provide insight into the memory bandwidth that a system should sustain on scientific applications with the same amount of workload per core. In addition to using these benchmarks, we also use a weak-scaling hybrid MPI/OpenMP large-scale scientific application: Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC) in magnetic fusion to validate our performance model of the hybrid application on these multicore supercomputers. The validation results for our performance modeling method show less than 7.77% error rate in predicting the performance of hybrid MPI/OpenMP GTC on up to 512 cores on these multicore supercomputers. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.
Large-scale weather dynamics during the 2015 haze event in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Djamil, Yudha; Lee, Wen-Chien; Tien Dat, Pham; Kuwata, Mikinori

2017-04-01

The 2015 haze event in South East Asia is widely considered as a period of the worst air quality in the region in more than a decade. The source of the haze was from forest and peatland fire in Sumatra and Kalimantan Islands, Indonesia. The fires were mostly came from the practice of forest clearance known as slash and burn, to be converted to palm oil plantation. Such practice of clearance although occurs seasonally but at 2015 it became worst by the impact of strong El Nino. The long period of dryer atmosphere over the region due to El Nino makes the fire easier to ignite, spread and difficult to stop. The biomass emission from the forest and peatland fire caused large-scale haze pollution problem in both Islands and further spread into the neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. In Singapore, for about two months (September-October, 2015) the air quality was in the unhealthy level. Such unfortunate condition caused some socioeconomic losses such as school closure, cancellation of outdoor events, health issues and many more with total losses estimated as S700 million. The unhealthy level of Singapore's air quality is based on the increasing pollutant standard index (PSI>120) due to the haze arrival, it even reached a hazardous level (PSI= 300) for several days. PSI is a metric of air quality in Singapore that aggregate six pollutants (SO2, PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO and O3). In this study, we focused on PSI variability in weekly-biweekly time scales (periodicity < 30 days) since it is the least understood compare to their diurnal and seasonal scales. We have identified three dominant time scales of PSI ( 5, 10 and 20 days) using Wavelet method and investigated their large-scale atmospheric structures. The PSI associated large-scale column moisture horizontal structures over the Indo-Pacific basin are dominated by easterly propagating gyres in synoptic (macro) scale for the 5 days ( 10 and 20 days) time scales. The propagating gyres manifest as cyclical
Implications of the Baltimore Rail Tunnel Fire for Full-Scale Testing of Shipping Casks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halstead, R. J.; Dilger, F.

2003-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does not currently require full-scale physical testing of shipping casks as part of its certification process. Stakeholders have long urged NRC to require full-scale testing as part of certification. NRC is currently preparing a full-scale casktesting proposal as part of the Package Performance Study (PPS) that grew out of the NRC reexamination of the Modal Study. The State of Nevada and Clark County remain committed to the position that demonstration testing would not be an acceptable substitute for a combination of full-scale testing, scale-model tests, and computer simulation of each new cask design prior to certification. Based on previous analyses of cask testing issues, and on preliminary findings regarding the July 2001 Baltimore rail tunnel fire, the authors recommend that NRC prioritize extra-regulatory thermal testing of a large rail cask and the GA-4 truck cask under the PPS. The specific fire conditions and other aspects of the full-scale extra-regulatory tests recommended for the PPS are yet to be determined. NRC, in consultation with stakeholders, must consider past real-world accidents and computer simulations to establish temperature failure thresholds for cask containment and fuel cladding. The cost of extra-regulatory thermal testing is yet to be determined. The minimum cost for regulatory thermal testing of a legal-weight truck cask would likely be $3.3-3.8 million
Chapter 4. Predicting post-fire erosion and sedimentation risk on a landscape scale

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, L.H.; Sampson, R.; Brady, D.; Juarros, L.; Martin, Deborah

2000-01-01

Historic fire suppression efforts have increased the likelihood of large wildfires in much of the western U.S. Post-fire soil erosion and sedimentation risks are important concerns to resource managers. In this paper we develop and apply procedures to predict post-fire erosion and sedimentation risks on a pixel-, catchment-, and landscape-scale in central and western Colorado.Our model for predicting post-fire surface erosion risk is conceptually similar to the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). One key addition is the incorporation of a hydrophobicity risk index (HY-RISK) based on vegetation type, predicted fire severity, and soil texture. Post-fire surface erosion risk was assessed for each 90-m pixel by combining HYRISK, slope, soil erodibility, and a factor representing the likely increase in soil wetness due to removal of the vegetation. Sedimentation risk was a simple function of stream gradient. Composite surface erosion and sedimentation risk indices were calculated and compared across the 72 catchments in the study area.When evaluated on a catchment scale, two-thirds of the catchments had relatively little post-fire erosion risk. Steeper catchments with higher fuel loadings typically had the highest post-fire surface erosion risk. These were generally located along the major north-south mountain chains and, to a lesser extent, in west-central Colorado. Sedimentation risks were usually highest in the eastern part of the study area where a higher proportion of streams had lower gradients. While data to validate the predicted erosion and sedimentation risks are lacking, the results appear reasonable and are consistent with our limited field observations. The models and analytic procedures can be readily adapted to other locations and should provide useful tools for planning and management at both the catchment and landscape scale.
A Scale for Rating Fire-Prevention Contactors

Science.gov (United States)

M.L. Doolittle

1979-01-01

A scale is constructed to help fire-prevention program administrators determine if an individual contactor is effective at influencing people. The 24 items in the scale indicate the qualities that an effective contactor should have.
Improving Large-scale Storage System Performance via Topology-aware and Balanced Data Placement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Feiyi [ORNL; Oral, H Sarp [ORNL; Vazhkudai, Sudharshan S [ORNL

2014-01-01

With the advent of big data, the I/O subsystems of large-scale compute clusters are becoming a center of focus, with more applications putting greater demands on end-to-end I/O performance. These subsystems are often complex in design. They comprise of multiple hardware and software layers to cope with the increasing capacity, capability and scalability requirements of data intensive applications. The sharing nature of storage resources and the intrinsic interactions across these layers make it to realize user-level, end-to-end performance gains a great challenge. We propose a topology-aware resource load balancing strategy to improve per-application I/O performance. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm on an extreme-scale compute cluster, Titan, at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). Our experiments with both synthetic benchmarks and a real-world application show that, even under congestion, our proposed algorithm can improve large-scale application I/O performance significantly, resulting in both the reduction of application run times and higher resolution simulation runs.
Measurements in large JP-4 pool fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keltner, N.R.; Kent, L.A.; Schneider, M.E.

1987-01-01

Over the past four years, Sandia National Laboratories has conducted a number of large pool fire tests to evaluate the design of radioactive material (RAM) shipping containers. Some of these tests have been designed to define the thermal environment and some have been used for certification testing. In each test there have been a number of fire diagnostic measurements. The simplest sets of diagnostics have involved measurements of temperature at several elevations on arrays of towers, measurements of hot wall heat flux with small calorimeters suspended from the towers, the average fuel recession rate, and the wind speed and direction. The most complex sets of diagnostics have included the above and in various tests added radiometers in the lower flame zone, centerline velocity measurements at a number of elevations, radiometers and calorimeters at the fuel surface, large cylindrical and flat plate calorimeters, infrared imaging, time resolved fuel recession rates, and a variety of soot particle concentration and size measurements made in the plume with a tethered balloon and an instrumented airplane. All of the large fires have been conducted in a 9.1 m by 18.3 m pool using JP-4 as the fuel. Typical duration is one-half hour. Covering all of the results is beyond the scope of a single paper. Conditionally sampled temperature and velocity measurements from one fire will be presented; for this fire, a 20 cm layer of fuel was floated on 61 cm of water. Pool surface heat flux, fuel recession rate data, and smoke emission data from a second fire are given. Because the wind has a strong effect on the temperature and velocity measurements, conditional sampling has been used to try to obtain data during periods of low winds. 10 refs., 3 figs
105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility closure plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-05-01

The Hanford Site, located northwest of the city of Richland, Washington, houses reactors, chemical-separation systems, and related facilities used for the production of special nuclear materials, and activities associated with nuclear energy development. The 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility (LSFF), which was in operation from about 1972 to 1986, was a research laboratory that occupied the former ventilation supply room on the southwest side of the 105-DR Reactor facility. The LSFF was established to provide a means of investigating fire and safety aspects associated with large sodium or other metal alkali fires in the liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) facilities. The 105-DR Reactor facility was designed and built in the 1950's and is located in the 100-D Area of the Hanford Site. The building housed the 105-DR defense reactor, which was shut down in 1964. The LSFF was initially used only for engineering-scale alkali metal reaction studies. In addition, the Fusion Safety Support Studies program sponsored intermediate-size safety reaction tests in the LSFF with lithium and lithium lead compounds. The facility has also been used to store and treat alkali metal waste, therefore the LSFF is subject to the regulatory requirements for the storage and treatment of dangerous waste. Closure will be conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610. This closure plan presents a description of the facility, the history of waste managed, and the procedures that will be followed to close the LSFF as an Alkali Metal Treatment Facility. No future use of the LSFF is expected
Characterizing Spatial Neighborhoods of Refugia Following Large Fires in Northern New Mexico USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra L. Haire

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The spatial patterns resulting from large fires include refugial habitats that support surviving legacies and promote ecosystem recovery. To better understand the diverse ecological functions of refugia on burn mosaics, we used remotely sensed data to quantify neighborhood patterns of areas relatively unchanged following the 2011 Las Conchas fire. Spatial patterns of refugia measured within 10-ha moving windows varied across a gradient from areas of high density, clustered in space, to sparsely populated neighborhoods that occurred in the background matrix. The scaling of these patterns was related to the underlying structure of topography measured by slope, aspect and potential soil wetness, and spatially varying climate. Using a nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis of species cover data collected post-Las Conchas, we found that trees and forest associates were present across the refugial gradient, but communities also exhibited a range of species compositions and potential functions. Spatial patterns of refugia quantified for three previous burns (La Mesa 1977, Dome 1996, Cerro Grande 2000 were dynamic between fire events, but most refugia persisted through at least two fires. Efforts to maintain burn heterogeneity and its ecological functions can begin with identifying where refugia are likely to occur, using terrain-based microclimate models, burn severity models and available field data.
Mapping the Daily Progression of Large Wildland Fires Using MODIS Active Fire Data

Science.gov (United States)

Veraverbeke, Sander; Sedano, Fernando; Hook, Simon J.; Randerson, James T.; Jin, Yufang; Rogers, Brendan

2013-01-01

High temporal resolution information on burned area is a prerequisite for incorporating bottom-up estimates of wildland fire emissions in regional air transport models and for improving models of fire behavior. We used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active fire product (MO(Y)D14) as input to a kriging interpolation to derive continuous maps of the evolution of nine large wildland fires. For each fire, local input parameters for the kriging model were defined using variogram analysis. The accuracy of the kriging model was assessed using high resolution daily fire perimeter data available from the U.S. Forest Service. We also assessed the temporal reporting accuracy of the MODIS burned area products (MCD45A1 and MCD64A1). Averaged over the nine fires, the kriging method correctly mapped 73% of the pixels within the accuracy of a single day, compared to 33% for MCD45A1 and 53% for MCD64A1.
High-Performance Monitoring Architecture for Large-Scale Distributed Systems Using Event Filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Maly, K.

1998-01-01

Monitoring is an essential process to observe and improve the reliability and the performance of large-scale distributed (LSD) systems. In an LSD environment, a large number of events is generated by the system components during its execution or interaction with external objects (e.g. users or processes). Monitoring such events is necessary for observing the run-time behavior of LSD systems and providing status information required for debugging, tuning and managing such applications. However, correlated events are generated concurrently and could be distributed in various locations in the applications environment which complicates the management decisions process and thereby makes monitoring LSD systems an intricate task. We propose a scalable high-performance monitoring architecture for LSD systems to detect and classify interesting local and global events and disseminate the monitoring information to the corresponding end- points management applications such as debugging and reactive control tools to improve the application performance and reliability. A large volume of events may be generated due to the extensive demands of the monitoring applications and the high interaction of LSD systems. The monitoring architecture employs a high-performance event filtering mechanism to efficiently process the large volume of event traffic generated by LSD systems and minimize the intrusiveness of the monitoring process by reducing the event traffic flow in the system and distributing the monitoring computation. Our architecture also supports dynamic and flexible reconfiguration of the monitoring mechanism via its Instrumentation and subscription components. As a case study, we show how our monitoring architecture can be utilized to improve the reliability and the performance of the Interactive Remote Instruction (IRI) system which is a large-scale distributed system for collaborative distance learning. The filtering mechanism represents an Intrinsic component integrated
Zone modelling of the thermal performances of a large-scale bloom reheating furnace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Chee-Keong; Jenkins, Joana; Ward, John; Broughton, Jonathan; Heeley, Andy

2013-01-01

This paper describes the development and comparison of a two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) mathematical models, based on the zone method of radiation analysis, to simulate the thermal performances of a large bloom reheating furnace. The modelling approach adopted in the current paper differs from previous work since it takes into account the net radiation interchanges between the top and bottom firing sections of the furnace and also allows for enthalpy exchange due to the flows of combustion products between these sections. The models were initially validated at two different furnace throughput rates using experimental and plant's model data supplied by Tata Steel. The results to-date demonstrated that the model predictions are in good agreement with measured heating profiles of the blooms encountered in the actual furnace. It was also found no significant differences between the predictions from the 2D and 3D models. Following the validation, the 2D model was then used to assess the impact of the furnace responses to changing throughput rate. It was found that the potential furnace response to changing throughput rate influences the settling time of the furnace to the next steady state operation. Overall the current work demonstrates the feasibility and practicality of zone modelling and its potential for incorporation into a model based furnace control system. - Highlights: ► 2D and 3D zone models of large-scale bloom reheating furnace. ► The models were validated with experimental and plant model data. ► Examine the transient furnace response to changing the furnace throughput rates. ► No significant differences found between the predictions from the 2D and 3D models.

Large urban fire environment: trends and model city predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, D.A.; Small, R.D.

1983-01-01

The urban fire environment that would result from a megaton-yield nuclear weapon burst is considered. The dependence of temperatures and velocities on fire size, burning intensity, turbulence, and radiation is explored, and specific calculations for three model urban areas are presented. In all cases, high velocity fire winds are predicted. The model-city results show the influence of building density and urban sprawl on the fire environment. Additional calculations consider large-area fires with the burning intensity reduced in a blast-damaged urban center
Fire performance of multi-storey wooden facades

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Östman Birgit A.-L.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Two series of full scale fire tests of wooden facades according to the Swedish test SP Fire 105 are presented, one series for different shares of untreated wood (partial wood and structural fire protection with a fire shield above the window and another series for fire retardant treated, FRT, wood. The results are compared with data from the Single Burning Item test and the cone calorimeter. For FRT wood, the need for verification of the weather durability of the treatment is stressed and a new European technical specification CEN/TS 15912 presented. The need to use fire stops behind multi-storey façade claddings to avoid fire spread in the cavities is underlined and the possibilities of fire safety design with sprinklers is briefly presented.
Performance evaluation of the DCMD desalination process under bench scale and large scale module operating conditions

KAUST Repository

Francis, Lijo

2014-04-01

The flux performance of different hydrophobic microporous flat sheet commercial membranes made of poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and poly propylene (PP) was tested for Red Sea water desalination using the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process, under bench scale (high δT) and large scale module (low δT) operating conditions. Membranes were characterized for their surface morphology, water contact angle, thickness, porosity, pore size and pore size distribution. The DCMD process performance was optimized using a locally designed and fabricated module aiming to maximize the flux at different levels of operating parameters, mainly feed water and coolant inlet temperatures at different temperature differences across the membrane (δT). Water vapor flux of 88.8kg/m2h was obtained using a PTFE membrane at high δT (60°C). In addition, the flux performance was compared to the first generation of a new locally synthesized and fabricated membrane made of a different class of polymer under the same conditions. A total salt rejection of 99.99% and boron rejection of 99.41% were achieved under extreme operating conditions. On the other hand, a detailed water characterization revealed that low molecular weight non-ionic molecules (ppb level) were transported with the water vapor molecules through the membrane structure. The membrane which provided the highest flux was then tested under large scale module operating conditions. The average flux of the latter study (low δT) was found to be eight times lower than that of the bench scale (high δT) operating conditions.
Performance evaluation of the DCMD desalination process under bench scale and large scale module operating conditions

KAUST Repository

Francis, Lijo; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Alsaadi, Ahmad Salem; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Amy, Gary L.

2014-01-01

The flux performance of different hydrophobic microporous flat sheet commercial membranes made of poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and poly propylene (PP) was tested for Red Sea water desalination using the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process, under bench scale (high δT) and large scale module (low δT) operating conditions. Membranes were characterized for their surface morphology, water contact angle, thickness, porosity, pore size and pore size distribution. The DCMD process performance was optimized using a locally designed and fabricated module aiming to maximize the flux at different levels of operating parameters, mainly feed water and coolant inlet temperatures at different temperature differences across the membrane (δT). Water vapor flux of 88.8kg/m2h was obtained using a PTFE membrane at high δT (60°C). In addition, the flux performance was compared to the first generation of a new locally synthesized and fabricated membrane made of a different class of polymer under the same conditions. A total salt rejection of 99.99% and boron rejection of 99.41% were achieved under extreme operating conditions. On the other hand, a detailed water characterization revealed that low molecular weight non-ionic molecules (ppb level) were transported with the water vapor molecules through the membrane structure. The membrane which provided the highest flux was then tested under large scale module operating conditions. The average flux of the latter study (low δT) was found to be eight times lower than that of the bench scale (high δT) operating conditions.
Performance Modeling of Hybrid MPI/OpenMP Scientific Applications on Large-scale Multicore Cluster Systems

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu; Taylor, Valerie

2011-01-01

In this paper, we present a performance modeling framework based on memory bandwidth contention time and a parameterized communication model to predict the performance of OpenMP, MPI and hybrid applications with weak scaling on three large-scale multicore clusters: IBM POWER4, POWER5+ and Blue Gene/P, and analyze the performance of these MPI, OpenMP and hybrid applications. We use STREAM memory benchmarks to provide initial performance analysis and model validation of MPI and OpenMP applications on these multicore clusters because the measured sustained memory bandwidth can provide insight into the memory bandwidth that a system should sustain on scientific applications with the same amount of workload per core. In addition to using these benchmarks, we also use a weak-scaling hybrid MPI/OpenMP large-scale scientific application: Gyro kinetic Toroidal Code in magnetic fusion to validate our performance model of the hybrid application on these multicore clusters. The validation results for our performance modeling method show less than 7.77% error rate in predicting the performance of hybrid MPI/OpenMP GTC on up to 512 cores on these multicore clusters. © 2011 IEEE.
Performance Modeling of Hybrid MPI/OpenMP Scientific Applications on Large-scale Multicore Cluster Systems

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu

2011-08-01

In this paper, we present a performance modeling framework based on memory bandwidth contention time and a parameterized communication model to predict the performance of OpenMP, MPI and hybrid applications with weak scaling on three large-scale multicore clusters: IBM POWER4, POWER5+ and Blue Gene/P, and analyze the performance of these MPI, OpenMP and hybrid applications. We use STREAM memory benchmarks to provide initial performance analysis and model validation of MPI and OpenMP applications on these multicore clusters because the measured sustained memory bandwidth can provide insight into the memory bandwidth that a system should sustain on scientific applications with the same amount of workload per core. In addition to using these benchmarks, we also use a weak-scaling hybrid MPI/OpenMP large-scale scientific application: Gyro kinetic Toroidal Code in magnetic fusion to validate our performance model of the hybrid application on these multicore clusters. The validation results for our performance modeling method show less than 7.77% error rate in predicting the performance of hybrid MPI/OpenMP GTC on up to 512 cores on these multicore clusters. © 2011 IEEE.
Researching the Performance of Dual-Chamber Fire-Tube Boiler Furnace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaustov Sergei

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Autonomous heating systems equipped with fire-tube or shell boilers show high effectiveness, consistent performance and great technical parameters. But there is a significant limitation of its thermal productivity due to the complexity of durable large diameter fire-tube bottoms implementation. Optimization of combustion aerodynamics can be the way to expand the fire-tube boilers performance limit. In this case lots of problems connected with reducing emissions of toxic substances, providing of burning stability, local heat stresses and aerodynamic resistances should be solved. To resolve the indicated problems, a modified model of dual-chamber fire-tube boiler furnace is proposed. The performance of suggested flame-tube was simulated using the proven computer-aided engineering software ANSYS Multiphysics. Results display proposed flame tube completely filled with moving medium without stagnant zones. Turbulent vortical combustion is observed even with the straight-through fuel supply. Active flue gas recirculation in suggested dual-chamber furnace reduces emissions of pollutants. Diminution of wall heat fluxes allows boiler operation at lower water treatment costs.
Deterministic analysis of mid scale outdoor fire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vidmar, P.; Petelin, S.

2003-01-01

The idea behind the article is how to define fire behaviour. The work is based on an analytical study of fire origin, its development and spread. Mathematical fire model called FDS (Fire Dynamic Simulator) is used in the presented work. A CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) model using LES (Large Eddie Simulation) is used to calculate fire development and spread of combustion products in the environment. The fire source is located in the vicinity of the hazardous plant, power, chemical etc. The article presents the brief background of the FDS computer program and the initial and boundary conditions used in the mathematical model. Results discuss output data and check the validity of results. The work also presents some corrections of the physical model used, which influence the quality of results. The obtained results were discussed and compared with the Fire Safety Analysis report included in the Probabilistic Safety Assessment of Krsko nuclear power plant. (author)
Numerical study of fire whirlwind taking into account radiative heat transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, S.; Miyagi, N.

2010-06-01

The fire whirlwind is a strong swirling flow with flame and spark, which may occur in the case of, widespread fire in the urban region by an earthquake disaster or an air raid, and a large-scale fire such as a forest fire. Fire whirlwind moves and promotes spread of fire and may extend serious damage rapidly. In this study, performing the numerical analysis of fire whirlwind with respect to scale effect, it is examined whether a relationship exists between a real phenomenon and the phenomenon in the reduction model with taking into account radiative heat transfer. Three dimensional analyses are performed to investigate the thermal and flow fields by using the analytical software FLUENT6.3. It is analyzed that those swirling flow in original scale, 1/10 scale, 1/50 scale, 1/100 scale from the original brake out to vanish. As an analytical condition, parameter calculation is repeated to get the velocity of a parallel flow which is the easiest to occur the swirling flow for each reduction model, and then scale effect is discussed by comparing the velocity of the natural convection, the velocity of the parallel flow, the center pressure of the whirlwind and the continuance time of the swirling flow. The analysis model of C-character heat source model is performed as well as the analysis in L-character model, which is one of the representative example of the fire whirlwind occurred at Tokyo in the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923). The result of the numerical analysis shows that there is a scale effect to the speed of the parallel flow to generate the swirling flow.
Numerical study of fire whirlwind taking into account radiative heat transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakai, S; Miyagi, N

2010-01-01

The fire whirlwind is a strong swirling flow with flame and spark, which may occur in the case of, widespread fire in the urban region by an earthquake disaster or an air raid, and a large-scale fire such as a forest fire. Fire whirlwind moves and promotes spread of fire and may extend serious damage rapidly. In this study, performing the numerical analysis of fire whirlwind with respect to scale effect, it is examined whether a relationship exists between a real phenomenon and the phenomenon in the reduction model with taking into account radiative heat transfer. Three dimensional analyses are performed to investigate the thermal and flow fields by using the analytical software FLUENT6.3. It is analyzed that those swirling flow in original scale, 1/10 scale, 1/50 scale, 1/100 scale from the original brake out to vanish. As an analytical condition, parameter calculation is repeated to get the velocity of a parallel flow which is the easiest to occur the swirling flow for each reduction model, and then scale effect is discussed by comparing the velocity of the natural convection, the velocity of the parallel flow, the center pressure of the whirlwind and the continuance time of the swirling flow. The analysis model of C-character heat source model is performed as well as the analysis in L-character model, which is one of the representative example of the fire whirlwind occurred at Tokyo in the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923). The result of the numerical analysis shows that there is a scale effect to the speed of the parallel flow to generate the swirling flow.
Fire as a control agent of demographic structure and plant performance of a rare Mediterranean endemic geophyte.

Science.gov (United States)

Diadema, Katia; Médail, Frédéric; Bretagnolle, François

2007-09-01

We examine the effects of fire and/or surrounding vegetation cover on demographic stage densities and plant performance for a rare endemic geophyte, Acis nicaeensis (Alliaceae), in Mediterranean xerophytic grasslands of the 'Alpes-Maritimes' French 'département', through sampling plots in unburned and burned treatments. Fire increases density of flowering individuals and seedling emergence, as well as clump densities and number of individuals per clump, per limiting vegetation height and cover, and increasing bare soil cover. In contrast, fire has no effect on reproductive success. Nevertheless, two growing seasons after fire, all parameters of demographic stages and plant performance do not significantly differ between the two treatments. Small-scale fire is beneficial for the regeneration of this threatened geophyte at a short-time scale. In this context, a conservation planning with small and controlled fires could maintain the regeneration window for populations of rare Mediterranean geophytes.
Large scale network-centric distributed systems

CERN Document Server

Sarbazi-Azad, Hamid

2014-01-01

A highly accessible reference offering a broad range of topics and insights on large scale network-centric distributed systems Evolving from the fields of high-performance computing and networking, large scale network-centric distributed systems continues to grow as one of the most important topics in computing and communication and many interdisciplinary areas. Dealing with both wired and wireless networks, this book focuses on the design and performance issues of such systems. Large Scale Network-Centric Distributed Systems provides in-depth coverage ranging from ground-level hardware issu
Rationalization design on large equipment dismantling facility. The cell fire-extinguishing examination (3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donomae, Yasushi; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro; Takita, Koji; Kikuchi, Yutaka; Katoh, Noriyoshi; Miyazaki, Hitoshi; Tanimoto, Ken-ichi

2002-07-01

In order to rationalize for Large Equipment Dismantling Facility (LEDF), the plan of removing vaporizer belong to Cell-fire-extinguishing-system was investigated. When a vaporizer is cut down, it is necessary to grasp a fire-extinguishing performance. The fire-extinguishing performance check examination by liquefaction carbon dioxide in the cell fire-extinguishing examination (I) was carried out in 1999 fiscal year. As the result, the good performance was obtained to polyethylene. But there was the deep-seated fire about a piece of wood. Then, the check items were carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and CO2 concentration holding time for the deep-seated fire in the cell fire-extinguishing examination (III). The results were as follows; (1) By use of the combustion model in which a piece of wood and cotton were put is lit, temperature inside model, mass reduction, and combustion situation were examined. The model burned remarkably in 30∼60 min. The peak temperature rise to 680 degC (MAX), and attained smoldering after (ignition) 70 min. Moreover, in order to determine the generating conditions of a deep-seated fire, the situation of CO2 extinguishing after ignition by the time lag of 50∼90 min were examined. The model around ignition 50 minutes was the most difficult to extinguish, and it turned out that they are the conditions which were most suitable for the deep-seated fire examination model of an exam. (2) In order to decide on CO2 concentration and concentration holding time required for fire extinguishing of the deep-seated fire in LEDF, the fire-extinguishing performance was investigated by 40 ∼ 65% of CO2 concentration. Consequently, CO2 concentration required for deep-seated fire extinguishing was understood that 60% or more was required when safety was taken into consideration at 50% or more. Moreover, when it was 50% or more of CO2 concentration and the holding time of CO2 concentration was 180 minutes or more and 60% or more of CO2 concentration, it
Simulating spatial and temporally related fire weather

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac C. Grenfell; Mark Finney; Matt Jolly

2010-01-01

Use of fire behavior models has assumed an increasingly important role for managers of wildfire incidents to make strategic decisions. For fire risk assessments and danger rating at very large spatial scales, these models depend on fire weather variables or fire danger indices. Here, we describe a method to simulate fire weather at a national scale that captures the...
Understanding water delivery performance in a large-scale irrigation system in Peru

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vos, J.M.C.

2005-01-01

During a two-year field study the performance of the water delivery was evaluated in a large-scale irrigation system on the north coast of Peru. Flow measurements were carried out along the main canals, along two secondary canals, and in two tertiary blocks in the Chancay-Lambayeque irrigation
Fire intensity impacts on post-fire temperate coniferous forest net primary productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Sparks, Aaron M.; Kolden, Crystal A.; Smith, Alistair M. S.; Boschetti, Luigi; Johnson, Daniel M.; Cochrane, Mark A.

2018-02-01

Fire is a dynamic ecological process in forests and impacts the carbon (C) cycle through direct combustion emissions, tree mortality, and by impairing the ability of surviving trees to sequester carbon. While studies on young trees have demonstrated that fire intensity is a determinant of post-fire net primary productivity, wildland fires on landscape to regional scales have largely been assumed to either cause tree mortality, or conversely, cause no physiological impact, ignoring the impacted but surviving trees. Our objective was to understand how fire intensity affects post-fire net primary productivity in conifer-dominated forested ecosystems on the spatial scale of large wildland fires. We examined the relationships between fire radiative power (FRP), its temporal integral (fire radiative energy - FRE), and net primary productivity (NPP) using 16 years of data from the MOderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) for 15 large fires in western United States coniferous forests. The greatest NPP post-fire loss occurred 1 year post-fire and ranged from -67 to -312 g C m-2 yr-1 (-13 to -54 %) across all fires. Forests dominated by fire-resistant species (species that typically survive low-intensity fires) experienced the lowest relative NPP reductions compared to forests with less resistant species. Post-fire NPP in forests that were dominated by fire-susceptible species were not as sensitive to FRP or FRE, indicating that NPP in these forests may be reduced to similar levels regardless of fire intensity. Conversely, post-fire NPP in forests dominated by fire-resistant and mixed species decreased with increasing FRP or FRE. In some cases, this dose-response relationship persisted for more than a decade post-fire, highlighting a legacy effect of fire intensity on post-fire C dynamics in these forests.
Drought effects on large fire activity in Canadian and Alaskan forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Jingfeng; Zhuang Qianlai

2007-01-01

Fire is the dominant disturbance in forest ecosystems across Canada and Alaska, and has important implications for forest ecosystems, terrestrial carbon dioxide emissions and the forestry industry. Large fire activity had increased in Canadian and Alaskan forests during the last four decades of the 20th century. Here we combined the Palmer Drought Severity Index and historical large fire databases to demonstrate that Canada and Alaska forest regions experienced summer drying over this time period, and drought during the fire season significantly affected forest fire activity in these regions. Climatic warming, positive geopotential height anomalies and ocean circulation patterns were spatially and temporally convolved in causing drought conditions, which in turn enhanced fuel flammability and thereby indirectly affected fire activity. Future fire regimes will likely depend on drought patterns under global climate change scenarios
Structural fire resistance experimental research priority needs of U.S. industry

CERN Document Server

Almand, Kathleen H

2012-01-01

Structural Fire Resistance Experimental Research – Priority Needs of U.S. Industry provides a synthesis of stakeholder input to a prioritized agenda for research at the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed to accelerate the implementation of performance-based fire engineering for structures. The NFRL presents a broad range of unanswered questions regarding the performance of real structures in fire conditions, and informs performance-based design methods and standards in this field. The authors conducted a comprehensive literature review of large-scale structural fire testing and compiled research needs from a variety of sources. The book addresses major issues of broad concern in the fire community, such as real fire exposure and structural response, composite floor system performance, enhancing modeling performance, and understanding the embedded safety features in design methods. It concludes with a prioritized set of research reco...
Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration project is to develop and conduct large-scale fire safety experiments on an International Space Station...
Co-firing of Coal with Biomass and Waste in Full-scale Suspension-fired Boilers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam-Johansen, Kim; Jappe Frandsen, Flemming; Jensen, Peter Arendt

2013-01-01

and boiler manufacturers to optimize design and operation and minimize cost and environmental impact using alternative fuels in suspension fired boilers. Our contribution has been made via a combination of full-scale measuring campaigns, pilot-scale studies, lab-scale measurements and modeling tools....... The research conducted has addressed many issues important for co-firing, i.e. fuel processing, ash induced boiler deposit formation and corrosion, boiler chamber fuel conversion and emission formation, influence on flue gas cleaning equipment and the utilization of residual products. This paper provides...... research has provided results with implications for operation of milling and burner equipment, appropriate fuel mixing strategies, minimization of ash deposit formation and corrosion, minimization of NO formation, appropriate operation of SCR catalyst equipment and utilization of residual products...

The Convergence of High Performance Computing and Large Scale Data Analytics

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, D.; Bowen, M. K.; Thompson, J. H.; Yang, C. P.; Hu, F.; Wills, B.

2015-12-01

As the combinations of remote sensing observations and model outputs have grown, scientists are increasingly burdened with both the necessity and complexity of large-scale data analysis. Scientists are increasingly applying traditional high performance computing (HPC) solutions to solve their "Big Data" problems. While this approach has the benefit of limiting data movement, the HPC system is not optimized to run analytics, which can create problems that permeate throughout the HPC environment. To solve these issues and to alleviate some of the strain on the HPC environment, the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) has created the Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT), which combines both HPC and cloud technologies to create an agile system designed for analytics. Large, commonly used data sets are stored in this system in a write once/read many file system, such as Landsat, MODIS, MERRA, and NGA. High performance virtual machines are deployed and scaled according to the individual scientist's requirements specifically for data analysis. On the software side, the NCCS and GMU are working with emerging commercial technologies and applying them to structured, binary scientific data in order to expose the data in new ways. Native NetCDF data is being stored within a Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) enabling storage-proximal processing through MapReduce while continuing to provide accessibility of the data to traditional applications. Once the data is stored within HDFS, an additional indexing scheme is built on top of the data and placed into a relational database. This spatiotemporal index enables extremely fast mappings of queries to data locations to dramatically speed up analytics. These are some of the first steps toward a single unified platform that optimizes for both HPC and large-scale data analysis, and this presentation will elucidate the resulting and necessary exascale architectures required for future systems.
Report on full-scale horizontal cable tray fire tests, FY 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riches, W.M.

1988-09-01

In recent years, there has been much discussion throughout industry and various governmental and fire protection agencies relative to the flammability and fire propagation characteristics of electrical cables in open cable trays. It has been acknowledged that under actual fire conditions, in the presence of other combustibles, electrical cable insulation can contribute to combustible fire loading and toxicity of smoke generation. Considerable research has been conducted on vertical cable tray fire propagation, mostly under small scale laboratory conditions. In July 1987, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory initiated a program of full scale, horizontal cable tray fire tests, in the absence of other building combustible loading, to determine the flammability and rate of horizontal fire propagation in cable tray configurations and cable mixes typical of those existing in underground tunnel enclosures and support buildings at the Laboratory. The series of tests addressed the effects of ventilation rates and cable tray fill, fire fighting techniques, and effectiveness and value of automatic sprinklers, smoke detection and cable coating fire barriers in detecting, controlling or extinguishing a cable tray fire. This report includes a description of the series of fire tests completed in June 1988, as well as conclusions reached from the test results
Broad-Scale Environmental Conditions Responsible for Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics

OpenAIRE

Casady, Grant M.; Marsh, Stuart E.

2010-01-01

Ecosystem response to disturbance is influenced by environmental conditions at a number of scales. Changes in climate have altered fire regimes across the western United States, and have also likely altered spatio-temporal patterns of post-fire vegetation regeneration. Fire occurrence data and a vegetation index (NDVI) derived from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) were used to monitor post-fire vegetation from 1989 to 2007. We first investigated differences in post-fi...
The combustion behavior of large scale lithium titanate battery

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Peifeng; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Ke; Ping, Ping; Sun, Jinhua

2015-01-01

Safety problem is always a big obstacle for lithium battery marching to large scale application. However, the knowledge on the battery combustion behavior is limited. To investigate the combustion behavior of large scale lithium battery, three 50 Ah Li(NixCoyMnz)O2/Li4Ti5O12 batteries under different state of charge (SOC) were heated to fire. The flame size variation is depicted to analyze the combustion behavior directly. The mass loss rate, temperature and heat release rate are used to analyze the combustion behavior in reaction way deeply. Based on the phenomenon, the combustion process is divided into three basic stages, even more complicated at higher SOC with sudden smoke flow ejected. The reason is that a phase change occurs in Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 material from layer structure to spinel structure. The critical temperatures of ignition are at 112–121°C on anode tab and 139 to 147°C on upper surface for all cells. But the heating time and combustion time become shorter with the ascending of SOC. The results indicate that the battery fire hazard increases with the SOC. It is analyzed that the internal short and the Li+ distribution are the main causes that lead to the difference. PMID:25586064
Systems for animal exposure in full-scale fire tests

Science.gov (United States)

Hilado, C. J.; Cumming, H. J.; Kourtides, D. A.; Parker, J. A.

1977-01-01

Two systems for exposing animals in full-scale fire tests are described. Both systems involve the simultaneous exposure of two animal species, mice and rats, in modular units; determination of mortality, morbidity, and behavioral response; and analysis of the blood for carboxyhemoglobin. The systems described represent two of many possible options for obtaining bioassay data from full-scale fire tests. In situations where the temperatures to which the test animals are exposed can not be controlled, analytical techniques may be more appropriate than bioassay techniques.
105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility decontamination, sampling, and analysis plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knaus, Z.C.

1995-01-01

This is the decontamination, sampling, and analysis plan for the closure activities at the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility at Hanford Reservation. This document supports the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility Closure Plan, DOE-RL-90-25. The 105-DR LSFF, which operated from about 1972 to 1986, was a research laboratory that occupied the former ventilation supply room on the southwest side of the 105-DR Reactor facility in the 100-D Area of the Hanford Site. The LSFF was established to investigate fire fighting and safety associated with alkali metal fires in the liquid metal fast breeder reactor facilities. The decontamination, sampling, and analysis plan identifies the decontamination procedures, sampling locations, any special handling requirements, quality control samples, required chemical analysis, and data validation needed to meet the requirements of the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility Closure Plan in compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Laboratory modeling of aspects of large fires

Science.gov (United States)

Carrier, G. F.; Fendell, F. E.; Fleeter, R. D.; Gat, N.; Cohen, L. M.

1984-04-01

The design, construction, and use of a laboratory-scale combustion tunnel for simulating aspects of large-scale free-burning fires are described. The facility consists of an enclosed, rectangular-cross section (1.12 m wide x 1.27 m high) test section of about 5.6 m in length, fitted with large sidewall windows for viewing. A long upwind section permits smoothing (by screens and honeycombs) of a forced-convective flow, generated by a fan and adjustable in wind speed (up to a maximum speed of about 20 m/s prior to smoothing). Special provision is made for unconstrained ascent of a strongly buoyant plume, the duct over the test section being about 7 m in height. Also, a translatable test-section ceiling can be used to prevent jet-type spreading into the duct of the impressed flow; that is, the wind arriving at a site (say) half-way along the test section can be made (by ceiling movement) approximately the same as that at the leading edge of the test section with a fully open duct (fully retracted ceiling). Of particular interest here are the rate and structure of wind-aided flame spread streamwise along a uniform matrix of vertically oriented small fuel elements (such as toothpicks or coffee-strirrers), implanted in clay stratum on the test-section floor; this experiment is motivated by flame spread across strewn debris, such as may be anticipated in an urban environment after severe blast damage.
Scaling up the microwave firing of ceramics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wroe, F.C.R.

1993-01-01

EA Technology, through a comprehensive R ampersand D program, is developing new microwave furnace technology focused on the ceramics processing industries. Using a combination of computer modelling, experimentation and feasibility studies, EA Technology has developed processes and procedures for firing large ceramic components. The aim of this work is to describe the investigation of the firing of ceramic products such as bricks, pottery, refractories, and industrial ceramics, using advanced processing techniques to produce and maintain uniformity of temperature throughout the components and kiln environment. This has achieved the goal of producing uniform microstructures and low thermal stress by careful control of the firing cycle. This paper illustrates the feasibility of microwave-assisted firing and shows it to be economically viable in terms of energy costs and process control. 6 refs., 1 fig
Proceedings of the large wildland fires conference; May 19-23, 2014; Missoula, MT

Science.gov (United States)

Robert E. Keane; Matt Jolly; Russell Parsons; Karin Riley

2015-01-01

Large fires or "megafires" have been a major topic in wildland fire research and management for over a decade. There is great debate regarding the impacts of large fires. Many believe that they (1) are occurring too frequently, (2) are burning abnormally large areas, (3) cause uncharacteristically adverse ecological harm, and (4) must be suppressed at all...
Advanced circulating fluidised bed technology (CFB) for large-scale solid biomass fuel firing power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaentti, Timo; Zabetta, Edgardo Coda; Nuortimo, Kalle [Foster Wheeler Energia Oy, Varkaus (Finland)

2013-04-01

Worldwide the nations are taking initiatives to counteract global warming by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts to increase boiler efficiency and the use of biomass and other solid renewable fuels are well in line with these objectives. Circulating fluidised bed boilers (CFB) are ideal for efficient power generation, capable to fire a broad variety of solid biomass fuels from small CHP plants to large utility power plants. Relevant boiler references in commercial operation are made for Finland and Poland.
Large-scale hydrology in Europe : observed patterns and model performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gudmundsson, Lukas

2011-06-15

In a changing climate, terrestrial water storages are of great interest as water availability impacts key aspects of ecosystem functioning. Thus, a better understanding of the variations of wet and dry periods will contribute to fully grasp processes of the earth system such as nutrient cycling and vegetation dynamics. Currently, river runoff from small, nearly natural, catchments is one of the few variables of the terrestrial water balance that is regularly monitored with detailed spatial and temporal coverage on large scales. River runoff, therefore, provides a foundation to approach European hydrology with respect to observed patterns on large scales, with regard to the ability of models to capture these.The analysis of observed river flow from small catchments, focused on the identification and description of spatial patterns of simultaneous temporal variations of runoff. These are dominated by large-scale variations of climatic variables but also altered by catchment processes. It was shown that time series of annual low, mean and high flows follow the same atmospheric drivers. The observation that high flows are more closely coupled to large scale atmospheric drivers than low flows, indicates the increasing influence of catchment properties on runoff under dry conditions. Further, it was shown that the low-frequency variability of European runoff is dominated by two opposing centres of simultaneous variations, such that dry years in the north are accompanied by wet years in the south.Large-scale hydrological models are simplified representations of our current perception of the terrestrial water balance on large scales. Quantification of the models strengths and weaknesses is the prerequisite for a reliable interpretation of simulation results. Model evaluations may also enable to detect shortcomings with model assumptions and thus enable a refinement of the current perception of hydrological systems. The ability of a multi model ensemble of nine large-scale
Towards Portable Large-Scale Image Processing with High-Performance Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Huo, Yuankai; Blaber, Justin; Damon, Stephen M; Boyd, Brian D; Bao, Shunxing; Parvathaneni, Prasanna; Noguera, Camilo Bermudez; Chaganti, Shikha; Nath, Vishwesh; Greer, Jasmine M; Lyu, Ilwoo; French, William R; Newton, Allen T; Rogers, Baxter P; Landman, Bennett A

2018-05-03

High-throughput, large-scale medical image computing demands tight integration of high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure for data storage, job distribution, and image processing. The Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Science (VUIIS) Center for Computational Imaging (CCI) has constructed a large-scale image storage and processing infrastructure that is composed of (1) a large-scale image database using the eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit (XNAT), (2) a content-aware job scheduling platform using the Distributed Automation for XNAT pipeline automation tool (DAX), and (3) a wide variety of encapsulated image processing pipelines called "spiders." The VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure have housed and processed nearly half-million medical image volumes with Vanderbilt Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education (ACCRE), which is the HPC facility at the Vanderbilt University. The initial deployment was natively deployed (i.e., direct installations on a bare-metal server) within the ACCRE hardware and software environments, which lead to issues of portability and sustainability. First, it could be laborious to deploy the entire VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure to another HPC center with varying hardware infrastructure, library availability, and software permission policies. Second, the spiders were not developed in an isolated manner, which has led to software dependency issues during system upgrades or remote software installation. To address such issues, herein, we describe recent innovations using containerization techniques with XNAT/DAX which are used to isolate the VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure from the underlying hardware and software environments. The newly presented XNAT/DAX solution has the following new features: (1) multi-level portability from system level to the application level, (2) flexible and dynamic software
Controls on carbon consumption during Alaskan wildland fires

Science.gov (United States)

Eric S. Kasischke; Elizabeth E. Hoy

2012-01-01

A method was developed to estimate carbon consumed during wildland fires in interior Alaska based on medium-spatial scale data (60 m cell size) generated on a daily basis. Carbon consumption estimates were developed for 41 fire events in the large fire year of 2004 and 34 fire events from the small fire years of 2006-2008. Total carbon consumed during the large fire...
Restoration of a Mediterranean forest after a fire: bioremediation and rhizoremediation field-scale trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Pizarro-Tobías, Paloma; Fernández, Matilde; Niqui, José Luis; Solano, Jennifer; Duque, Estrella; Ramos, Juan-Luis; Roca, Amalia

2015-01-01

Forest fires pose a serious threat to countries in the Mediterranean basin, often razing large areas of land each year. After fires, soils are more likely to erode and resilience is inhibited in part by the toxic aromatic hydrocarbons produced during the combustion of cellulose and lignins. In this study, we explored the use of bioremediation and rhizoremediation techniques for soil restoration in a field-scale trial in a protected Mediterranean ecosystem after a controlled fire. Our bioremediation strategy combined the use of Pseudomonas putida strains, indigenous culturable microbes and annual grasses. After 8 months of monitoring soil quality parameters, including the removal of monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as well as vegetation cover, we found that the site had returned to pre-fire status. Microbial population analysis revealed that fires induced changes in the indigenous microbiota and that rhizoremediation favours the recovery of soil microbiota in time. The results obtained in this study indicate that the rhizoremediation strategy could be presented as a viable and cost-effective alternative for the treatment of ecosystems affected by fires. © 2014 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.
Fire safety case study of a railway tunnel: Smoke evacuation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Maele Karim

2007-01-01

Full Text Available When a fire occurs in a tunnel, it is of great importance to assure the safety of the occupants of the tunnel. This is achieved by creating smoke-free spaces in the tunnel through control of the smoke gases. In this paper, results are presented of a study concerning the fire safety in a real scale railway tunnel test case. Numerical simulations are performed in order to examine the possibility of natural ventilation of smoke in inclined tunnels. Several aspects are taken into account: the length of the simulated tunnel section, the slope of the tunnel and the possible effects of external wind at one portal of the tunnel. The Fire Dynamics Simulator of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, is applied to perform the simulations. The simulations show that for the local behavior of the smoke during the early stages of the fire, the slope of the tunnel is of little importance. Secondly, the results show that external wind and/or pressure conditions have a large effect on the smoke gases inside the tunnel. Finally, some idea for the value of the critical ventilation velocity is given. The study also shows that computational fluid dynamics calculations are a valuable tool for large scale, real life complex fire cases. .
Post-fire bedload sediment delivery across spatial scales in the interior western United States

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph W. Wagenbrenner; Peter R. Robichaud

2014-01-01

Post-fire sediment yields can be up to three orders of magnitude greater than sediment yields in unburned forests. Much of the research on post-fire erosion rates has been at small scales (100m2 or less), and post-fire sediment delivery rates across spatial scales have not been quantified in detail. We developed relationships for post-fire bedload sediment delivery...
105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility closure plan. Revision 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-05-01

The Hanford Site, located northwest of the city of Richland, Washington, houses reactors, chemical-separation systems, and related facilities used for the production of special nuclear materials, and activities associated with nuclear energy development. The 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility (LSFF), which was in operation from about 1972 to 1986, was a research laboratory that occupied the former ventilation supply room on the southwest side of the 105-DR Reactor facility. The LSFF was established to provide a means of investigating fire and safety aspects associated with large sodium or other metal alkali fires in the liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) facilities. The 105-DR Reactor facility was designed and built in the 1950`s and is located in the 100-D Area of the Hanford Site. The building housed the 105-DR defense reactor, which was shut down in 1964. The LSFF was initially used only for engineering-scale alkali metal reaction studies. In addition, the Fusion Safety Support Studies program sponsored intermediate-size safety reaction tests in the LSFF with lithium and lithium lead compounds. The facility has also been used to store and treat alkali metal waste, therefore the LSFF is subject to the regulatory requirements for the storage and treatment of dangerous waste. Closure will be conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610. This closure plan presents a description of the facility, the history of waste managed, and the procedures that will be followed to close the LSFF as an Alkali Metal Treatment Facility. No future use of the LSFF is expected.
Large scale model testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brumovsky, M.; Filip, R.; Polachova, H.; Stepanek, S.

1989-01-01

Fracture mechanics and fatigue calculations for WWER reactor pressure vessels were checked by large scale model testing performed using large testing machine ZZ 8000 (with a maximum load of 80 MN) at the SKODA WORKS. The results are described from testing the material resistance to fracture (non-ductile). The testing included the base materials and welded joints. The rated specimen thickness was 150 mm with defects of a depth between 15 and 100 mm. The results are also presented of nozzles of 850 mm inner diameter in a scale of 1:3; static, cyclic, and dynamic tests were performed without and with surface defects (15, 30 and 45 mm deep). During cyclic tests the crack growth rate in the elastic-plastic region was also determined. (author). 6 figs., 2 tabs., 5 refs
Modeling Fire Occurrence at the City Scale: A Comparison between Geographically Weighted Regression and Global Linear Regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Chao; Kwan, Mei-Po; Zhu, Jiping

2017-04-08

An increasing number of fires are occurring with the rapid development of cities, resulting in increased risk for human beings and the environment. This study compares geographically weighted regression-based models, including geographically weighted regression (GWR) and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR), which integrates spatial and temporal effects and global linear regression models (LM) for modeling fire risk at the city scale. The results show that the road density and the spatial distribution of enterprises have the strongest influences on fire risk, which implies that we should focus on areas where roads and enterprises are densely clustered. In addition, locations with a large number of enterprises have fewer fire ignition records, probably because of strict management and prevention measures. A changing number of significant variables across space indicate that heterogeneity mainly exists in the northern and eastern rural and suburban areas of Hefei city, where human-related facilities or road construction are only clustered in the city sub-centers. GTWR can capture small changes in the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the variables while GWR and LM cannot. An approach that integrates space and time enables us to better understand the dynamic changes in fire risk. Thus governments can use the results to manage fire safety at the city scale.
A review of challenges to determining and demonstrating efficiency of large fire management

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew P. Thompson; Francisco Rodriguez y Silva; David E. Calkin; Michael S. Hand

2017-01-01

Characterising the impacts of wildland fire and fire suppression is critical information for fire management decision-making. Here, we focus on decisions related to the rare larger and longer-duration fire events, where the scope and scale of decision-making can be far broader than initial response efforts, and where determining and demonstrating efficiency of...

Synchronization of two coupled turbulent fires

Science.gov (United States)

Takagi, Kazushi; Gotoda, Hiroshi; Miyano, Takaya; Murayama, Shogo; Tokuda, Isao T.

2018-04-01

We numerically study the scale-free nature of a buoyancy-induced turbulent fire and synchronization of two coupled turbulent fires. A scale-free structure is detected in weighted networks between vortices, while its lifetime obeys a clear power law, indicating intermittent appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of the scale-free property. A significant decrease in the distance between the two fire sources gives rise to a synchronized state in the near field dominated by the unstable motion of large-scale of transverse vortex rings. The synchronized state vanishes in the far field forming well-developed turbulent plumes, regardless of the distance between the two fire sources.
Sodium fire protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raju, C.; Kale, R.D.

1979-01-01

Results of experiments carried out with sodium fires to develop extinguishment techniques are presented. Characteristics, ignition temperature, heat evolution and other aspects of sodium fires are described. Out of the powders tested for extinguishment of 10 Kg sodium fires, sodium bi-carbonate based dry chemical powder has been found to be the best extinguisher followed by large sized vermiculite and then calcium carbonate powders distributed by spray nozzles. Powders, however, do not extinguish large fires effectively due to sodium-concrete reaction. To control large scale fires in a LMFBR, collection trays with protective cover have been found to cause oxygen starvation better than flooding with inert gas. This system has an added advantage in that there is no damage to the sodium facilities as has been in the case of powders which often contain chlorine compounds and cause stress corrosion cracking. (M.G.B.)
Feedback from practical experience with large sodium fire accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luster, V.P.; Freudenstein, K.F.

1996-01-01

The paper reviews the important feedback from the practical experience from two large sodium fires; the first at ALMERIA in Spain and the second in the Na laboratories at Bensberg, Germany. One of the most important sodium fire accidents was the ALMERIA spray fire accident. The origin of this accident was the repair of a valve when about 14 t of sodium was spilled in the plant room over a period of 1/2 hour. The event has been reported (IAEA/IWGFR meeting in 1988) and this presentation gives a short review of important feedback. The Almeria accident was one of the reasons that from that time spray fires had to be taken into account in the safety analyses of nuclear power plants. Due to the fact that spray fire codes were not available in a sufficiently validated state, safety analyses were provisionally based on the feedback from sodium fire tests and also from the Almeria accident itself. The behaviour of spray fires showed that severe destruction, up to melting of metallic structures may occur, but even with a large spray fire is limited roughly within the spray fire zone itself. This could be subsequently be predicted by codes like NABRAND in Germany and FEUMIX in France. Almeria accident has accelerated R and D and code development with respect to spray fires. As example for a code validation some figures are given for the NABRAND code. Another large sodium fire accident happened in 1992 in the test facility at Bensberg in Germany (ILONA). This accident occurred during preheating of a sodium filled vessel which was provisionally installed in the basement of the ILONA test facility at Bensberg. Due to failure of a pressure relief valve the pressure in the vessel increased. As a consequence the plug in a dip tube for draining the vessel failed and about 4,5 t of sodium leaked slowly from the vessel. The plant room was not cladded with steel liners or collecting pans (it was not designed for permanent sodium plant operation). So leaking sodium came directly in
Managing the risks of risk management on large fires

Science.gov (United States)

Donald G. MacGregor; Armando González-Cabán

2013-01-01

Large fires pose risks to a number of important values, including the ecology, property and the lives of incident responders. A relatively unstudied aspect of fire management is the risks to which incident managers are exposed due to organizational and sociopolitical factors that put them in a position of, for example, potential liability or degradation of their image...
Combustion Aerosols from Full-Scale Suspension-Firing of Wood Pellets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damø, Anne Juul; Wu, Hao; Frandsen, Flemming

2012-01-01

The objectives of the present work were to investigate the aerosol formation mechanisms during full-scale suspension firing of wood, and, to evaluate the effect of coal fly ash addition on the formation of aerosols under different ash load conditions. Tests with suspension firing of 100 % wood...
Large-scale solar heat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tolonen, J.; Konttinen, P.; Lund, P. [Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Otaniemi (Finland). Dept. of Engineering Physics and Mathematics

1998-12-31

In this project a large domestic solar heating system was built and a solar district heating system was modelled and simulated. Objectives were to improve the performance and reduce costs of a large-scale solar heating system. As a result of the project the benefit/cost ratio can be increased by 40 % through dimensioning and optimising the system at the designing stage. (orig.)
Assessment of fires in chemical warehouses. An overview of the TOXFIRE project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

1999-01-01

The report summarises the scientific outcome of the CEC Environment project "TOXFIRE. Guidelines for Management of Fires in Chemical Warehouses". The project was performed in the period 1994 - 1996 in a multi-national co-operation between partners fromUnited Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Denmark....... The project included micro, small, medium, and two types of large scale combustion experiments. The experiments focused on the characterization of the combustion products and scaling effects are described.Additional, a few experiments on the effects of packaging and water on the fire products have been...... performed. Also included were items as fire modelling, risk assessment to human health and the environment. Finally, the basis of guidelines for safetyengineers and fire brigades were established. The report describes the work done by each partner and the main results achieved. The references of all reports...
Co-firing Bosnian coals with woody biomass: Experimental studies on a laboratory-scale furnace and 110 MWe power unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smajevic Izet

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the findings of research into cofiring two Bosnian cola types, brown coal and lignite, with woody biomass, in this case spruce sawdust. The aim of the research was to find the optimal blend of coal and sawdust that may be substituted for 100% coal in large coal-fired power stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two groups of experimental tests were performed in this study: laboratory testing of co-firing and trial runs on a large-scale plant based on the laboratory research results. A laboratory experiment was carried out in an electrically heated and entrained pulverized-fuel flow furnace. Coal-sawdust blends of 93:7% by weight and 80:20% by weight were tested. Co-firing trials were conducted over a range of the following process variables: process temperature, excess air ratio and air distribution. Neither of the two coal-sawdust blends used produced any significant ash-related problems provided the blend volume was 7% by weight sawdust and the process temperature did not exceed 1250ºC. It was observed that in addition to the nitrogen content in the co-fired blend, the volatile content and particle size distribution of the mixture also influenced the level of NOx emissions. The brown coal-sawdust blend generated a further reduction of SO2 due to the higher sulphur capture rate than for coal alone. Based on and following the laboratory research findings, a trial run was carried out in a large-scale utility - the Kakanj power station, Unit 5 (110 MWe, using two mixtures; one in which 5%/wt and one in which 7%/wt of brown coal was replaced with sawdust. Compared to a reference firing process with 100% coal, these co-firing trials produced a more intensive redistribution of the alkaline components in the slag in the melting chamber, with a consequential beneficial effect on the deposition of ash on the superheater surfaces of the boiler. The outcome of the tests confirms the feasibility of using 7%wt of sawdust in combination
Fire activity as a function of fire–weather seasonal severity and antecedent climate across spatial scales in southern Europe and Pacific western USA

Science.gov (United States)

Urbieta, Itziar R.; Zavala, Gonzalo; Bedia, Joaquin; Gutierrez, Jose M.; San Miguel-Ayanz, Jesus; Camia, Andrea; Keeley, Jon E.; Moreno, Jose M.

2015-01-01

Climate has a strong influence on fire activity, varying across time and space. We analyzed the relationships between fire–weather conditions during the main fire season and antecedent water-balance conditions and fires in two Mediterranean-type regions with contrasted management histories: five southern countries of the European Union (EUMED)(all fires); the Pacific western coast of the USA (California and Oregon, PWUSA)(national forest fires). Total number of fires (≥1 ha), number of large fires (≥100 ha) and area burned were related to mean seasonal fire weather index (FWI), number of days over the 90th percentile of the FWI, and to the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI) from the preceding 3 (spring) or 8 (autumn through spring) months. Calculations were made at three spatial aggregations in each area, and models related first-difference (year-to-year change) of fires and FWI/climate variables to minimize autocorrelation. An increase in mean seasonal FWI resulted in increases in the three fire variables across spatial scales in both regions. SPEI contributed little to explain fires, with few exceptions. Negative water-balance (dry) conditions from autumn through spring (SPEI8) were generally more important than positive conditions (moist) in spring (SPEI3), both of which contributed positively to fires. The R2 of the models generally improved with increasing area of aggregation. For total number of fires and area burned, the R2 of the models tended to decrease with increasing mean seasonal FWI. Thus, fires were more susceptible to change with climate variability in areas with less amenable conditions for fires (lower FWI) than in areas with higher mean FWI values. The relationships were similar in both regions, albeit weaker in PWUSA, probably due to the wider latitudinal gradient covered in PWUSA than in EUMED. The large variance explained by some of the models indicates that large-scale seasonal forecast could help anticipating
Full-scale horizontal cable-tray tests: Fire-propagation characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

At the Fermi National Accelerator Center (Fermilab), as at any high-energy physics laboratory, the experimental program depends on complex arrays of equipment that require years to assemble and place in service. These equipment arrays are typically located in enclosed tunnels or experimental halls and could be destroyed by rapidly propagating, uncontrolled fire. Cable trays, both vertical and horizontal, are an integral and ubiquitous component of these installations. Concurrently, throughout industry and within the professional fire-fighting community, there has been concern over the flammability and fire propagation characteristics of electrical cables in open cable trays. While some information was available concerning fire propagation in vertical cable trays, little was known about fires in horizontal cable trays. In view of the potential for loss of equipment and facilities, not to mention the programmatic impact of a fire, Fermilab initiated a program of full-scale, horizontal cable-tray fire tests to determine the flammability and rate of horizontal fire propagation in cable-tray configurations and cable mixed typical of those existing in underground tunnel enclosures and support buildings as Fermilab. This series of tests addressed the effects of ventilation rates and cable-tray fill, fire-fighting techniques, and the effectiveness and value of automatic sprinklers, smoke detection, and cable-coating fire barriers in detecting, controlling, or extinguishing a cable-tray fire. Detailed descriptions of each fire test, including sketches of cable-tray configuration and contents, instrumentation, ventilation rates, Fermilab Fire Department personnel observations, photographs, and graphs of thermocouple readings are available in a report of these tests prepared by the Fermilab Safety Section
Effects of thin-layer boilover on flame geometry and dynamics in large hydrocarbon pool fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrero, Fabio; Munoz, Miguel; Arnaldos, Josep [Centre d' Estudis del Risc Tecnologic (CERTEC), Chemical Engineering Department, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Diagonal 647, 08028-Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)

2007-03-15

This work aims to estimate the effects of thin-layer boilover on flame geometry and dynamics. A series of large scale experiments (in pools ranging from 1.5 to 6 m in diameter) were performed using gasoline and diesel as fuel. As expected, only diesel showed evidence of this phenomenon. This article presents a summary of the results obtained for flame height, tilt and pulsation. Flame height increases during water ebullition, though the increase is no longer detectable when wind speed exceeds certain values. Correlations previously presented in the literature to predict flame length and tilt were modified in order to fit the results obtained during thin-layer boilover. However, the influence on flame tilt is not as great and the equations for the stationary period seem suitable for the entire fire. Results of flame pulsation during the stationary period fill the gap in the literature for fires between 1.5 and 6 m and fit previous correlations. On the other hand, during ebullition, the flame pulsates faster, as air entrainment is greater and, as one would expect, this effect decreases with pool size. A new equation for estimating pulsation frequency during boilover is proposed. (author)
Fire Propagation Performance of Intumescent Fire Protective Coatings Using Eggshells as a Novel Biofiller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. C. Yew

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to synthesize and characterize an effective intumescent fire protective coating that incorporates eggshell powder as a novel biofiller. The performances of thermal stability, char formation, fire propagation, water resistance, and adhesion strength of coatings have been evaluated. A few intumescent flame-retardant coatings based on these three ecofriendly fire retardant additives ammonium polyphosphate phase II, pentaerythritol and melamine mixed together with flame-retardant fillers, and acrylic binder have been prepared and designed for steel. The fire performance of the coatings has conducted employing BS 476: Part 6-Fire propagation test. The foam structures of the intumescent coatings have been observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. On exposure, the coated specimens’ B, C, and D had been certified to be Class 0 due to the fact that their fire propagation indexes were less than 12. Incorporation of ecofriendly eggshell, biofiller into formulation D led to excellent performance in fire stopping (index value, (I=4.3 and antioxidation of intumescent coating. The coating is also found to be quite effective in water repellency, uniform foam structure, and adhesion strength.
Suppression of the Thermal Decomposition Reaction of Forest Combustible Materials in Large-Area Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, R. S.; Zhdanova, A. O.; Kuznetsov, G. V.; Strizhak, P. A.

2018-05-01

Experimental investigations on the characteristic time of suppression of the thermal decomposition reaction of typical forest combustible materials (aspen twigs, birch leaves, spruce needles, pine chips, and a mixture of these materials) and the volume of water required for this purpose have been performed for model fire hotbeds of different areas: SFCM = 0.0003-0.007 m2 and SFCM = 0.045-0.245 m2. In the experiments, aerosol water flows with droplets of size 0.01-0.25 mm were used for the spraying of model fire hotbeds, and the density of spraying was 0.02 L/(m2·s). It was established that the characteristics of suppression of a fire by an aerosol water flow are mainly determined by the sizes of the droplets in this flow. Prognostic estimates of changes in the dispersivity of a droplet cloud, formed from large (as large as 0.5 L) "drops" (water agglomerates) thrown down from a height, have been made. It is shown that these changes can influence the conditions and characteristics of suppression of a forest fire. Dependences, allowing one to forecast the characteristics of suppression of the thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials with the use of large water agglomerates thrown down from an aircraft and aerosol clouds formed from these agglomerates in the process of their movement to the earth, are presented.
Suppression of the Thermal Decomposition Reaction of Forest Combustible Materials in Large-Area Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, R. S.; Zhdanova, A. O.; Kuznetsov, G. V.; Strizhak, P. A.

2018-03-01

Experimental investigations on the characteristic time of suppression of the thermal decomposition reaction of typical forest combustible materials (aspen twigs, birch leaves, spruce needles, pine chips, and a mixture of these materials) and the volume of water required for this purpose have been performed for model fire hotbeds of different areas: SFCM = 0.0003-0.007 m2 and SFCM = 0.045-0.245 m2. In the experiments, aerosol water flows with droplets of size 0.01-0.25 mm were used for the spraying of model fire hotbeds, and the density of spraying was 0.02 L/(m2·s). It was established that the characteristics of suppression of a fire by an aerosol water flow are mainly determined by the sizes of the droplets in this flow. Prognostic estimates of changes in the dispersivity of a droplet cloud, formed from large (as large as 0.5 L) "drops" (water agglomerates) thrown down from a height, have been made. It is shown that these changes can influence the conditions and characteristics of suppression of a forest fire. Dependences, allowing one to forecast the characteristics of suppression of the thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials with the use of large water agglomerates thrown down from an aircraft and aerosol clouds formed from these agglomerates in the process of their movement to the earth, are presented.
A large source of dust missing in Particulate Matter emission inventories? Wind erosion of post-fire landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.S. Wagenbrenner

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Wind erosion of soils burned by wildfire contributes substantial particulate matter (PM in the form of dust to the atmosphere, but the magnitude of this dust source is largely unknown. It is important to accurately quantify dust emissions because they can impact human health, degrade visibility, exacerbate dust-on-snow issues (including snowmelt timing, snow chemistry, and avalanche danger, and affect ecological and biogeochemical cycles, precipitation regimes, and the Earth’s radiation budget. We used a novel modeling approach in which local-scale winds were used to drive a high-resolution dust emission model parameterized for burned soils to provide a first estimate of post-fire PM emissions. The dust emission model was parameterized with dust flux measurements from a 2010 fire scar. Here we present a case study to demonstrate the ability of the modeling framework to capture the onset and dynamics of a post-fire dust event and then use the modeling framework to estimate PM emissions from burn scars left by wildfires in U.S. western sagebrush landscapes during 2012. Modeled emissions from 1.2 million ha of burned soil totaled 32.1 Tg (11.7–352 Tg of dust as PM10 and 12.8 Tg (4.68–141 Tg as PM2.5. Despite the relatively large uncertainties in these estimates and a number of underlying assumptions, these first estimates of annual post-fire dust emissions suggest that post-fire PM emissions could substantially increase current annual PM estimates in the U.S. National Emissions Inventory during high fire activity years. Given the potential for post-fire scars to be a large source of PM, further on-site PM flux measurements are needed to improve emission parameterizations and constrain these first estimates.
Performance of automatic generation control mechanisms with large-scale wind power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ummels, B.C.; Gibescu, M.; Paap, G.C. [Delft Univ. of Technology (Netherlands); Kling, W.L. [Transmission Operations Department of TenneT bv (Netherlands)

2007-11-15

The unpredictability and variability of wind power increasingly challenges real-time balancing of supply and demand in electric power systems. In liberalised markets, balancing is a responsibility jointly held by the TSO (real-time power balancing) and PRPs (energy programs). In this paper, a procedure is developed for the simulation of power system balancing and the assessment of AGC performance in the presence of large-scale wind power, using the Dutch control zone as a case study. The simulation results show that the performance of existing AGC-mechanisms is adequate for keeping ACE within acceptable bounds. At higher wind power penetrations, however, the capabilities of the generation mix are increasingly challenged and additional reserves are required at the same level. (au)
Economic evaluation of externally fired gas turbine cycles for small-scale biomass cogeneration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anheden, Marie [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Technology

2001-01-01

In this conceptual study, externally fired gas turbine (EFGT) cycles in combination with a biomass-fueled, atmospheric circulating fluidized bed (CFB) furnace are investigated for small scale heat and power production ({approx} 8 MW fuel input). Three cycle configurations are considered: closed cycle, with nitrogen, helium, and a helium/carbon dioxide mixture as working fluids; open cycle operating in parallel to the CFB system; and open cycle with a series connection to the CFB system. Intercooling, postcooling, and recuperation are employed with the goal of maximizing efficiency. Aside from a thermodynamic performance analysis, the study includes an economic analysis of both the closed and open externally fired gas turbine configurations, and comparisons are made with existing and emerging alternatives for small-scale biomass cogeneration. Simulation results show that thermodynamic performance varies slightly between the different configurations and working fluids, with electrical efficiencies of 31-38% (LHV) and total efficiency of 85-106% (LHV). The economic evaluation shows that the turbomachinery and the CFB furnace dominate the total plant cost, with each contributing about 1/3 of the total installed equipment cost. The specific capital cost for installation in Sweden in 1998 currency is calculated as 26-31 kSEK/kW{sub e} which is equivalent to 3 200-3 900 USD/kW{sub e} or 2 700-3 300 EUR/kW{sub e} .The cost of electricity, COE, is estimated to 590-670 SEK/MWh{sub e} (equivalent to 73-84 USD/MWh{sub e} or 62-71 EUR/MWh{sub e}) for 4 000 full load hours per year in a cogeneration application. Comparing the economic results for the externally fired gas turbine cycles in a slightly larger scale (40-50 MW{sub f}) to the economics of conventional biomass fired steam turbine cycles shows that the cost of electricity for the two plant configurations are roughly the same with a COE of 300-350 SEK/MWh{sub e}. It is believed that the economic performance of the EFGT
Particle physics and polyedra proximity calculation for hazard simulations in large-scale industrial plants

Science.gov (United States)

Plebe, Alice; Grasso, Giorgio

2016-12-01

This paper describes a system developed for the simulation of flames inside an open-source 3D computer graphic software, Blender, with the aim of analyzing in virtual reality scenarios of hazards in large-scale industrial plants. The advantages of Blender are of rendering at high resolution the very complex structure of large industrial plants, and of embedding a physical engine based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics. This particle system is used to evolve a simulated fire. The interaction of this fire with the components of the plant is computed using polyhedron separation distance, adopting a Voronoi-based strategy that optimizes the number of feature distance computations. Results on a real oil and gas refining industry are presented.
Effects of a large wildfire on vegetation structure in a variable fire mosaic.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, C N; Barton, P S; Robinson, N M; MacGregor, C I; Lindenmayer, D B

2017-12-01

Management guidelines for many fire-prone ecosystems highlight the importance of maintaining a variable mosaic of fire histories for biodiversity conservation. Managers are encouraged to aim for fire mosaics that are temporally and spatially dynamic, include all successional states of vegetation, and also include variation in the underlying "invisible mosaic" of past fire frequencies, severities, and fire return intervals. However, establishing and maintaining variable mosaics in contemporary landscapes is subject to many challenges, one of which is deciding how the fire mosaic should be managed following the occurrence of large, unplanned wildfires. A key consideration for this decision is the extent to which the effects of previous fire history on vegetation and habitats persist after major wildfires, but this topic has rarely been investigated empirically. In this study, we tested to what extent a large wildfire interacted with previous fire history to affect the structure of forest, woodland, and heath vegetation in Booderee National Park in southeastern Australia. In 2003, a summer wildfire burned 49.5% of the park, increasing the extent of recently burned vegetation (post-fire) to more than 72% of the park area. We tracked the recovery of vegetation structure for nine years following the wildfire and found that the strength and persistence of fire effects differed substantially between vegetation types. Vegetation structure was modified by wildfire in forest, woodland, and heath vegetation, but among-site variability in vegetation structure was reduced only by severe fire in woodland vegetation. There also were persistent legacy effects of the previous fire regime on some attributes of vegetation structure including forest ground and understorey cover, and woodland midstorey and overstorey cover. For example, woodland midstorey cover was greater on sites with higher fire frequency, irrespective of the severity of the 2003 wildfire. Our results show that even
Fire safety engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.N.

1989-01-01

The periodic occurrence of large-scale, potentially disastrous industrial accidents involving fire in hazardous environments such as oilwell blowouts, petrochemical explosions and nuclear installations highlights the need for an integrated approach to fire safety engineering. Risk reduction 'by design' and rapid response are of equal importance in the saving of life and property in such situations. This volume of papers covers the subject thoroughly, touching on such topics as hazard analysis, safety design and testing, fire detection and control, and includes studies of fire hazard in the context of environment protection. (author)

Large scale chromatographic separations using continuous displacement chromatography (CDC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taniguchi, V.T.; Doty, A.W.; Byers, C.H.

1988-01-01

A process for large scale chromatographic separations using a continuous chromatography technique is described. The process combines the advantages of large scale batch fixed column displacement chromatography with conventional analytical or elution continuous annular chromatography (CAC) to enable large scale displacement chromatography to be performed on a continuous basis (CDC). Such large scale, continuous displacement chromatography separations have not been reported in the literature. The process is demonstrated with the ion exchange separation of a binary lanthanide (Nd/Pr) mixture. The process is, however, applicable to any displacement chromatography separation that can be performed using conventional batch, fixed column chromatography
Decadal-scale relationship between measurements of aerosols, land-use change, and fire over Southeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Blake Cohen, Jason; Lecoeur, Eve; Loong Ng, Daniel Hui

2017-01-01

A simultaneous analysis of 13 years of remotely sensed data of land cover, fires, precipitation, and aerosols from the MODIS, TRMM, and MISR satellites and the AERONET network over Southeast Asia is performed, leading to a set of robust relationships between land-use change and fire being found on inter-annual and intra-annual scales over Southeast Asia, reflecting the heavy amounts of anthropogenic influence over land-use change and fires in this region of the world. First, we find that fires occur annually, but with a considerable amount of variance in their onset, duration, and intensity from year to year, and from two separate regions within Southeast Asia. Second, we show that a simple regression model of the land-cover, fire, and precipitation data can be used to recreate a robust representation of the timing and magnitude of measured aerosol optical depth (AOD) from multiple measurements sources of this region using either 8-day (better for onset and duration) or monthly (better for magnitude) measurements, but not daily measurements. We find that the reconstructed AOD matches the timing and intensity from AERONET measurements to within 70 to 90 % and the timing and intensity of MISR measurements to within 50 to 95 %. This is a unique finding in this part of the world since cloud-covered regions are large, yet the model is still robustly capable, including over regions where no fires are observed and hence no emissions would be expected to contribute to AOD. Third, we determine that while Southeast Asia is a source region of such intense smoke emissions, portions of it are also impacted by smoke transported from other regions. There are regions in northern Southeast Asia which have two annual AOD peaks, one during the local fire season and the other, smaller peak corresponding to a combination of some local smoke sources as well as transport of aerosols from fires in southern Southeast Asia and possibly even from anthropogenic sources in South Asia. Overall
Performance Evaluation of Hadoop-based Large-scale Network Traffic Analysis Cluster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Ran

2016-01-01

Full Text Available As Hadoop has gained popularity in big data era, it is widely used in various fields. The self-design and self-developed large-scale network traffic analysis cluster works well based on Hadoop, with off-line applications running on it to analyze the massive network traffic data. On purpose of scientifically and reasonably evaluating the performance of analysis cluster, we propose a performance evaluation system. Firstly, we set the execution times of three benchmark applications as the benchmark of the performance, and pick 40 metrics of customized statistical resource data. Then we identify the relationship between the resource data and the execution times by a statistic modeling analysis approach, which is composed of principal component analysis and multiple linear regression. After training models by historical data, we can predict the execution times by current resource data. Finally, we evaluate the performance of analysis cluster by the validated predicting of execution times. Experimental results show that the predicted execution times by trained models are within acceptable error range, and the evaluation results of performance are accurate and reliable.
Co-firing of coal with biomass and waste in full-scale suspension-fired boilers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dam-Johansen, Kim; Frandsen, Flemming J.; Jensen, Peter A.; Jensen, Anker D. [Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark). Dept. of chemical and Biochemical Engineering

2013-07-01

The energy policy in Denmark has for many years focused on lowering the net CO{sub 2} emission from heat and power production by replacing fossil fuels by renewable resources. This has been done by developing dedicated grate-fired boilers for biomass and waste fuels but also by developing coal-based suspension-fired boilers to accept still higher fractions of biomass or waste material as fuels. This last development has been challenging of many reasons, including pre-treatment of fuels, and solving potential emission and operational problems during the simultaneous development of supercritical steam cycles with steam temperatures close to 600 C, providing power efficiencies close to 50% (Hein KRG, Sustainable energy supply and environment protection - strategies, resources and technologies. In: Gupta R, Wall T, Hupa M, Wigley F, Tillman D, Frandsen FJ (eds) Proceedings of international conference on impact of fuel quality on power production and the environment, Banff Conference Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 29 Sept-4 Oct, 2008). For 25 years the CHEC (Combustion and Harmful Emission Control) Research Centre at DTU Chemical Engineering, has attained a leading role in research, supporting power producing industry, plant owners and boiler manufacturers to optimize design and operation and minimize cost and environmental impact using alternative fuels in suspension fired boilers. Our contribution has been made via a combination of full-scale measuring campaigns, pilot-scale studies, lab-scale measurements and modeling tools. The research conducted has addressed many issues important for co-firing, i.e. fuel processing, ash induced boiler deposit formation and corrosion, boiler chamber fuel conversion and emission formation, influence on flue gas cleaning equipment and the utilization of residual products. This chapter provides an overview of research activities, aiming at increasing biomass shares during co-firing in suspension, conducted in close collaboration with
Development and demonstration of sodium fire mitigation system in the SAPFIRE facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Himeno, Y.; Miyahara, S.; Morii, T.; Sasaki, K.

1989-01-01

Flow pattern of a realistic sodium leak from the sodium piping equipped with jackets and thermal insulator was experimentally investigated. Then, based on this result, the fire mitigation system consisting of an inclined liner, a drain piping, and a smothering tank has been developed. The performance of the system was, in final, validated in the large-scale sodium leak and fire test in the SAPFIRE facility. (author)
A comparison of geospatially modeled fire behavior and fire management utility of three data sources in the southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

LaWen T. Hollingsworth; Laurie L. Kurth; Bernard R. Parresol; Roger D. Ottmar; Susan J. Prichard

2012-01-01

Landscape-scale fire behavior analyses are important to inform decisions on resource management projects that meet land management objectives and protect values from adverse consequences of fire. Deterministic and probabilistic geospatial fire behavior analyses are conducted with various modeling systems including FARSITE, FlamMap, FSPro, and Large Fire Simulation...
Comparison Between Overtopping Discharge in Small and Large Scale Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helgason, Einar; Burcharth, Hans F.

2006-01-01

The present paper presents overtopping measurements from small scale model test performed at the Haudraulic & Coastal Engineering Laboratory, Aalborg University, Denmark and large scale model tests performed at the Largde Wave Channel,Hannover, Germany. Comparison between results obtained from...... small and large scale model tests show no clear evidence of scale effects for overtopping above a threshold value. In the large scale model no overtopping was measured for waveheights below Hs = 0.5m as the water sunk into the voids between the stones on the crest. For low overtopping scale effects...
Digital Image Correlation Techniques Applied to Large Scale Rocket Engine Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Gradl, Paul R.

2016-01-01

Rocket engine hot-fire ground testing is necessary to understand component performance, reliability and engine system interactions during development. The J-2X upper stage engine completed a series of developmental hot-fire tests that derived performance of the engine and components, validated analytical models and provided the necessary data to identify where design changes, process improvements and technology development were needed. The J-2X development engines were heavily instrumented to provide the data necessary to support these activities which enabled the team to investigate any anomalies experienced during the test program. This paper describes the development of an optical digital image correlation technique to augment the data provided by traditional strain gauges which are prone to debonding at elevated temperatures and limited to localized measurements. The feasibility of this optical measurement system was demonstrated during full scale hot-fire testing of J-2X, during which a digital image correlation system, incorporating a pair of high speed cameras to measure three-dimensional, real-time displacements and strains was installed and operated under the extreme environments present on the test stand. The camera and facility setup, pre-test calibrations, data collection, hot-fire test data collection and post-test analysis and results are presented in this paper.
Catchment-scale Validation of a Physically-based, Post-fire Runoff and Erosion Model

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, D.; Brooks, E. S.; Robichaud, P. R.; Dobre, M.; Brown, R. E.; Wagenbrenner, J.

2017-12-01

The cascading consequences of fire-induced ecological changes have profound impacts on both natural and managed forest ecosystems. Forest managers tasked with implementing post-fire mitigation strategies need robust tools to evaluate the effectiveness of their decisions, particularly those affecting hydrological recovery. Various hillslope-scale interfaces of the physically-based Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model have been successfully validated for this purpose using fire-effected plot experiments, however these interfaces are explicitly designed to simulate single hillslopes. Spatially-distributed, catchment-scale WEPP interfaces have been developed over the past decade, however none have been validated for post-fire simulations, posing a barrier to adoption for forest managers. In this validation study, we compare WEPP simulations with pre- and post-fire hydrological records for three forested catchments (W. Willow, N. Thomas, and S. Thomas) that burned in the 2011 Wallow Fire in Northeastern Arizona, USA. Simulations were conducted using two approaches; the first using automatically created inputs from an online, spatial, post-fire WEPP interface, and the second using manually created inputs which incorporate the spatial variability of fire effects observed in the field. Both approaches were compared to five years of observed post-fire sediment and flow data to assess goodness of fit.
Assessment of the burning behavior of protected and unprotected cables and cable trays in nuclear installations using small- and large-scale experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siemon, Matthias; Riese, Olaf; Zehfuss, Jochen [Technische Univ. Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. fuer Baustoffe, Massivbau und Brandschutz (iBMB)

2015-12-15

Electric installations and cables are a main fire risk source in industrial buildings and power plants. In general, cables and cable systems are associated with flash-over phenomena due to pyrolysis of fuel gases induced by the heat of an adjacent fire, fire spread along cable trays affecting additional areas besides the fire origin, being an ignition source due to malfunction. If burning, cables can emit large amounts of smoke and toxic products affecting occupants as well as the long-term functionality of structure and installations. Paying attention to these risks has led to the development of fire retardant non-corrosive (non-halogenated) cables which are qualified to reduce the individual or all of the risks mentioned. For existing installations in industrial buildings and power plants with halogenated cables, different protection measures are available and widely applied retroactively. Important protective measures are intumescent or ablative coatings, cable casings and bindings. For qualification of the effects of the protection measures, small-scale tests investigating a single cable specimen as well as large-scale cable tray test setups have been developed and carried out in the last 20 years at iBMB. In this paper, these test results are analysed regarding their effects on the heat release, ignition time and fire spread over cable trays. Furthermore, national and international research projects have investigated the burning behaviour of different cable types, tray installations, tray loading and spacing and ventilation conditions. As a conclusion, the main outcomes of past researches are summarized. Influence factors (e.g. pre-heating due to high power utilization, influence of cable aging) which have not been accounted for in detail are emphasized. The modelling of unprotected cables has been internationally studied in recent years. For future applications, the question of applicability of recently developed sub-models on the fire behaviour of protected
105-DR large sodium fire facility closure Plan. Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruck, F.A. III.

1995-03-01

The 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility (LSFF), which was operated 1972-1986, was a research laboratory that occupied the former ventilation supply room on the SW side of the 105-DR Reactor Facility. (The 105-DR defense reactor was shut down in 1964.) LSFF was used to investigate fire and safety aspects of large sodium or other metal alkali fires in the LMFBR facilities; it was also used to store and treat alkali metal waste. This closure plan presents a description of the unit, the history of the waste managed, and the procedures that will be followed to close the LSFF as an Alkali Metal Treatment Facility. No future use of LSFF is expected. It is located within the 100-DR-2 (source) and 100-HR-3 (groundwater) operable units, which will be addressed through the RCRA facility investigation/corrective measures study process
On the rejection-based algorithm for simulation and analysis of large-scale reaction networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thanh, Vo Hong, E-mail: vo@cosbi.eu [The Microsoft Research-University of Trento Centre for Computational and Systems Biology, Piazza Manifattura 1, Rovereto 38068 (Italy); Zunino, Roberto, E-mail: roberto.zunino@unitn.it [Department of Mathematics, University of Trento, Trento (Italy); Priami, Corrado, E-mail: priami@cosbi.eu [The Microsoft Research-University of Trento Centre for Computational and Systems Biology, Piazza Manifattura 1, Rovereto 38068 (Italy); Department of Mathematics, University of Trento, Trento (Italy)

2015-06-28

Stochastic simulation for in silico studies of large biochemical networks requires a great amount of computational time. We recently proposed a new exact simulation algorithm, called the rejection-based stochastic simulation algorithm (RSSA) [Thanh et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141(13), 134116 (2014)], to improve simulation performance by postponing and collapsing as much as possible the propensity updates. In this paper, we analyze the performance of this algorithm in detail, and improve it for simulating large-scale biochemical reaction networks. We also present a new algorithm, called simultaneous RSSA (SRSSA), which generates many independent trajectories simultaneously for the analysis of the biochemical behavior. SRSSA improves simulation performance by utilizing a single data structure across simulations to select reaction firings and forming trajectories. The memory requirement for building and storing the data structure is thus independent of the number of trajectories. The updating of the data structure when needed is performed collectively in a single operation across the simulations. The trajectories generated by SRSSA are exact and independent of each other by exploiting the rejection-based mechanism. We test our new improvement on real biological systems with a wide range of reaction networks to demonstrate its applicability and efficiency.
Flame spread and smoke temperature of full-scale fire test of car fire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dayan Li

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Full-scale experiments using two 4-door sedan passenger cars, placed side by side in the reverse direction, were carried out to establish the burning behavior and describe the spread of fire to adjacent car. The temperature was measured by thermocouples. Radiant heat flux was measured with heat flux gauge placed at a distance of 5 m, at the right side of the car. Four cameras were placed inside the car and in the fire test room recording burning behavior during the test. Engine compartment was ignited by a sponge dipped with little gasoline. During the experiment, the ignition was initiated in the engine compartment of car I and approximately 20 min were enough time for fire to spread into the second car. Fully-developed burning of two cars occurred at 29 min. It was observed that the flame spread through car roof faster than through the bottom of car compartment. The fire followed a slow rate spread from engine compartment to car cab. The temperature inside the car peaked at the point of 900 °C. The peak smoke temperatures at every location were measured at the range of 89–285 °C. The smoke production at the time of 11 min to 15 min 50 s of fire was 1.76 m3/s, which was obtained through indirect calculation method.
Validation process of ISIS CFD software for fire simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lapuerta, C.; Suard, S.; Babik, F.; Rigollet, L.

2012-01-01

Fire propagation constitutes a major safety concern in nuclear facilities. In this context, IRSN is developing a CFD code, named ISIS, dedicated to fire simulations. This software is based on a coherent set of models that can be used to describe a fire in large, mechanically ventilated compartments. The system of balance equations obtained by combining these models is discretized in time using fractional step methods, including a pressure correction technique for solving hydrodynamic equations. Discretization in space combines two techniques, each proven in the relevant context: mixed finite elements for hydrodynamic equations and finite volumes for transport equations. ISIS is currently in an advanced stage of verification and validation. The results obtained for a full-scale fire test performed at IRSN are presented.
The Fire Resistance Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Columns with Different Concrete Compressive Strengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Hongying; Cao, Wanlin; Bian, Jianhui; Zhang, Jianwei

2014-12-08

In order to ascertain the fire resistance performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) components with different concrete compressive strengths, four full-scaled concrete columns were designed and tested under high temperature. Two of the four specimens were constructed by normal concrete with compressive strength ratings of C20 and C30, respectively, while the others were made from recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) concrete of C30 and C40, respectively. Identical constant axial forces were applied to specimens while being subjected to simulated building fire conditions in a laboratory furnace. Several parameters from the experimental results were comparatively analyzed, including the temperature change, vertical displacement, lateral deflection, fire endurance, and failure characteristics of specimens. The temperature field of specimens was simulated with ABAQUS Software (ABAQUS Inc., Provindence, RI, USA) and the results agreed quite well with those from the experiments. Results show that the rate of heat transfer from the surface to the interior of the column increases with the increase of the concrete's compressive strength for both RAC columns and normal concrete columns. Under the same initial axial force ratio, for columns with the same cross section, those with lower concrete compressive strengths demonstrate better fire resistance performance. The fire resistance performance of RAC columns is better than that of normal concrete columns, with the same concrete compressive strength.
The Fire Resistance Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Columns with Different Concrete Compressive Strengths

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Hongying; Cao, Wanlin; Bian, Jianhui; Zhang, Jianwei

2014-01-01

In order to ascertain the fire resistance performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) components with different concrete compressive strengths, four full-scaled concrete columns were designed and tested under high temperature. Two of the four specimens were constructed by normal concrete with compressive strength ratings of C20 and C30, respectively, while the others were made from recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) concrete of C30 and C40, respectively. Identical constant axial forces were applied to specimens while being subjected to simulated building fire conditions in a laboratory furnace. Several parameters from the experimental results were comparatively analyzed, including the temperature change, vertical displacement, lateral deflection, fire endurance, and failure characteristics of specimens. The temperature field of specimens was simulated with ABAQUS Software (ABAQUS Inc., Provindence, RI, USA) and the results agreed quite well with those from the experiments. Results show that the rate of heat transfer from the surface to the interior of the column increases with the increase of the concrete’s compressive strength for both RAC columns and normal concrete columns. Under the same initial axial force ratio, for columns with the same cross section, those with lower concrete compressive strengths demonstrate better fire resistance performance. The fire resistance performance of RAC columns is better than that of normal concrete columns, with the same concrete compressive strength. PMID:28788279
Modelling of large sodium fires: A coupled experimental and calculational approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astegiano, J.C.; Balard, F.; Cartier, L.; De Pascale, C.; Forestier, A.; Merigot, C.; Roubin, P.; Tenchine, D.; Bakouta, N.

1996-01-01

The consequences of large sodium leaks in secondary circuit of Super-Phenix have been studied mainly with the FEUMIX code, on the basis of sodium fire experiments. This paper presents the status of the coupled AIRBUS (water experiment) FEUMIX approach under development in order to strengthen the extrapolation made for the Super-Phenix secondary circuits calculations for large leakage flow. FEUMIX code is a point code based on the concept of a global interfacial area between sodium and air. Mass and heat transfers through this global area is supposed to be similar. Then, global interfacial transfer coefficient Sih is an important parameter of the model. Correlations for the interfacial area are extracted from a large number of sodium tests. For the studies of hypothetical large sodium leak in secondary circuit of Super-Phenix, flow rates of more than 1 t/s have been considered and extrapolation was made from the existing results (maximum flow rate 225 kg/s). In order to strengthen the extrapolation, water test has been contemplated, on the basis of a thermal hydraulic similarity. The principle is to measure the interfacial area of a hot water jet in air, then to transpose the Sih to sodium without combustion, and to use this value in FEUMIX with combustion modelling. AIRBUS test section is a parallelepipedic gastight tank, 106 m 3 (5.7 x 3.7 x 5) internally insulated. Water jet is injected from heated external auxiliary tank into the cell using pressurized air tank and specific valve. The main measurements performed during each test are injected flow rate air pressure water temperature gas temperature A first series of tests were performed in order to qualify the methodology: typical FCA and IGNA sodium fire tests were represented in AIRBUS, and a comparison of the FEUMIX calculation using Sih value deduced from water experiments show satisfactory agreement. A second series of test for large flow rate, corresponding to large sodium leak in secondary circuit of Super
Fire characteristics associated with firefighter injury on large federal wildland fires.

Science.gov (United States)

Britton, Carla; Lynch, Charles F; Torner, James; Peek-Asa, Corinne

2013-02-01

Wildland fires present many injury hazards to firefighters. We estimate injury rates and identify fire-related factors associated with injury. Data from the National Interagency Fire Center from 2003 to 2007 provided the number of injuries in which the firefighter could not return to his or her job assignment, person-days worked, and fire characteristics (year, region, season, cause, fuel type, resistance to control, and structures destroyed). We assessed fire-level risk factors of having at least one reported injury using logistic regression. Negative binomial regression was used to examine incidence rate ratios associated with fire-level risk factors. Of 867 fires, 9.5% required the most complex management and 24.7% required the next-highest level of management. Fires most often occurred in the western United States (82.8%), during the summer (69.6%), caused by lightening (54.9%). Timber was the most frequent fuel source (40.2%). Peak incident management level, person-days of exposure, and the fire's resistance to control were significantly related to the odds of a fire having at least one reported injury. However, the most complex fires had a lower injury incidence rate than less complex fires. Although fire complexity and the number of firefighters were associated with the risk for at least one reported injury, the more experienced and specialized firefighting teams had lower injury incidence. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Numerical simulation methods of fires in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keski-Rahkonen, O.; Bjoerkman, J.; Heikkilae, L.

1992-01-01

Fire is a significant hazard to the safety of nuclear power plants (NPP). Fire may be serious accident as such, but even small fire at a critical point in a NPP may cause an accident much more serious than fire itself. According to risk assessments a fire may be an initial cause or a contributing factor in a large part of reactor accidents. At the Fire Technology and the the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) fire safety research for NPPs has been carried out in a large extent since 1985. During years 1988-92 a project Advanced Numerical Modelling in Nuclear Power Plants (PALOME) was carried out. In the project the level of numerical modelling for fire research in Finland was improved by acquiring, preparing for use and developing numerical fire simulation programs. Large scale test data of the German experimental program (PHDR Sicherheitsprogramm in Kernforschungscentral Karlsruhe) has been as reference. The large scale tests were simulated by numerical codes and results were compared to calculations carried out by others. Scientific interaction with outstanding foreign laboratories and scientists has been an important part of the project. This report describes the work of PALOME-project carried out at the Fire Technology Laboratory only. A report on the work at the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory will be published separatively. (au)
Deposit Probe Measurements in Large Biomass-Fired Grate Boilers and Pulverized-Fuel Boilers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stine Broholm; Jensen, Peter Arendt; Jappe Frandsen, Flemming

2014-01-01

A number of full-scale deposit probe measuring campaigns conducted in grate-fired and suspension-fired boilers, fired with biomass, have been reviewed and compared. The influence of operational parameters on the chemistry of ash and deposits, on deposit build-up rates, and on shedding behavior has...... of the deposits formed is determined by the fly ash composition and the flue gas temperature; increases in the local flue gas temperature lead to higher contents of Si and Ca and lower contents of Cl in the deposits. The net deposit build-up rates in grate-fired and suspension-fired boilers are at similar levels....../wood-firing in suspension-fired boilers, shedding occurred by debonding with incomplete removal at flue gas temperatures of 600–1000 °C and by debonding with complete removal during wood-firing in suspension-fired boilers at high flue gas temperatures (1300 °C). Shedding events were not observed during wood suspension...

Co-Cure-Ply Resins for High Performance, Large-Scale Structures

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Large-scale composite structures are commonly joined by secondary bonding of molded-and-cured thermoset components. This approach may result in unpredictable joint...
Climatic and weather factors affecting fire occurrence and behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Randall P. Benson; John O. Roads; David R. Weise

2009-01-01

Weather and climate have a profound influence on wildland fire ignition potential, fire behavior, and fire severity. Local weather and climate are affected by large-scale patterns of winds over the hemispheres that predispose wildland fuels to fire. The characteristics of wildland fuels, especially the moisture content, ultimately determine fire behavior and the impact...
Results of performance and emission testing when co-firing blends of dRDF/COAL in a 440 MWe cyclone fired combustor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohlsson, O.O.

1993-01-01

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) together with the University of North Texas (UNT) have developed an improved method for converting refuse (residential, commercial and institutional waste) into an environmentally safe and economical fuel. In this method, recyclable metals, glass, and some plastic products are separated from the refuse. The remaining fraction, consisting primarily of cellulosic materials is then combined with a calcium hydroxide binding additive and formed into cylindrical pellets. These pellets are dense and odorless, can be stored for extended periods of time without biological or chemical degradation, and due to their increased bulk density are more durable and can be more easily conveyed, handled, and transported than other types of waste-derived fuel pellets. Laboratory and pilot-scale research studies, followed by full-scale combustion tests undertaken by DOE, ANL and UNT, in June--July of 1987 have indicated that binder-enhanced dRDF pellets can be successfully cofired with high sulfur coal in spreader-stoker combustors. The results of these combustion tests indicated significant reductions of SO 2 , NO x and CO 2 in the flue gases, and the reduction of heavy metals and organics in the ash residue. Dioxins and furans, both in the flue gas and in the ash residues were below detectable levels. Additional commercial-scale combustion tests have recently been conducted by DOE, NREL, ANL and several industrial participants including Otter Tail Power Company, Reuter, Inc., XL Recycling and Marblehead Lime Company, under a collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA). A large 440 MW e cyclone-fired combustor was tested at Big Stone City, South Dakota on October 26--27, 1992. This paper describes the cyclone-fired combustion tests, the flue gas emission and ash samples that were collected, the analyses that were performed on these samples, and the final test results
An assessment of the impact of home safety assessments on fires and fire-related injuries: a case study of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Arch, B N; Thurston, M N

2013-06-01

Deaths and injuries related to fires are largely preventable events. In the UK, a plethora of community-based fire safety initiatives have been introduced over the last 25 years, often led by fire and rescue services, to address this issue. This paper focuses on one such initiative--home safety assessments (HSAs). Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (in England) implemented a uniquely large-scale HSA intervention. This paper assesses its effectiveness. The impact of HSAs was assessed in relation to three outcomes: accidental dwelling fires (ADFs), ADFs contained and injuries arising from ADFs. A two-period comparison in fire-related rates of incidences in Cheshire between 2002 and 2011 was implemented, using Poisson regression and adjusting for the national temporal trend using a control group comprising the 37 other English non-metropolitan fire-services. Significant reductions were observed in rates of ADFs [incidence rate ratios (IRR): 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74-0.83, P fires contained to room of origin. There is strong evidence to suggest that the intervention was successful in reducing domestic fires and related injuries.
Improved technique that allows the performance of large-scale SNP genotyping on DNA immobilized by FTA technology.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Hongbin; Argiro, Laurent; Dessein, Helia; Chevillard, Christophe

2007-01-01

FTA technology is a novel method designed to simplify the collection, shipment, archiving and purification of nucleic acids from a wide variety of biological sources. The number of punches that can normally be obtained from a single specimen card are often however, insufficient for the testing of the large numbers of loci required to identify genetic factors that control human susceptibility or resistance to multifactorial diseases. In this study, we propose an improved technique to perform large-scale SNP genotyping. We applied a whole genome amplification method to amplify DNA from buccal cell samples stabilized using FTA technology. The results show that using the improved technique it is possible to perform up to 15,000 genotypes from one buccal cell sample. Furthermore, the procedure is simple. We consider this improved technique to be a promising methods for performing large-scale SNP genotyping because the FTA technology simplifies the collection, shipment, archiving and purification of DNA, while whole genome amplification of FTA card bound DNA produces sufficient material for the determination of thousands of SNP genotypes.
Production and efficiency of large wildland fire suppression effort: A stochastic frontier analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Katuwal, Hari; Calkin, David E; Hand, Michael S

2016-01-15

This study examines the production and efficiency of wildland fire suppression effort. We estimate the effectiveness of suppression resource inputs to produce controlled fire lines that contain large wildland fires using stochastic frontier analysis. Determinants of inefficiency are identified and the effects of these determinants on the daily production of controlled fire line are examined. Results indicate that the use of bulldozers and fire engines increase the production of controlled fire line, while firefighter crews do not tend to contribute to controlled fire line production. Production of controlled fire line is more efficient if it occurs along natural or built breaks, such as rivers and roads, and within areas previously burned by wildfires. However, results also indicate that productivity and efficiency of the controlled fire line are sensitive to weather, landscape and fire characteristics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Interactive effects of fire and large herbivores on web-building spiders.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, C N; Barton, P S; Wood, J T; Lindenmayer, D B

2015-09-01

Altered disturbance regimes are a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Maintaining or re-creating natural disturbance regimes is therefore the focus of many conservation programmes. A key challenge, however, is to understand how co-occurring disturbances interact to affect biodiversity. We experimentally tested for the interactive effects of prescribed fire and large macropod herbivores on the web-building spider assemblage of a eucalypt forest understorey and investigated the role of vegetation in mediating these effects using path analysis. Fire had strong negative effects on the density of web-building spiders, which were partly mediated by effects on vegetation structure, while negative effects of large herbivores on web density were not related to changes in vegetation. Fire amplified the effects of large herbivores on spiders, both via vegetation-mediated pathways and by increasing herbivore activity. The importance of vegetation-mediated pathways and fire-herbivore interactions differed for web density and richness and also differed between web types. Our results demonstrate that for some groups of web-building spiders, the effects of co-occurring disturbance drivers may be mostly additive, whereas for other groups, interactions between drivers can amplify disturbance effects. In our study system, the use of prescribed fire in the presence of high densities of herbivores could lead to reduced densities and altered composition of web-building spiders, with potential cascading effects through the arthropod food web. Our study highlights the importance of considering both the independent and interactive effects of disturbances, as well as the mechanisms driving their effects, in the management of disturbance regimes.
Amplification of large-scale magnetic field in nonhelical magnetohydrodynamics

KAUST Repository

Kumar, Rohit

2017-08-11

It is typically assumed that the kinetic and magnetic helicities play a crucial role in the growth of large-scale dynamo. In this paper, we demonstrate that helicity is not essential for the amplification of large-scale magnetic field. For this purpose, we perform nonhelical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, and show that the large-scale magnetic field can grow in nonhelical MHD when random external forcing is employed at scale 1/10 the box size. The energy fluxes and shell-to-shell transfer rates computed using the numerical data show that the large-scale magnetic energy grows due to the energy transfers from the velocity field at the forcing scales.
The potential for LiDAR technology to map fire fuel hazard over large areas of Australian forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Owen F; Gordon, Christopher E

2016-10-01

Fuel load is a primary determinant of fire spread in Australian forests. In east Australian forests, litter and canopy fuel loads and hence fire hazard are thought to be highest at and beyond steady-state fuel loads 15-20 years post-fire. Current methods used to predict fuel loads often rely on course-scale vegetation maps and simple time-since-fire relationships which mask fine-scale processes influencing fuel loads. Here we use Light Detecting and Remote Sensing technology (LiDAR) and field surveys to quantify post-fire mid-story and crown canopy fuel accumulation and fire hazard in Dry Sclerophyll Forests of the Sydney Basin (Australia) at fine spatial-scales (20 × 20 m cell resolution). Fuel cover was quantified in three strata important for crown fire propagation (0.5-4 m, 4-15 m, >15 m) over a 144 km(2) area subject to varying fire fuel ages. Our results show that 1) LiDAR provided a precise measurement of fuel cover in each strata and a less precise but still useful predictor of surface fuels, 2) cover varied greatly within a mapped vegetation class of the same fuel age, particularly for elevated fuel, 3) time-since-fire was a poor predictor of fuel cover and crown fire hazard because fuel loads important for crown fire propagation were variable over a range of fire fuel ages between 2 and 38 years post-fire, and 4) fuel loads and fire hazard can be high in the years immediately following fire. Our results show the benefits of spatially and temporally specific in situ fuel sampling methods such as LiDAR, and are widely applicable for fire management actions which aim to decrease human and environmental losses due to wildfire. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Accelerating Relevance Vector Machine for Large-Scale Data on Spark

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Fang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Relevance vector machine (RVM is a machine learning algorithm based on a sparse Bayesian framework, which performs well when running classification and regression tasks on small-scale datasets. However, RVM also has certain drawbacks which restricts its practical applications such as (1 slow training process, (2 poor performance on training large-scale datasets. In order to solve these problem, we propose Discrete AdaBoost RVM (DAB-RVM which incorporate ensemble learning in RVM at first. This method performs well with large-scale low-dimensional datasets. However, as the number of features increases, the training time of DAB-RVM increases as well. To avoid this phenomenon, we utilize the sufficient training samples of large-scale datasets and propose all features boosting RVM (AFB-RVM, which modifies the way of obtaining weak classifiers. In our experiments we study the differences between various boosting techniques with RVM, demonstrating the performance of the proposed approaches on Spark. As a result of this paper, two proposed approaches on Spark for different types of large-scale datasets are available.
Impact of a long term fire retardant (Fire Trol 931) on the leaching of Na, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu and Si from a Mediterranean forest soil: a short-term, lab-scale study.

Science.gov (United States)

Koufopoulou, Sofia; Michalopoulos, Charalampos; Tzamtzis, Nikolaos; Pappa, Athina

2014-06-01

Long term fire retardant (LTR) application for forest fire prevention purposes as well as wildland fires can result in chemical leaching from forest soils. Large quantities of sodium (Na), aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and silicon (Si) in leachates, mainly due to ammonium (one of the major LTR components) soil deposition, could affect the groundwater quality. The leaching of Na, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu and Si due to nitrogen based LTR application (Fire Trol 931) was studied at laboratory scale. The concentrations of Na(+), Al(3+), Fe(3+)/Fe(2+), Mn(2+), Cu(2+) and Si(4+) were measured in the resulting leachates from pots with forest soil and pine trees alone and in combination with fire. The leaching of Na, Fe and Si from treated pots was significantly greater than that from control pots. The leaching of Al, Mn and Cu was extremely low.
Experimental-theoretical approach to carbon monoxide density calculation at the incipient stage of the fire indoors

Science.gov (United States)

Puzach, S. V.; Suleykin, E. V.; Akperov, R. G.; Nguyen, T. D.

2017-11-01

A new experimental-theoretical approach to the toxic gases concentrations assessment in case of fire indoors is offered. The analytical formulas for calculation of CO average volume density are received. These formulas do not contain the geometrical sizes of the room and surfaces dimensions of combustible materials and, therefore, are valid under conditions of as a small-scale fire as a large-scale fire. A small-scale experimental installation for modeling fire thermal and gas dynamics in the closed or open thermodynamic system has been designed. The results of the experiments on determining dependencies of CO average volume density from average volume temperature and oxygen average volume density as well as dependencies of specific coefficients of CO emission and specific mass rates of the combustible material gasification from the time of tests during the burning of wood, transformer oil and PVC cables shield are presented. The results of numerical experiments on CO density calculation in small and large scale rooms using the proposed analytical solutions, integral, zone and field models for calculation of fire thermal and gas dynamics are presented. The comparison with the experimental data obtained by the authors and given in the literature has been performed. It is shown that CO density calculation in the full-scale room at the incipient stage of the fire can be carried out taking into account only the experimental dependences of CO from temperature or O2 density, that have been obtained from small-scale experiments. Therefore the solution of the equation of carbon monoxide mass conservation law is not necessary.
Hydrological response of a small catchment burned by experimental fire

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stoof, C.R.; Vervoort, R.W.; Iwema, J.; Elsen, van den H.G.M.; Ferreira, A.J.D.; Ritsema, C.J.

2012-01-01

Fire can considerably change hydrological processes, increasing the risk of extreme flooding and erosion events. Although hydrological processes are largely affected by scale, catchment-scale studies on the hydrological impact of fire in Europe are scarce, and nested approaches are rarely used. We
Climate, lightning ignitions, and fire severity in Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Science.gov (United States)

James A. Lutz; Jan W. van Wagtendonk; Andrea E. Thode; Jay D. Miller; Jerry F. Franklin

2009-01-01

Continental-scale studies of western North America have attributed recent increases in annual area burned and fire size to a warming climate, but these studies have focused on large fires and have left the issues of fire severity and ignition frequency unaddressed. Lightning ignitions, any of which could burn a large area given appropriate conditions for fire spread,...
Hot Firing of a Full Scale Copper Tubular Combustion Chamber

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cooley, C

2002-01-01

This paper describes the chamber design and hot firing test results for a full-scale copper tubular combustion chamber that has future application in a high-thrust, upper-stage expander cycle engine...
Mid-term and scaling effects of forest residue mulching on post-fire runoff and soil erosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Prats, Sergio Alegre; Wagenbrenner, Joseph W; Martins, Martinho António Santos; Malvar, Maruxa Cortizo; Keizer, Jan Jacob

2016-12-15

Mulching is an effective post-fire soil erosion mitigation treatment. Experiments with forest residue mulch have demonstrated that it increased ground cover to 70% and reduced runoff and soil loss at small spatial scales and for short post-fire periods. However, no studies have systematically assessed the joint effects of scale, time since burning, and mulching on runoff, soil loss, and organic matter loss. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of scale and forest residue mulch using 0.25m 2 micro-plots and 100m 2 slope-scale plots in a burnt eucalypt plantation in central Portugal. We assessed the underlying processes involved in the post-fire hydrologic and erosive responses, particularly the effects of soil moisture and soil water repellency. Runoff amount in the micro-plots was more than ten-fold the runoff in the larger slope-scale plots in the first year and decreased to eight-fold in the third post-fire year. Soil losses in the micro-plots were initially about twice the values in the slope-scale plots and this ratio increased over time. The mulch greatly reduced the cumulative soil loss measured in the untreated slope-scale plots (616gm -2 ) by 91% during the five post-fire years. The implications are that applying forest residue mulch immediately after a wildfire can reduce soil losses at spatial scales of interest to land managers throughout the expected post-fire window of disturbance, and that mulching resulted in a substantial relative gain in soil organic matter. Copyright Â© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Assessment of the fire resistance of a nuclear power plant subjected to a large commercial aircraft crash

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeon, Se-Jin; Jin, Byeong-Moo; Kim, Young-Jin

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A procedure to assess fire resistance of structure for aircraft crash is proposed. ► Fire scenario of containment and auxiliary building is determined for aircraft crash. ► Heat transfer and thermal stress analyses are performed to obtain section forces. ► Fire endurance time is evaluated by load–moment strength interaction diagram. - Abstract: The safety assessment of infrastructures, such as a nuclear power plant, for the crash of a large commercial aircraft has been performed worldwide after the terrorism that occurred in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. The assessment, however, has mainly focused on the techniques of impact analysis. In this study, a systematic procedure to assess the fire resistance of containment and auxiliary buildings subjected to such an aircraft crash is proposed. The intensity, duration and distribution of the fire are determined based on aircraft crash analyses and characteristics of jet fuel. A three-dimensional detailed finite element model of the containment and auxiliary buildings is established and used for heat transfer and thermal stress analyses, taking into account the material properties at an elevated temperature. Section forces can then be obtained that are based on a nonlinear stress–strain relationship. The fire resistance of the structure is assessed by comparing the fire-induced section forces with the section resistance which is evaluated using the load–moment strength interaction diagram. The study addresses the problem whereby the conventional assessment that only considers the flexural behaviour is less accurate. The assessment results support the general conclusion that the nuclear power plant structures can maintain structural integrity against external fire due to their relatively thick sections. The proposed procedure can be extensively applied to evaluate the fire endurance time of any type of structure subjected to an arbitrary fire.
Scale interactions in a mixing layer – the role of the large-scale gradients

KAUST Repository

Fiscaletti, D.

2016-02-15

© 2016 Cambridge University Press. The interaction between the large and the small scales of turbulence is investigated in a mixing layer, at a Reynolds number based on the Taylor microscale of , via direct numerical simulations. The analysis is performed in physical space, and the local vorticity root-mean-square (r.m.s.) is taken as a measure of the small-scale activity. It is found that positive large-scale velocity fluctuations correspond to large vorticity r.m.s. on the low-speed side of the mixing layer, whereas, they correspond to low vorticity r.m.s. on the high-speed side. The relationship between large and small scales thus depends on position if the vorticity r.m.s. is correlated with the large-scale velocity fluctuations. On the contrary, the correlation coefficient is nearly constant throughout the mixing layer and close to unity if the vorticity r.m.s. is correlated with the large-scale velocity gradients. Therefore, the small-scale activity appears closely related to large-scale gradients, while the correlation between the small-scale activity and the large-scale velocity fluctuations is shown to reflect a property of the large scales. Furthermore, the vorticity from unfiltered (small scales) and from low pass filtered (large scales) velocity fields tend to be aligned when examined within vortical tubes. These results provide evidence for the so-called \\'scale invariance\\' (Meneveau & Katz, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., vol. 32, 2000, pp. 1-32), and suggest that some of the large-scale characteristics are not lost at the small scales, at least at the Reynolds number achieved in the present simulation.
Overview of large scale experiments performed within the LBB project in the Czech Republic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kadecka, P.; Lauerova, D. [Nuclear Research Institute, Rez (Czechoslovakia)

1997-04-01

During several recent years NRI Rez has been performing the LBB analyses of safety significant primary circuit pipings of NPPs in Czech and Slovak Republics. The analyses covered the NPPs with reactors WWER 440 Type 230 and 213 and WWER 1000 Type 320. Within the relevant LBB projects undertaken with the aim to prove the fulfilling of the requirements of LBB, a series of large scale experiments were performed. The goal of these experiments was to verify the properties of the components selected, and to prove the quality and/or conservatism of assessments used in the LBB-analyses. In this poster, a brief overview of experiments performed in Czech Republic under guidance of NRI Rez is presented.
Scaling of the burning efficiency for multicomponent fuel pool fires

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Gelderen, Laurens; Farahani, Hamed Farmahini; Rangwala, Ali S.

In order to improve the validity of small scale crude oil burning experiments, which seem to underestimate the burning efficiency obtained in larger scales, the gasification mechanism of crude oil was studied. Gasification models obtained from literature were used to make a set of predictions for...... an external heat source to simulate the larger fire size are currently in process....

A Five-Year CMAQ PM2.5 Model Performance for Wildfires and Prescribed Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, J. L.; Pouliot, G.; Foley, K.; Rappold, A.; Pierce, T. E.

2016-12-01

Biomass burning has been identified as an important contributor to the degradation of air quality because of its impact on ozone and particulate matter. Two components of the biomass burning inventory, wildfires and prescribed fires are routinely estimated in the national emissions inventory. However, there is a large amount of uncertainty in the development of these emission inventory sectors. We have completed a 5 year set of CMAQ model simulations (2008-2012) in which we have simulated regional air quality with and without the wildfire and prescribed fire inventory. We will examine CMAQ model performance over regions with significant PM2.5 and Ozone contribution from prescribed fires and wildfires. We will also review plume rise to see how it affects model bias and compare CMAQ current fire emissions input to an hourly dataset from FLAMBE.
The effect of urban growth on landscape-scale restoration for a fire-dependent songbird

Science.gov (United States)

Pickens, Bradley A.; Marcus, Jeffrey F.; Carpenter, John P.; Anderson, Scott; Taillie, Paul J.; Collazo, Jaime A.

2017-01-01

A landscape-scale perspective on restoration ecology has been advocated, but few studies have informed restoration with landscape metrics or addressed broad-scale threats. Threats such as urban growth may affect restoration effectiveness in a landscape context. Here, we studied longleaf pine savanna in the rapidly urbanizing southeastern United States where a habitat-specialist bird, Bachman's sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis), is closely associated with savanna vegetation structure and frequent fire. Our objectives were to construct a species distribution model for Bachman's sparrow, determine the relationship between fire and urbanization, quantify the urban growth effect (2010–2090), identify potential restoration areas, and determine the interaction between restoration potential and urban growth by 2050. Number of patches, patch size, and isolation metrics were used to evaluate scenarios. The species distribution model was 88% accurate and emphasized multiscale canopy cover characteristics, fire, and percent habitat. Fires were less common urban areas, and this fire suppression effect exacerbated urban growth effects. For restoration scenarios, canopy cover reduction by 30% resulted in nearly double the amount of habitat compared to the prescribed fire scenario; canopy cover reduction resulted in larger patch sizes and less patch isolation compared to current conditions. The effect of urban growth on restoration scenarios was unequal. Seventy-four percent of restoration areas from the prescribed fire scenario overlapped with projected urban growth, whereas the canopy cover reduction scenario only overlapped by 9%. We emphasize the benefits of simultaneously considering the effects of urban growth and landscape-scale restoration potential to promote a landscape with greater patch sizes and less isolation.
Combining satellite-based fire observations and ground-based lightning detections to identify lightning fires across the conterminous USA

Science.gov (United States)

Bar-Massada, A.; Hawbaker, T.J.; Stewart, S.I.; Radeloff, V.C.

2012-01-01

Lightning fires are a common natural disturbance in North America, and account for the largest proportion of the area burned by wildfires each year. Yet, the spatiotemporal patterns of lightning fires in the conterminous US are not well understood due to limitations of existing fire databases. Our goal here was to develop and test an algorithm that combined MODIS fire detections with lightning detections from the National Lightning Detection Network to identify lightning fires across the conterminous US from 2000 to 2008. The algorithm searches for spatiotemporal conjunctions of MODIS fire clusters and NLDN detected lightning strikes, given a spatiotemporal lag between lightning strike and fire ignition. The algorithm revealed distinctive spatial patterns of lightning fires in the conterminous US While a sensitivity analysis revealed that the algorithm is highly sensitive to the two thresholds that are used to determine conjunction, the density of fires it detected was moderately correlated with ground based fire records. When only fires larger than 0.4 km2 were considered, correlations were higher and the root-mean-square error between datasets was less than five fires per 625 km2 for the entire study period. Our algorithm is thus suitable for detecting broad scale spatial patterns of lightning fire occurrence, and especially lightning fire hotspots, but has limited detection capability of smaller fires because these cannot be consistently detected by MODIS. These results may enhance our understanding of large scale patterns of lightning fire activity, and can be used to identify the broad scale factors controlling fire occurrence.
Large-scale solar purchasing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The principal objective of the project was to participate in the definition of a new IEA task concerning solar procurement (''the Task'') and to assess whether involvement in the task would be in the interest of the UK active solar heating industry. The project also aimed to assess the importance of large scale solar purchasing to UK active solar heating market development and to evaluate the level of interest in large scale solar purchasing amongst potential large scale purchasers (in particular housing associations and housing developers). A further aim of the project was to consider means of stimulating large scale active solar heating purchasing activity within the UK. (author)
Fire Response performance - Behavioural research in virtual Reality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kobes, M.; Oberije, N.; Rosmuller, N.; Helsloot, I.; Vries, de B.

2007-01-01

Fire response performance is the ability of an individual to perceive and validate clues of danger and to make decisions that are effective with regard to survive a fire situation with none or little health complications subsequently. In general little information is known about human behaviour in
Age-related differences in the relations between individualised HRM and organisational performance: a large-scale employer survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Dorenbosch, L.

2015-01-01

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between individualised HRM practices and several measures of organisational performance, including the moderating role of employee age in these relationships. A large-scale representative study among 4,591 organisations in the Netherlands
Monitoring and assessment of soil erosion at micro-scale and macro-scale in forests affected by fire damage in northern Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Akbarzadeh, Ali; Ghorbani-Dashtaki, Shoja; Naderi-Khorasgani, Mehdi; Kerry, Ruth; Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi, Ruhollah

2016-12-01

Understanding the occurrence of erosion processes at large scales is very difficult without studying them at small scales. In this study, soil erosion parameters were investigated at micro-scale and macro-scale in forests in northern Iran. Surface erosion and some vegetation attributes were measured at the watershed scale in 30 parcels of land which were separated into 15 fire-affected (burned) forests and 15 original (unburned) forests adjacent to the burned sites. The soil erodibility factor and splash erosion were also determined at the micro-plot scale within each burned and unburned site. Furthermore, soil sampling and infiltration studies were carried out at 80 other sites, as well as the 30 burned and unburned sites, (a total of 110 points) to create a map of the soil erodibility factor at the regional scale. Maps of topography, rainfall, and cover-management were also determined for the study area. The maps of erosion risk and erosion risk potential were finally prepared for the study area using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) procedure. Results indicated that destruction of the protective cover of forested areas by fire had significant effects on splash erosion and the soil erodibility factor at the micro-plot scale and also on surface erosion, erosion risk, and erosion risk potential at the watershed scale. Moreover, the results showed that correlation coefficients between different variables at the micro-plot and watershed scales were positive and significant. Finally, assessment and monitoring of the erosion maps at the regional scale showed that the central and western parts of the study area were more susceptible to erosion compared with the western regions due to more intense crop-management, greater soil erodibility, and more rainfall. The relationships between erosion parameters and the most important vegetation attributes were also used to provide models with equations that were specific to the study region. The results of this
The potential predictability of fire danger provided by ECMWF forecast

Science.gov (United States)

Di Giuseppe, Francesca

2017-04-01

The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), is currently being developed in the framework of the Copernicus Emergency Management Services to monitor and forecast fire danger in Europe. The system provides timely information to civil protection authorities in 38 nations across Europe and mostly concentrates on flagging regions which might be at high danger of spontaneous ignition due to persistent drought. The daily predictions of fire danger conditions are based on the US Forest Service National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS), the Canadian forest service Fire Weather Index Rating System (FWI) and the Australian McArthur (MARK-5) rating systems. Weather forcings are provided in real time by the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecasting system. The global system's potential predictability is assessed using re-analysis fields as weather forcings. The Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED4) provides 11 years of observed burned areas from satellite measurements and is used as a validation dataset. The fire indices implemented are good predictors to highlight dangerous conditions. High values are correlated with observed fire and low values correspond to non observed events. A more quantitative skill evaluation was performed using the Extremal Dependency Index which is a skill score specifically designed for rare events. It revealed that the three indices were more skilful on a global scale than the random forecast to detect large fires. The performance peaks in the boreal forests, in the Mediterranean, the Amazon rain-forests and southeast Asia. The skill-scores were then aggregated at country level to reveal which nations could potentiallty benefit from the system information in aid of decision making and fire control support. Overall we found that fire danger modelling based on weather forecasts, can provide reasonable predictability over large parts of the global landmass.
Large fire scenarios in relation to sabotage of nuclear installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Contri, P.; Guerpinar, A.; ); Schneider, U.

2005-01-01

The analyses of sabotage scenarios carried out in recent years identified two major damaging mechanisms associated with such scenarios, namely: the mechanical interaction of solid bodies or pressure waves with the installations and the fire-related effects from burning substances. While the former effect may be addressed by available analytical tools developed for accidental scenarios, the latter deserves a new, specific engineering effort. In fact, all nuclear facilities are designed in relation to accidental fires; even so, they need to be assessed in relation to sabotage induced fire scenarios due to the special characteristics of such scenarios, not addressed by the current engineering practice for the design of nuclear installations. Conventional fire hazard analysis is based on the hypothesis of the presence of combustible materials in the buildings and limited number of contemporaneous sources of fire. In addition, conventional fire safety assessment relies upon the presence of mitigation measures and fire related operational procedures. In a sabotage event the validity of all these assumptions need to be checked and if the assumptions cannot be supported, then the analysis should be revised and other alternatives of protection should be developed. Also the implementation of emergency planning should be reviewed to take account of this concern. This paper collects state-of-the-art experience from some Countries, which represents the background information for the development of new IAEA documents in this field. The paper reviews how the current design practice for nuclear installations can cope with large fire scenarios caused by malevolent actions and provides recommendations to designers and operators on how to address these issues in a reasonable framework. (authors)
Experimental study of fire barriers preventing vertical fire spread in ETISs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Huang

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the external thermal insulation system (ETIS has been applied increasingly in a large amount of buildings for energy conservation purpose. However, the increase use of combustible insulation materials in the ETIS has raised serious fire safety problems. Fires involving this type of ETIS have caused severe damage and loss. In order to improve its fire safety, fire barriers were suggested to be installed. This paper introduces fire experiments that have been done to study the effects of fire barriers on preventing vertical fire spread along the ETIS. The experiments were performed according to BS 8414-1:2002 “Fire performance of external cladding systems – Part 1: Test method for non-loadbearing external cladding systems applied to the face of the building”. The test facility consists of a 9 m high wall. The fire sources were wood cribs with a fire size of 3 ± 0.5 MW. The insulation materials were expanded polystyrene foam (EPS. The fire barrier was a horizontal strip of rockwool with a width of 300 mm. Thermocouples were used to measure temperatures outside and inside the ETIS. A series of experiments with different fire scenarios were done: no fire barrier, two fire barriers and three fire barriers at different heights. Test results were compared. The results show that the ETIS using EPS without fire barriers almost burned out, while the ETIS with fire barriers performed well in preventing fire spread. The temperatures above the fire barrier were much lower than those below the fire barrier, and most of the insulation materials above the top fire barrier stayed in place.
Large eddy simulation of a mechanically ventilated compartment fire for nuclear applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Bao P. [Dalian Univ. of Technology (China). Faculty of Energy and Power Engineering; Wen, Jennifer X. [Warwick Univ. (United Kingdom). Warwick FIRE, School of Engineering

2015-12-15

This paper deals with the modelling of a mechanically ventilated compartment fire which is a commonplace in nuclear fire scenarios. An advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) field model with a wall conjugate heat transfer treatment is proposed. It simultaneously solves the compartment fire flow and the wall heat conduction. The flow solver is based on the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) based fire simulation solver FireFOAM within the frame of open source CFD code OpenFOAM {sup registered}. An extended eddy dissipation model is used to calculate the chemical reaction rate. A soot model based on the concept of smoke point height is employed to model the soot formation and oxidation. A finite volume method is adopted to model the radiative heat transfer. The ventilation flow is modelled by a simplified Bernoulli equation neglecting the detailed information on the ventilation system. The proposed model is validated against a single room fire test with forced mechanical ventilations. The predictions are in reasonably good agreement with experimental data.
Slipstream pilot-scale demonstration of a novel amine-based post-combustion technology for carbon dioxide capture from coal-fired power plant flue gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krishnamurthy, Krish R. [Linde LLC, Murray Hill, NJ (United States)

2017-02-03

Post-combustion CO₂ capture (PCC) technology offers flexibility to treat the flue gas from both existing and new coal-fired power plants and can be applied to treat all or a portion of the flue gas. Solvent-based technologies are today the leading option for PCC from commercial coal-fired power plants as they have been applied in large-scale in other applications. Linde and BASF have been working together to develop and further improve a PCC process incorporating BASF’s novel aqueous amine-based solvent technology. This technology offers significant benefits compared to other solvent-based processes as it aims to reduce the regeneration energy requirements using novel solvents that are very stable under the coal-fired power plant feed gas conditions. BASF has developed the desired solvent based on the evaluation of a large number of candidates. In addition, long-term small pilot-scale testing of the BASF solvent has been performed on a lignite-fired flue gas. In coordination with BASF, Linde has evaluated a number of options for capital cost reduction in large engineered systems for solvent-based PCC technology. This report provides a summary of the work performed and results from a project supported by the US DOE (DE-FE0007453) for the pilot-scale demonstration of a Linde-BASF PCC technology using coal-fired power plant flue gas at a 1-1.5 MWe scale in Wilsonville, AL at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC). Following a project kick-off meeting in November 2011 and the conclusion of pilot plant design and engineering in February 2013, mechanical completion of the pilot plant was achieved in July 2014, and final commissioning activities were completed to enable start-up of operations in January 2015. Parametric tests were performed from January to December 2015 to determine optimal test conditions and evaluate process performance over a variety of operation parameters. A long-duration 1500-hour continuous test campaign was performed from May to
Smoke production in fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarvaranta, L.; Kokkala, M. [VTT Building Technology, Espoo (Finland). Building Physics, Building Services and Fire Technology

1995-12-31

Characterization of smoke, factors influencing smoke production and experimental methods for measuring smoke production are discussed in this literature review. Recent test-based correlation models are also discussed. Despite the large number of laboratories using different fire testing methods, published smoke data have been scarce. Most technical literature on smoke production from building materials is about experimental results in small scale tests. Compilations from cone calorimeter tests have been published for a few materials, e.g. upholstered furniture materials and some building products. Mass optical density data and compilations of gravimetric soot data are available for various materials as well as a number of smoke obscuration values. For a given material often a wide range of values of smoke output can be found in the literature and care should be exercised in applying the appropriate value in each case. In laboratory experiments, the production of smoke and its optical properties are often measured simultaneously with other fire properties as heat release and flame spread. The measurements are usually dynamic in full scale, i.e. they are performed in a flow-through system. In small scale they may be either dynamic, as in the cone calorimeter, or static, i.e. the smoke is accumulated in a closed box. Small-scale tests are necessary as practical tools. Full-scale tests are generally considered to be more reliable and are needed to validitate the small-scale tests
Smoke production in fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarvaranta, L; Kokkala, M [VTT Building Technology, Espoo (Finland). Building Physics, Building Services and Fire Technology

1996-12-31

Characterization of smoke, factors influencing smoke production and experimental methods for measuring smoke production are discussed in this literature review. Recent test-based correlation models are also discussed. Despite the large number of laboratories using different fire testing methods, published smoke data have been scarce. Most technical literature on smoke production from building materials is about experimental results in small scale tests. Compilations from cone calorimeter tests have been published for a few materials, e.g. upholstered furniture materials and some building products. Mass optical density data and compilations of gravimetric soot data are available for various materials as well as a number of smoke obscuration values. For a given material often a wide range of values of smoke output can be found in the literature and care should be exercised in applying the appropriate value in each case. In laboratory experiments, the production of smoke and its optical properties are often measured simultaneously with other fire properties as heat release and flame spread. The measurements are usually dynamic in full scale, i.e. they are performed in a flow-through system. In small scale they may be either dynamic, as in the cone calorimeter, or static, i.e. the smoke is accumulated in a closed box. Small-scale tests are necessary as practical tools. Full-scale tests are generally considered to be more reliable and are needed to validitate the small-scale tests
Modeling fire susceptibility to delineate wildland-urban interface for municipal-scale fire risk management.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitman, Ellen; Rapaport, Eric; Sherren, Kate

2013-12-01

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the region where development meets and intermingles with wildlands. The WUI has an elevated fire risk due to the proximity of development and residents to wildlands with natural wildfire regimes. Existing methods of delineating WUI are typically applied over a large region, use proxies for risk, and do not consider site-specific fire hazard drivers. While these models are appropriate for federal and provincial risk management, municipal managers require models intended for smaller regions. The model developed here uses the Burn-P3 fire behavior model to model WUI from local fire susceptibility (FS) in two study communities. Forest fuel code (FFC) maps for the study communities were modified using remote sensing data to produce detailed forest edges, including ladder fuels, update data currency, and add buildings and roads. The modified FFC maps used in Burn-P3 produced bimodal FS distributions for each community. The WUI in these communities was delineated as areas within community bounds where FS was greater than or equal to -1 SD from the mean FS value ([Formula: see text]), which fell in the trough of the bimodal distribution. The WUI so delineated conformed to the definition of WUI. This model extends WUI modeling for broader risk management initiatives for municipal management of risk, as it (a) considers site-specific drivers of fire behavior; (b) models risk, represented by WUI, specific to a community; and, (c) does not use proxies for risk.
Data for Room Fire Model Comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Peacock, Richard D; Davis, Sanford; Babrauskas, Vytenis

1991-01-01

With the development of models to predict fire growth and spread in buildings, there has been a concomitant evolution in the measurement and analysis of experimental data in real-scale fires. This report presents the types of analyses that can be used to examine large-scale room fire test data to prepare the data for comparison with zone-based fire models. Five sets of experimental data which can be used to test the limits of a typical two-zone fire model are detailed. A standard set of nomenclature describing the geometry of the building and the quantities measured in each experiment is presented. Availability of ancillary data (such as smaller-scale test results) is included. These descriptions, along with the data (available in computer-readable form) should allow comparisons between the experiment and model predictions. The base of experimental data ranges in complexity from one room tests with individual furniture items to a series of tests conducted in a multiple story hotel equipped with a zoned smoke control system.
Data for Room Fire Model Comparisons

Science.gov (United States)

Peacock, Richard D.; Davis, Sanford; Babrauskas, Vytenis

1991-01-01

With the development of models to predict fire growth and spread in buildings, there has been a concomitant evolution in the measurement and analysis of experimental data in real-scale fires. This report presents the types of analyses that can be used to examine large-scale room fire test data to prepare the data for comparison with zone-based fire models. Five sets of experimental data which can be used to test the limits of a typical two-zone fire model are detailed. A standard set of nomenclature describing the geometry of the building and the quantities measured in each experiment is presented. Availability of ancillary data (such as smaller-scale test results) is included. These descriptions, along with the data (available in computer-readable form) should allow comparisons between the experiment and model predictions. The base of experimental data ranges in complexity from one room tests with individual furniture items to a series of tests conducted in a multiple story hotel equipped with a zoned smoke control system. PMID:28184121
Measurement of temperature distributions in large pool fires with the use of directional flame thermometers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koski, Jorman A.

2000-01-01

Temperatures inside the flame zone of large regulatory pool fires measured during tests of radioactive materials packages vary widely with both time and position. Measurements made with several Directional Flame Thermometers, in which a thermocouple is attached to a thin metal sheet that quickly approaches flame temperatures, have been used to construct fire temperature distributions and cumulative probability distributions. As an aid to computer simulations of these large fires, these distributions are presented. The distributions are constructed by sorting fire temperature data into bins 10 C wide. A typical fire temperature distribution curve has a gradual increase starting at about 600 C, with the number of observations increasing to a peak near 1000 C, followed by an abrupt decrease in frequency, with no temperatures observed above 1200 C
Sodium pool fires consequences on a confined vessel and on the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rzekiecki, R.; Charpenel, J.; Malet, J.C.; Cucinotta, A.

1989-01-01

This paper presents the PYROS I Code used in France to calculate the effects of a sodium pool fire on a vessel and his validation range. The results or the atmospheric behaviour of the aerosol are given. Predicting the consequences of large sodium fires in large cells from the results of small scaled experiments, claim attention on scale effects. (author)
High performance nanostructured Silicon heterojunction for water splitting on large scales

KAUST Repository

Bonifazi, Marcella

2017-11-02

In past years the global demand for energy has been increasing steeply, as well as the awareness that new sources of clean energy are essential. Photo-electrochemical devices (PEC) for water splitting applications have stirred great interest, and different approach has been explored to improve the efficiency of these devices and to avoid optical losses at the interfaces with water. These include engineering materials and nanostructuring the device\\'s surfaces [1]-[2]. Despite the promising initial results, there are still many drawbacks that needs to be overcome to reach large scale production with optimized performances [3]. We present a new device that relies on the optimization of the nanostructuring process that exploits suitably disordered surfaces. Additionally, this device could harvest light on both sides to efficiently gain and store the energy to keep the photocatalytic reaction active.

High performance nanostructured Silicon heterojunction for water splitting on large scales

KAUST Repository

Bonifazi, Marcella; Fu, Hui-chun; He, Jr-Hau; Fratalocchi, Andrea

2017-01-01

In past years the global demand for energy has been increasing steeply, as well as the awareness that new sources of clean energy are essential. Photo-electrochemical devices (PEC) for water splitting applications have stirred great interest, and different approach has been explored to improve the efficiency of these devices and to avoid optical losses at the interfaces with water. These include engineering materials and nanostructuring the device's surfaces [1]-[2]. Despite the promising initial results, there are still many drawbacks that needs to be overcome to reach large scale production with optimized performances [3]. We present a new device that relies on the optimization of the nanostructuring process that exploits suitably disordered surfaces. Additionally, this device could harvest light on both sides to efficiently gain and store the energy to keep the photocatalytic reaction active.
Hydrocarbon characterization experiments in fully turbulent fires : results and data analysis.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suo-Anttila, Jill Marie; Blanchat, Thomas K.

2011-03-01

As the capabilities of numerical simulations increase, decision makers are increasingly relying upon simulations rather than experiments to assess risks across a wide variety of accident scenarios including fires. There are still, however, many aspects of fires that are either not well understood or are difficult to treat from first principles due to the computational expense. For a simulation to be truly predictive and to provide decision makers with information which can be reliably used for risk assessment the remaining physical processes must be studied and suitable models developed for the effects of the physics. The model for the fuel evaporation rate in a liquid fuel pool fire is significant because in well-ventilated fires the evaporation rate largely controls the total heat release rate from the fire. This report describes a set of fuel regression rates experiments to provide data for the development and validation of models. The experiments were performed with fires in the fully turbulent scale range (> 1 m diameter) and with a number of hydrocarbon fuels ranging from lightly sooting to heavily sooting. The importance of spectral absorption in the liquid fuels and the vapor dome above the pool was investigated and the total heat flux to the pool surface was measured. The importance of convection within the liquid fuel was assessed by restricting large scale liquid motion in some tests. These data sets provide a sound, experimentally proven basis for assessing how much of the liquid fuel needs to be modeled to enable a predictive simulation of a fuel fire given the couplings between evaporation of fuel from the pool and the heat release from the fire which drives the evaporation.
How can prescribed burning and harvesting restore shortleaf pine-oak woodland at the landscape scale in central United States? Modeling joint effects of harvest and fire regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Wenchi Jin; Hong S. He; Stephen R. Shifley; Wen J. Wang; John M. Kabrick; Brian K. Davidson

2018-01-01

Historical fire regimes in the central United States maintained open-canopy shortleaf pine-oak woodlands on xeric sites. Following large-scale harvest and fire suppression, those woodlands grew denser with more continuous canopy cover, and they gained mesic species at the expense of shortleaf pine. There is high interest in restoring shortleaf pine-oak woodlands; most...
Large Scale Anthropogenic Reduction of Forest Cover in Last Glacial Maximum Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Jed O; Pfeiffer, Mirjam; Kolen, Jan C A; Davis, Basil A S

2016-01-01

Reconstructions of the vegetation of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are an enigma. Pollen-based analyses have suggested that Europe was largely covered by steppe and tundra, and forests persisted only in small refugia. Climate-vegetation model simulations on the other hand have consistently suggested that broad areas of Europe would have been suitable for forest, even in the depths of the last glaciation. Here we reconcile models with data by demonstrating that the highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that inhabited Europe at the LGM could have substantially reduced forest cover through the ignition of wildfires. Similar to hunter-gatherers of the more recent past, Upper Paleolithic humans were masters of the use of fire, and preferred inhabiting semi-open landscapes to facilitate foraging, hunting and travel. Incorporating human agency into a dynamic vegetation-fire model and simulating forest cover shows that even small increases in wildfire frequency over natural background levels resulted in large changes in the forested area of Europe, in part because trees were already stressed by low atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the cold, dry, and highly variable climate. Our results suggest that the impact of humans on the glacial landscape of Europe may be one of the earliest large-scale anthropogenic modifications of the earth system.
Smouldering Subsurface Fires in the Earth System

Science.gov (United States)

Rein, Guillermo

2010-05-01

Smouldering fires, the slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, are an important phenomena in the Earth system. These fires propagate slowly through organic layers of the forest ground and are responsible for 50% or more of the total biomass consumed during wildfires. Only after the 2002 study of the 1997 extreme haze event in South-East Asia, the scientific community recognised the environmental and economic threats posed by subsurface fires. This was caused by the spread of vast biomass fires in Indonesia, burning below the surface for months during the El Niño climate event. It has been calculated that these fires released between 0.81 and 2.57 Gton of carbon gases (13-40% of global emissions). Large smouldering fires are rare events at the local scale but occur regularly at a global scale. Once ignited, they are particularly difficult to extinguish despite extensive rains or fire-fighting attempts and can persist for long periods of time (months, years) spreading over very extensive areas of forest and deep into the soil. Indeed, these are the oldest continuously burning fires on Earth. Earth scientists are interested in smouldering fires because they destroy large amounts of biomass and cause greater damage to the soil ecosystem than flaming fires do. Moreover, these fires cannot be detected with current satellite remote sensing technologies causing inconsistencies between emission inventories and model predictions. Organic soils sustain smouldering fire (hummus, duff, peat and coal) which total carbon pool exceeds that of the world's forests or the atmosphere. This have important implications for climate change. Warmer temperatures at high latitudes are resulting in unprecedented permafrost thaw that is leaving large soil carbon pools exposed to fires. Because the CO2 flux from peat fires has been measured to be about 3000 times larger that the natural degradation flux, permafrost thaw is a risk for greater carbon release by fire and subsequently
Particulate and trace gas emissions from large biomass fires in North America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radke, L.F.; Hegg, D.A.; Hobbs, P.V.; Nance, J.D.; Lyons, J.H.; Laursen, K.K.; Weiss, R.E.; Riggan, P.J.; Ward, D.E.

1991-01-01

In this chapter the authors describe the results of airborne studies of smokes from 17 biomass fuel fires, including 14 prescribed fires and 3 wildfires, burned primarily in the temperature zone of North America between 34 degree and 49 degree N latitude. The prescribed fires were in forested lands and logging debris and varied in areas burned from 10 to 700 hectares (ha) (over a few hours). One of the wildfires ultimately consumed 20,000 h a and burned over a period of weeks. The larger fires produced towering columns of smoke and capping water clouds. As an indication of scale, the prescribed fires were visible only as small features in meteorological satellite imagery, but one of the wildfires studied produced a persistent, visible plume more than 1,000 kilometers (km) long. The studies have focused on factors that could impact global climate through alteration of the earth's radiation balance. These include emissions of trace gases and smoke particles from biomass burning, the optical properties of the smoke, and the interaction of the smoke particles with clouds
A synopsis of large or disastrous wildland fires

Science.gov (United States)

Robert E. Martin; David B. Sapsis

1995-01-01

Wildland fires have occurred for centuries in North America and other selected countries and can be segregated into three periods: prehistoric (presuppression) fires, suppression period fires, and fire management period fires. Prehistoric fires varied in size and damage but were probably viewed fatalistically. Suppression period fires were based on policy that excluded...
Large-scale preparation of hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Jun; Li, Fu; Bai, Yu-Jun; Han, Fu-Dong; Qi, Yong-Xin; Lun, Ning; Lu, Xi-Feng

2013-01-01

Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres (HGCNSs) were synthesized on large scale by a simple reaction between glucose and Mg at 550 °C in an autoclave. Characterization by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrates the formation of HGCNSs with an average diameter of 10 nm or so and a wall thickness of a few graphenes. The HGCNSs exhibit a reversible capacity of 391 mAh g −1 after 60 cycles when used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. -- Graphical abstract: Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres could be prepared on large scale by the simple reaction between glucose and Mg at 550 °C, which exhibit superior electrochemical performance to graphite. Highlights: ► Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres (HGCNSs) were prepared on large scale at 550 °C ► The preparation is simple, effective and eco-friendly. ► The in situ yielded MgO nanocrystals promote the graphitization. ► The HGCNSs exhibit superior electrochemical performance to graphite.
Prototype Vector Machine for Large Scale Semi-Supervised Learning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Kai; Kwok, James T.; Parvin, Bahram

2009-04-29

Practicaldataminingrarelyfalls exactlyinto the supervisedlearning scenario. Rather, the growing amount of unlabeled data poses a big challenge to large-scale semi-supervised learning (SSL). We note that the computationalintensivenessofgraph-based SSLarises largely from the manifold or graph regularization, which in turn lead to large models that are dificult to handle. To alleviate this, we proposed the prototype vector machine (PVM), a highlyscalable,graph-based algorithm for large-scale SSL. Our key innovation is the use of"prototypes vectors" for effcient approximation on both the graph-based regularizer and model representation. The choice of prototypes are grounded upon two important criteria: they not only perform effective low-rank approximation of the kernel matrix, but also span a model suffering the minimum information loss compared with the complete model. We demonstrate encouraging performance and appealing scaling properties of the PVM on a number of machine learning benchmark data sets.
Holocene fire dynamics in Fennoscandia

Science.gov (United States)

Clear, Jennifer; Seppa, Heikki; Kuosmanen, Niina; Molinari, Chiara; Lehsten, Veiko; Allen, Katherine; Bradshaw, Richard

2015-04-01

Prescribed burning is advocated in Fennoscandia to promote regeneration and to encourage biodiversity. This method of forest management is based on the perception that fire was much more frequent in the recent past and over a century of active fire suppression has created a boreal forest ecosystem almost free of natural fire. The absence of fire is thought to have contributed to the widespread dominance of Picea abies (Norway spruce) with the successive spruce dominated forest further reducing fire ignition potential. However, humans have altered the natural fire dynamics of Fennoscandia since the early- to mid-Holocene and disentangling the anthropogenic driven fire dynamics from the natural fire dynamics is challenging. Through palaeoecology and sedimentary charcoal deposits we are able to explore the Holocene spatial and temporal variability and changing drivers of fire and vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia. At the local-scale, two forest hollow environments (history are compared to identify unique and mutual changes in disturbance history. Pollen derived quantitative reconstruction of vegetation at both the local- and regional-scale identifies local-scale disturbance dynamics and large-scale ecosystem response. Spatio-temporal heterogeneity and variability in biomass burning is explored throughout Fennoscandia and Denmark to identify the changing drives of fire dynamics throughout the Holocene. Palaeo-vegetation reconstructions are compared to process-based, climate driven dynamic vegetation model output to test the significance of fire frequency as a driver of vegetation composition and dynamics. Early-Holocene fire regimes in Fennoscandia are driven by natural climate variations and fuel availability. The establishment and spread of Norway spruce is driven by an increase in continentality of climate, but local natural and anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance may have aided this spread. The expansion of spruce led to a step-wise reduction in regional biomass
Using fine-scale fuel measurements to assess wildland fuels, potential fire behavior and hazard mitigation treatments in the southeastern USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ottmar, Roger D.; Blake, John I.; Crolly, William T.

2012-01-01

The inherent spatial and temporal heterogeneity of fuelbeds in forests of the southeastern United States may require fine scale fuel measurements for providing reliable fire hazard and fuel treatment effectiveness estimates. In a series of five papers, an intensive, fine scale fuel inventory from the Savanna River Site in the southeastern United States is used for building fuelbeds and mapping fire behavior potential, evaluating fuel treatment options for effectiveness, and providing a comparative analysis of landscape modeled fire behavior using three different data sources including the Fuel Characteristic Classification System, LANDFIRE, and the Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment. The research demonstrates that fine scale fuel measurements associated with fuel inventories repeated over time can be used to assess broad scale wildland fire potential and hazard mitigation treatment effectiveness in the southeastern USA and similar fire prone regions. Additional investigations will be needed to modify and improve these processes and capture the true potential of these fine scale data sets for fire and fuel management planning.
Fire-Retardant, Self-Extinguishing Inorganic/Polymer Composite Memory Foams.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Soumyajyoti; Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan; Kumaraswamy, Guruswamy

2017-12-27

Polymeric foams used in furniture and automotive and aircraft seating applications rely on the incorporation of environmentally hazardous fire-retardant additives to meet fire safety norms. This has occasioned significant interest in novel approaches to the elimination of fire-retardant additives. Foams based on polymer nanocomposites or based on fire-retardant coatings show compromised mechanical performance and require additional processing steps. Here, we demonstrate a one-step preparation of a fire-retardant ice-templated inorganic/polymer hybrid that does not incorporate fire-retardant additives. The hybrid foams exhibit excellent mechanical properties. They are elastic to large compressional strain, despite the high inorganic content. They also exhibit tunable mechanical recovery, including viscoelastic "memory". These hybrid foams are prepared using ice-templating that relies on a green solvent, water, as a porogen. Because these foams are predominantly comprised of inorganic components, they exhibit exceptional fire retardance in torch burn tests and are self-extinguishing. After being subjected to a flame, the foam retains its porous structure and does not drip or collapse. In micro-combustion calorimetry, the hybrid foams show a peak heat release rate that is only 25% that of a commercial fire-retardant polyurethanes. Finally, we demonstrate that we can use ice-templating to prepare hybrid foams with different inorganic colloids, including cheap commercial materials. We also demonstrate that ice-templating is amenable to scale up, without loss of mechanical performance or fire-retardant properties.
Jointly optimizing selection of fuel treatments and siting of forest biomass-based energy production facilities for landscape-scale fire hazard reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Peter J. Daugherty; Jeremy S. Fried

2007-01-01

Landscape-scale fuel treatments for forest fire hazard reduction potentially produce large quantities of material suitable for biomass energy production. The analytic framework FIA BioSum addresses this situation by developing detailed data on forest conditions and production under alternative fuel treatment prescriptions, and computes haul costs to alternative sites...
Economically viable large-scale hydrogen liquefaction

Science.gov (United States)

Cardella, U.; Decker, L.; Klein, H.

2017-02-01

The liquid hydrogen demand, particularly driven by clean energy applications, will rise in the near future. As industrial large scale liquefiers will play a major role within the hydrogen supply chain, production capacity will have to increase by a multiple of today’s typical sizes. The main goal is to reduce the total cost of ownership for these plants by increasing energy efficiency with innovative and simple process designs, optimized in capital expenditure. New concepts must ensure a manageable plant complexity and flexible operability. In the phase of process development and selection, a dimensioning of key equipment for large scale liquefiers, such as turbines and compressors as well as heat exchangers, must be performed iteratively to ensure technological feasibility and maturity. Further critical aspects related to hydrogen liquefaction, e.g. fluid properties, ortho-para hydrogen conversion, and coldbox configuration, must be analysed in detail. This paper provides an overview on the approach, challenges and preliminary results in the development of efficient as well as economically viable concepts for large-scale hydrogen liquefaction.
What determines area burned in large landscapes? Insights from a decade of comparative landscape-fire modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Geoffrey J. Cary; Robert E. Keane; Mike D. Flannigan; Ian D. Davies; Russ A. Parsons

2015-01-01

Understanding what determines area burned in large landscapes is critical for informing wildland fire management in fire-prone environments and for representing fire activity in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models. For the past ten years, a group of landscape-fire modellers have been exploring the relative influence of key determinants of area burned in temperate and...
Contribution of regional-scale fire events to ozone and PM2.5 ...

Science.gov (United States)

Two specific fires from 2011 are tracked for local to regional scale contribution to ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) using a freely available regulatory modeling system that includes the BlueSky wildland fire emissions tool, Spare Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) model, Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) meteorological model, and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) photochemical grid model. The modeling system was applied to track the contribution from a wildfire (Wallow) and prescribed fire (Flint Hills) using both source sensitivity and source apportionment approaches. The model estimated fire contribution to primary and secondary pollutants are comparable using source sensitivity (brute-force zero out) and source apportionment (Integrated Source Apportionment Method) approaches. Model estimated O3 enhancement relative to CO is similar to values reported in literature indicating the modeling system captures the range of O3 inhibition possible near fires and O3 production both near the fire and downwind. O3 and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) are formed in the fire plume and transported downwind along with highly reactive VOC species such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde that are both emitted by the fire and rapidly produced in the fire plume by VOC oxidation reactions. PAN and aldehydes contribute to continued downwind O3 production. The transport and thermal decomposition of PAN to nitrogen oxides (NOX) enables O3 production in areas
Modeling and experiments of biomass combustion in a large-scale grate boiler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yin, Chungen; Rosendahl, Lasse; Kær, Søren Knudsen

2007-01-01

is inherently more difficult due to the complexity of the solid biomass fuel bed on the grate, the turbulent reacting flow in the combustion chamber and the intensive interaction between them. This paper presents the CFD validation efforts for a modern large-scale biomass-fired grate boiler. Modeling...... and experiments are both done for the grate boiler. The comparison between them shows an overall acceptable agreement in tendency. However at some measuring ports, big discrepancies between the modeling and the experiments are observed, mainly because the modeling-based boundary conditions (BCs) could differ...
Environmental performance evaluation of large-scale municipal solid waste incinerators using data envelopment analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, H.-W.; Chang, N.-B.; Chen, J.-C.; Tsai, S.-J.

2010-01-01

Limited to insufficient land resources, incinerators are considered in many countries such as Japan and Germany as the major technology for a waste management scheme capable of dealing with the increasing demand for municipal and industrial solid waste treatment in urban regions. The evaluation of these municipal incinerators in terms of secondary pollution potential, cost-effectiveness, and operational efficiency has become a new focus in the highly interdisciplinary area of production economics, systems analysis, and waste management. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) - a production economics tool - to evaluate performance-based efficiencies of 19 large-scale municipal incinerators in Taiwan with different operational conditions. A 4-year operational data set from 2002 to 2005 was collected in support of DEA modeling using Monte Carlo simulation to outline the possibility distributions of operational efficiency of these incinerators. Uncertainty analysis using the Monte Carlo simulation provides a balance between simplifications of our analysis and the soundness of capturing the essential random features that complicate solid waste management systems. To cope with future challenges, efforts in the DEA modeling, systems analysis, and prediction of the performance of large-scale municipal solid waste incinerators under normal operation and special conditions were directed toward generating a compromised assessment procedure. Our research findings will eventually lead to the identification of the optimal management strategies for promoting the quality of solid waste incineration, not only in Taiwan, but also elsewhere in the world.
Evacuation routes performances and fire safety of buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laban Mirjana Đ.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Residential buildings, public and business facilities with large number of occupants are particularly exposed to the risk of event with catastrophic consequences, especially in case of fire. Evacuation routes must be separated fire compartments with surfaces made of non-combustible materials. Safe evacuation of building occupants in case of fire is a crucial requirement for the preservation of human life in building. In our engineering practice, calculation model is usually applied in order to determine the time required for evacuation (SRPS TP 21. However, evacuation simulation models are more present in research papers, contributing to better assessment of flow of evacuation in the real time. These models could provide an efficient way of testing the safety of a building in the face of fire and indicate critical points at the evacuation paths. Computer models enable the development and analysis of multiple various scenarios during a fire event, contributing to defining the measures for improving the safety of the building in case of fire. This paper analyses the fulfilment of technical requirements for the safe evacuation and proposes improvement measures based on a comparative analysis of the time required for occupants' evacuation from the building (Department of Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Novi Sad, obtained by calculation model and by using evacuation simulation software.
Forest landscape models, a tool for understanding the effect of the large-scale and long-term landscape processes

Science.gov (United States)

Hong S. He; Robert E. Keane; Louis R. Iverson

2008-01-01

Forest landscape models have become important tools for understanding large-scale and long-term landscape (spatial) processes such as climate change, fire, windthrow, seed dispersal, insect outbreak, disease propagation, forest harvest, and fuel treatment, because controlled field experiments designed to study the effects of these processes are often not possible (...

Continental-scale simulation of burn probabilities, flame lengths, and fire size distribution for the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Mark A. Finney; Charles W. McHugh; Isaac Grenfell; Karin L. Riley

2010-01-01

Components of a quantitative risk assessment were produced by simulation of burn probabilities and fire behavior variation for 134 fire planning units (FPUs) across the continental U.S. The system uses fire growth simulation of ignitions modeled from relationships between large fire occurrence and the fire danger index Energy Release Component (ERC). Simulations of 10,...
Energy transfers in large-scale and small-scale dynamos

Science.gov (United States)

Samtaney, Ravi; Kumar, Rohit; Verma, Mahendra

2015-11-01

We present the energy transfers, mainly energy fluxes and shell-to-shell energy transfers in small-scale dynamo (SSD) and large-scale dynamo (LSD) using numerical simulations of MHD turbulence for Pm = 20 (SSD) and for Pm = 0.2 on 10243 grid. For SSD, we demonstrate that the magnetic energy growth is caused by nonlocal energy transfers from the large-scale or forcing-scale velocity field to small-scale magnetic field. The peak of these energy transfers move towards lower wavenumbers as dynamo evolves, which is the reason for the growth of the magnetic fields at the large scales. The energy transfers U2U (velocity to velocity) and B2B (magnetic to magnetic) are forward and local. For LSD, we show that the magnetic energy growth takes place via energy transfers from large-scale velocity field to large-scale magnetic field. We observe forward U2U and B2B energy flux, similar to SSD.
Modeling of large-scale oxy-fuel combustion processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yin, Chungen

2012-01-01

Quite some studies have been conducted in order to implement oxy-fuel combustion with flue gas recycle in conventional utility boilers as an effective effort of carbon capture and storage. However, combustion under oxy-fuel conditions is significantly different from conventional air-fuel firing......, among which radiative heat transfer under oxy-fuel conditions is one of the fundamental issues. This paper demonstrates the nongray-gas effects in modeling of large-scale oxy-fuel combustion processes. Oxy-fuel combustion of natural gas in a 609MW utility boiler is numerically studied, in which...... calculation of the oxy-fuel WSGGM remarkably over-predicts the radiative heat transfer to the furnace walls and under-predicts the gas temperature at the furnace exit plane, which also result in a higher incomplete combustion in the gray calculation. Moreover, the gray and non-gray calculations of the same...
Fault Transient Analysis and Protection Performance Evaluation within a Large-scale PV Power Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Jinghua

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a short-circuit test within a large-scale PV power plant with a total capacity of 850MWp is discussed. The fault currents supplied by the PV generation units are presented and analysed. According to the fault behaviour, the existing protection coordination principles with the plant are considered and their performances are evaluated. Moreover, these protections are examined in simulation platform under different operating situations. A simple measure with communication system is proposed to deal with the foreseeable problem about the current protection scheme in the PV power plant.
thermal analysis of a small scale solid waste-fired steam boiler

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Thermal analysis of a small scale solid waste-fired steam generator is presented in this paper. The analysis was based on the chosen design specifications which are operating steam ... include: wind, bio-energy, geothermal, solar thermal,.
Fire in Fennoscandia: A palaeo-perspective of spatial and temporal variability in fire frequency and vegetation dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Clear, Jennifer; Bradshaw, Richard; Seppä, Heikki

2014-05-01

Active fire suppression in Fennoscandia has created a boreal forest ecosystem that is almost free of fire. Absence of fire is thought to have contributed to the widespread dominance of Picea abies (Norway spruce), though the character and structure of spruce forests operates as a positive feedback retarding fire frequency. This lack of fire and dominance by Picea abies may have assisted declines in deciduous tree species, with a concomitant loss of floristic diversity. Forest fires are driven by a complex interplay between natural (climate, vegetation and topography) and anthropogenic disturbance and through palaeoecology we are able to explore spatio-temporal variability in the drivers of fire, changing fire dynamics and the subsequent consequences for forest succession, development and floristic diversity over long timescales. High resolution analysis of palaeoenvironmental proxies (pollen and macroscopic charcoal) allows Holocene vegetation and fire dynamics to be reconstructed at the local forest-stand scale. Comparisons of fire histories with pollen-derived quantitative reconstruction of vegetation at local- and regional-scales identify large-scale ecosystem responses and local-scale disturbance. Spatio-temporal heterogeneity and variability in biomass burning is explored to identify the drivers of fire and palaeovegetation reconstructions are compared to process-based, climate-driven dynamic vegetation model output to test the significance of fire frequency as a driver of vegetation composition and dynamics. Fire was not always so infrequent in the northern European forest with early-Holocene fire regimes driven by natural climate variations and fuel availability. The establishment and spread of Picea abies was probably driven by an increase in continentality of climate, but local natural and anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance may have aided this spread. Picea expansion led to a step-wise reduction in regional biomass burning and here we show the now
A Hybrid Testbed for Performance Evaluation of Large-Scale Datacenter Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pilimon, Artur; Ruepp, Sarah Renée

2018-01-01

Datacenters (DC) as well as their network interconnects are growing in scale and complexity. They are constantly being challenged in terms of energy and resource utilization efficiency, scalability, availability, reliability and performance requirements. Therefore, these resource-intensive enviro......Datacenters (DC) as well as their network interconnects are growing in scale and complexity. They are constantly being challenged in terms of energy and resource utilization efficiency, scalability, availability, reliability and performance requirements. Therefore, these resource......-intensive environments must be properly tested and analyzed in order to make timely upgrades and transformations. However, a limited number of academic institutions and Research and Development companies have access to production scale DC Network (DCN) testing facilities, and resource-limited studies can produce...... misleading or inaccurate results. To address this problem, we introduce an alternative solution, which forms a solid base for a more realistic and comprehensive performance evaluation of different aspects of DCNs. It is based on the System-in-the-loop (SITL) concept, where real commercial DCN equipment...
Modeling very large-fire occurrences over the continental United States from weather and climate forcing

Science.gov (United States)

R Barbero; J T Abatzoglou; E A Steel

2014-01-01

Very large-fires (VLFs) have widespread impacts on ecosystems, air quality, fire suppression resources, and in many regions account for a majority of total area burned. Empirical generalized linear models of the largest fires (>5000 ha) across the contiguous United States (US) were developed at Â¡Â60 km spatial and weekly temporal resolutions using solely atmospheric...
Development and Performance Evaluation of Charcoal-Fired Cooking Stoves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ndirika, V. I. O.

2002-01-01

Three different sizes of cooking stoves which utilizes charcoal as source of fuel with fuel capacities 15.7 kg, 10.6 kg and 3.5 kg for the large, medium and small stoves respectively were designed and fabricated for domestic cooking of food by the rural communities. The stoves were evaluated for performance in terms of fuel efficiency, fuel consumption rate, cooking efficiency and boiling time during testing operation with water. From the result it was revealed that the rate of fuel consumption for the large, medium and small cooking stove were 7.2 kg/h, 5.9 kg/h and 2.3 kg/h respectively, and their fuel efficiencies were 88%, 86% and 82% respectively. Also the cooking efficiencies of these stoves were 94%, 83% and 72% respectively. A comparative evaluation of the cooking efficiencies, fuel efficiencies, fuel consumption rate and cooking time between the three types of stoves and the traditional three stone open fire system, reveals that the cooking efficiencies and fuel efficiencies obtained were greater than the values obtained with the traditional three stone open fire system. But the values of the fuel consumption rate and boiling time obtained for the three stoves were lower than the values obtained with the traditional system. And the difference between their means was statistically significant at 5 % level of significance
Forecasting distributions of large federal-lands fires utilizing satellite and gridded weather information

Science.gov (United States)

H.K. Preisler; R.E. Burgan; J.C. Eidenshink; J.M. Klaver; R.W. Klaver

2009-01-01

The current study presents a statistical model for assessing the skill of fire danger indices and for forecasting the distribution of the expected numbers of large fires over a given region and for the upcoming week. The procedure permits development of daily maps that forecast, for the forthcoming week and within federal lands, percentiles of the distributions of (i)...
Evaluation of performance under fire of compressed earth blocks

OpenAIRE

Buson, M.; Lopes, N.; Varum, H.; Sposto, R. M.; Real, P. Vila

2012-01-01

In this paper are presented and discussed the main results of fire resistance tests on walls made of soil-cement and Kraftterra compressed earth blocks (CEB). Within this research it was intended to evaluate the fire resistance of walls made with CEB, with and without cellulose pulp incorporation deriving from recycling of cement sacks. Firstly, it is described the Kraftterra production processes and the fire resistance test campaign. Then, the performance of the blocks under anal...
The effect of urban growth on landscape-scale restoration for a fire-dependent songbird.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickens, Bradley A; Marcus, Jeffrey F; Carpenter, John P; Anderson, Scott; Taillie, Paul J; Collazo, Jaime A

2017-04-15

A landscape-scale perspective on restoration ecology has been advocated, but few studies have informed restoration with landscape metrics or addressed broad-scale threats. Threats such as urban growth may affect restoration effectiveness in a landscape context. Here, we studied longleaf pine savanna in the rapidly urbanizing southeastern United States where a habitat-specialist bird, Bachman's sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis), is closely associated with savanna vegetation structure and frequent fire. Our objectives were to construct a species distribution model for Bachman's sparrow, determine the relationship between fire and urbanization, quantify the urban growth effect (2010-2090), identify potential restoration areas, and determine the interaction between restoration potential and urban growth by 2050. Number of patches, patch size, and isolation metrics were used to evaluate scenarios. The species distribution model was 88% accurate and emphasized multiscale canopy cover characteristics, fire, and percent habitat. Fires were less common urban areas, and this fire suppression effect exacerbated urban growth effects. For restoration scenarios, canopy cover reduction by 30% resulted in nearly double the amount of habitat compared to the prescribed fire scenario; canopy cover reduction resulted in larger patch sizes and less patch isolation compared to current conditions. The effect of urban growth on restoration scenarios was unequal. Seventy-four percent of restoration areas from the prescribed fire scenario overlapped with projected urban growth, whereas the canopy cover reduction scenario only overlapped by 9%. We emphasize the benefits of simultaneously considering the effects of urban growth and landscape-scale restoration potential to promote a landscape with greater patch sizes and less isolation. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Needs, opportunities, and options for large scale systems research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, G.L.

1984-10-01

The Office of Energy Research was recently asked to perform a study of Large Scale Systems in order to facilitate the development of a true large systems theory. It was decided to ask experts in the fields of electrical engineering, chemical engineering and manufacturing/operations research for their ideas concerning large scale systems research. The author was asked to distribute a questionnaire among these experts to find out their opinions concerning recent accomplishments and future research directions in large scale systems research. He was also requested to convene a conference which included three experts in each area as panel members to discuss the general area of large scale systems research. The conference was held on March 26--27, 1984 in Pittsburgh with nine panel members, and 15 other attendees. The present report is a summary of the ideas presented and the recommendations proposed by the attendees.
Large-scale preparation of hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Jun; Li, Fu [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Bai, Yu-Jun, E-mail: byj97@126.com [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); State Key laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Han, Fu-Dong; Qi, Yong-Xin; Lun, Ning [Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250061 (China); Lu, Xi-Feng [Lunan Institute of Coal Chemical Engineering, Jining 272000 (China)

2013-01-15

Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres (HGCNSs) were synthesized on large scale by a simple reaction between glucose and Mg at 550 Degree-Sign C in an autoclave. Characterization by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrates the formation of HGCNSs with an average diameter of 10 nm or so and a wall thickness of a few graphenes. The HGCNSs exhibit a reversible capacity of 391 mAh g{sup -1} after 60 cycles when used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. -- Graphical abstract: Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres could be prepared on large scale by the simple reaction between glucose and Mg at 550 Degree-Sign C, which exhibit superior electrochemical performance to graphite. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres (HGCNSs) were prepared on large scale at 550 Degree-Sign C Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The preparation is simple, effective and eco-friendly. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The in situ yielded MgO nanocrystals promote the graphitization. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The HGCNSs exhibit superior electrochemical performance to graphite.
Static and dynamic controls on fire activity at moderate spatial and temporal scales in the Alaskan boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Kirsten; Loboda, Tatiana; McGuire, A. David; Genet, Hélène; Hoy, Elizabeth; Kasischke, Eric

2016-01-01

Wildfire, a dominant disturbance in boreal forests, is highly variable in occurrence and behavior at multiple spatiotemporal scales. New data sets provide more detailed spatial and temporal observations of active fires and the post-burn environment in Alaska. In this study, we employ some of these new data to analyze variations in fire activity by developing three explanatory models to examine the occurrence of (1) seasonal periods of elevated fire activity using the number of MODIS active fire detections data set (MCD14DL) within an 11-day moving window, (2) unburned patches within a burned area using the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity fire severity product, and (3) short-to-moderate interval (fires using areas of burned area overlap in the Alaska Large Fire Database. Explanatory variables for these three models included dynamic variables that can change over the course of the fire season, such as weather and burn date, as well as static variables that remain constant over a fire season, such as topography, drainage, vegetation cover, and fire history. We found that seasonal periods of high fire activity are associated with both seasonal timing and aggregated weather conditions, as well as the landscape composition of areas that are burning. Important static inputs to the model of seasonal fire activity indicate that when fire weather conditions are suitable, areas that typically resist fire (e.g., deciduous stands) may become more vulnerable to burning and therefore less effective as fire breaks. The occurrence of short-to-moderate interval fires appears to be primarily driven by weather conditions, as these were the only relevant explanatory variables in the model. The unique importance of weather in explaining short-to-moderate interval fires implies that fire return intervals (FRIs) will be sensitive to projected climate changes in the region. Unburned patches occur most often in younger stands, which may be related to a greater deciduous fraction of
The optimization of aircraft seat cushion fire-blocking layers. Full Scale: Test description and results

Science.gov (United States)

Schutter, K. J.; Duskin, F. E.

1982-01-01

Full-scale burn tests were conducted on thirteen different seat cushion configurations in a cabin fire simulator. The fire source used was a quartz lamp radiant energy panel with a propane pilot flame. During each test, data were recorded for cushion temperatures, radiant heat flux, rate of weight loss of test specimens, and cabin temperatures. When compared to existing passenger aircraft seat cushions, the test specimens incorporating a fire barrier and those fabricated from advance materials, using improved construction methods, exhibited significantly greater fire resistance.
Prehospital Acute Stroke Severity Scale to Predict Large Artery Occlusion: Design and Comparison With Other Scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Hastrup, Sidsel; Damgaard, Dorte; Johnsen, Søren Paaske; Andersen, Grethe

2016-07-01

We designed and validated a simple prehospital stroke scale to identify emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO) in patients with acute ischemic stroke and compared the scale to other published scales for prediction of ELVO. A national historical test cohort of 3127 patients with information on intracranial vessel status (angiography) before reperfusion therapy was identified. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) items with the highest predictive value of occlusion of a large intracranial artery were identified, and the most optimal combination meeting predefined criteria to ensure usefulness in the prehospital phase was determined. The predictive performance of Prehospital Acute Stroke Severity (PASS) scale was compared with other published scales for ELVO. The PASS scale was composed of 3 NIHSS scores: level of consciousness (month/age), gaze palsy/deviation, and arm weakness. In derivation of PASS 2/3 of the test cohort was used and showed accuracy (area under the curve) of 0.76 for detecting large arterial occlusion. Optimal cut point ≥2 abnormal scores showed: sensitivity=0.66 (95% CI, 0.62-0.69), specificity=0.83 (0.81-0.85), and area under the curve=0.74 (0.72-0.76). Validation on 1/3 of the test cohort showed similar performance. Patients with a large artery occlusion on angiography with PASS ≥2 had a median NIHSS score of 17 (interquartile range=6) as opposed to PASS <2 with a median NIHSS score of 6 (interquartile range=5). The PASS scale showed equal performance although more simple when compared with other scales predicting ELVO. The PASS scale is simple and has promising accuracy for prediction of ELVO in the field. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.
Exploring the large-scale structure of Taylor–Couette turbulence through Large-Eddy Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Ostilla-Mónico, Rodolfo; Zhu, Xiaojue; Verzicco, Roberto

2018-04-01

Large eddy simulations (LES) of Taylor-Couette (TC) flow, the flow between two co-axial and independently rotating cylinders are performed in an attempt to explore the large-scale axially-pinned structures seen in experiments and simulations. Both static and dynamic LES models are used. The Reynolds number is kept fixed at Re = 3.4 · 104, and the radius ratio η = ri /ro is set to η = 0.909, limiting the effects of curvature and resulting in frictional Reynolds numbers of around Re τ ≈ 500. Four rotation ratios from Rot = ‑0.0909 to Rot = 0.3 are simulated. First, the LES of TC is benchmarked for different rotation ratios. Both the Smagorinsky model with a constant of cs = 0.1 and the dynamic model are found to produce reasonable results for no mean rotation and cyclonic rotation, but deviations increase for increasing rotation. This is attributed to the increasing anisotropic character of the fluctuations. Second, “over-damped” LES, i.e. LES with a large Smagorinsky constant is performed and is shown to reproduce some features of the large-scale structures, even when the near-wall region is not adequately modeled. This shows the potential for using over-damped LES for fast explorations of the parameter space where large-scale structures are found.
Simulating smoke transport from wildland fires with a regional-scale air quality model: sensitivity to spatiotemporal allocation of fire emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Menendez, Fernando; Hu, Yongtao; Odman, Mehmet T

2014-09-15

Air quality forecasts generated with chemical transport models can provide valuable information about the potential impacts of fires on pollutant levels. However, significant uncertainties are associated with fire-related emission estimates as well as their distribution on gridded modeling domains. In this study, we explore the sensitivity of fine particulate matter concentrations predicted by a regional-scale air quality model to the spatial and temporal allocation of fire emissions. The assessment was completed by simulating a fire-related smoke episode in which air quality throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area was affected on February 28, 2007. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to evaluate the significance of emission distribution among the model's vertical layers, along the horizontal plane, and into hourly inputs. Predicted PM2.5 concentrations were highly sensitive to emission injection altitude relative to planetary boundary layer height. Simulations were also responsive to the horizontal allocation of fire emissions and their distribution into single or multiple grid cells. Additionally, modeled concentrations were greatly sensitive to the temporal distribution of fire-related emissions. The analyses demonstrate that, in addition to adequate estimates of emitted mass, successfully modeling the impacts of fires on air quality depends on an accurate spatiotemporal allocation of emissions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Large Scale Anthropogenic Reduction of Forest Cover in Last Glacial Maximum Europe.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jed O Kaplan

Full Text Available Reconstructions of the vegetation of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM are an enigma. Pollen-based analyses have suggested that Europe was largely covered by steppe and tundra, and forests persisted only in small refugia. Climate-vegetation model simulations on the other hand have consistently suggested that broad areas of Europe would have been suitable for forest, even in the depths of the last glaciation. Here we reconcile models with data by demonstrating that the highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that inhabited Europe at the LGM could have substantially reduced forest cover through the ignition of wildfires. Similar to hunter-gatherers of the more recent past, Upper Paleolithic humans were masters of the use of fire, and preferred inhabiting semi-open landscapes to facilitate foraging, hunting and travel. Incorporating human agency into a dynamic vegetation-fire model and simulating forest cover shows that even small increases in wildfire frequency over natural background levels resulted in large changes in the forested area of Europe, in part because trees were already stressed by low atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the cold, dry, and highly variable climate. Our results suggest that the impact of humans on the glacial landscape of Europe may be one of the earliest large-scale anthropogenic modifications of the earth system.

Sensitivity analysis for large-scale problems

Science.gov (United States)

Noor, Ahmed K.; Whitworth, Sandra L.

1987-01-01

The development of efficient techniques for calculating sensitivity derivatives is studied. The objective is to present a computational procedure for calculating sensitivity derivatives as part of performing structural reanalysis for large-scale problems. The scope is limited to framed type structures. Both linear static analysis and free-vibration eigenvalue problems are considered.
Characterisation of solid recovered fuels for direct co-firing in large-scale PF power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunnu, Gregory

2013-04-01

Solid Recovered Fuels are solid fuels prepared from high calorific fractions of non-hazardous waste materials intended to be co-fired in coal power plants and industrial furnaces (CEN/TC 343). They are composed of a variety of materials of which some, although recyclable in theory, may be in a form that makes their recycling an unsound option. The SRF with a typical size range of 3 mm through 25 mm are to be directly co-fired in an existing pulverised coal power plant. In comparison to pulverised coal, the particle size distribution of the SRF is of several magnitudes higher, resulting in a different burnout behaviour. Size reduction of the SRF to a fraction similar to coal is not economically feasible. The aim here is, therefore, the direct co-firing of the solid recovered fuels in the boilers without any further size reduction. This approach, however, bears the risk of incomplete combustion if the injection points of the solid recovered fuels are not optimally selected. Accordingly, the prediction of the burner levels, at which the solid recovered fuels should be injected and whether or not a complete combustion will be achieved under full load condition, is the primary objective of this dissertation. In this research work, laboratory experiments have been conducted to forecast the success of co-firing the SRF in a commercial pulverised coal power plant. It involves the analyses of the fuel and its intermediate chars generated at conditions comparable to boiler conditions to determine some characteristic parameters, namely the burnout time, the aerodynamic lift velocity, the drag coefficient and the apparent densities. The data gathered from the laboratory experiments are transferred to boiler conditions to determine the particle trajectories and the maximum distance likely to travel before they are completely converted in the boiler. Different scenarios are examined and based on the results the best boiler injection points are predicted. Furthermore, an on
Seismic safety in conducting large-scale blasts

Science.gov (United States)

Mashukov, I. V.; Chaplygin, V. V.; Domanov, V. P.; Semin, A. A.; Klimkin, M. A.

2017-09-01

In mining enterprises to prepare hard rocks for excavation a drilling and blasting method is used. With the approach of mining operations to settlements the negative effect of large-scale blasts increases. To assess the level of seismic impact of large-scale blasts the scientific staff of Siberian State Industrial University carried out expertise for coal mines and iron ore enterprises. Determination of the magnitude of surface seismic vibrations caused by mass explosions was performed using seismic receivers, an analog-digital converter with recording on a laptop. The registration results of surface seismic vibrations during production of more than 280 large-scale blasts at 17 mining enterprises in 22 settlements are presented. The maximum velocity values of the Earth’s surface vibrations are determined. The safety evaluation of seismic effect was carried out according to the permissible value of vibration velocity. For cases with exceedance of permissible values recommendations were developed to reduce the level of seismic impact.
Assessing fire impacts on the carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Lauren T; Bruce, Matthew J; Machunter, Josephine; Kohout, Michele; Krishnaraj, Saravanan Jangammanaidu; Aponte, Cristina

2017-12-01

The carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests is often assumed but less frequently assessed, limiting the potential to anticipate threats to forest carbon posed by predicted increases in forest fire activity. Assessing the carbon stability of fire-tolerant forests requires multi-indicator approaches that recognize the myriad ways that fires influence the carbon balance, including combustion, deposition of pyrogenic material, and tree death, post-fire decomposition, recruitment, and growth. Five years after a large-scale wildfire in southeastern Australia, we assessed the impacts of low- and high-severity wildfire, with and without prescribed fire (≤10 yr before), on carbon stocks in multiple pools, and on carbon stability indicators (carbon stock percentages in live trees and in small trees, and carbon stocks in char and fuels) in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests. Relative to unburned forest, high-severity wildfire decreased short-term (five-year) carbon stability by significantly decreasing live tree carbon stocks and percentage stocks in live standing trees (reflecting elevated tree mortality), by increasing the percentage of live tree carbon in small trees (those vulnerable to the next fire), and by potentially increasing the probability of another fire through increased elevated fine fuel loads. In contrast, low-severity wildfire enhanced carbon stability by having negligible effects on aboveground stocks and indicators, and by significantly increasing carbon stocks in char and, in particular, soils, indicating pyrogenic carbon accumulation. Overall, recent preceding prescribed fire did not markedly influence wildfire effects on short-term carbon stability at stand scales. Despite wide confidence intervals around mean stock differences, indicating uncertainty about the magnitude of fire effects in these natural forests, our assessment highlights the need for active management of carbon assets in fire-tolerant eucalypt forests under contemporary fire regimes
Large-scale data analytics

CERN Document Server

Gkoulalas-Divanis, Aris

2014-01-01

Provides cutting-edge research in large-scale data analytics from diverse scientific areas Surveys varied subject areas and reports on individual results of research in the field Shares many tips and insights into large-scale data analytics from authors and editors with long-term experience and specialization in the field
Environmental performance evaluation of large-scale municipal solid waste incinerators using data envelopment analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ho-Wen; Chang, Ni-Bin; Chen, Jeng-Chung; Tsai, Shu-Ju

2010-07-01

Limited to insufficient land resources, incinerators are considered in many countries such as Japan and Germany as the major technology for a waste management scheme capable of dealing with the increasing demand for municipal and industrial solid waste treatment in urban regions. The evaluation of these municipal incinerators in terms of secondary pollution potential, cost-effectiveness, and operational efficiency has become a new focus in the highly interdisciplinary area of production economics, systems analysis, and waste management. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of data envelopment analysis (DEA)--a production economics tool--to evaluate performance-based efficiencies of 19 large-scale municipal incinerators in Taiwan with different operational conditions. A 4-year operational data set from 2002 to 2005 was collected in support of DEA modeling using Monte Carlo simulation to outline the possibility distributions of operational efficiency of these incinerators. Uncertainty analysis using the Monte Carlo simulation provides a balance between simplifications of our analysis and the soundness of capturing the essential random features that complicate solid waste management systems. To cope with future challenges, efforts in the DEA modeling, systems analysis, and prediction of the performance of large-scale municipal solid waste incinerators under normal operation and special conditions were directed toward generating a compromised assessment procedure. Our research findings will eventually lead to the identification of the optimal management strategies for promoting the quality of solid waste incineration, not only in Taiwan, but also elsewhere in the world. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Modeling and Analysis of Realistic Fire Scenarios in Spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Brooker, J. E.; Dietrich, D. L.; Gokoglu, S. A.; Urban, D. L.; Ruff, G. A.

2015-01-01

An accidental fire inside a spacecraft is an unlikely, but very real emergency situation that can easily have dire consequences. While much has been learned over the past 25+ years of dedicated research on flame behavior in microgravity, a quantitative understanding of the initiation, spread, detection and extinguishment of a realistic fire aboard a spacecraft is lacking. Virtually all combustion experiments in microgravity have been small-scale, by necessity (hardware limitations in ground-based facilities and safety concerns in space-based facilities). Large-scale, realistic fire experiments are unlikely for the foreseeable future (unlike in terrestrial situations). Therefore, NASA will have to rely on scale modeling, extrapolation of small-scale experiments and detailed numerical modeling to provide the data necessary for vehicle and safety system design. This paper presents the results of parallel efforts to better model the initiation, spread, detection and extinguishment of fires aboard spacecraft. The first is a detailed numerical model using the freely available Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). FDS is a CFD code that numerically solves a large eddy simulation form of the Navier-Stokes equations. FDS provides a detailed treatment of the smoke and energy transport from a fire. The simulations provide a wealth of information, but are computationally intensive and not suitable for parametric studies where the detailed treatment of the mass and energy transport are unnecessary. The second path extends a model previously documented at ICES meetings that attempted to predict maximum survivable fires aboard space-craft. This one-dimensional model implies the heat and mass transfer as well as toxic species production from a fire. These simplifications result in a code that is faster and more suitable for parametric studies (having already been used to help in the hatch design of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, MPCV).
Real-time simulation of large-scale floods

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Q.; Qin, Y.; Li, G. D.; Liu, Z.; Cheng, D. J.; Zhao, Y. H.

2016-08-01

According to the complex real-time water situation, the real-time simulation of large-scale floods is very important for flood prevention practice. Model robustness and running efficiency are two critical factors in successful real-time flood simulation. This paper proposed a robust, two-dimensional, shallow water model based on the unstructured Godunov- type finite volume method. A robust wet/dry front method is used to enhance the numerical stability. An adaptive method is proposed to improve the running efficiency. The proposed model is used for large-scale flood simulation on real topography. Results compared to those of MIKE21 show the strong performance of the proposed model.
Nuclear-pumped lasers for large-scale applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, R.E.; Leonard, E.M.; Shea, R.F.; Berggren, R.R.

1989-05-01

Efficient initiation of large-volume chemical lasers may be achieved by neutron induced reactions which produce charged particles in the final state. When a burst mode nuclear reactor is used as the neutron source, both a sufficiently intense neutron flux and a sufficiently short initiation pulse may be possible. Proof-of-principle experiments are planned to demonstrate lasing in a direct nuclear-pumped large-volume system; to study the effects of various neutron absorbing materials on laser performance; to study the effects of long initiation pulse lengths; to demonstrate the performance of large-scale optics and the beam quality that may be obtained; and to assess the performance of alternative designs of burst systems that increase the neutron output and burst repetition rate. 21 refs., 8 figs., 5 tabs
Large-Scale Mercury Control Technology Testing for Lignite-Fired Utilities - Oxidation Systems for Wet FGD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steven A. Benson; Michael J. Holmes; Donald P. McCollor; Jill M. Mackenzie; Charlene R. Crocker; Lingbu Kong; Kevin C. Galbreath

2007-03-31

Mercury (Hg) control technologies were evaluated at Minnkota Power Cooperative's Milton R. Young (MRY) Station Unit 2, a 450-MW lignite-fired cyclone unit near Center, North Dakota, and TXU Energy's Monticello Steam Electric Station (MoSES) Unit 3, a 793-MW lignite--Powder River Basin (PRB) subbituminous coal-fired unit near Mt. Pleasant, Texas. A cold-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber are used at MRY and MoSES for controlling particulate and sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions, respectively. Several approaches for significantly and cost-effectively oxidizing elemental mercury (Hg{sup 0}) in lignite combustion flue gases, followed by capture in an ESP and/or FGD scrubber were evaluated. The project team involved in performing the technical aspects of the project included Babcock & Wilcox, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), the Electric Power Research Institute, and URS Corporation. Calcium bromide (CaBr{sub 2}), calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}), magnesium chloride (MgCl{sub 2}), and a proprietary sorbent enhancement additive (SEA), hereafter referred to as SEA2, were added to the lignite feeds to enhance Hg capture in the ESP and/or wet FGD. In addition, powdered activated carbon (PAC) was injected upstream of the ESP at MRY Unit 2. The work involved establishing Hg concentrations and removal rates across existing ESP and FGD units, determining costs associated with a given Hg removal efficiency, quantifying the balance-of-plant impacts of the control technologies, and facilitating technology commercialization. The primary project goal was to achieve ESP-FGD Hg removal efficiencies of {ge}55% at MRY and MoSES for about a month.
Large-scale grid management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langdal, Bjoern Inge; Eggen, Arnt Ove

2003-01-01

The network companies in the Norwegian electricity industry now have to establish a large-scale network management, a concept essentially characterized by (1) broader focus (Broad Band, Multi Utility,...) and (2) bigger units with large networks and more customers. Research done by SINTEF Energy Research shows so far that the approaches within large-scale network management may be structured according to three main challenges: centralization, decentralization and out sourcing. The article is part of a planned series
Regeneration of Abies cephalonica Loudon after a Large Fire in Central Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yannis Raftoyannis

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Abies cephalonica Loudon (Greek fir is a dominant tree species of the mountainous Greece that forms productive forests. Wildfires in fir forests were not considered a major threat but in recent decades, fir ecosystems in Greece have experienced large crown fires with subsequent ecological and economical losses. Materials and Methods: This study was designed to aid our understanding of Greek fir recovery after fire. In Central Greece, 12 years after a large fire, fir regeneration and site factors were studied in 143 sampling plots located in 10 transects. Results: Fir regeneration density decreased abruptly with distance from the remnant stands and followed the negative exponential curve with decreasing regeneration abundance from the border of the unburned zone. Abiotic factors such as elevation, aspect, slope steepness and ground cover type could not significantly explain any variability in fir regeneration density. Conclusions: Our results showed that distance from a seed source was the most important variable in explaining fir regeneration. Moreover, the density of fir regeneration seemed adequate to provide stocking for a future fir forest.
Fire characteristics charts for fire behavior and U.S. fire danger rating

Science.gov (United States)

Faith Ann Heinsch; Pat Andrews

2010-01-01

The fire characteristics chart is a graphical method of presenting U.S. National Fire Danger Rating indices or primary surface or crown fire behavior characteristics. A desktop computer application has been developed to produce fire characteristics charts in a format suitable for inclusion in reports and presentations. Many options include change of scales, colors,...
Biomass co-firing opportunities and experiences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyng, R. [Ontario Power Generation Inc., Niagara Falls, ON (Canada). Nanticoke Generating Station

2006-07-01

Biomass co-firing and opportunities in the electricity sector were described in this presentation. Biomass co-firing in a conventional coal plant was first illustrated. Opportunities that were presented included the Dutch experience and Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) plant and production mix. The biomass co-firing program at OPG's Nantucket generating station was presented in three phases. The fuel characteristics of co-firing were identified. Several images and charts of the program were provided. Results and current status of tests were presented along with conclusions of the biomass co-firing program. It was concluded that biomass firing is feasible and following the Dutch example. Biomass firing could considerably expand renewable electricity generation in Ontario. In addition, sufficient biomass exists in Ontario and the United States to support large scale biomass co-firing. Several considerations were offered such as electricity market price for biomass co-firing and intensity targets and credit for early adoption and banking. tabs., figs.
Climate regulation of fire emissions and deforestation in equatorial Asia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Werf, G. R.; Dempewolf, J.; Trigg, S. N.; Randerson, J. T.; Kasibhatla, P. S.; Giglio, L.; Murdiyarso, D.; Peters, W.; Morton, D. C.; Collatz, G. J.; Dolman, A. J.; Defries, R. S.

2008-01-01

Drainage of peatlands and deforestation have led to large-scale fires in equatorial Asia, affecting regional air quality and global concentrations of greenhouse gases. Here we used several sources of satellite data with biogeochemical and atmospheric modeling to better understand and constrain fire
Off-design thermodynamic performances on typical days of a 330 MW solar aided coal-fired power plant in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Shuo; Hong, Hui; Wang, Yanjuan; Wang, Zhaoguo; Jin, Hongguang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Optical loss and heat loss of solar field under different turbine load were investigated. • Off-design thermodynamic feature was disclosed by analyzing several operational parameters. • Possible schemes was proposed to improve the net solar-to-electricity efficiency. - Abstract: The contribution of mid-temperature solar thermal power to improve the performance of coal-fired power plant is analyzed in the present paper. In the solar aided coal-fired power plant, solar heat at <300 °C is used to replace the extracted steam from the steam turbine to heat the feed water. In this way, the steam that was to be extracted could consequently expand in the steam turbine to boost output power. The advantages of a solar aided coal-fired power plant in design condition have been discussed by several researchers. However, thermodynamic performances on off-design operation have not been well discussed until now. In this paper, a typical 330 MW coal-fired power plant in Sinkiang Province of China is selected as the case study to demonstrate the advantages of the solar aided coal-fired power plant under off-design conditions. Hourly thermodynamic performances are analyzed on typical days under partial load. The effects of several operational parameters, such as solar irradiation intensity, incident angle, flow rate of thermal oil, on the performance of solar field efficiency and net solar-to-electricity efficiency were examined. Possible schemes have been proposed for improving the solar aided coal-fired power plant on off-design operation. The results obtained in the current study could provide a promising approach to solve the poor thermodynamic performance of solar thermal power plant and also offer a basis for the practical operation of MW-scale solar aided coal-fired power plant
Evolution of scaling emergence in large-scale spatial epidemic spreading.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Li, Xiang; Zhang, Yi-Qing; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Kan

2011-01-01

Zipf's law and Heaps' law are two representatives of the scaling concepts, which play a significant role in the study of complexity science. The coexistence of the Zipf's law and the Heaps' law motivates different understandings on the dependence between these two scalings, which has still hardly been clarified. In this article, we observe an evolution process of the scalings: the Zipf's law and the Heaps' law are naturally shaped to coexist at the initial time, while the crossover comes with the emergence of their inconsistency at the larger time before reaching a stable state, where the Heaps' law still exists with the disappearance of strict Zipf's law. Such findings are illustrated with a scenario of large-scale spatial epidemic spreading, and the empirical results of pandemic disease support a universal analysis of the relation between the two laws regardless of the biological details of disease. Employing the United States domestic air transportation and demographic data to construct a metapopulation model for simulating the pandemic spread at the U.S. country level, we uncover that the broad heterogeneity of the infrastructure plays a key role in the evolution of scaling emergence. The analyses of large-scale spatial epidemic spreading help understand the temporal evolution of scalings, indicating the coexistence of the Zipf's law and the Heaps' law depends on the collective dynamics of epidemic processes, and the heterogeneity of epidemic spread indicates the significance of performing targeted containment strategies at the early time of a pandemic disease.
Recovery Act: Oxy-Combustion Techology Development for Industrial-Scale Boiler Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levasseur, Armand

2014-04-30

Alstom Power Inc. (Alstom), under U.S. DOE/NETL Cooperative Agreement No. DE-NT0005290, is conducting a development program to generate detailed technical information needed for application of oxy-combustion technology. The program is designed to provide the necessary information and understanding for the next step of large-scale commercial demonstration of oxy combustion in tangentially fired boilers and to accelerate the commercialization of this technology. The main project objectives include: • Design and develop an innovative oxyfuel system for existing tangentially-fired boiler units that minimizes overall capital investment and operating costs. • Evaluate performance of oxyfuel tangentially fired boiler systems in pilot scale tests at Alstom’s 15 MWth tangentially fired Boiler Simulation Facility (BSF). • Address technical gaps for the design of oxyfuel commercial utility boilers by focused testing and improvement of engineering and simulation tools. • Develop the design, performance and costs for a demonstration scale oxyfuel boiler and auxiliary systems. • Develop the design and costs for both industrial and utility commercial scale reference oxyfuel boilers and auxiliary systems that are optimized for overall plant performance and cost. • Define key design considerations and develop general guidelines for application of results to utility and different industrial applications. The project was initiated in October 2008 and the scope extended in 2010 under an ARRA award. The project completion date was April 30, 2014. Central to the project is 15 MWth testing in the BSF, which provided in-depth understanding of oxy-combustion under boiler conditions, detailed data for improvement of design tools, and key information for application to commercial scale oxy-fired boiler design. Eight comprehensive 15 MWth oxy-fired test campaigns were performed with different coals, providing detailed data on combustion, emissions, and thermal behavior over a
Advanced methods for a probabilistic safety analysis of fires. Development of advanced methods for performing as far as possible realistic plant specific fire risk analysis (fire PSA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofer, E.; Roewekamp, M.; Tuerschmann, M.

2003-07-01

In the frame of the research project RS 1112 'Development of Methods for a Recent Probabilistic Safety Analysis, Particularly Level 2' funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), advanced methods, in particular for performing as far as possible realistic plant specific fire risk analyses (fire PSA), should be developed. The present Technical Report gives an overview on the methodologies developed in this context for assessing the fire hazard. In the context of developing advanced methodologies for fire PSA, a probabilistic dynamics analysis with a fire simulation code including an uncertainty and sensitivity study has been performed for an exemplary scenario of a cable fire induced by an electric cabinet inside the containment of a modern Konvoi type German nuclear power plant taking into consideration the effects of fire detection and fire extinguishing means. With the present study, it was possible for the first time to determine the probabilities of specified fire effects from a class of fire events by means of probabilistic dynamics supplemented by uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. The analysis applies a deterministic dynamics model, consisting of a dynamic fire simulation code and a model of countermeasures, considering effects of the stochastics (so-called aleatory uncertainties) as well as uncertainties in the state of knowledge (so-called epistemic uncertainties). By this means, probability assessments including uncertainties are provided to be used within the PSA. (orig.) [de
Wildfire and drought dynamics destabilize carbon stores of fire-suppressed forests

Science.gov (United States)

J. Mason Earles; Malcolm P. North; Matthew D. Hurteau

2014-01-01

Widespread fire suppression and thinning have altered the structure and composition of many forests in the western United States, making them more susceptible to the synergy of large-scale drought and fire events. We examine how these changes affect carbon storage and stability compared to historic fire-adapted conditions. We modeled carbon dynamics under possible...

Large Pilot Scale Testing of Linde/BASF Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture Technology at the Abbott Coal-Fired Power Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Brien, Kevin C. [University of Illinois, Champaign, IL (United States)

2017-08-18

The work summarized in this report is the first step towards a project that will re-train and create jobs for personnel in the coal industry and continue regional economic development to benefit regions impacted by previous downturns. The larger project is aimed at capturing ~300 tons/day (272 metric tonnes/day) CO₂ at a 90% capture rate from existing coal- fired boilers at the Abbott Power Plant on the campus of University of Illinois (UI). It will employ the Linde-BASF novel amine-based advanced CO₂ capture technology, which has already shown the potential to be cost-effective, energy efficient and compact at the 0.5-1.5 MWe pilot scales. The overall objective of the project is to design and install a scaled-up system of nominal 15 MWe size, integrate it with the Abbott Power Plant flue gas, steam and other utility systems, and demonstrate the viability of continuous operation under realistic conditions with high efficiency and capacity. The project will also begin to build a workforce that understands how to operate and maintain the capture plants by including students from regional community colleges and universities in the operation and evaluation of the capture system. This project will also lay the groundwork for follow-on projects that pilot utilization of the captured CO₂ from coal-fired power plants. The net impact will be to demonstrate a replicable means to (1) use a standardized procedure to evaluate power plants for their ability to be retrofitted with a pilot capture unit; (2) design and construct reliable capture systems based on the Linde-BASF technology; (3) operate and maintain these systems; (4) implement training programs with local community colleges and universities to establish a workforce to operate and maintain the systems; and (5) prepare to evaluate at the large pilot scale level various methods to utilize the resulting captured CO₂. Towards the larger project goal, the UI-led team, together
Measurements in large pool fires with an actively cooled calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koski, J.A.; Wix, S.D.

1995-01-01

The pool fire thermal test described in Safety Series 6 published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71 (10CFR71) in the United States is one of the most difficult tests that a container for larger ''Type B'' quantities of nuclear materials must pass. If retests of a container are required, costly redesign and project delays can result. Accurate measurements and modeling of the pool fire environment will ultimately lower container costs by assuring that containers past the pool fire test on the first attempt. Experiments indicate that the object size or surface temperature of the container can play a role in determining local heat fluxes that are beyond the effects predicted from the simple radiative heat transfer laws. An analytical model described by Nicolette and Larson 1990 can be used to understand many of these effects. In this model a gray gas represents soot particles present in the flame structure. Close to the container surface, these soot particles are convectively and radiatively cooled and interact with incident energy from the surrounding fire. This cooler soot cloud effectively prevents some thermal radiation from reaching the container surface, reducing the surface heat flux below the value predicted by a transparent medium model. With some empirical constants, the model suggested by Nicolette and Larson can be used to more accurately simulate the pool fire environment. Properly formulated, the gray gas approaches also fast enough to be used with standard commercial computer codes to analyze shipping containers. To calibrate this type of model, accurate experimental measurements of radiative absorption coefficients, flame temperatures, and other parameters are necessary. A goal of the calorimeter measurements described here is to obtain such parameters so that a fast, useful design tool for large pool fires can be constructed
The Fire Resistance Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Columns with Different Concrete Compressive Strengths

OpenAIRE

Dong, Hongying; Cao, Wanlin; Bian, Jianhui; Zhang, Jianwei

2014-01-01

In order to ascertain the fire resistance performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) components with different concrete compressive strengths, four full-scaled concrete columns were designed and tested under high temperature. Two of the four specimens were constructed by normal concrete with compressive strength ratings of C20 and C30, respectively, while the others were made from recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) concrete of C30 and C40, respectively. Identical constant axial forces were...
Large, high-intensity fire events in Southern California shrublands: Debunking the fine-grain age patch model

Science.gov (United States)

Keeley, J.E.; Zedler, P.H.

2009-01-01

We evaluate the fine-grain age patch model of fire regimes in southern California shrublands. Proponents contend that the historical condition was characterized by frequent small to moderate size, slow-moving smoldering fires, and that this regime has been disrupted by fire suppression activities that have caused unnatural fuel accumulation and anomalously large and catastrophic wildfires. A review of more than 100 19th-century newspaper reports reveals that large, high-intensity wildfires predate modern fire suppression policy, and extensive newspaper coverage plus first-hand accounts support the conclusion that the 1889 Santiago Canyon Fire was the largest fire in California history. Proponents of the fine-grain age patch model contend that even the very earliest 20th-century fires were the result of fire suppression disrupting natural fuel structure. We tested that hypothesis and found that, within the fire perimeters of two of the largest early fire events in 1919 and 1932, prior fire suppression activities were insufficient to have altered the natural fuel structure. Over the last 130 years there has been no significant change in the incidence of large fires greater than 10000 ha, consistent with the conclusion that fire suppression activities are not the cause of these fire events. Eight megafires (???50 000 ha) are recorded for the region, and half have occurred in the last five years. These burned through a mosaic of age classes, which raises doubts that accumulation of old age classes explains these events. Extreme drought is a plausible explanation for this recent rash of such events, and it is hypothesized that these are due to droughts that led to increased dead fine fuels that promoted the incidence of firebrands and spot fires. A major shortcoming of the fine-grain age patch model is that it requires age-dependent flammability of shrubland fuels, but seral stage chaparral is dominated by short-lived species that create a dense surface layer of fine
Ethics of large-scale change

OpenAIRE

Arler, Finn

2006-01-01

The subject of this paper is long-term large-scale changes in human society. Some very significant examples of large-scale change are presented: human population growth, human appropriation of land and primary production, the human use of fossil fuels, and climate change. The question is posed, which kind of attitude is appropriate when dealing with large-scale changes like these from an ethical point of view. Three kinds of approaches are discussed: Aldo Leopold's mountain thinking, th...
Embedded Electro-Optic Sensor Network for the On-Site Calibration and Real-Time Performance Monitoring of Large-Scale Phased Arrays

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Yang, Kyoung

2005-01-01

This final report summarizes the progress during the Phase I SBIR project entitled "Embedded Electro-Optic Sensor Network for the On-Site Calibration and Real-Time Performance Monitoring of Large-Scale Phased Arrays...
A Novel CPU/GPU Simulation Environment for Large-Scale Biologically-Realistic Neural Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roger V Hoang

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Computational Neuroscience is an emerging field that provides unique opportunities to studycomplex brain structures through realistic neural simulations. However, as biological details are added tomodels, the execution time for the simulation becomes longer. Graphics Processing Units (GPUs are now being utilized to accelerate simulations due to their ability to perform computations in parallel. As such, they haveshown significant improvement in execution time compared to Central Processing Units (CPUs. Most neural simulators utilize either multiple CPUs or a single GPU for better performance, but still show limitations in execution time when biological details are not sacrificed. Therefore, we present a novel CPU/GPU simulation environment for large-scale biological networks,the NeoCortical Simulator version 6 (NCS6. NCS6 is a free, open-source, parallelizable, and scalable simula-tor, designed to run on clusters of multiple machines, potentially with high performance computing devicesin each of them. It has built-in leaky-integrate-and-fire (LIF and Izhikevich (IZH neuron models, but usersalso have the capability to design their own plug-in interface for different neuron types as desired. NCS6is currently able to simulate one million cells and 100 million synapses in quasi real time by distributing dataacross these heterogeneous clusters of CPUs and GPUs.
Modeling fire and other disturbance processes using LANDIS

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen R. Shifley; Jian Yang; Hong He

2009-01-01

LANDIS is a landscape decision support tool that models spatial relationships to help managers and planners examine the large-scale, long-term, cumulative effects of succession, harvesting, wildfire, prescribed fire, insects, and disease. It can operate on forest landscapes from a few thousand to a few million acres in extent. Fire modeling capabilities in LANDIS are...
Cable fire tests in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaercher, M.

2000-01-01

Modifications are being carried out in all French nuclear power plants to improve fire safety. These modifications are based on a three level defense in depth concept: fire preventing, fire containing and fire controlling. Fire containing requires many modifications such as protection of cable races and assessment of fire propagation which both need R and D development. On one hand, cable wraps made with mineral wool were tested in all configurations including effect of aging, overheating and fire and qualified for the use as protection from common failure modes. On the other hand, cables races in scale one were subject to gas burner or solvent pool fire to simulate ignition and fire propagation between trays and flash over situations. These tests have been performed under several typical lay out conditions. The results of the tests can be used as input data in computer modelling for validation of fire protection measures. (orig.) [de
Study on large scale knowledge base with real time operation for autonomous nuclear power plant. 1. Basic concept and expecting performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozaki, Yoshihiko; Suda, Kazunori; Yoshikawa, Shinji; Ozawa, Kenji

1996-04-01

Since it is desired to enhance availability and safety of nuclear power plants operation and maintenance by removing human factor, there are many researches and developments for intelligent operation or diagnosis using artificial intelligence (AI) technique. We have been developing an autonomous operation and maintenance system for nuclear power plants by substituting AI's and intelligent robots. It is indispensable to use various and large scale knowledge relative to plant design, operation, and maintenance, that is, whole life cycle data of the plant for the autonomous nuclear power plant. These knowledge must be given to AI system or intelligent robots adequately and opportunely. Moreover, it is necessary to insure real time operation using the large scale knowledge base for plant control and diagnosis performance. We have been studying on the large scale and real time knowledge base system for autonomous plant. In the report, we would like to present the basic concept and expecting performance of the knowledge base for autonomous plant, especially, autonomous control and diagnosis system. (author)
A numerical approach for the study of large sodium spray fires and its application for SPX1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varet, T.; Leroy, B.; Barthez, M.; Malet, J.C.

1996-01-01

For the original design of SUPER-PHENIX, only pool fires were analysed for secondary sodium because these were thought to be the most likely. However, after the sodium spray fire at the solar plant of ALMERIA, an analysis of the consequences of secondary spray fire was undertaken. According to the French Safety Authority, the most penalizing cases of sodium leak and fire must be taken into account for each type of consequences, up to the complete rupture of a main secondary pipe. The experimental data available were mainly based on sodium flowrates in the range of ten kilograms per second, which are far below the leak flowrates obtained in case of a complete rupture of a main secondary pipe, i.e. several tons of sodium per second during a short time interval; moreover, it was obviously not possible to perform sodium tests with such high flowrate conditions. Consequently a complete methodology for the prediction of the behaviour of large sodium spray fires has been developed: the two-dimensional code PULSAR, which solves the two phase flow Navier-Stokes equations with source terms of mass and energy, is first used to evaluate the physical behaviour of a spray of sodium droplets in a cell in diverse conditions and thus to determine the burning rate. This last value is then used as data in the FEUMIX code in which other phenomena such as the dynamic response of pressure relief systems are described, in order to determine the pressure transient in the cell. This approach has been successfully tested using the experimental data available from past and recent tests, particularly the high flowrates tests IGNA 3602 and IGNA 3604. This numerical approach has been applied to the analysis of the consequences of postulated large sodium leaks in SUPER-PHENIX and allowed us to justify the hypotheses used to design the protective measures implemented on the plant, and thus the demonstration of safety with regard to large sodium leaks. (author)
COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION OF FIRE DEVELOPMENT INSIDE A TRADE CENTRE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantin LUPU

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Real scale fire experiments involve considerable costs compared to computational mathematical modelling. This paperwork is the result of such a virtual simulation of a fire occurred in a hypothetical wholesale warehouse comprising a large number of trade stands. The analysis starts from the ignition source located inside a trade stand towards the fire expansion over three groups of compartments, by highlighting the heat transfer, both in small spaces, as well as over large distances. In order to confirm the accuracy of the simulation, the obtained values are compared to the ones from the specialized literature.
Fire Scenarios in Spain: A Territorial Approach to Proactive Fire Management in the Context of Global Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Montiel Molina

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Humans and fire form a coupled and co-evolving natural-human system in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems. In this context, recent trends in landscape change, such as urban sprawl or the abandoning of agricultural and forest land management in line with new models of economic development and lifestyles, are leading to new fire scenarios. A fire scenario refers to the contextual factors of a fire regime, i.e., the environmental, socio-economic and policy drivers of wildfire initiation and propagation on different spatial and temporal scales. This is basically a landscape concept linking territorial dynamics (related to ecosystem evolution and settlement patterns with a fire regime (ignition causes; spread patterns; fire frequency, severity, extent and seasonality. The aim of this article is to identify and characterize these land-based fire scenarios in Spain on a national and regional scale, using a GIS-based methodology to perform a spatial analysis of the area attributes of homogenous fire spread patterns. To do this, the main variables considered are: land use/land cover, fuel load and recent fire history. The final objective is to reduce territorial vulnerability to forest wildfires and facilitate the adaptation of fire policies and land management systems to current challenges of preparedness and uncertainty management.
Analytical Assessment of the Relationship between 100MWp Large-scale Grid-connected Photovoltaic Plant Performance and Meteorological Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Sheng, Jie; Zhu, Qiaoming; Cao, Shijie; You, Yang

2017-05-01

This paper helps in study of the relationship between the photovoltaic power generation of large scale “fishing and PV complementary” grid-tied photovoltaic system and meteorological parameters, with multi-time scale power data from the photovoltaic power station and meteorological data over the same period of a whole year. The result indicates that, the PV power generation has the most significant correlation with global solar irradiation, followed by diurnal temperature range, sunshine hours, daily maximum temperature and daily average temperature. In different months, the maximum monthly average power generation appears in August, which related to the more global solar irradiation and longer sunshine hours in this month. However, the maximum daily average power generation appears in October, this is due to the drop in temperature brings about the improvement of the efficiency of PV panels. Through the contrast of monthly average performance ratio (PR) and monthly average temperature, it is shown that, the larger values of monthly average PR appears in April and October, while it is smaller in summer with higher temperature. The results concluded that temperature has a great influence on the performance ratio of large scale grid-tied PV power system, and it is important to adopt effective measures to decrease the temperature of PV plant properly.
Climate-Driven Risk of Large Fire Occurrence in the Western United States, 1500 to 2003

Science.gov (United States)

Crockett, J.; Westerling, A. L.

2017-12-01

Spatially comprehensive fire climatology has provided managers with tools to understand thecauses and consequences of large forest wildfires, but a paleoclimate context is necessary foranticipating the trajectory of future climate-fire relationships. Although accumulated charcoalrecords and tree scars have been utilized in high resolution, regional fire reconstructions, there isuncertainty as to how current climate-fire relationships of the western United States (WUS) fitwithin the natural long-term variability. While contemporary PDSI falls within the naturalvariability of the past, contemporary temperatures skew higher. Here, we develop a WUSfire reconstruction by applying climate-fire-topography model built on the 1972 to 2003 periodto the past 500 years, validated by recently updated fire-scar histories from WUS forests. Theresultant narrative provides insight into changing climate-fire relationships during extendedperiods of high aridity and temperature, providing land managers with historical precedent toeffectively anticipate disturbances during future climate change.
Solid waste drum array fire performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louie, R.L.; Haecker, C.F.; Beitel, J.J.; Gottuck, D.T.; Rhodes, B.T.; Bayier, C.L.

1995-09-01

Fire hazards associated with drum storage of radioactively contaminated waste are a major concern in DOE waste storage facilities. This report is the second of two reports on fire testing designed to provide data relative to the propagation of a fire among storage drum arrays. The first report covers testing of individual drums subjected to an initiating fire and the development of the analytical methodology to predict fire propagation among storage drum arrays. This report is the second report, which documents the results of drum array fire tests. The purpose of the array tests was to confirm the analytical methodology developed by Phase I fire testing. These tests provide conclusive evidence that fire will not propagate from drum to drum unless an continuous fuel source other than drum contents is provided
Fire danger and fire behavior modeling systems in Australia, Europe, and North America

Science.gov (United States)

Francis M. Fujioka; A. Malcolm Gill; Domingos X. Viegas; B. Mike Wotton

2009-01-01

Wildland fire occurrence and behavior are complex phenomena involving essentially fuel (vegetation), topography, and weather. Fire managers around the world use a variety of systems to track and predict fire danger and fire behavior, at spatial scales that span from local to global extents, and temporal scales ranging from minutes to seasons. The fire management...
Image-based Exploration of Large-Scale Pathline Fields

KAUST Repository

Nagoor, Omniah H.

2014-05-27

While real-time applications are nowadays routinely used in visualizing large nu- merical simulations and volumes, handling these large-scale datasets requires high-end graphics clusters or supercomputers to process and visualize them. However, not all users have access to powerful clusters. Therefore, it is challenging to come up with a visualization approach that provides insight to large-scale datasets on a single com- puter. Explorable images (EI) is one of the methods that allows users to handle large data on a single workstation. Although it is a view-dependent method, it combines both exploration and modification of visual aspects without re-accessing the original huge data. In this thesis, we propose a novel image-based method that applies the concept of EI in visualizing large flow-field pathlines data. The goal of our work is to provide an optimized image-based method, which scales well with the dataset size. Our approach is based on constructing a per-pixel linked list data structure in which each pixel contains a list of pathlines segments. With this view-dependent method it is possible to filter, color-code and explore large-scale flow data in real-time. In addition, optimization techniques such as early-ray termination and deferred shading are applied, which further improves the performance and scalability of our approach.
Unites States position paper on sodium fires. Design basis and testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lancet, R.T.; Johnson, R.P.; Matlin, E.; Vaughan, E.U.; Fields, D.E.; Glueckler, E.; McCormack, J.D.; Miller, C.W.; Pedersen, D.R.

1989-01-01

This paper focuses on designs, analyses, and tests performed since the last Sodium Fires Meeting of the IAEA International Working Group on Fast Reactors in May 1982. Since the U.S. Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR) program is focused on the two advanced LMRs, SAFR and PRISM, the paper relates this work to these designs. First, the design philosophy and approach taken by these advanced pool reactors are described. This includes methods of leak detection, the design basis leaks, and passive accommodation of sodium fires. Then the small- and large-scale sodium fire tests performed in support of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) program, including post-accident cleanup, are presented and related to the advanced LMR designs. Next, the assessment and behavior of the aerosols generated are discussed including generation rate, behavior within structures, release and dispersal, and deposition on safety-grade equipment. Finally, the impact of these aerosols on the performance of safety-grade decay heat removal heat exchange surfaces is discussed including some test results as well as planned tests. (author)
Factors affecting fuel break effectiveness in the control of large fires on the Los Padres National Forest, California

Science.gov (United States)

Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E.; Brennan, Teresa J.

2011-01-01

As wildfires have increased in frequency and extent, so have the number of homes developed in the wildland-urban interface. In California, the predominant approach to mitigating fire risk is construction of fuel breaks, but there has been little empirical study of their role in controlling large fires.We constructed a spatial database of fuel breaks on the Los Padres National Forest in southern California to better understand characteristics of fuel breaks that affect the behaviour of large fires and to map where fires and fuel breaks most commonly intersect. We evaluated whether fires stopped or crossed over fuel breaks over a 28-year period and compared the outcomes with physical characteristics of the sites, weather and firefighting activities during the fire event. Many fuel breaks never intersected fires, but others intersected several, primarily in historically fire-prone areas. Fires stopped at fuel breaks 46% of the time, almost invariably owing to fire suppression activities. Firefighter access to treatments, smaller fires and longer fuel breaks were significant direct influences, and younger vegetation and fuel break maintenance indirectly improved the outcome by facilitating firefighter access. This study illustrates the importance of strategic location of fuel breaks because they have been most effective where they provided access for firefighting activities.

Introducing the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED)

Science.gov (United States)

Field, R. D.

2015-12-01

The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is the mostly widely used fire danger rating system in the world. We have developed a global database of daily FWI System calculations beginning in 1980 called the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) gridded to a spatial resolution of 0.5° latitude by 2/3° longitude. Input weather data were obtained from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research (MERRA), and two different estimates of daily precipitation from rain gauges over land. FWI System Drought Code calculations from the gridded datasets were compared to calculations from individual weather station data for a representative set of 48 stations in North, Central and South America, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia and Australia. Agreement between gridded calculations and the station-based calculations tended to be most different at low latitudes for strictly MERRA-based calculations. Strong biases could be seen in either direction: MERRA DC over the Mato Grosso in Brazil reached unrealistically high values exceeding DC=1500 during the dry season but was too low over Southeast Asia during the dry season. These biases are consistent with those previously-identified in MERRA's precipitation and reinforce the need to consider alternative sources of precipitation data. GFWED is being used by researchers around the world for analyzing historical relationships between fire weather and fire activity at large scales, in identifying large-scale atmosphere-ocean controls on fire weather, and calibration of FWI-based fire prediction models. These applications will be discussed. More information on GFWED can be found at http://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/
Large-scale Labeled Datasets to Fuel Earth Science Deep Learning Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Maskey, M.; Ramachandran, R.; Miller, J.

2017-12-01

Deep learning has revolutionized computer vision and natural language processing with various algorithms scaled using high-performance computing. However, generic large-scale labeled datasets such as the ImageNet are the fuel that drives the impressive accuracy of deep learning results. Large-scale labeled datasets already exist in domains such as medical science, but creating them in the Earth science domain is a challenge. While there are ways to apply deep learning using limited labeled datasets, there is a need in the Earth sciences for creating large-scale labeled datasets for benchmarking and scaling deep learning applications. At the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, we are using deep learning for a variety of Earth science applications where we have encountered the need for large-scale labeled datasets. We will discuss our approaches for creating such datasets and why these datasets are just as valuable as deep learning algorithms. We will also describe successful usage of these large-scale labeled datasets with our deep learning based applications.
Simulation of buoyancy induced gas mixing tests performed in a large scale containment facility using GOTHIC code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, Z.; Chin, Y.S. [Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, ON (Canada)

2014-07-01

This paper compares containment thermal-hydraulics simulations performed using GOTHIC against a past test set of large scale buoyancy induced helium-air-steam mixing experiments that had been performed at the AECL's Chalk River Laboratories. A number of typical post-accident containment phenomena, including thermal/gas stratification, natural convection, cool air entrainment, steam condensation on concrete walls and active local air cooler, were covered. The results provide useful insights into hydrogen gas mixing behaviour following a loss-of-coolant accident and demonstrate GOTHIC's capability in simulating these phenomena. (author)
Simulation of buoyancy induced gas mixing tests performed in a large scale containment facility using GOTHIC code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Z.; Chin, Y.S.

2014-01-01

This paper compares containment thermal-hydraulics simulations performed using GOTHIC against a past test set of large scale buoyancy induced helium-air-steam mixing experiments that had been performed at the AECL's Chalk River Laboratories. A number of typical post-accident containment phenomena, including thermal/gas stratification, natural convection, cool air entrainment, steam condensation on concrete walls and active local air cooler, were covered. The results provide useful insights into hydrogen gas mixing behaviour following a loss-of-coolant accident and demonstrate GOTHIC's capability in simulating these phenomena. (author)
Quantitative comparison of fire danger index performance using fire activity

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Steenkamp, KC

2012-07-01

Full Text Available parameters such as flame length or rate of spread can be physically measured or modeled. Fire danger indices are not designed to describe the characteristics of a fire but rather the potential of a fire taking place in an area of interest [5]. Several...
Performance of the first Japanese large-scale facility for radon inhalation experiments with small animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishimori, Y.; Mitsunobu, F.; Yamaoka, K.; Tanaka, H.; Kataoka, T.; Sakoda, A.

2011-01-01

A radon test facility for small animals was developed in order to increase the statistical validity of differences of the biological response in various radon environments. This paper illustrates the performances of that facility, the first large-scale facility of its kind in Japan. The facility has a capability to conduct approximately 150 mouse-scale tests at the same time. The apparatus for exposing small animals to radon has six animal chamber groups with five independent cages each. Different radon concentrations in each animal chamber group are available. Because the first target of this study is to examine the in vivo behaviour of radon and its effects, the major functions to control radon and to eliminate thoron were examined experimentally. Additionally, radon progeny concentrations and their particle size distributions in the cages were also examined experimentally to be considered in future projects. (authors)
Response and Resiliency of Wildlife and Vegetation to Large-Scale Wildfires and Climate Change in the North Cascades

Science.gov (United States)

Bartowitz, K.; Morrison, P.; Romain-Bondi, K.; Smith, C. W.; Warne, L.; McGill, D.

2016-12-01

Changing climatic patterns have affected the western US in a variety of ways: decreases in precipitation and snowpack, earlier spring snowmelt, and increased lightning strikes have created a drier, more fire-prone system, despite variability in these characteristics. Wildfires are a natural phenomenon, but have been suppressed for much of the past century. Effects of this evolving fire regime on native vegetation and wildlife are not well understood. Increased frequency and intensity of fires coupled with subsequent drought and extreme heat may inhibit or alter recovery of native ecosystems. We are currently investigating how a mega-fire has affected presence of western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus, WGS) in the North Cascades, and the mortality, survival, and recovery of vegetation following these fires and extreme drought. The Methow Valley in WA experienced a record-breaking wildfire in 2014, which disturbed nearly 50% of priority habitat of the North Cascades population of WGS. WGS were studied at the same pre and post-fire plots. WGS were present at over half of the post-burn plots (58%). There was a significant difference in the number of WGS hair samples collected in different levels of remaining vegetation: the most in moderate, few in low, and none in high. Vegetation recovery was assessed through field data, and a chronosequence of satellite images and aerial photography. 75% of the 2014 fire burned non-forested vegetation. Ponderosa pine forests comprised the rest. The forests experienced about 70% initial mortality. Recovery of the forest appears slower than in the shrub-steppe. First year seedling survival was poor due to an extremely hot, dry summer, while second year survival appears higher due to a cool, moist spring and summer. One year after a large, multi-severity fire we found WGS may be more resilient to disturbance such as fires than previously thought. Future studies of WGS will help elucidate long-term response to large-scale fires, and
Large Scale Solar Heating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heller, Alfred

2001-01-01

The main objective of the research was to evaluate large-scale solar heating connected to district heating (CSDHP), to build up a simulation tool and to demonstrate the application of the simulation tool for design studies and on a local energy planning case. The evaluation was mainly carried out...... model is designed and validated on the Marstal case. Applying the Danish Reference Year, a design tool is presented. The simulation tool is used for proposals for application of alternative designs, including high-performance solar collector types (trough solar collectors, vaccum pipe collectors......). Simulation programs are proposed as control supporting tool for daily operation and performance prediction of central solar heating plants. Finaly the CSHP technolgy is put into persepctive with respect to alternatives and a short discussion on the barries and breakthrough of the technology are given....
Optimizing prescribed fire allocation for managing fire risk in central Catalonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcasena, Fermín J; Ager, Alan A; Salis, Michele; Day, Michelle A; Vega-Garcia, Cristina

2018-04-15

We used spatial optimization to allocate and prioritize prescribed fire treatments in the fire-prone Bages County, central Catalonia (northeastern Spain). The goal of this study was to identify suitable strategic locations on forest lands for fuel treatments in order to: 1) disrupt major fire movements, 2) reduce ember emissions, and 3) reduce the likelihood of large fires burning into residential communities. We first modeled fire spread, hazard and exposure metrics under historical extreme fire weather conditions, including node influence grid for surface fire pathways, crown fraction burned and fire transmission to residential structures. Then, we performed an optimization analysis on individual planning areas to identify production possibility frontiers for addressing fire exposure and explore alternative prescribed fire treatment configurations. The results revealed strong trade-offs among different fire exposure metrics, showed treatment mosaics that optimize the allocation of prescribed fire, and identified specific opportunities to achieve multiple objectives. Our methods can contribute to improving the efficiency of prescribed fire treatment investments and wildfire management programs aimed at creating fire resilient ecosystems, facilitating safe and efficient fire suppression, and safeguarding rural communities from catastrophic wildfires. The analysis framework can be used to optimally allocate prescribed fire in other fire-prone areas within the Mediterranean region and elsewhere. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Fire-retardant-treated strandboard : properties and fire performance

Science.gov (United States)

Jerrold Winandy; Qingwen Wang; Robert H. White

2008-01-01

This study evaluated a series of single-layer, randomly oriented strandboard panels made with one resin type, a single resin loading level, and four fire-retardant-treatment levels. The fire retardant (FR) evaluated was a pH-buffered combination of boric acid and organic phosphate. Siberian larch strands were separated into five batches. One batch of strands served as...
Full-scale Milling Tests of Wood Pellets for Combustion in a Suspension-Fired Power Plant Boiler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Masche, Marvin; Puig Arnavat, Maria; Wadenbäck, Johan

The size reduction of pelletized wood is crucial in suspension-fired power plants, and hence its milling characteristics are of interest to optimize the milling and combustion process. The objective of the study was to compare the size and shape of pellets disintegrated in hot water with that from......), and analyzing the comminuted particle shape and particle size distribution (PSD). Large-scale pellet comminution produced finer and wider PSDs than pellet disintegration in hot water, but only slightly altered the particle shape. The mill pressure loss, absorbed mill power, and hence SGEC depended on the pellet...
Fire weather and large fire potential in the northern Sierra Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Brandon M. Collins

2014-01-01

Fuels, weather, and topography all contribute to observed fire behavior. Of these, weather is not only the most dynamic factor, it is the most likely to be directly influenced by climate change. In this study 40 years of daily fire weather observations from five weather stations across the northern Sierra Nevada were analyzed to investigate potential changes or trends...
Fire test of DOT 7A Boxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, J.D.

1979-05-01

The primary objective of conducting the full-scale fire tests of the DOT (Department of Transportation) 7A FRP Boxes was to provide information to assist in quantifying the fire hazard of the storage located at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC), and to learn if changing the storage array will decrease the fire risk. Also, the level of fire fighting and fire protection required to maintain the risk at the RWMC within acceptable DOE guidelines was investigated. Two full-scale fire tests were conducted at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in June 1978, using the DOE 7A FRP Plywood Storage Containers. The fire tests showed that when subjected to a substantial ignition source, the boxes will propagate fire as long as no fire-suppression measures are taken. Fire will breach the boxes and spread the radioactive contaminated waste if it is not extinguished. As the fire progresses, additional boxes will become involved, and eventually the entire storage array will ignite. It is recommended that the use of DOT 7A Boxes be discontinued and replaced with noncombustible storage containers. In the event this is not practicable, guidance recommendations are presented to minimize the large fire loss potential. It is also recommended that an investigation be conducted into the number of boxes that can be destroyed and still maintain a safe environment for employees and the public. This investigation should include how far radioactive contamination will spread, what cleanup will be required, anticipated exposure of the people within the area, and the public impact of such a fire
Spatial optimization of operationally relevant large fire confine and point protection strategies: Model development and test cases

Science.gov (United States)

Yu Wei; Matthew P. Thompson; Jessica R. Haas; Gregory K. Dillon; Christopher D. O’Connor

2018-01-01

This study introduces a large fire containment strategy that builds upon recent advances in spatial fire planning, notably the concept of potential wildland fire operation delineations (PODs). Multiple PODs can be clustered together to form a âboxâ that is referred as the âresponse PODâ (or rPOD). Fire lines would be built along the boundary of an rPOD to contain a...
VESPA: Very large-scale Evolutionary and Selective Pressure Analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew E. Webb

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background Large-scale molecular evolutionary analyses of protein coding sequences requires a number of preparatory inter-related steps from finding gene families, to generating alignments and phylogenetic trees and assessing selective pressure variation. Each phase of these analyses can represent significant challenges, particularly when working with entire proteomes (all protein coding sequences in a genome from a large number of species. Methods We present VESPA, software capable of automating a selective pressure analysis using codeML in addition to the preparatory analyses and summary statistics. VESPA is written in python and Perl and is designed to run within a UNIX environment. Results We have benchmarked VESPA and our results show that the method is consistent, performs well on both large scale and smaller scale datasets, and produces results in line with previously published datasets. Discussion Large-scale gene family identification, sequence alignment, and phylogeny reconstruction are all important aspects of large-scale molecular evolutionary analyses. VESPA provides flexible software for simplifying these processes along with downstream selective pressure variation analyses. The software automatically interprets results from codeML and produces simplified summary files to assist the user in better understanding the results. VESPA may be found at the following website: http://www.mol-evol.org/VESPA.
Political consultation and large-scale research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bechmann, G.; Folkers, H.

1977-01-01

Large-scale research and policy consulting have an intermediary position between sociological sub-systems. While large-scale research coordinates science, policy, and production, policy consulting coordinates science, policy and political spheres. In this very position, large-scale research and policy consulting lack of institutional guarantees and rational back-ground guarantee which are characteristic for their sociological environment. This large-scale research can neither deal with the production of innovative goods under consideration of rentability, nor can it hope for full recognition by the basis-oriented scientific community. Policy consulting knows neither the competence assignment of the political system to make decisions nor can it judge succesfully by the critical standards of the established social science, at least as far as the present situation is concerned. This intermediary position of large-scale research and policy consulting has, in three points, a consequence supporting the thesis which states that this is a new form of institutionalization of science: These are: 1) external control, 2) the organization form, 3) the theoretical conception of large-scale research and policy consulting. (orig.) [de
How The Australian National University's emergency management and continuity plans responded to a large-scale fire.

Science.gov (United States)

Meehan, Bart

2008-01-01

On 18th January, 2003, one of the worst bushfires in the history of Australia hit the capital city, Canberra. By the time it was under control, four people were dead and more than 500 homes were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the Mount Stromlo campus of the Australian National University, the location of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. In response to the fires, the University initiated its emergency management strategy and business continuity plans. These allowed the School to recommence limited operations within two weeks of the disaster. This paper details a case study of the impact of the fire (in part using personal recollections of staff and students), and the emergency response implemented by the University. It describes the development of the University's emergency management strategy, with its emphasis on the key elements of clear chain of command and flexibility in developing an incident-specific response. The paper also provides an assessment of how the plan worked during an actual incident and some of the lessons learned, including the importance of the early response, managing the impact on people, media management, insurance and communications.
Accelerating large-scale phase-field simulations with GPU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoming Shi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A new package for accelerating large-scale phase-field simulations was developed by using GPU based on the semi-implicit Fourier method. The package can solve a variety of equilibrium equations with different inhomogeneity including long-range elastic, magnetostatic, and electrostatic interactions. Through using specific algorithm in Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA, Fourier spectral iterative perturbation method was integrated in GPU package. The Allen-Cahn equation, Cahn-Hilliard equation, and phase-field model with long-range interaction were solved based on the algorithm running on GPU respectively to test the performance of the package. From the comparison of the calculation results between the solver executed in single CPU and the one on GPU, it was found that the speed on GPU is enormously elevated to 50 times faster. The present study therefore contributes to the acceleration of large-scale phase-field simulations and provides guidance for experiments to design large-scale functional devices.
Long-term temporal changes in the occurrence of a high forest fire danger in Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. M. Mäkelä

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Climate variation and change influence several ecosystem components including forest fires. To examine long-term temporal variations of forest fire danger, a fire danger day (FDD model was developed. Using mean temperature and total precipitation of the Finnish wildfire season (June–August, the model describes the climatological preconditions of fire occurrence and gives the number of fire danger days during the same time period. The performance of the model varied between different regions in Finland being best in south and west. In the study period 1908–2011, the year-to-year variation of FDD was large and no significant increasing or decreasing tendencies could be found. Negative slopes of linear regression lines for FDD could be explained by the simultaneous, mostly not significant increases in precipitation. Years with the largest wildfires did not stand out from the FDD time series. This indicates that intra-seasonal variations of FDD enable occurrence of large-scale fires, despite the whole season's fire danger is on an average level. Based on available monthly climate data, it is possible to estimate the general fire conditions of a summer. However, more detailed input data about weather conditions, land use, prevailing forestry conventions and socio-economical factors would be needed to gain more specific information about a season's fire risk.
Community participation in fire management planning: The Trinity county fire safe council's fire plan

Science.gov (United States)

Yvonne Everett

2008-01-01

In 1999, Trinity County CA, initiated a participatory fire management planning effort. Since that time, the Trinity County Fire Safe Council has completed critical portions of a fire safe plan and has begun to implement projects defined in the plan. Completion of a GIS based, landscape scale fuels reduction element in the plan defined by volunteer fire fighters, agency...

Multiresolution comparison of precipitation datasets for large-scale models

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, K. P.; Sapriza Azuri, G.; Davison, B.; DeBeer, C. M.; Wheater, H. S.

2014-12-01

Gridded precipitation datasets are crucial for driving large-scale models which are related to weather forecast and climate research. However, the quality of precipitation products is usually validated individually. Comparisons between gridded precipitation products along with ground observations provide another avenue for investigating how the precipitation uncertainty would affect the performance of large-scale models. In this study, using data from a set of precipitation gauges over British Columbia and Alberta, we evaluate several widely used North America gridded products including the Canadian Gridded Precipitation Anomalies (CANGRD), the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis, the Water and Global Change (WATCH) project, the thin plate spline smoothing algorithms (ANUSPLIN) and Canadian Precipitation Analysis (CaPA). Based on verification criteria for various temporal and spatial scales, results provide an assessment of possible applications for various precipitation datasets. For long-term climate variation studies (~100 years), CANGRD, NCEP, WATCH and ANUSPLIN have different comparative advantages in terms of their resolution and accuracy. For synoptic and mesoscale precipitation patterns, CaPA provides appealing performance of spatial coherence. In addition to the products comparison, various downscaling methods are also surveyed to explore new verification and bias-reduction methods for improving gridded precipitation outputs for large-scale models.
Large-scale multimedia modeling applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Droppo, J.G. Jr.; Buck, J.W.; Whelan, G.; Strenge, D.L.; Castleton, K.J.; Gelston, G.M.

1995-08-01

Over the past decade, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies have faced increasing scrutiny for a wide range of environmental issues related to past and current practices. A number of large-scale applications have been undertaken that required analysis of large numbers of potential environmental issues over a wide range of environmental conditions and contaminants. Several of these applications, referred to here as large-scale applications, have addressed long-term public health risks using a holistic approach for assessing impacts from potential waterborne and airborne transport pathways. Multimedia models such as the Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS) were designed for use in such applications. MEPAS integrates radioactive and hazardous contaminants impact computations for major exposure routes via air, surface water, ground water, and overland flow transport. A number of large-scale applications of MEPAS have been conducted to assess various endpoints for environmental and human health impacts. These applications are described in terms of lessons learned in the development of an effective approach for large-scale applications
Large-scale biodiesel production using flue gas from coal-fired power plants with Nannochloropsis microalgal biomass in open raceway ponds.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Baohua; Sun, Faqiang; Yang, Miao; Lu, Lin; Yang, Guanpin; Pan, Kehou

2014-12-01

The potential use of microalgal biomass as a biofuel source has raised broad interest. Highly effective and economically feasible biomass generating techniques are essential to realize such potential. Flue gas from coal-fired power plants may serve as an inexpensive carbon source for microalgal culture, and it may also facilitate improvement of the environment once the gas is fixed in biomass. In this study, three strains of the genus Nannochloropsis (4-38, KA2 and 75B1) survived this type of culture and bloomed using flue gas from coal-fired power plants in 8000-L open raceway ponds. Lower temperatures and solar irradiation reduced the biomass yield and lipid productivities of these strains. Strain 4-38 performed better than the other two as it contained higher amounts of triacylglycerols and fatty acids, which are used for biodiesel production. Further optimization of the application of flue gas to microalgal culture should be undertaken. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Performance Characteristics of Hybrid MPI/OpenMP Scientific Applications on a Large-Scale Multithreaded BlueGene/Q Supercomputer

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu; Taylor, Valerie

2013-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the performance characteristics of five hybrid MPI/OpenMP scientific applications (two NAS Parallel benchmarks Multi-Zone SP-MZ and BT-MZ, an earthquake simulation PEQdyna, an aerospace application PMLB and a 3D particle-in-cell application GTC) on a large-scale multithreaded Blue Gene/Q supercomputer at Argonne National laboratory, and quantify the performance gap resulting from using different number of threads per node. We use performance tools and MPI profile and trace libraries available on the supercomputer to analyze and compare the performance of these hybrid scientific applications with increasing the number OpenMP threads per node, and find that increasing the number of threads to some extent saturates or worsens performance of these hybrid applications. For the strong-scaling hybrid scientific applications such as SP-MZ, BT-MZ, PEQdyna and PLMB, using 32 threads per node results in much better application efficiency than using 64 threads per node, and as increasing the number of threads per node, the FPU (Floating Point Unit) percentage decreases, and the MPI percentage (except PMLB) and IPC (Instructions per cycle) per core (except BT-MZ) increase. For the weak-scaling hybrid scientific application such as GTC, the performance trend (relative speedup) is very similar with increasing number of threads per node no matter how many nodes (32, 128, 512) are used. © 2013 IEEE.
Performance Characteristics of Hybrid MPI/OpenMP Scientific Applications on a Large-Scale Multithreaded BlueGene/Q Supercomputer

KAUST Repository

Wu, Xingfu

2013-07-01

In this paper, we investigate the performance characteristics of five hybrid MPI/OpenMP scientific applications (two NAS Parallel benchmarks Multi-Zone SP-MZ and BT-MZ, an earthquake simulation PEQdyna, an aerospace application PMLB and a 3D particle-in-cell application GTC) on a large-scale multithreaded Blue Gene/Q supercomputer at Argonne National laboratory, and quantify the performance gap resulting from using different number of threads per node. We use performance tools and MPI profile and trace libraries available on the supercomputer to analyze and compare the performance of these hybrid scientific applications with increasing the number OpenMP threads per node, and find that increasing the number of threads to some extent saturates or worsens performance of these hybrid applications. For the strong-scaling hybrid scientific applications such as SP-MZ, BT-MZ, PEQdyna and PLMB, using 32 threads per node results in much better application efficiency than using 64 threads per node, and as increasing the number of threads per node, the FPU (Floating Point Unit) percentage decreases, and the MPI percentage (except PMLB) and IPC (Instructions per cycle) per core (except BT-MZ) increase. For the weak-scaling hybrid scientific application such as GTC, the performance trend (relative speedup) is very similar with increasing number of threads per node no matter how many nodes (32, 128, 512) are used. © 2013 IEEE.
Design study on sodium cooled large-scale reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, Tsutomu; Hishida, Masahiko; Kisohara, Naoyuki

2004-07-01

In Phase 1 of the 'Feasibility Studies on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems (F/S)', an advanced loop type reactor has been selected as a promising concept of sodium-cooled large-scale reactor, which has a possibility to fulfill the design requirements of the F/S. In Phase 2, design improvement for further cost reduction of establishment of the plant concept has been performed. This report summarizes the results of the design study on the sodium-cooled large-scale reactor performed in JFY2003, which is the third year of Phase 2. In the JFY2003 design study, critical subjects related to safety, structural integrity and thermal hydraulics which found in the last fiscal year has been examined and the plant concept has been modified. Furthermore, fundamental specifications of main systems and components have been set and economy has been evaluated. In addition, as the interim evaluation of the candidate concept of the FBR fuel cycle is to be conducted, cost effectiveness and achievability for the development goal were evaluated and the data of the three large-scale reactor candidate concepts were prepared. As a results of this study, the plant concept of the sodium-cooled large-scale reactor has been constructed, which has a prospect to satisfy the economic goal (construction cost: less than 200,000 yens/kWe, etc.) and has a prospect to solve the critical subjects. From now on, reflecting the results of elemental experiments, the preliminary conceptual design of this plant will be preceded toward the selection for narrowing down candidate concepts at the end of Phase 2. (author)
Exploiting Data Sparsity for Large-Scale Matrix Computations

KAUST Repository

Akbudak, Kadir

2018-02-24

Exploiting data sparsity in dense matrices is an algorithmic bridge between architectures that are increasingly memory-austere on a per-core basis and extreme-scale applications. The Hierarchical matrix Computations on Manycore Architectures (HiCMA) library tackles this challenging problem by achieving significant reductions in time to solution and memory footprint, while preserving a specified accuracy requirement of the application. HiCMA provides a high-performance implementation on distributed-memory systems of one of the most widely used matrix factorization in large-scale scientific applications, i.e., the Cholesky factorization. It employs the tile low-rank data format to compress the dense data-sparse off-diagonal tiles of the matrix. It then decomposes the matrix computations into interdependent tasks and relies on the dynamic runtime system StarPU for asynchronous out-of-order scheduling, while allowing high user-productivity. Performance comparisons and memory footprint on matrix dimensions up to eleven million show a performance gain and memory saving of more than an order of magnitude for both metrics on thousands of cores, against state-of-the-art open-source and vendor optimized numerical libraries. This represents an important milestone in enabling large-scale matrix computations toward solving big data problems in geospatial statistics for climate/weather forecasting applications.
Exploiting Data Sparsity for Large-Scale Matrix Computations

KAUST Repository

Akbudak, Kadir; Ltaief, Hatem; Mikhalev, Aleksandr; Charara, Ali; Keyes, David E.

2018-01-01

Exploiting data sparsity in dense matrices is an algorithmic bridge between architectures that are increasingly memory-austere on a per-core basis and extreme-scale applications. The Hierarchical matrix Computations on Manycore Architectures (HiCMA) library tackles this challenging problem by achieving significant reductions in time to solution and memory footprint, while preserving a specified accuracy requirement of the application. HiCMA provides a high-performance implementation on distributed-memory systems of one of the most widely used matrix factorization in large-scale scientific applications, i.e., the Cholesky factorization. It employs the tile low-rank data format to compress the dense data-sparse off-diagonal tiles of the matrix. It then decomposes the matrix computations into interdependent tasks and relies on the dynamic runtime system StarPU for asynchronous out-of-order scheduling, while allowing high user-productivity. Performance comparisons and memory footprint on matrix dimensions up to eleven million show a performance gain and memory saving of more than an order of magnitude for both metrics on thousands of cores, against state-of-the-art open-source and vendor optimized numerical libraries. This represents an important milestone in enabling large-scale matrix computations toward solving big data problems in geospatial statistics for climate/weather forecasting applications.
Fire regimes in eastern coastal fynbos: Imperatives and thresholds in managing for diversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tineke Kraaij

2013-03-01

Conservation implications: Wildfires are likely to remain dominant in eastern coastal fynbos, whilst large-scale implementation of prescribed burning is unattainable. Fires occurring in any season are not a reason for concern, although other constraints remain: the need for sufficient fire intensity, safety requirements, and integration of fire and invasive alien plant management.
Smouldering Fires in the Earth System

Science.gov (United States)

Rein, G.

2012-04-01

Smouldering fires, the slow, low-temperature, flameless burning, represent the most persistent type of combustion phenomena and the longest continuously fires on Earth system. Indeed, smouldering mega-fires of peatlands occur with some frequency during the dry session in, for example, Indonesia, Canada, Russia, UK and USA. Smouldering fires propagate slowly through organic layers of the ground and can reach depth >5 m if large cracks, natural piping or channel systems exist. It threatens to release sequestered carbon deep into the soil. Once ignited, they are particularly difficult to extinguish despite extensive rains, weather changes or fire-fighting attempts, and can persist for long periods of time (months, years) spreading deep and over extensive areas. Recent figures at the global scale estimate that average annual greenhouse gas emissions from smouldering fires are equivalent to 15% of man-made emissions. These fires are difficult or impossible to detect with current remote sensing methods because the chemistry is significantly different, their thermal radiation signature is much smaller, and the plume is much less buoyant. These wildfires burn fossil fuels and thus are a carbon-positive fire phenomena. This creates feedbacks in the climate system because soil moisture deficit and self-heating are enchanted under warmer climate scenarios and lead to more frequent fires. Warmer temperatures at high latitudes are resulting in more frequent Artic fires. Unprecedented permafrost thaw is leaving large soil carbon pools exposed to smouldering fires for the fist time since millennia. Although interactions between flaming fires and the Earth system have been a central focus, smouldering fires are as important but have received very little attention. DBut differences with flaming fires are important. This paper reviews the current knowledge on smouldering fires in the Earth system regarding combustion dynamics, damage to the soil, emissions, remote sensing and
Technical methods for a risk-informed, performance-based fire protection program at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dey, M.K.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a technical review and examination of technical methods that are available for developing a risk-informed, performance-based fire protection program at a nuclear plant. The technical methods include ''engineering tools'' for examining the fire dynamics of fire protection problems, reliability techniques for establishing an optimal fire protection surveillance program, fire computer codes for analyzing important fire protection safety parameters, and risk-informed approaches that can range from drawing qualitative insights from risk information to quantifying the risk impact of alternative fire protection approaches. Based on this technical review and examination, it is concluded that methods for modeling fires, and reliability and fire PRA analyses are currently available to support the initial implementation of simple risk-informed, performance-based approaches in fire protection programs. (author)
Technical methods for a risk-informed, performance-based fire protection program at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dey, M.K.

2000-01-01

This paper presents a technical review and examination of technical methods that are available for developing a risk-informed, performance-based fire protection program at a nuclear plant. The technical methods include 'engineering tools' for examining the fire dynamics of fire protection problems, reliability techniques for establishing an optimal fire protection surveillance program, fire computer codes for analyzing important fire protection safety parameters, and risk-informed approaches that can range from drawing qualitative insights from risk information to quantifying the risk impact of alternative fire protection approaches. Based on this technical review and examination, it is concluded that methods for modeling fires, and reliability and fire probabilistic risk analyses (PRA) are currently available to support the initial implementation of simple risk-informed, performance-based approaches in fire protection programs. (orig.) [de
Metrology for fire experiments in outdoor conditions

CERN Document Server

Silvani, Xavier

2013-01-01

Natural fires can be considered as scale-dependant, non-linear processes of mass, momentum and heat transport, resulting from a turbulent reactive and radiative fluid medium flowing over a complex medium, the vegetal fuel. In natural outdoor conditions, the experimental study of natural fires at real scale needs the development of an original metrology, one able to capture the large range of time and length scales involved in its dynamic nature and also able to resist the thermal, mechanical and chemical aggression of flames on devices. Robust, accurate and poorly intrusive tools must be carefully set-up and used for gaining very fluctuating data over long periods. These signals also need the development of original post-processing tools that take into account the non-steady nature of their stochastic components. Metrology for Fire Experiments in Outdoor Conditions closely analyzes these features, and also describes measurements techniques, the thermal insulation of fragile electronic systems, data acquisitio...
Sizing and scaling requirements of a large-scale physical model for code validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaleel, R.; Legore, T.

1990-01-01

Model validation is an important consideration in application of a code for performance assessment and therefore in assessing the long-term behavior of the engineered and natural barriers of a geologic repository. Scaling considerations relevant to porous media flow are reviewed. An analysis approach is presented for determining the sizing requirements of a large-scale, hydrology physical model. The physical model will be used to validate performance assessment codes that evaluate the long-term behavior of the repository isolation system. Numerical simulation results for sizing requirements are presented for a porous medium model in which the media properties are spatially uncorrelated
Fire risk and adaptation strategies in Northern Eurasian forests

Science.gov (United States)

Shvidenko, Anatoly; Schepaschenko, Dmitry

2013-04-01

On-going climatic changes substantially accelerate current fire regimes in Northern Eurasian ecosystems, particularly in forests. During 1998-2012, wildfires enveloped on average ~10.5 M ha year-1 in Russia with a large annual variation (between 3 and 30 M ha) and average direct carbon emissions at ~150 Tg C year-1. Catastrophic fires, which envelope large areas, spread in usually incombustible wetlands, escape from control and provide extraordinary negative impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, economics, infrastructure, environment, and health of population, become a typical feature of the current fire regimes. There are new evidences of correlation between catastrophic fires and large-scale climatic anomalies at a continental scale. While current climatic predictions suggest the dramatic warming (at the average at 6-7 °C for the country and up to 10-12°C in some northern continental regions), any substantial increase of summer precipitation does not expected. Increase of dryness and instability of climate will impact fire risk and severity of consequences. Current models suggest a 2-3 fold increase of the number of fires by the end of this century in the boreal zone. They predict increases of the number of catastrophic fires; a significant increase in the intensity of fire and amount of consumed fuel; synergies between different types of disturbances (outbreaks of insects, unregulated anthropogenic impacts); acceleration of composition of the gas emissions due to enhanced soil burning. If boreal forests would become a typing element, the mass mortality of trees would increase fire risk and severity. Permafrost melting and subsequent change of hydrological regimes very likely will lead to the degradation and destruction of boreal forests, as well as to the widespread irreversible replacement of forests by other underproductive vegetation types. A significant feedback between warming and escalating fire regimes is very probable in Russia and particularly in the
Pro website development and operations streamlining DevOps for large-scale websites

CERN Document Server

Sacks, Matthew

2012-01-01

Pro Website Development and Operations gives you the experience you need to create and operate a large-scale production website. Large-scale websites have their own unique set of problems regarding their design-problems that can get worse when agile methodologies are adopted for rapid results. Managing large-scale websites, deploying applications, and ensuring they are performing well often requires a full scale team involving the development and operations sides of the company-two departments that don't always see eye to eye. When departments struggle with each other, it adds unnecessary comp
Decentralized Large-Scale Power Balancing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halvgaard, Rasmus; Jørgensen, John Bagterp; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

2013-01-01

problem is formulated as a centralized large-scale optimization problem but is then decomposed into smaller subproblems that are solved locally by each unit connected to an aggregator. For large-scale systems the method is faster than solving the full problem and can be distributed to include an arbitrary...
Experimental performance evaluation of software defined networking (SDN) based data communication networks for large scale flexi-grid optical networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yongli; He, Ruiying; Chen, Haoran; Zhang, Jie; Ji, Yuefeng; Zheng, Haomian; Lin, Yi; Wang, Xinbo

2014-04-21

Software defined networking (SDN) has become the focus in the current information and communication technology area because of its flexibility and programmability. It has been introduced into various network scenarios, such as datacenter networks, carrier networks, and wireless networks. Optical transport network is also regarded as an important application scenario for SDN, which is adopted as the enabling technology of data communication networks (DCN) instead of general multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS). However, the practical performance of SDN based DCN for large scale optical networks, which is very important for the technology selection in the future optical network deployment, has not been evaluated up to now. In this paper we have built a large scale flexi-grid optical network testbed with 1000 virtual optical transport nodes to evaluate the performance of SDN based DCN, including network scalability, DCN bandwidth limitation, and restoration time. A series of network performance parameters including blocking probability, bandwidth utilization, average lightpath provisioning time, and failure restoration time have been demonstrated under various network environments, such as with different traffic loads and different DCN bandwidths. The demonstration in this work can be taken as a proof for the future network deployment.
Visual Data-Analytics of Large-Scale Parallel Discrete-Event Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ross, Caitlin; Carothers, Christopher D.; Mubarak, Misbah; Carns, Philip; Ross, Robert; Li, Jianping Kelvin; Ma, Kwan-Liu

2016-11-13

Parallel discrete-event simulation (PDES) is an important tool in the codesign of extreme-scale systems because PDES provides a cost-effective way to evaluate designs of highperformance computing systems. Optimistic synchronization algorithms for PDES, such as Time Warp, allow events to be processed without global synchronization among the processing elements. A rollback mechanism is provided when events are processed out of timestamp order. Although optimistic synchronization protocols enable the scalability of large-scale PDES, the performance of the simulations must be tuned to reduce the number of rollbacks and provide an improved simulation runtime. To enable efficient large-scale optimistic simulations, one has to gain insight into the factors that affect the rollback behavior and simulation performance. We developed a tool for ROSS model developers that gives them detailed metrics on the performance of their large-scale optimistic simulations at varying levels of simulation granularity. Model developers can use this information for parameter tuning of optimistic simulations in order to achieve better runtime and fewer rollbacks. In this work, we instrument the ROSS optimistic PDES framework to gather detailed statistics about the simulation engine. We have also developed an interactive visualization interface that uses the data collected by the ROSS instrumentation to understand the underlying behavior of the simulation engine. The interface connects real time to virtual time in the simulation and provides the ability to view simulation data at different granularities. We demonstrate the usefulness of our framework by performing a visual analysis of the dragonfly network topology model provided by the CODES simulation framework built on top of ROSS. The instrumentation needs to minimize overhead in order to accurately collect data about the simulation performance. To ensure that the instrumentation does not introduce unnecessary overhead, we perform a
Advanced numerical modelling of a fire. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heikkilae, L.; Keski-Rahkonen, O.

1996-03-01

Experience and probabilistic risk assessments show that fires present a major hazard in a nuclear power plant (NPP). The PALOME project (1988-92) improved the quality of numerical simulation of fires to make it a useful tool for fire safety analysis. Some of the most advanced zone model fire simulation codes were acquired. The performance of the codes was studied through literature and personal interviews in earlier studies and BRI2 code from the Japanese Building Research Institute was selected for further use. In PALOME 2 project this work was continued. Information obtained from large-scale fire tests at the German HDR facility allowed reliable prediction of the rate of heat release and was used for code validation. BRI2 code was validated particularly by participation in the CEC standard problem 'Prediction of effects caused by a cable fire experiment within the HDR-facility'. Participation in the development of a new field model code SOFIE specifically for fire applications as British-Swedish-Finnish cooperation was one of the goals of the project. SOFIE code was implemented at VTT and the first results of validation simulations were obtained. Well instrumented fire tests on electronic cabinets were carried out to determine source terms for simulation of room fires and to estimate fire spread to adjacent cabinets. The particular aim of this study was to measure the rate of heat release from a fire in an electronic cabinet. From the three tests, differing mainly in the amount of the fire load, data was obtained for source terms in numerical modelling of fires in rooms containing electronic cabinets. On the basis of these tests also a simple natural ventilation model was derived. (19 refs.)

Climatic and socio-economic fire drivers in the Mediterranean basin at a century scale: Analysis and modelling based on historical fire statistics and dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs)

Science.gov (United States)

Mouillot, F.; Koutsias, N.; Conedera, M.; Pezzatti, B.; Madoui, A.; Belhadj Kheder, C.

2017-12-01

Wildfire is the main disturbance affecting Mediterranean ecosystems, with implications on biogeochemical cycles, biosphere/atmosphere interactions, air quality, biodiversity, and socio-ecosystems sustainability. The fire/climate relationship is time-scale dependent and may additionally vary according to concurrent changes climatic, environmental (e.g. land use), and fire management processes (e.g. fire prevention and control strategies). To date, however, most studies focus on a decadal scale only, being fire statistics ore remote sensing data usually available for a few decades only. Long-term fire data may allow for a better caption of the slow-varying human and climate constrains and for testing the consistency of the fire/climate relationship on the mid-time to better apprehend global change effects on fire risks. Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) associated with process-based fire models have been recently developed to capture both the direct role of climate on fire hazard and the indirect role of changes in vegetation and human population, to simulate biosphere/atmosphere interactions including fire emissions. Their ability to accurately reproduce observed fire patterns is still under investigation regarding seasonality, extreme events or temporal trend to identify potential misrepresentations of processes. We used a unique long-term fire reconstruction (from 1880 to 2016) of yearly burned area along a North/South and East/West environmental gradient across the Mediterranean Basin (southern Switzerland, Greece, Algeria, Tunisia) to capture the climatic and socio economic drivers of extreme fire years by linking yearly burned area with selected climate indices derived from historical climate databases and socio-economic variables. We additionally compared the actual historical reconstructed fire history with the yearly burned area simulated by a panel of DGVMS (FIREMIP initiative) driven by daily CRU climate data at 0.5° resolution across the
Increased fire frequency promotes stronger spatial genetic structure and natural selection at regional and local scales in Pinus halepensis Mill.

Science.gov (United States)

Budde, Katharina B; González-Martínez, Santiago C; Navascués, Miguel; Burgarella, Concetta; Mosca, Elena; Lorenzo, Zaida; Zabal-Aguirre, Mario; Vendramin, Giovanni G; Verdú, Miguel; Pausas, Juli G; Heuertz, Myriam

2017-04-01

The recurrence of wildfires is predicted to increase due to global climate change, resulting in severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Recurrent fires can drive plant adaptation and reduce genetic diversity; however, the underlying population genetic processes have not been studied in detail. In this study, the neutral and adaptive evolutionary effects of contrasting fire regimes were examined in the keystone tree species Pinus halepensis Mill. (Aleppo pine), a fire-adapted conifer. The genetic diversity, demographic history and spatial genetic structure were assessed at local (within-population) and regional scales for populations exposed to different crown fire frequencies. Eight natural P. halepensis stands were sampled in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, five of them in a region exposed to frequent crown fires (HiFi) and three of them in an adjacent region with a low frequency of crown fires (LoFi). Samples were genotyped at nine neutral simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and at 251 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from coding regions, some of them potentially important for fire adaptation. Fire regime had no effects on genetic diversity or demographic history. Three high-differentiation outlier SNPs were identified between HiFi and LoFi stands, suggesting fire-related selection at the regional scale. At the local scale, fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) was overall weak as expected for a wind-pollinated and wind-dispersed tree species. HiFi stands displayed a stronger SGS than LoFi stands at SNPs, which probably reflected the simultaneous post-fire recruitment of co-dispersed related seeds. SNPs with exceptionally strong SGS, a proxy for microenvironmental selection, were only reliably identified under the HiFi regime. An increasing fire frequency as predicted due to global change can promote increased SGS with stronger family structures and alter natural selection in P. halepensis and in plants with similar life history traits
Comparative Analysis of Different Protocols to Manage Large Scale Networks

OpenAIRE

Anil Rao Pimplapure; Dr Jayant Dubey; Prashant Sen

2013-01-01

In recent year the numbers, complexity and size is increased in Large Scale Network. The best example of Large Scale Network is Internet, and recently once are Data-centers in Cloud Environment. In this process, involvement of several management tasks such as traffic monitoring, security and performance optimization is big task for Network Administrator. This research reports study the different protocols i.e. conventional protocols like Simple Network Management Protocol and newly Gossip bas...
Performance Prediction for Large-Scale Nuclear Waste Repositories: Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glassley, W E; Nitao, J J; Grant, W; Boulos, T N; Gokoffski, M O; Johnson, J W; Kercher, J R; Levatin, J A; Steefel, C I

2001-01-01

The goal of this project was development of a software package capable of utilizing terascale computational platforms for solving subsurface flow and transport problems important for disposal of high level nuclear waste materials, as well as for DOE-complex clean-up and stewardship efforts. We sought to develop a tool that would diminish reliance on abstracted models, and realistically represent the coupling between subsurface fluid flow, thermal effects and chemical reactions that both modify the physical framework of the rock materials and which change the rock mineralogy and chemistry of the migrating fluid. Providing such a capability would enhance realism in models and increase confidence in long-term predictions of performance. Achieving this goal also allows more cost-effective design and execution of monitoring programs needed to evaluate model results. This goal was successfully accomplished through the development of a new simulation tool (NUFT-C). This capability allows high resolution modeling of complex coupled thermal-hydrological-geochemical processes in the saturated and unsaturated zones of the Earth's crust. The code allows consideration of virtually an unlimited number of chemical species and minerals in a multi-phase, non-isothermal environment. Because the code is constructed to utilize the computational power of the tera-scale IBM ASCI computers, simulations that encompass large rock volumes and complex chemical systems can now be done without sacrificing spatial or temporal resolution. The code is capable of doing one-, two-, and three-dimensional simulations, allowing unprecedented evaluation of the evolution of rock properties and mineralogical and chemical change as a function of time. The code has been validated by comparing results of simulations to laboratory-scale experiments, other benchmark codes, field scale experiments, and observations in natural systems. The results of these exercises demonstrate that the physics and chemistry
Automating large-scale reactor systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisner, R.A.

1985-01-01

This paper conveys a philosophy for developing automated large-scale control systems that behave in an integrated, intelligent, flexible manner. Methods for operating large-scale systems under varying degrees of equipment degradation are discussed, and a design approach that separates the effort into phases is suggested. 5 refs., 1 fig
Biomass co-firing in coal power plants in the Netherlands. Effects on performance and air pollutant emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smekens, K. [ECN Policy Studies, Petten (Netherlands)

2013-07-15

This note is intended for use in the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)-EGTEI (Expert Group on Techno-Economic Issues) work related to cost of emission reduction technologies for large combustion plants (LCP). This work is coordinated by KIT (Karlsruhe) and CITEPA (Paris). As the Netherlands is considered to be a valuable country for data regarding biomass co-firing in large coal fired power plants, EGTEI expressed its interest on data ECN has available. For this purpose, based on available data from annual environmental reports of power plants, ECN has looked into the relationship between the percentage of co -firing and the plant performance. It should be noted that the evaluation has been based on annual data, not on real-time simultaneous measurements of the different parameters mentioned in this note. Cumulative annual data give no insights in e.g. the effects of the load factor, of start-ups or shut-downs, seasonal circumstances, fuel qualities, etc. Therefore, the findings in this report should be treated with due care and not be generalised.
An Experimental Study on Burning Characteristics of n-Heptane/Ethanol Mixture Pool Fires in a Reduced Scaled Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Yozgatligil, Ahmet; Shafee, Sina

2016-11-01

Fire accidents in recent decades have drawn attention to safety issues associated with the design, construction and maintenance of tunnels. A reduced scale tunnel model constructed based on Froude scaling technique is used in the current work. Mixtures of n-heptane and ethanol are burned with ethanol volumetric fraction up to 30 percent and the longitudinal ventilation velocity varying from 0.5 to 2.5 m/s. The burning rates of the pool fires are measured using a precision load cell. The heat release rates of the fires are calculated according to oxygen calorimetry method and the temperature distributions inside the tunnel are also measured. Results of the experiments show that the ventilation velocity variation has a significant effect on the pool fire burning rate, smoke temperature and the critical ventilation velocity. With increased oxygen depletion in case of increased ethanol content of blended pool fires, the quasi-steady heat release rate values tend to increase as well as the ceiling temperatures while the combustion duration decreases.
Extinguishing agent for magnesium fire, phases 5 and 6

Science.gov (United States)

Beeson, H. D.; Tapscott, R. E.; Mason, B. E.

1987-07-01

This report documents the validation testing of the extinguishing system for metal fires developed as part of Phases 1 to 4. The results of this validation testing form the basis of information from which draft military specifications necessary to procure the agent and the agent delivery system may be developed. The developed system was tested against a variety of large-scale metal fire scenarios and the capabilities of the system were assessed. In addition the response of the system to storage and to changes in ambient conditions was tested. Results of this testing revealed that the developed system represented a reliable metal fire extinguishing system that could control and extinguish very large metal fires. The specifications developed for the agent and for the delivery system are discussed in detail.
A Study of Coal Fire Propagation with Remotely Sensed Thermal Infrared Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongyuan Huo

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Coal fires are a common and serious problem in most coal-bearing countries. Thus, it is very important to monitor changes in coal fires. Remote sensing provides a useful technique for investigating coal fields at a large scale and for detecting coal fires. In this study, the spreading direction of a coal fire in the Wuda Coal Field (WCF, northwest China, was analyzed using multi-temporal Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+ thermal infrared (TIR data. Using an automated method and based on the land surface temperatures (LST that were retrieved from these thermal data, coal fires related to thermal anomalies were identified; the locations of these fires were validated using a coal fire map (CFM that was developed via field surveys; and the cross-validation of the results was also carried out using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER thermal infrared images. Based on the results from longtime series of satellite TIR data set, the spreading directions of the coal fires were determined and the coal fire development on the scale of the entire coal field was predicted. The study delineated the spreading direction using the results of the coal fire dynamics analysis, and a coal fire spreading direction map was generated. The results showed that the coal fires primarily spread north or northeast in the central part of the WCF and south or southwest in the southern part of the WCF. In the northern part of the WCF, some coal fires were spreading north, perhaps coinciding with the orientation of the coal belt. Certain coal fires scattered in the northern and southern parts of the WCF were extending in bilateral directions. A quantitative analysis of the coal fires was also performed; the results indicate that the area of the coal fires increased an average of approximately 0.101 km2 per year.
Active Fire Mapping Program

Science.gov (United States)

Active Fire Mapping Program Current Large Incidents (Home) New Large Incidents Fire Detection Maps MODIS Satellite Imagery VIIRS Satellite Imagery Fire Detection GIS Data Fire Data in Google Earth ...
Post Fire Vegetation Recovery in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Gouveia, Celia; Bastos, Ana; DaCamara, Carlos; Trigo, Ricardo M.

2011-01-01

Fires in Portugal, as in the Mediterranean ecosystems, have a complex effect on vegetation regeneration due to the different responses of vegetation to the variety of fire regimes and to the complexity of landscape structures. A thorough evaluation of vegetation recovery after fire events becomes therefore crucial in land management. In 2005, Portugal suffered a strong damage from forest fires that damaged an area of 300 000 ha of forest and shrub. This year are particularly interesting because it is associated the severe drought of 2005. The aim of the present study is to identify large burnt scars in Portugal during the 2005 fire seasons and monitoring vegetation behaviour throughout the pre and the post fire periods. The mono-parametric model developed by Gouveia et al. (2010), based on monthly values of NDVI, at the 1km×1km spatial scale, as obtained from the VEGETATION-SPOT5 instrument, from 1999 to 2009, was used.
Numerical modeling of the effects of fire-induced convection and fire-atmosphere interactions on wildfire spread and fire plume dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ruiyu

probabilistic prediction method is warranted. Of the two contributors to the variability in fire growth in the grass fire simulations in the ABL, fire-induced convection, as opposed to the turbulent ABL wind, appears to be the more important one. One mechanism associated with enhanced fire-induced flow is the downdraft behind the frontal fireline. The downdraft is the direct result of the random interaction between the fire plume and the large eddies in the ABL. This study indicates a connection between fire variability in rate of spread and area burnt and so-called convective velocity scale, and it may be possible to use this boundary-layer scale parameter to account for the effects of ABL turbulence on fire spread and fire behavior in today's operational fire prediction systems.
Tree mortality based fire severity classification for forest inventories: A Pacific Northwest national forests example

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas R. Whittier; Andrew N. Gray

2016-01-01

Determining how the frequency, severity, and extent of forest fires are changing in response to changes in management and climate is a key concern in many regions where fire is an important natural disturbance. In the USA the only national-scale fire severity classification uses satellite image changedetection to produce maps for large (>400 ha) fires, and is...
Large-scale retrieval for medical image analytics: A comprehensive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhongyu; Zhang, Xiaofan; Müller, Henning; Zhang, Shaoting

2018-01-01

Over the past decades, medical image analytics was greatly facilitated by the explosion of digital imaging techniques, where huge amounts of medical images were produced with ever-increasing quality and diversity. However, conventional methods for analyzing medical images have achieved limited success, as they are not capable to tackle the huge amount of image data. In this paper, we review state-of-the-art approaches for large-scale medical image analysis, which are mainly based on recent advances in computer vision, machine learning and information retrieval. Specifically, we first present the general pipeline of large-scale retrieval, summarize the challenges/opportunities of medical image analytics on a large-scale. Then, we provide a comprehensive review of algorithms and techniques relevant to major processes in the pipeline, including feature representation, feature indexing, searching, etc. On the basis of existing work, we introduce the evaluation protocols and multiple applications of large-scale medical image retrieval, with a variety of exploratory and diagnostic scenarios. Finally, we discuss future directions of large-scale retrieval, which can further improve the performance of medical image analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Biomass co-firing under oxy-fuel conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Álvarez, L.; Yin, Chungen; Riaza, J.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on co-firing olive waste (0, 10%, 20% on mass basis) with two coals in an entrained flow reactor under three oxy-fuel conditions (21%O2/79%CO2, 30%O2/70%CO2 and 35%O2/65%CO2) and air–fuel condition. Co-firing biomass with coal was found...... to have favourable synergy effects in all the cases: it significantly improves the burnout and remarkably lowers NOx emissions. The reduced peak temperatures during co-firing can also help to mitigate deposition formation in real furnaces. Co-firing CO2-neutral biomass with coals under oxy-fuel conditions...... the model can be used to aid in design and optimization of large-scale biomass co-firing under oxy-fuel conditions....
Fire extinguishing system in large underground garages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Antonov

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In the work is considered an acceptable constructive scheme from a practical point of view at fire extinguishing in underground garages. The garage space is divided into quadrants which covering, for example, 2 cars. In case of ignition on one of them, a sprinkler nozzle system is triggered by the effect of the vertical convective jet. A protective curtain preventing the spread of fire to adjacent vehicles is realized. The solution is based on an integrated method which allows the calculation from hydrodynamic point of view on extinguishing time of the fire extinguishing system.
Effects of weathering on performance of intumescent coatings for structure fire protection in the wildland-urban interface

Science.gov (United States)

Bahrani, Babak

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of weathering on the performance of intumescent fire-retardant coatings on wooden products. The weathering effects included primary (solar irradiation, moisture, and temperature) and secondary (environmental contaminants) parameters at various time intervals. Wildland urban interface (WUI) fires have been an increasing threat to lives and properties. Existing solutions to mitigate the damages caused by WUI fires include protecting the structures from ignition and minimizing the fire spread from one structure to another. These solutions can be divided into two general categories: active fire protection systems and passive fire protection systems. Passive systems are either using pre-applied wetting agents (water, gel, or foam) or adding an extra layer (composite wraps or coatings). Fire-retardant coating treatment methods can be divided into impregnated (penetrant) and intumescent categories. Intumescent coatings are easy to apply, economical, and have a better appearance in comparison to other passive fire protection methods, and are the main focus of this study. There have been limited studies conducted on the application of intumescent coatings on wooden structures and their performance after long-term weathering exposure. The main concerns of weathering effects are: 1) the reduction of ignition resistance of the coating layer after weathering; and 2) the fire properties of coatings after weathering since coatings might contribute as a combustible fuel and assist the fire growth after ignition. Three intumescent coatings were selected and exposed to natural weathering conditions in three different time intervals. Two types of tests were performed on the specimens: a combustibility test consisted of a bench-scale performance evaluation using a Cone Calorimeter, and a thermal decomposition test using Simultaneous Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) method (also known
San Diego Declaration on Climate Change and Fire Management: Ramifications for fuels management

Science.gov (United States)

Brian P. Oswald

2007-01-01

Climate plays a central role in shaping fire regimes over long time scales and in generating short-term weather that drives fire events. Recent research suggests that the increasing numbers of large and severe wildfires, lengthened wildfire seasons, and increased area burned are, in part, related to shifts in climate. The historical fire regimes in many ecosystems have...
Advanced Simulation Tool for Improved Damage Assessment 2) Water-Mist Suppression of Large Scale Compartment Fires

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Prasad, Kuldeep

2000-01-01

.... In the first report, we adopted a domain decomposition approach, based on the multiblock Chimera technique, to simulate fires in single uncluttered compartments and predicted spread of smoke in multi...
Fire-extinguishing organic electrolytes for safe batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jianhui; Yamada, Yuki; Sodeyama, Keitaro; Watanabe, Eriko; Takada, Koji; Tateyama, Yoshitaka; Yamada, Atsuo

2018-01-01

Severe safety concerns are impeding the large-scale employment of lithium/sodium batteries. Conventional electrolytes are highly flammable and volatile, which may cause catastrophic fires or explosions. Efforts to introduce flame-retardant solvents into the electrolytes have generally resulted in compromised battery performance because those solvents do not suitably passivate carbonaceous anodes. Here we report a salt-concentrated electrolyte design to resolve this dilemma via the spontaneous formation of a robust inorganic passivation film on the anode. We demonstrate that a concentrated electrolyte using a salt and a popular flame-retardant solvent (trimethyl phosphate), without any additives or soft binders, allows stable charge-discharge cycling of both hard-carbon and graphite anodes for more than 1,000 cycles (over one year) with negligible degradation; this performance is comparable or superior to that of conventional flammable carbonate electrolytes. The unusual passivation character of the concentrated electrolyte coupled with its fire-extinguishing property contributes to developing safe and long-lasting batteries, unlocking the limit toward development of much higher energy-density batteries.

105-DR Large sodium fire facility soil sampling data evaluation report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adler, J.G.

1996-01-01

This report evaluates the soil sampling activities, soil sample analysis, and soil sample data associated with the closure activities at the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility. The evaluation compares these activities to the regulatory requirements for meeting clean closure. The report concludes that there is no soil contamination from the waste treatment activities
Atlantic SSTs control regime shifts in forest fire activity of Northern Scandinavia

Science.gov (United States)

Drobyshev, Igor; Bergeron, Yves; Vernal, Anne De; Moberg, Anders; Ali, Adam A.; Niklasson, Mats

2016-03-01

Understanding the drivers of the boreal forest fire activity is challenging due to the complexity of the interactions driving fire regimes. We analyzed drivers of forest fire activity in Northern Scandinavia (above 60 N) by combining modern and proxy data over the Holocene. The results suggest that the cold climate in northern Scandinavia was generally characterized by dry conditions favourable to periods of regionally increased fire activity. We propose that the cold conditions over the northern North Atlantic, associated with low SSTs, expansion of sea ice cover, and the southward shift in the position of the subpolar gyre, redirect southward the precipitation over Scandinavia, associated with the westerlies. This dynamics strengthens high pressure systems over Scandinavia and results in increased regional fire activity. Our study reveals a previously undocumented teleconnection between large scale climate and ocean dynamics over the North Atlantic and regional boreal forest fire activity in Northern Scandinavia. Consistency of the pattern observed annually through millennium scales suggests that a strong link between Atlantic SST and fire activity on multiple temporal scales over the entire Holocene is relevant for understanding future fire activity across the European boreal zone.
Atlantic SSTs control regime shifts in forest fire activity of Northern Scandinavia

Science.gov (United States)

Drobyshev, Igor; Bergeron, Yves; Vernal, Anne de; Moberg, Anders; Ali, Adam A.; Niklasson, Mats

2016-01-01

Understanding the drivers of the boreal forest fire activity is challenging due to the complexity of the interactions driving fire regimes. We analyzed drivers of forest fire activity in Northern Scandinavia (above 60 N) by combining modern and proxy data over the Holocene. The results suggest that the cold climate in northern Scandinavia was generally characterized by dry conditions favourable to periods of regionally increased fire activity. We propose that the cold conditions over the northern North Atlantic, associated with low SSTs, expansion of sea ice cover, and the southward shift in the position of the subpolar gyre, redirect southward the precipitation over Scandinavia, associated with the westerlies. This dynamics strengthens high pressure systems over Scandinavia and results in increased regional fire activity. Our study reveals a previously undocumented teleconnection between large scale climate and ocean dynamics over the North Atlantic and regional boreal forest fire activity in Northern Scandinavia. Consistency of the pattern observed annually through millennium scales suggests that a strong link between Atlantic SST and fire activity on multiple temporal scales over the entire Holocene is relevant for understanding future fire activity across the European boreal zone. PMID:26940995
The Software Reliability of Large Scale Integration Circuit and Very Large Scale Integration Circuit

OpenAIRE

Artem Ganiyev; Jan Vitasek

2010-01-01

This article describes evaluation method of faultless function of large scale integration circuits (LSI) and very large scale integration circuits (VLSI). In the article there is a comparative analysis of factors which determine faultless of integrated circuits, analysis of already existing methods and model of faultless function evaluation of LSI and VLSI. The main part describes a proposed algorithm and program for analysis of fault rate in LSI and VLSI circuits.
Using Agent Base Models to Optimize Large Scale Network for Large System Inventories

Science.gov (United States)

Shameldin, Ramez Ahmed; Bowling, Shannon R.

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use Agent Base Models (ABM) to optimize large scale network handling capabilities for large system inventories and to implement strategies for the purpose of reducing capital expenses. The models used in this paper either use computational algorithms or procedure implementations developed by Matlab to simulate agent based models in a principal programming language and mathematical theory using clusters, these clusters work as a high performance computational performance to run the program in parallel computational. In both cases, a model is defined as compilation of a set of structures and processes assumed to underlie the behavior of a network system.
Metric matters : the performance and organisation of volumetric water control in large-scale irrigation in the North Coast of Peru

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vos, J.M.C.

2002-01-01

This thesis describes the organisation and performance of two large-scale irrigation systems in the North Coast of Peru. Good water management is important in this area because water is scarce and irrigated agriculture provides a livelihood to many small and middle-sized farmers. Water in
105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility closure activities evaluation report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adler, J.G.

1996-01-01

This report evaluates the closure activities at the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility. The closure activities discussed include: the closure activities for the structures, equipment, soil, and gravel scrubber; decontamination methods; materials made available for recycling or reuse; and waste management. The evaluation compares these activities to the regulatory requirements and closure plan requirements. The report concludes that the areas identified in the closure plan can be clean closed
Performing of recent real scale cable fire experiments and presentation of the results in the frame of the international collaborative fire modeling project ICFMP. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosser, Dietmar; Riese, Olaf; Klingenberg, Mark

2005-01-01

As a part of the Fire Risk Research Program, the German iBMB (Institut fuer Baustoffe, Massivbau und Brandschutz) of Braunschweig University of Technology and GRS (Gesellschaft fuer Anlagenund Reaktorsicherheit mbH) are participating in an International Collaborative Fire Modeling Project (ICFMP) to assess and validate fire computer codes for nuclear power plant applications. This assessment is being conducted through benchmarking and validation exercises. The tests are simulating cable fires scenarios in a single compartment. The goal of the actual cable fire series is to investigate the effects of a natural fire to vertically routed cables (worst case) with different cable insulation material (PVC and FRNC). Another important aspect of cable fire is the risk of function failure. Therefore in the test series the short circuit and the conduction loss of cables are measured. This report includes a first description of the experimental results for test 1 - test 4 of the International Collaborative Fire Model Project conducted in December 2003 at the iBMB in Germany. The experimental data are reported on the International Collaborative Fire Model Project - Platform. The measured data shall be the basis for fire simulations. The tests show that the FRNC cables have significantly better characteristics in case of fire. No substantial flame spread takes place even in case of preheating. PVC cables could be ignited with a burner output of 50 kW, in contrary, the FRNC cables could be ignited at burner output of 150 kW. The preheating has a complex effect on the fire behavior of the cables. It may occur that gases are pyrolysed which are not ignited during the phase of preheating. These gases are transported from the cable surrounding and may leave the fire room. Short circuits occur first in case ''conductor to conductor'' and later in case ''conductor to tray''. The time periods until short circuits occur are strongly dependent on the preheating of the cables. In case of
Behaviour of concrete structures in fire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fletcher Ian A.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a "state-of-the-art" review of research into the effects of high temperature on concrete and concrete structures, extending to a range of forms of construction, including novel developments. The nature of concrete-based structures means that they generally perform very well in fire. However, concrete is fundamentally a complex material and its properties can change dramatically when exposed to high temperatures. The principal effects of fire on concrete are loss of compressive strength, and spalling - the forcible ejection of material from the surface of a member. Though a lot of information has been gathered on both phenomena, there remains a need for more systematic studies of the effects of thermal exposures. The response to realistic fires of whole concrete structures presents yet greater challenges due to the interactions of structural elements, the impact of complex small-scale phenomena at full scale, and the spatial and temporal variations in exposures, including the cooling phase of the fire. Progress has been made on modeling the thermomechanical behavior but the treatment of detailed behaviors, including hygral effects and spalling, remains a challenge. Furthermore, there is still a severe lack of data from real structures for validation, though some valuable insights may also be gained from study of the performance of concrete structures in real fires. .
Modeling the performance of coated LPG tanks engulfed in fires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Landucci, Gabriele [CONPRICI - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Chimica Industriale e Scienza dei Materiali, Universita di Pisa, via Diotisalvi n.2, 56126 Pisa (Italy); Molag, Menso [Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB Utrecht (Netherlands); Cozzani, Valerio, E-mail: valerio.cozzani@unibo.it [CONPRICI - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Mineraria e delle Tecnologie Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum - Universita di Bologna, Via Terracini 28 - 40131 Bologna (Italy)

2009-12-15

The improvement of passive fire protection of storage vessels is a key factor to enhance safety among the LPG distribution chain. A thermal and mechanical model based on finite elements simulations was developed to assess the behaviour of full size tanks used for LPG storage and transportation in fire engulfment scenarios. The model was validated by experimental results. A specific analysis of the performance of four different reference coating materials was then carried out, also defining specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess design safety margins in near-miss simulations. The results confirmed the wide influence of coating application on the expected vessel time to failure due to fire engulfment. A quite different performance of the alternative coating materials was evidenced. General correlations were developed among the vessel time to failure and the effective coating thickness in full engulfment scenarios, providing a preliminary assessment of the coating thickness required to prevent tank rupture for a given time lapse. The KPIs defined allowed the assessment of the available safety margins in the reference scenarios analyzed and of the robustness of thermal protection design.
Modeling the performance of coated LPG tanks engulfed in fires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landucci, Gabriele; Molag, Menso; Cozzani, Valerio

2009-01-01

The improvement of passive fire protection of storage vessels is a key factor to enhance safety among the LPG distribution chain. A thermal and mechanical model based on finite elements simulations was developed to assess the behaviour of full size tanks used for LPG storage and transportation in fire engulfment scenarios. The model was validated by experimental results. A specific analysis of the performance of four different reference coating materials was then carried out, also defining specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess design safety margins in near-miss simulations. The results confirmed the wide influence of coating application on the expected vessel time to failure due to fire engulfment. A quite different performance of the alternative coating materials was evidenced. General correlations were developed among the vessel time to failure and the effective coating thickness in full engulfment scenarios, providing a preliminary assessment of the coating thickness required to prevent tank rupture for a given time lapse. The KPIs defined allowed the assessment of the available safety margins in the reference scenarios analyzed and of the robustness of thermal protection design.
Large-scale exact diagonalizations reveal low-momentum scales of nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Forssén, C.; Carlsson, B. D.; Johansson, H. T.; Sääf, D.; Bansal, A.; Hagen, G.; Papenbrock, T.

2018-03-01

Ab initio methods aim to solve the nuclear many-body problem with controlled approximations. Virtually exact numerical solutions for realistic interactions can only be obtained for certain special cases such as few-nucleon systems. Here we extend the reach of exact diagonalization methods to handle model spaces with dimension exceeding 1010 on a single compute node. This allows us to perform no-core shell model (NCSM) calculations for 6Li in model spaces up to Nmax=22 and to reveal the 4He+d halo structure of this nucleus. Still, the use of a finite harmonic-oscillator basis implies truncations in both infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) length scales. These truncations impose finite-size corrections on observables computed in this basis. We perform IR extrapolations of energies and radii computed in the NCSM and with the coupled-cluster method at several fixed UV cutoffs. It is shown that this strategy enables information gain also from data that is not fully UV converged. IR extrapolations improve the accuracy of relevant bound-state observables for a range of UV cutoffs, thus making them profitable tools. We relate the momentum scale that governs the exponential IR convergence to the threshold energy for the first open decay channel. Using large-scale NCSM calculations we numerically verify this small-momentum scale of finite nuclei.
Phylogenetic distribution of large-scale genome patchiness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hackenberg Michael

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The phylogenetic distribution of large-scale genome structure (i.e. mosaic compositional patchiness has been explored mainly by analytical ultracentrifugation of bulk DNA. However, with the availability of large, good-quality chromosome sequences, and the recently developed computational methods to directly analyze patchiness on the genome sequence, an evolutionary comparative analysis can be carried out at the sequence level. Results The local variations in the scaling exponent of the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis are used here to analyze large-scale genome structure and directly uncover the characteristic scales present in genome sequences. Furthermore, through shuffling experiments of selected genome regions, computationally-identified, isochore-like regions were identified as the biological source for the uncovered large-scale genome structure. The phylogenetic distribution of short- and large-scale patchiness was determined in the best-sequenced genome assemblies from eleven eukaryotic genomes: mammals (Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, and Canis familiaris, birds (Gallus gallus, fishes (Danio rerio, invertebrates (Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, plants (Arabidopsis thaliana and yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found large-scale patchiness of genome structure, associated with in silico determined, isochore-like regions, throughout this wide phylogenetic range. Conclusion Large-scale genome structure is detected by directly analyzing DNA sequences in a wide range of eukaryotic chromosome sequences, from human to yeast. In all these genomes, large-scale patchiness can be associated with the isochore-like regions, as directly detected in silico at the sequence level.
Operation window and part-load performance study of a syngas fired gas turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Fen; Li, Zheng; Liu, Pei; Ma, Linwei; Pistikopoulos, Efstratios N.

2012-01-01

Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) provides a great opportunity for clean utilization of coal while maintaining the advantage of high energy efficiency brought by gas turbines. A challenging problem arising from the integration of an existing gas turbine to an IGCC system is the performance change of the gas turbine due to the shift of fuel from natural gas to synthesis gas, or syngas, mainly consisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Besides the change of base-load performance, which has been extensively studied, the change of part-load performance is also of great significance for the operation of a gas turbine and an IGCC plant. In this paper, a detailed mathematical model of a syngas fired gas turbine is developed to study its part-load performance. A baseline is firstly established using the part-load performance of a natural gas fired gas turbine, then the part-load performance of the gas turbine running with different compositions of syngas is investigated and compared with the baseline. Particularly, the impacts of the variable inlet guide vane, the degree of fuel dilution, and the degree of air bleed are investigated. Results indicate that insufficient cooling of turbine blades and a reduced compressor surge margin are the major factors that constrain the part-load performance of a syngas fired gas turbine. Results also show that air bleed from the compressor can greatly improve the working condition of a syngas fired gas turbine, especially for those fired with low lower heating value syngas. The regulating strategy of a syngas fired gas turbine should also be adjusted in accordance to the changes of part-load performance, and a reduced scope of constant TAT (turbine exhaust temperature) control mode is required.
Managing large-scale models: DBS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-05-01

A set of fundamental management tools for developing and operating a large scale model and data base system is presented. Based on experience in operating and developing a large scale computerized system, the only reasonable way to gain strong management control of such a system is to implement appropriate controls and procedures. Chapter I discusses the purpose of the book. Chapter II classifies a broad range of generic management problems into three groups: documentation, operations, and maintenance. First, system problems are identified then solutions for gaining management control are disucssed. Chapters III, IV, and V present practical methods for dealing with these problems. These methods were developed for managing SEAS but have general application for large scale models and data bases
Detecting differential protein expression in large-scale population proteomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryu, Soyoung; Qian, Weijun; Camp, David G.; Smith, Richard D.; Tompkins, Ronald G.; Davis, Ronald W.; Xiao, Wenzhong

2014-06-17

Mass spectrometry-based high-throughput quantitative proteomics shows great potential in clinical biomarker studies, identifying and quantifying thousands of proteins in biological samples. However, methods are needed to appropriately handle issues/challenges unique to mass spectrometry data in order to detect as many biomarker proteins as possible. One issue is that different mass spectrometry experiments generate quite different total numbers of quantified peptides, which can result in more missing peptide abundances in an experiment with a smaller total number of quantified peptides. Another issue is that the quantification of peptides is sometimes absent, especially for less abundant peptides and such missing values contain the information about the peptide abundance. Here, we propose a Significance Analysis for Large-scale Proteomics Studies (SALPS) that handles missing peptide intensity values caused by the two mechanisms mentioned above. Our model has a robust performance in both simulated data and proteomics data from a large clinical study. Because varying patients’ sample qualities and deviating instrument performances are not avoidable for clinical studies performed over the course of several years, we believe that our approach will be useful to analyze large-scale clinical proteomics data.
Large Scale Self-Organizing Information Distribution System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Low, Steven

2005-01-01

This project investigates issues in "large-scale" networks. Here "large-scale" refers to networks with large number of high capacity nodes and transmission links, and shared by a large number of users...
GASIFICATION BASED BIOMASS CO-FIRING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babul Patel; Kevin McQuigg; Robert Toerne; John Bick

2003-01-01

Biomass gasification offers a practical way to use this widespread fuel source for co-firing traditional large utility boilers. The gasification process converts biomass into a low Btu producer gas that can be used as a supplemental fuel in an existing utility boiler. This strategy of co-firing is compatible with a variety of conventional boilers including natural gas and oil fired boilers, pulverized coal fired conventional and cyclone boilers. Gasification has the potential to address all problems associated with the other types of co-firing with minimum modifications to the existing boiler systems. Gasification can also utilize biomass sources that have been previously unsuitable due to size or processing requirements, facilitating a wider selection of biomass as fuel and providing opportunity in reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere through the commercialization of this technology. This study evaluated two plants: Wester Kentucky Energy Corporation's (WKE's) Reid Plant and TXU Energy's Monticello Plant for technical and economical feasibility. These plants were selected for their proximity to large supply of poultry litter in the area. The Reid plant is located in Henderson County in southwest Kentucky, with a large poultry processing facility nearby. Within a fifty-mile radius of the Reid plant, there are large-scale poultry farms that generate over 75,000 tons/year of poultry litter. The local poultry farmers are actively seeking environmentally more benign alternatives to the current use of the litter as landfill or as a farm spread as fertilizer. The Monticello plant is located in Titus County, TX near the town of Pittsburgh, TX, where again a large poultry processor and poultry farmers in the area generate over 110,000 tons/year of poultry litter. Disposal of this litter in the area is also a concern. This project offers a model opportunity to demonstrate the feasibility of biomass co-firing and at the same time eliminate
Modeling regional-scale wildland fire emissions with the wildland fire emissions information system

Science.gov (United States)

Nancy H.F. French; Donald McKenzie; Tyler Erickson; Benjamin Koziol; Michael Billmire; K. Endsley; Naomi K.Y. Scheinerman; Liza Jenkins; Mary E. Miller; Roger Ottmar; Susan Prichard

2014-01-01

As carbon modeling tools become more comprehensive, spatial data are needed to improve quantitative maps of carbon emissions from fire. The Wildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS) provides mapped estimates of carbon emissions from historical forest fires in the United States through a web browser. WFEIS improves access to data and provides a consistent...
Accuracy assessment of planimetric large-scale map data for decision-making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doskocz Adam

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents decision-making risk estimation based on planimetric large-scale map data, which are data sets or databases which are useful for creating planimetric maps on scales of 1:5,000 or larger. The studies were conducted on four data sets of large-scale map data. Errors of map data were used for a risk assessment of decision-making about the localization of objects, e.g. for land-use planning in realization of investments. An analysis was performed for a large statistical sample set of shift vectors of control points, which were identified with the position errors of these points (errors of map data.

Previous fires moderate burn severity of subsequent wildland fires in two large western US wilderness areas

Science.gov (United States)

Sean A. Parks; Carol Miller; Cara R. Nelson; Zachary A. Holden

2014-01-01

Wildland fire is an important natural process in many ecosystems. However, fire exclusion has reduced frequency of fire and area burned in many dry forest types, which may affect vegetation structure and composition, and potential fire behavior. In forests of the western U.S., these effects pose a challenge for fire and land managers who seek to restore the ecological...
Multifractal analysis of forest fires in complex regions

Science.gov (United States)

Vega Orozco, C. D.; Kanevski, M.; Golay, J.; Tonini, M.; Conedera, M.

2012-04-01

Forest fires can be studied as point processes where the ignition points represent the set of locations of the observed events in a defined study region. Their spatial and temporal patterns can be characterized by their fractal properties; which quantify the global aspect of the geometry of the support data. However, a monofractal dimension can not completely describe the pattern structure and related scaling properties. Enhancements in fractal theory had developed the multifractal concept which describes the measures from which interlinked fractal sets can be retrieved and characterized by their fractal dimension and singularity strength [1, 2]. The spatial variability of forest fires is conditioned by an intermixture of human, topographic, meteorological and vegetation factors. This heterogeneity makes fire patterns complex scale-invariant processes difficult to be depicted by a single scale. Therefore, this study proposes an exploratory data analysis through a multifractal formalism to characterize and quantify the multiscaling behaviour of the spatial distribution pattern of this phenomenon in a complex region like the Swiss Alps. The studied dataset is represented by 2,401 georeferenced forest fire ignition points in canton Ticino, Switzerland, in a 40-years period from 1969 to 2008. Three multifractal analyses are performed: one assesses the multiscaling behaviour of fire occurrence probability of the support data (raw data) and four random patterns simulated within three different support domains; second analysis studies the multifractal behavior of patterns from anthropogenic and natural ignited fires (arson-, accident- and lightning-caused fires); and third analysis aims at detecting scale-dependency of the size of burned area. To calculate the generalized dimensions, Dq, a generalization of the box counting methods is carried out based on the generalization of Rényi information of the qth order moment of the probability distribution. For q > 0, Dq
How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lluís Brotons

Full Text Available Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain. We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape
How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and
How Fire History, Fire Suppression Practices and Climate Change Affect Wildfire Regimes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and
Evaluation of Criteria for the Detection of Fires in Underground Conveyor Belt Haulageways.

Science.gov (United States)

Litton, Charles D; Perera, Inoka Eranda

2012-07-01

Large-scale experiments were conducted in an above-ground gallery to simulate typical fires that develop along conveyor belt transport systems within underground coal mines. In the experiments, electrical strip heaters, imbedded ~5 cm below the top surface of a large mass of coal rubble, were used to ignite the coal, producing an open flame. The flaming coal mass subsequently ignited 1.83-meter-wide conveyor belts located approximately 0.30 m above the coal surface. Gas samples were drawn through an averaging probe located approximately 20 m downstream of the coal for continuous measurement of CO, CO 2 , and O 2 as the fire progressed through the stages of smoldering coal, flaming coal, and flaming conveyor belt. Also located approximately 20 m from the fire origin and approximately 0.5 m below the roof of the gallery were two commercially available smoke detectors, a light obscuration meter, and a sampling probe for measurement of total mass concentration of smoke particles. Located upstream of the fire origin and also along the wall of the gallery at approximately 14 m and 5 m upstream were two video cameras capable of both smoke and flame detection. During the experiments, alarm times of the smoke detectors and video cameras were measured while the smoke obscuration and total smoke mass were continually measured. Twelve large-scale experiments were conducted using three different types of fire-resistant conveyor belts and four air velocities for each belt. The air velocities spanned the range from 1.0 m/s to 6.9 m/s. The results of these experiments are compared to previous large-scale results obtained using a smaller fire gallery and much narrower (1.07-m) conveyor belts to determine if the fire detection criteria previously developed (1) remained valid for the wider conveyor belts. Although some differences between these and the previous experiments did occur, the results, in general, compare very favorably. Differences are duly noted and their impact on fire
Large scale structure and baryogenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirilova, D.P.; Chizhov, M.V.

2001-08-01

We discuss a possible connection between the large scale structure formation and the baryogenesis in the universe. An update review of the observational indications for the presence of a very large scale 120h -1 Mpc in the distribution of the visible matter of the universe is provided. The possibility to generate a periodic distribution with the characteristic scale 120h -1 Mpc through a mechanism producing quasi-periodic baryon density perturbations during inflationary stage, is discussed. The evolution of the baryon charge density distribution is explored in the framework of a low temperature boson condensate baryogenesis scenario. Both the observed very large scale of a the visible matter distribution in the universe and the observed baryon asymmetry value could naturally appear as a result of the evolution of a complex scalar field condensate, formed at the inflationary stage. Moreover, for some model's parameters a natural separation of matter superclusters from antimatter ones can be achieved. (author)
Creating Large Scale Database Servers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becla, Jacek

2001-01-01

The BaBar experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is designed to perform a high precision investigation of the decays of the B-meson produced from electron-positron interactions. The experiment, started in May 1999, will generate approximately 300TB/year of data for 10 years. All of the data will reside in Objectivity databases accessible via the Advanced Multi-threaded Server (AMS). To date, over 70TB of data have been placed in Objectivity/DB, making it one of the largest databases in the world. Providing access to such a large quantity of data through a database server is a daunting task. A full-scale testbed environment had to be developed to tune various software parameters and a fundamental change had to occur in the AMS architecture to allow it to scale past several hundred terabytes of data. Additionally, several protocol extensions had to be implemented to provide practical access to large quantities of data. This paper will describe the design of the database and the changes that we needed to make in the AMS for scalability reasons and how the lessons we learned would be applicable to virtually any kind of database server seeking to operate in the Petabyte region
Creating Large Scale Database Servers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becla, Jacek

2001-12-14

The BaBar experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is designed to perform a high precision investigation of the decays of the B-meson produced from electron-positron interactions. The experiment, started in May 1999, will generate approximately 300TB/year of data for 10 years. All of the data will reside in Objectivity databases accessible via the Advanced Multi-threaded Server (AMS). To date, over 70TB of data have been placed in Objectivity/DB, making it one of the largest databases in the world. Providing access to such a large quantity of data through a database server is a daunting task. A full-scale testbed environment had to be developed to tune various software parameters and a fundamental change had to occur in the AMS architecture to allow it to scale past several hundred terabytes of data. Additionally, several protocol extensions had to be implemented to provide practical access to large quantities of data. This paper will describe the design of the database and the changes that we needed to make in the AMS for scalability reasons and how the lessons we learned would be applicable to virtually any kind of database server seeking to operate in the Petabyte region.
Automatic management software for large-scale cluster system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weng Yunjian; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; Sun Gongxing

2007-01-01

At present, the large-scale cluster system faces to the difficult management. For example the manager has large work load. It needs to cost much time on the management and the maintenance of large-scale cluster system. The nodes in large-scale cluster system are very easy to be chaotic. Thousands of nodes are put in big rooms so that some managers are very easy to make the confusion with machines. How do effectively carry on accurate management under the large-scale cluster system? The article introduces ELFms in the large-scale cluster system. Furthermore, it is proposed to realize the large-scale cluster system automatic management. (authors)
Large-scale, high-performance and cloud-enabled multi-model analytics experiments in the context of the Earth System Grid Federation

Science.gov (United States)

Fiore, S.; Płóciennik, M.; Doutriaux, C.; Blanquer, I.; Barbera, R.; Williams, D. N.; Anantharaj, V. G.; Evans, B. J. K.; Salomoni, D.; Aloisio, G.

2017-12-01

The increased models resolution in the development of comprehensive Earth System Models is rapidly leading to very large climate simulations output that pose significant scientific data management challenges in terms of data sharing, processing, analysis, visualization, preservation, curation, and archiving.Large scale global experiments for Climate Model Intercomparison Projects (CMIP) have led to the development of the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), a federated data infrastructure which has been serving the CMIP5 experiment, providing access to 2PB of data for the IPCC Assessment Reports. In such a context, running a multi-model data analysis experiment is very challenging, as it requires the availability of a large amount of data related to multiple climate models simulations and scientific data management tools for large-scale data analytics. To address these challenges, a case study on climate models intercomparison data analysis has been defined and implemented in the context of the EU H2020 INDIGO-DataCloud project. The case study has been tested and validated on CMIP5 datasets, in the context of a large scale, international testbed involving several ESGF sites (LLNL, ORNL and CMCC), one orchestrator site (PSNC) and one more hosting INDIGO PaaS services (UPV). Additional ESGF sites, such as NCI (Australia) and a couple more in Europe, are also joining the testbed. The added value of the proposed solution is summarized in the following: it implements a server-side paradigm which limits data movement; it relies on a High-Performance Data Analytics (HPDA) stack to address performance; it exploits the INDIGO PaaS layer to support flexible, dynamic and automated deployment of software components; it provides user-friendly web access based on the INDIGO Future Gateway; and finally it integrates, complements and extends the support currently available through ESGF. Overall it provides a new "tool" for climate scientists to run multi-model experiments. At the
Ash transformation and deposit build-up during biomass suspension and grate firing: Full-scale experimental studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shafique Bashir, Muhammad; Jensen, Peter Arendt; Frandsen, Flemming

2012-01-01

An attractive option for reducing the net CO2 emissions is to substitute coal with biomass in large power plant boilers. However, the presence of chlorine (Cl) and alkali metals (K, Na) in biomassmay induce large operational problems due to ash deposit formation on the superheater tubes. The aim...... of this study was to investigate ash transformation and deposition behavior in two biomass-fired boilers, firing wheat straw and/or wood. The influence of strawfiring technology (grate and suspension) on the ash transformation, deposit formation rate and deposit characteristics has been investigated. Bulk...... elemental analysis of fly ashes revealed that fly ash from suspension firing of straw has high contents of Si, K and Ca, while fly ash from straw firing on grate was rich in the volatile elements K, Cl and S. Investigations of deposit formation ratesweremade in the superheater and convective pass regions...
Performance of mushroom fruiting for large scale commercial production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mat Rosol Awang; Rosnani Abdul Rashid; Hassan Hamdani Mutaat; Mohd Meswan Maskom

2012-01-01

The paper described the determination of mushroom fruiting yield, which is vital to economics of mushroom production. Consistency in mushroom yields enabling an estimation to be made for revenues and hence profitability could be predicted. It has been reported by many growers, there are a large variation in mushroom yields over different times of production. To assess such claims we have run four batches of mushroom fruiting and the performance fruiting body productions are presented. (author)
Fire severity and ecosytem responses following crown fires in California shrublands.

Science.gov (United States)

Keeley, Jon E; Brennan, Teresa; Pfaff, Anne H

2008-09-01

Chaparral shrublands burn in large high-intensity crown fires. Managers interested in how these wildfires affect ecosystem processes generally rely on surrogate measures of fire intensity known as fire severity metrics. In shrublands burned in the autumn of 2003, a study of 250 sites investigated factors determining fire severity and ecosystem responses. Using structural equation modeling we show that stand age, prefire shrub density, and the shortest interval of the prior fire history had significant direct effects on fire severity, explaining > 50% of the variation in severity. Fire severity per se is of interest to resource managers primarily because it is presumed to be an indicator of important ecosystem processes such as vegetative regeneration, community recovery, and erosion. Fire severity contributed relatively little to explaining patterns of regeneration after fire. Two generalizations can be drawn: fire severity effects are mostly shortlived, i.e., by the second year they are greatly diminished, and fire severity may have opposite effects on different functional types. Species richness exhibited a negative relationship to fire severity in the first year, but fire severity impacts were substantially less in the second postfire year and varied by functional type. Much of this relationship was due to alien plants that are sensitive to high fire severity; at all scales from 1 to 1000 m2, the percentage of alien species in the postfire flora declined with increased fire severity. Other aspects of disturbance history are also important determinants of alien cover and richness as both increased with the number of times the site had burned and decreased with time since last fire. A substantial number of studies have shown that remote-sensing indices are correlated with field measurements of fire severity. Across our sites, absolute differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) was strongly correlated with field measures of fire severity and with fire history at a
A new asynchronous parallel algorithm for inferring large-scale gene regulatory networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangyun Xiao

Full Text Available The reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs from high-throughput experimental data has been considered one of the most important issues in systems biology research. With the development of high-throughput technology and the complexity of biological problems, we need to reconstruct GRNs that contain thousands of genes. However, when many existing algorithms are used to handle these large-scale problems, they will encounter two important issues: low accuracy and high computational cost. To overcome these difficulties, the main goal of this study is to design an effective parallel algorithm to infer large-scale GRNs based on high-performance parallel computing environments. In this study, we proposed a novel asynchronous parallel framework to improve the accuracy and lower the time complexity of large-scale GRN inference by combining splitting technology and ordinary differential equation (ODE-based optimization. The presented algorithm uses the sparsity and modularity of GRNs to split whole large-scale GRNs into many small-scale modular subnetworks. Through the ODE-based optimization of all subnetworks in parallel and their asynchronous communications, we can easily obtain the parameters of the whole network. To test the performance of the proposed approach, we used well-known benchmark datasets from Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessments and Methods challenge (DREAM, experimentally determined GRN of Escherichia coli and one published dataset that contains more than 10 thousand genes to compare the proposed approach with several popular algorithms on the same high-performance computing environments in terms of both accuracy and time complexity. The numerical results demonstrate that our parallel algorithm exhibits obvious superiority in inferring large-scale GRNs.
A new asynchronous parallel algorithm for inferring large-scale gene regulatory networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Xiangyun; Zhang, Wei; Zou, Xiufen

2015-01-01

The reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from high-throughput experimental data has been considered one of the most important issues in systems biology research. With the development of high-throughput technology and the complexity of biological problems, we need to reconstruct GRNs that contain thousands of genes. However, when many existing algorithms are used to handle these large-scale problems, they will encounter two important issues: low accuracy and high computational cost. To overcome these difficulties, the main goal of this study is to design an effective parallel algorithm to infer large-scale GRNs based on high-performance parallel computing environments. In this study, we proposed a novel asynchronous parallel framework to improve the accuracy and lower the time complexity of large-scale GRN inference by combining splitting technology and ordinary differential equation (ODE)-based optimization. The presented algorithm uses the sparsity and modularity of GRNs to split whole large-scale GRNs into many small-scale modular subnetworks. Through the ODE-based optimization of all subnetworks in parallel and their asynchronous communications, we can easily obtain the parameters of the whole network. To test the performance of the proposed approach, we used well-known benchmark datasets from Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessments and Methods challenge (DREAM), experimentally determined GRN of Escherichia coli and one published dataset that contains more than 10 thousand genes to compare the proposed approach with several popular algorithms on the same high-performance computing environments in terms of both accuracy and time complexity. The numerical results demonstrate that our parallel algorithm exhibits obvious superiority in inferring large-scale GRNs.
Concepts for Large Scale Hydrogen Production

OpenAIRE

Jakobsen, Daniel; Åtland, Vegar

2016-01-01

The objective of this thesis is to perform a techno-economic analysis of large-scale, carbon-lean hydrogen production in Norway, in order to evaluate various production methods and estimate a breakeven price level. Norway possesses vast energy resources and the export of oil and gas is vital to the country s economy. The results of this thesis indicate that hydrogen represents a viable, carbon-lean opportunity to utilize these resources, which can prove key in the future of Norwegian energy e...
Spacecraft Fire Safety Research at NASA Glenn Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Marit

2016-01-01

results focusing on realistic fuel preparations and heating profiles with regards to early detection of smoke. SAFFIRE is the upcoming large-scale fire experiment which will be executed in a Cygnus vehicle after it undocks from the ISS.
Large-scale derived flood frequency analysis based on continuous simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Dung Nguyen, Viet; Hundecha, Yeshewatesfa; Guse, Björn; Vorogushyn, Sergiy; Merz, Bruno

2016-04-01

There is an increasing need for spatially consistent flood risk assessments at the regional scale (several 100.000 km2), in particular in the insurance industry and for national risk reduction strategies. However, most large-scale flood risk assessments are composed of smaller-scale assessments and show spatial inconsistencies. To overcome this deficit, a large-scale flood model composed of a weather generator and catchments models was developed reflecting the spatially inherent heterogeneity. The weather generator is a multisite and multivariate stochastic model capable of generating synthetic meteorological fields (precipitation, temperature, etc.) at daily resolution for the regional scale. These fields respect the observed autocorrelation, spatial correlation and co-variance between the variables. They are used as input into catchment models. A long-term simulation of this combined system enables to derive very long discharge series at many catchment locations serving as a basic for spatially consistent flood risk estimates at the regional scale. This combined model was set up and validated for major river catchments in Germany. The weather generator was trained by 53-year observation data at 528 stations covering not only the complete Germany but also parts of France, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Australia with the aggregated spatial scale of 443,931 km2. 10.000 years of daily meteorological fields for the study area were generated. Likewise, rainfall-runoff simulations with SWIM were performed for the entire Elbe, Rhine, Weser, Donau and Ems catchments. The validation results illustrate a good performance of the combined system, as the simulated flood magnitudes and frequencies agree well with the observed flood data. Based on continuous simulation this model chain is then used to estimate flood quantiles for the whole Germany including upstream headwater catchments in neighbouring countries. This continuous large scale approach overcomes the several
Corrosion and Materials Performance in biomass fired and co-fired power plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Montgomery, Melanie; Larsen, OH; Biede, O

2003-01-01

not previously encountered in coal-fired power plants. The type of corrosion attack can be directly ascribed to the composition of the deposit and the metal surface temperature. In woodchip boilers, a similar corrosion rate and corrosion mechanism has on some occasions been observed. Co-firing of straw (10...... and 20% energy basis) with coal has shown corrosion rates lower than those in straw-fired plants. With both 10 and 20% straw, no chlorine corrosion was seen. This paper will describe the results from in situ investigations undertaken in Denmark on high temperature corrosion in biomass fired plants....... Results from 100% straw-firing, woodchip and co-firing of straw with coal will be reported. The corrosion mechanisms observed are summarized and the corrosion rates for 18-8 type stainless steels are compared....

Post-fire burn severity and vegetation response following eight large wildfires across the Western United States

Science.gov (United States)

Leigh B. Lentile; Penelope Morgan; Andrew T. Hudak; Michael J. Bobbitt; Sarah A. Lewis; Alistair M. S. Smith; Peter R. Robichaud

2007-01-01

Vegetation response and burn severity were examined following eight large wildfires that burned in 2003 and 2004: two wildfires in California chaparral, two each in dry and moist mixed-conifer forests in Montana, and two in boreal forests in interior Alaska. Our research objectives were: 1) to characterize one year post-fire vegetation recovery relative to initial fire...
External human factors in incident management team decisionmaking and their effect on large fire suppression expenditures

Science.gov (United States)

Janie Canton-Tompson; Krista M. Gebert; Brooke Thompson; Greg Jones; David Calkin; Geoff. Donovan

2008-01-01

Large wildland fires are complex, costly events influenced by a vast array of physical, climatic, and social factors. Changing climate, fuel buildup due to past suppression, and increasing populations in the wildland-urban interface have all been blamed for the extreme fire seasons and rising suppression expenditures of recent years. With each high-cost year comes a...
76 FR 3517 - Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired, Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-20

... Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired, Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and... following: Category NAICS \\1\\ Examples of regulated entities Industry 221112 Fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units. Federal Government 22112 Fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam...
Aeroelastic analysis of an offshore wind turbine: Design and Fatigue Performance of Large Utility-Scale Wind Turbine Blades

OpenAIRE

Fossum, Peter Kalsaas

2012-01-01

Aeroelastic design and fatigue analysis of large utility-scale wind turbine blades are performed. The applied fatigue model is based on established methods and is incorporated in an iterative numerical design tool for realistic wind turbine blades. All aerodynamic and structural design properties are available in literature. The software tool FAST is used for advanced aero-servo-elastic load calculations and stress-histories are calculated with elementary beam theory.According to wind energy ...
Large-Scale Outflows in Seyfert Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Colbert, E. J. M.; Baum, S. A.

1995-12-01

\\catcode`\\@=11 \\ialign{m @th#1hfil ##hfil \\crcr#2\\crcr\\sim\\crcr}}} \\catcode`\\@=12 Highly collimated outflows extend out to Mpc scales in many radio-loud active galaxies. In Seyfert galaxies, which are radio-quiet, the outflows extend out to kpc scales and do not appear to be as highly collimated. In order to study the nature of large-scale (>~1 kpc) outflows in Seyferts, we have conducted optical, radio and X-ray surveys of a distance-limited sample of 22 edge-on Seyfert galaxies. Results of the optical emission-line imaging and spectroscopic survey imply that large-scale outflows are present in >~{{1} /{4}} of all Seyferts. The radio (VLA) and X-ray (ROSAT) surveys show that large-scale radio and X-ray emission is present at about the same frequency. Kinetic luminosities of the outflows in Seyferts are comparable to those in starburst-driven superwinds. Large-scale radio sources in Seyferts appear diffuse, but do not resemble radio halos found in some edge-on starburst galaxies (e.g. M82). We discuss the feasibility of the outflows being powered by the active nucleus (e.g. a jet) or a circumnuclear starburst.
Landscape-scale patterns of fire and drought on the high plains, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Paulette Ford; Charles Jackson; Matthew Reeves; Benjamin Bird; Dave Turner

2015-01-01

We examine 31 years (1982-2012) of temperature, precipitation and natural wildfire occurrence data for Federal and Tribal lands to determine landscape-scale patterns of drought and fire on the southern and central High Plains of the western United States. The High Plains states of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and...
Comparing the performance of SIMD computers by running large air pollution models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brown, J.; Hansen, Per Christian; Wasniewski, J.

1996-01-01

To compare the performance and use of three massively parallel SIMD computers, we implemented a large air pollution model on these computers. Using a realistic large-scale model, we gained detailed insight about the performance of the computers involved when used to solve large-scale scientific...... problems that involve several types of numerical computations. The computers used in our study are the Connection Machines CM-200 and CM-5, and the MasPar MP-2216...
Forest Fire Management: A Comprehensive And Operational Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Fabrizi, Roberto; Perez, Bruno; Gomez, Antonio

2013-12-01

Remote sensing plays an important role in obtaining rapid and complete information on the occurrence and evolution in space and time of forest fires. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of fire events through Earth Observation data for early warning, crisis monitoring and post-event damage assessment or a synthesis of the fire event, both in a wide spatial range (local to regional) and temporal scale (short to long term). The fire products are stored and distributed by means of a WebGIS and a Geoportal with additional auxiliary geospatial data. These products allow fire managers to perform analysis and decision making in a more comprehensive manner.
Release of radioactive materials in simulation test of a postulated solvent fire in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishio, G.; Hashimoto, K.

1989-01-01

This paper reports on small- and large-scale fire tests performed to examine the adequacy of a safety evaluation method for a solvent fire in the extraction process of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The test objectives were to obtain information on the confinement of radioactive materials during a 30% tri-n-butyl phosphate-n-dodecane fire while air ventilation is operating in the cell. The rates of release of cesium, strontium, cerium, ruthenium, and uranium from a burning solvent were determined. The quantities of species released were obtained from the solvent burning rate, smoke generation rate, partition coefficients of species between solvent and water, and coefficients of species entrainment to atmosphere in cell
[A large-scale accident in Alpine terrain].

Science.gov (United States)

Wildner, M; Paal, P

2015-02-01

Due to the geographical conditions, large-scale accidents amounting to mass casualty incidents (MCI) in Alpine terrain regularly present rescue teams with huge challenges. Using an example incident, specific conditions and typical problems associated with such a situation are presented. The first rescue team members to arrive have the elementary tasks of qualified triage and communication to the control room, which is required to dispatch the necessary additional support. Only with a clear "concept", to which all have to adhere, can the subsequent chaos phase be limited. In this respect, a time factor confounded by adverse weather conditions or darkness represents enormous pressure. Additional hazards are frostbite and hypothermia. If priorities can be established in terms of urgency, then treatment and procedure algorithms have proven successful. For evacuation of causalities, a helicopter should be strived for. Due to the low density of hospitals in Alpine regions, it is often necessary to distribute the patients over a wide area. Rescue operations in Alpine terrain have to be performed according to the particular conditions and require rescue teams to have specific knowledge and expertise. The possibility of a large-scale accident should be considered when planning events. With respect to optimization of rescue measures, regular training and exercises are rational, as is the analysis of previous large-scale Alpine accidents.
A fire risk analysis method for nuclear installations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ormieres, Yannick; Lacoue, Jocelyne [Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN), PSN-RES, SA2I, Fontenay-aux-Roses (France)

2013-07-01

A fire safety analysis (FSA) is requested to justify the adequacy of fire protection measures set by the operator of a nuclear facility. An IRSN document outlines a global process for such a comprehensive fire safety analysis and focuses on compliance with performance criteria for fire protection measures. These performance criteria are related to the vulnerability of targets to effects of fire, and not only based upon outside radiological consequences caused by a fire. In his FSA, the operator has to define the safety functions to be preserved in the case of a fire in order to be compliant with nuclear safety objectives. Then, the operator has to justify the adequacy of fire protection measures, defined according to defence in depth principles. One of the key points of the fire analysis is the assessment of possible fire scenarios in the facility. Given the large number of possible fire scenarios, it is then necessary to evaluate ''reference fires'' which are envelope of all possible fire scenarios and which are used by the operator for the design of fire protection measures. (orig.)
The Effect of Particle Size of Wollastonite Filler on Thermal Performance of Intumescent Fire Retardant Coating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zia-ul-Mustafa M.

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Intumescent Fire retardant coatings (IFRC’s are one of the simplest ways to protect substrates exposed to fire. In this study, Wollastonite (W filler of two different particle sizes were used to determine the fire performance of intumescent fire retardant coating. The basic ingredients of the coating were ammonium poly-phosphate (APP as acid source, expandable graphite (EG as carbon source, melamine (MEL as blowing agent in epoxy binder, boric acid as additive and hardener as curing agent. A series of coating formulations were developed by using different weight percentages of both sized Wollastonite fillers. The coated steel substrate samples were tested for fire performance using Bunsen burner and char expansion was measured using furnace fire test. A Comparison of the coatings thermal performance was determined. Wollastonite containing filler particle size 10 μm showed better thermal performance than formulations containing filler’s particle size 44 μm.
Landscape-scale effects of fire severity on mixed-conifer and red fir forest structure in Yosemite National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Van R.; Lutz, James A.; Roberts, Susan L.; Smith, Douglas F.; McGaughey, Robert J.; Povak, Nicholas A.; Brooks, Matthew L.

2013-01-01

While fire shapes the structure of forests and acts as a keystone process, the details of how fire modifies forest structure have been difficult to evaluate because of the complexity of interactions between fires and forests. We studied this relationship across 69.2 km2 of Yosemite National Park, USA, that was subject to 32 fires ⩾40 ha between 1984 and 2010. Forests types included ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), white fir-sugar pine (Abies concolor/Pinus lambertiana), and red fir (Abies magnifica). We estimated and stratified burned area by fire severity using the Landsat-derived Relativized differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR). Airborne LiDAR data, acquired in July 2010, measured the vertical and horizontal structure of canopy material and landscape patterning of canopy patches and gaps. Increasing fire severity changed structure at the scale of fire severity patches, the arrangement of canopy patches and gaps within fire severity patches, and vertically within tree clumps. Each forest type showed an individual trajectory of structural change with increasing fire severity. As a result, the relationship between estimates of fire severity such as RdNBR and actual changes appears to vary among forest types. We found three arrangements of canopy patches and gaps associated with different fire severities: canopy-gap arrangements in which gaps were enclosed in otherwise continuous canopy (typically unburned and low fire severities); patch-gap arrangements in which tree clumps and gaps alternated and neither dominated (typically moderate fire severity); and open-patch arrangements in which trees were scattered across open areas (typically high fire severity). Compared to stands outside fire perimeters, increasing fire severity generally resulted first in loss of canopy cover in lower height strata and increased number and size of gaps, then in loss of canopy cover in higher height strata, and eventually the transition to open areas with few or no trees. However
Modeling fuel treatment impacts on fire suppression cost savings: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew P. Thompson; Nathaniel M. Anderson

2015-01-01

High up-front costs and uncertain return on investment make it difficult for land managers to economically justify large-scale fuel treatments, which remove trees and other vegetation to improve conditions for fire control, reduce the likelihood of ignition, or reduce potential damage from wildland fire if it occurs. In the short-term, revenue from harvested forest...
Evaluating crown fire rate of spread predictions from physics-based models

Science.gov (United States)

C. M. Hoffman; J. Ziegler; J. Canfield; R. R. Linn; W. Mell; C. H. Sieg; F. Pimont

2015-01-01

Modeling the behavior of crown fires is challenging due to the complex set of coupled processes that drive the characteristics of a spreading wildfire and the large range of spatial and temporal scales over which these processes occur. Detailed physics-based modeling approaches such as FIRETEC and the Wildland Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS) simulate...
Exploiting multi-scale parallelism for large scale numerical modelling of laser wakefield accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fonseca, R A; Vieira, J; Silva, L O; Fiuza, F; Davidson, A; Tsung, F S; Mori, W B

2013-01-01

A new generation of laser wakefield accelerators (LWFA), supported by the extreme accelerating fields generated in the interaction of PW-Class lasers and underdense targets, promises the production of high quality electron beams in short distances for multiple applications. Achieving this goal will rely heavily on numerical modelling to further understand the underlying physics and identify optimal regimes, but large scale modelling of these scenarios is computationally heavy and requires the efficient use of state-of-the-art petascale supercomputing systems. We discuss the main difficulties involved in running these simulations and the new developments implemented in the OSIRIS framework to address these issues, ranging from multi-dimensional dynamic load balancing and hybrid distributed/shared memory parallelism to the vectorization of the PIC algorithm. We present the results of the OASCR Joule Metric program on the issue of large scale modelling of LWFA, demonstrating speedups of over 1 order of magnitude on the same hardware. Finally, scalability to over ∼10 6 cores and sustained performance over ∼2 P Flops is demonstrated, opening the way for large scale modelling of LWFA scenarios. (paper)
Microgravity Flammability Experiments for Spacecraft Fire Safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Legros, Guillaume; Minster, Olivier; Tóth, Balazs

2012-01-01

As fire behaviour in manned spacecraft still remains poorly understood, an international topical team has been created to design a validation experiment that has an unprecedented large scale for a microgravity flammability experiment. While the validation experiment is being designed for a re-sup...
SCALE INTERACTION IN A MIXING LAYER. THE ROLE OF THE LARGE-SCALE GRADIENTS

KAUST Repository

Fiscaletti, Daniele

2015-08-23

The interaction between scales is investigated in a turbulent mixing layer. The large-scale amplitude modulation of the small scales already observed in other works depends on the crosswise location. Large-scale positive fluctuations correlate with a stronger activity of the small scales on the low speed-side of the mixing layer, and a reduced activity on the high speed-side. However, from physical considerations we would expect the scales to interact in a qualitatively similar way within the flow and across different turbulent flows. Therefore, instead of the large-scale fluctuations, the large-scale gradients modulation of the small scales has been additionally investigated.
Opposing effects of fire severity on climate feedbacks in Siberian larch forests

Science.gov (United States)

Loranty, M. M.; Alexander, H. D.; Natali, S.; Kropp, H.; Mack, M. C.; Bunn, A. G.; Davydov, S. P.; Erb, A.; Kholodov, A. L.; Schaaf, C.; Wang, Z.; Zimov, N.; Zimov, S. A.

2017-12-01

Boreal larch forests in northeastern Siberia comprise nearly 25% of the continuous permafrost zone. Structural and functional changes in these ecosystems will have important climate feedbacks at regional and global scales. Like boreal ecosystems in North America, fire is an important determinant of landscape scale forest distribution, and fire regimes are intensifying as climate warms. In Siberian larch forests are dominated by a single tree species, and there is evidence that fire severity influences post-fire forest density via impacts on seedling establishment. The extent to which these effects occur, or persist, and the associated climate feedbacks are not well quantified. In this study we use forest stand inventories, in situ observations, and satellite remote sensing to examine: 1) variation in forest density within and between fire scars, and 2) changes in land surface albedo and active layer dynamics associated with forest density variation. At the landscape scale we observed declines in Landsat derived albedo as forests recovered in the first several decades after fire, though canopy cover varied widely within and between individual fire scars. Within an individual mid-successional fire scar ( 75 years) we observed canopy cover ranging from 15-90% with correspondingly large ranges of albedo during periods of snow cover, and relatively small differences in albedo during the growing season. We found an inverse relationship between canopy density and soil temperature within this fire scar; high-density low-albedo stands had cooler soils and shallower active layers, while low-density stands had warmer soils and deeper active layers. Intensive energy balance measurements at a high- and low- density site show that canopy cover alters the magnitude and timing of ground heat fluxes that affect active layer properties. Our results show that fire impacts on stand structure in Siberian larch forests affect land surface albedo and active layer dynamics in ways that
Some relevant parameters for assessing fire hazards of combustible mine materials using laboratory scale experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Litton, Charles D; Perera, Inoka E; Harteis, Samuel P; Teacoach, Kara A; DeRosa, Maria I; Thomas, Richard A; Smith, Alex C

2018-04-15

When combustible materials ignite and burn, the potential for fire growth and flame spread represents an obvious hazard, but during these processes of ignition and flaming, other life hazards present themselves and should be included to ensure an effective overall analysis of the relevant fire hazards. In particular, the gases and smoke produced both during the smoldering stages of fires leading to ignition and during the advanced flaming stages of a developing fire serve to contaminate the surrounding atmosphere, potentially producing elevated levels of toxicity and high levels of smoke obscuration that render the environment untenable. In underground mines, these hazards may be exacerbated by the existing forced ventilation that can carry the gases and smoke to locations far-removed from the fire location. Clearly, materials that require high temperatures (above 1400 K) and that exhibit low mass loss during thermal decomposition, or that require high heat fluxes or heat transfer rates to ignite represent less of a hazard than materials that decompose at low temperatures or ignite at low levels of heat flux. In order to define and quantify some possible parameters that can be used to assess these hazards, small-scale laboratory experiments were conducted in a number of configurations to measure: 1) the toxic gases and smoke produced both during non-flaming and flaming combustion; 2) mass loss rates as a function of temperature to determine ease of thermal decomposition; and 3) mass loss rates and times to ignition as a function of incident heat flux. This paper describes the experiments that were conducted, their results, and the development of a set of parameters that could possibly be used to assess the overall fire hazard of combustible materials using small scale laboratory experiments.

Dissecting the large-scale galactic conformity

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Seongu

2018-01-01

Galactic conformity is an observed phenomenon that galaxies located in the same region have similar properties such as star formation rate, color, gas fraction, and so on. The conformity was first observed among galaxies within in the same halos (“one-halo conformity”). The one-halo conformity can be readily explained by mutual interactions among galaxies within a halo. Recent observations however further witnessed a puzzling connection among galaxies with no direct interaction. In particular, galaxies located within a sphere of ~5 Mpc radius tend to show similarities, even though the galaxies do not share common halos with each other ("two-halo conformity" or “large-scale conformity”). Using a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation, Illustris, we investigate the physical origin of the two-halo conformity and put forward two scenarios. First, back-splash galaxies are likely responsible for the large-scale conformity. They have evolved into red galaxies due to ram-pressure stripping in a given galaxy cluster and happen to reside now within a ~5 Mpc sphere. Second, galaxies in strong tidal field induced by large-scale structure also seem to give rise to the large-scale conformity. The strong tides suppress star formation in the galaxies. We discuss the importance of the large-scale conformity in the context of galaxy evolution.
Metric matters : the performance and organisation of volumetric water control in large-scale irrigation in the North Coast of Peru

OpenAIRE

Vos, J.M.C.

2002-01-01

This thesis describes the organisation and performance of two large-scale irrigation systems in the North Coast of Peru. Good water management is important in this area because water is scarce and irrigated agriculture provides a livelihood to many small and middle-sized farmers. Water in the coast of Peru is considered to be badly managed, however this study shows that performance is more optimal than critics assume. Apart from the relevance in the local water management discussion,...
Fire safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keski-Rahkonen, O.; Bjoerkman, J.; Hostikka, S.; Mangs, J.; Huhtanen, R.; Palmen, H.; Salminen, A.; Turtola, A.

1998-01-01

According to experience and probabilistic risk assessments, fires present a significant hazard in a nuclear power plant. Fires may be initial events for accidents or affect safety systems planned to prevent accidents and to mitigate their consequences. The project consists of theoretical work, experiments and simulations aiming to increase the fire safety at nuclear power plants. The project has four target areas: (1) to produce validated models for numerical simulation programmes, (2) to produce new information on the behavior of equipment in case of fire, (3) to study applicability of new active fire protecting systems in nuclear power plants, and (4) to obtain quantitative knowledge of ignitions induced by important electric devices in nuclear power plants. These topics have been solved mainly experimentally, but modelling at different level is used to interpret experimental data, and to allow easy generalisation and engineering use of the obtained data. Numerical fire simulation has concentrated in comparison of CFD modelling of room fires, and fire spreading on cables on experimental data. So far the success has been good to fair. A simple analytical and numerical model has been developed for fire effluents spreading beyond the room of origin in mechanically strongly ventilated compartments. For behaviour of equipment in fire several full scale and scaled down calorimetric experiments were carried out on electronic cabinets, as well as on horizontal and vertical cable trays. These were carried out to supply material for CFD numerical simulation code validation. Several analytical models were developed and validated against obtained experimental results to allow quick calculations for PSA estimates as well as inter- and extrapolations to slightly different objects. Response times of different commercial fire detectors were determined for different types of smoke, especially emanating from smoldering and flaming cables to facilitate selection of proper detector
Enabling High Performance Large Scale Dense Problems through KBLAS

KAUST Repository

Abdelfattah, Ahmad

2014-05-04

KBLAS (KAUST BLAS) is a small library that provides highly optimized BLAS routines on systems accelerated with GPUs. KBLAS is entirely written in CUDA C, and targets NVIDIA GPUs with compute capability 2.0 (Fermi) or higher. The current focus is on level-2 BLAS routines, namely the general matrix vector multiplication (GEMV) kernel, and the symmetric/hermitian matrix vector multiplication (SYMV/HEMV) kernel. KBLAS provides these two kernels in all four precisions (s, d, c, and z), with support to multi-GPU systems. Through advanced optimization techniques that target latency hiding and pushing memory bandwidth to the limit, KBLAS outperforms state-of-the-art kernels by 20-90% improvement. Competitors include CUBLAS-5.5, MAGMABLAS-1.4.0, and CULAR17. The SYMV/HEMV kernel from KBLAS has been adopted by NVIDIA, and should appear in CUBLAS-6.0. KBLAS has been used in large scale simulations of multi-object adaptive optics.
Large Scale GW Calculations on the Cori System

Science.gov (United States)

Deslippe, Jack; Del Ben, Mauro; da Jornada, Felipe; Canning, Andrew; Louie, Steven

The NERSC Cori system, powered by 9000+ Intel Xeon-Phi processors, represents one of the largest HPC systems for open-science in the United States and the world. We discuss the optimization of the GW methodology for this system, including both node level and system-scale optimizations. We highlight multiple large scale (thousands of atoms) case studies and discuss both absolute application performance and comparison to calculations on more traditional HPC architectures. We find that the GW method is particularly well suited for many-core architectures due to the ability to exploit a large amount of parallelism across many layers of the system. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, as part of the Computational Materials Sciences Program.
Introducing GFWED: The Global Fire Weather Database

Science.gov (United States)

Field, R. D.; Spessa, A. C.; Aziz, N. A.; Camia, A.; Cantin, A.; Carr, R.; de Groot, W. J.; Dowdy, A. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Manomaiphiboon, K.;

2015-01-01

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is the mostly widely used fire danger rating system in the world. We have developed a global database of daily FWI System calculations, beginning in 1980, called the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) gridded to a spatial resolution of 0.5 latitude by 2-3 longitude. Input weather data were obtained from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), and two different estimates of daily precipitation from rain gauges over land. FWI System Drought Code calculations from the gridded data sets were compared to calculations from individual weather station data for a representative set of 48 stations in North, Central and South America, Europe, Russia,Southeast Asia and Australia. Agreement between gridded calculations and the station-based calculations tended to be most different at low latitudes for strictly MERRA based calculations. Strong biases could be seen in either direction: MERRA DC over the Mato Grosso in Brazil reached unrealistically high values exceeding DCD1500 during the dry season but was too low over Southeast Asia during the dry season. These biases are consistent with those previously identified in MERRAs precipitation, and they reinforce the need to consider alternative sources of precipitation data. GFWED can be used for analyzing historical relationships between fire weather and fire activity at continental and global scales, in identifying large-scale atmosphereocean controls on fire weather, and calibration of FWI-based fire prediction models.

Low-Complexity Transmit Antenna Selection and Beamforming for Large-Scale MIMO Communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Qian

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Transmit antenna selection plays an important role in large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO communications, but optimal large-scale MIMO antenna selection is a technical challenge. Exhaustive search is often employed in antenna selection, but it cannot be efficiently implemented in large-scale MIMO communication systems due to its prohibitive high computation complexity. This paper proposes a low-complexity interactive multiple-parameter optimization method for joint transmit antenna selection and beamforming in large-scale MIMO communication systems. The objective is to jointly maximize the channel outrage capacity and signal-to-noise (SNR performance and minimize the mean square error in transmit antenna selection and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR beamforming without exhaustive search. The effectiveness of all the proposed methods is verified by extensive simulation results. It is shown that the required antenna selection processing time of the proposed method does not increase along with the increase of selected antennas, but the computation complexity of conventional exhaustive search method will significantly increase when large-scale antennas are employed in the system. This is particularly useful in antenna selection for large-scale MIMO communication systems.
FIRES: Fire Information Retrieval and Evaluation System - A program for fire danger rating analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Patricia L. Andrews; Larry S. Bradshaw

1997-01-01

A computer program, FIRES: Fire Information Retrieval and Evaluation System, provides methods for evaluating the performance of fire danger rating indexes. The relationship between fire danger indexes and historical fire occurrence and size is examined through logistic regression and percentiles. Historical seasonal trends of fire danger and fire occurrence can be...
Cable tray fire tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klamerus, L.J.

1978-01-01

Funds were authorized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide data needed for confirmation of the suitability of current design standards and regulatory guides for fire protection and control in water reactor power plants. The activities of this program through August 1978 are summarized. A survey of industry to determine current design practices and a screening test to select two cable constructions which were used in small scale and full scale testing are described. Both small and full scale tests to assess the adequacy of fire retardant coatings and full scale tests on fire shields to determine their effectiveness are outlined
Sensitivity Analysis on Fire Modeling of Main Control Board Fire Using Fire Dynamics Simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Dae Il; Lim, Ho Gon

2015-01-01

In this study, sensitivity analyses for an MCB fire were performed to identify the effects on the MCR forced abandonment time according to the changes of height and number for fire initiation places. Hanul Unit 3 NPP was selected as a reference plant for this study. In this study, sensitivity analyses for an MCB fire were performed to identify the effects on the MCR forced abandonment time according to the changes of height and number of fire initiation places. A main control board (MCB) fire can cause a forced main control room (MCR) abandonment of the operators as well as the function failures or spurious operations of the control and instrumentation-related components. If the MCR cannot be habitable, a safe shutdown from outside the MCR can be achieved and maintained at an alternate shutdown panel independent from the MCR. When the fire modeling for an electrical cabinet such as an MCB was performed, its many input parameters can affect the fire simulation results. This study results showed that the decrease in the height of fire ignition place and the use of single fire ignition place in fire modeling for the propagating fire shortened MCR abandonment time
Sensitivity Analysis on Fire Modeling of Main Control Board Fire Using Fire Dynamics Simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Dae Il; Lim, Ho Gon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In this study, sensitivity analyses for an MCB fire were performed to identify the effects on the MCR forced abandonment time according to the changes of height and number for fire initiation places. Hanul Unit 3 NPP was selected as a reference plant for this study. In this study, sensitivity analyses for an MCB fire were performed to identify the effects on the MCR forced abandonment time according to the changes of height and number of fire initiation places. A main control board (MCB) fire can cause a forced main control room (MCR) abandonment of the operators as well as the function failures or spurious operations of the control and instrumentation-related components. If the MCR cannot be habitable, a safe shutdown from outside the MCR can be achieved and maintained at an alternate shutdown panel independent from the MCR. When the fire modeling for an electrical cabinet such as an MCB was performed, its many input parameters can affect the fire simulation results. This study results showed that the decrease in the height of fire ignition place and the use of single fire ignition place in fire modeling for the propagating fire shortened MCR abandonment time.
Networks and landscapes: a framework for setting goals and evaluating performance at the large landscape scale

Science.gov (United States)

R Patrick Bixler; Shawn Johnson; Kirk Emerson; Tina Nabatchi; Melly Reuling; Charles Curtin; Michele Romolini; Morgan Grove

2016-01-01

The objective of large landscape conser vation is to mitigate complex ecological problems through interventions at multiple and overlapping scales. Implementation requires coordination among a diverse network of individuals and organizations to integrate local-scale conservation activities with broad-scale goals. This requires an understanding of the governance options...
A Large Underestimate of Formic Acid from Tropical Fires: Constraints from Space-Borne Measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaliyakunnel, S; Millet, D B; Wells, K C; Cady-Pereira, K E; Shephard, M W

2016-06-07

Formic acid (HCOOH) is one of the most abundant carboxylic acids and a dominant source of atmospheric acidity. Recent work indicates a major gap in the HCOOH budget, with atmospheric concentrations much larger than expected from known sources. Here, we employ recent space-based observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer with the GEOS-Chem atmospheric model to better quantify the HCOOH source from biomass burning, and assess whether fire emissions can help close the large budget gap for this species. The space-based data reveal a severe model HCOOH underestimate most prominent over tropical burning regions, suggesting a major missing source of organic acids from fires. We develop an approach for inferring the fractional fire contribution to ambient HCOOH and find, based on measurements over Africa, that pyrogenic HCOOH:CO enhancement ratios are much higher than expected from direct emissions alone, revealing substantial secondary organic acid production in fire plumes. Current models strongly underestimate (by 10 ± 5 times) the total primary and secondary HCOOH source from African fires. If a 10-fold bias were to extend to fires in other regions, biomass burning could produce 14 Tg/a of HCOOH in the tropics or 16 Tg/a worldwide. However, even such an increase would only represent 15-20% of the total required HCOOH source, implying the existence of other larger missing sources.
The status and challenge of global fire modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Hantson, Stijn; Arneth, Almut; Harrison, Sandy P.; Kelley, Douglas I.; Prentice, I. Colin; Rabin, Sam S.; Archibald, Sally; Mouillot, Florent; Arnold, Steve R.; Artaxo, Paulo; Bachelet, Dominique; Ciais, Philippe; Forrest, Matthew; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Hickler, Thomas; Kaplan, Jed O.; Kloster, Silvia; Knorr, Wolfgang; Lasslop, Gitta; Li, Fang; Mangeon, Stephane; Melton, Joe R.; Meyn, Andrea; Sitch, Stephen; Spessa, Allan; van der Werf, Guido R.; Voulgarakis, Apostolos; Yue, Chao

2016-06-01

Biomass burning impacts vegetation dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, atmospheric chemistry, and climate, with sometimes deleterious socio-economic impacts. Under future climate projections it is often expected that the risk of wildfires will increase. Our ability to predict the magnitude and geographic pattern of future fire impacts rests on our ability to model fire regimes, using either well-founded empirical relationships or process-based models with good predictive skill. While a large variety of models exist today, it is still unclear which type of model or degree of complexity is required to model fire adequately at regional to global scales. This is the central question underpinning the creation of the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP), an international initiative to compare and evaluate existing global fire models against benchmark data sets for present-day and historical conditions. In this paper we review how fires have been represented in fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and give an overview of the current state of the art in fire-regime modelling. We indicate which challenges still remain in global fire modelling and stress the need for a comprehensive model evaluation and outline what lessons may be learned from FireMIP.
A method for mapping fire hazard and risk across multiple scales and its application in fire management

Science.gov (United States)

Robert E. Keane; Stacy A. Drury; Eva C. Karau; Paul F. Hessburg; Keith M. Reynolds

2010-01-01

This paper presents modeling methods for mapping fire hazard and fire risk using a research model called FIREHARM (FIRE Hazard and Risk Model) that computes common measures of fire behavior, fire danger, and fire effects to spatially portray fire hazard over space. FIREHARM can compute a measure of risk associated with the distribution of these measures over time using...
Parallel clustering algorithm for large-scale biological data sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Minchao; Zhang, Wu; Ding, Wang; Dai, Dongbo; Zhang, Huiran; Xie, Hao; Chen, Luonan; Guo, Yike; Xie, Jiang

2014-01-01

Recent explosion of biological data brings a great challenge for the traditional clustering algorithms. With increasing scale of data sets, much larger memory and longer runtime are required for the cluster identification problems. The affinity propagation algorithm outperforms many other classical clustering algorithms and is widely applied into the biological researches. However, the time and space complexity become a great bottleneck when handling the large-scale data sets. Moreover, the similarity matrix, whose constructing procedure takes long runtime, is required before running the affinity propagation algorithm, since the algorithm clusters data sets based on the similarities between data pairs. Two types of parallel architectures are proposed in this paper to accelerate the similarity matrix constructing procedure and the affinity propagation algorithm. The memory-shared architecture is used to construct the similarity matrix, and the distributed system is taken for the affinity propagation algorithm, because of its large memory size and great computing capacity. An appropriate way of data partition and reduction is designed in our method, in order to minimize the global communication cost among processes. A speedup of 100 is gained with 128 cores. The runtime is reduced from serval hours to a few seconds, which indicates that parallel algorithm is capable of handling large-scale data sets effectively. The parallel affinity propagation also achieves a good performance when clustering large-scale gene data (microarray) and detecting families in large protein superfamilies.
Large-scale perspective as a challenge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Plomp, M.G.A.

2012-01-01

1. Scale forms a challenge for chain researchers: when exactly is something ‘large-scale’? What are the underlying factors (e.g. number of parties, data, objects in the chain, complexity) that determine this? It appears to be a continuum between small- and large-scale, where positioning on that
Coal-fired high performance power generating system. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-08-31

As a result of the investigations carried out during Phase 1 of the Engineering Development of Coal-Fired High-Performance Power Generation Systems (Combustion 2000), the UTRC-led Combustion 2000 Team is recommending the development of an advanced high performance power generation system (HIPPS) whose high efficiency and minimal pollutant emissions will enable the US to use its abundant coal resources to satisfy current and future demand for electric power. The high efficiency of the power plant, which is the key to minimizing the environmental impact of coal, can only be achieved using a modern gas turbine system. Minimization of emissions can be achieved by combustor design, and advanced air pollution control devices. The commercial plant design described herein is a combined cycle using either a frame-type gas turbine or an intercooled aeroderivative with clean air as the working fluid. The air is heated by a coal-fired high temperature advanced furnace (HITAF). The best performance from the cycle is achieved by using a modern aeroderivative gas turbine, such as the intercooled FT4000. A simplified schematic is shown. In the UTRC HIPPS, the conversion efficiency for the heavy frame gas turbine version will be 47.4% (HHV) compared to the approximately 35% that is achieved in conventional coal-fired plants. This cycle is based on a gas turbine operating at turbine inlet temperatures approaching 2,500 F. Using an aeroderivative type gas turbine, efficiencies of over 49% could be realized in advanced cycle configuration (Humid Air Turbine, or HAT). Performance of these power plants is given in a table.
Engineering development of coal-fired high-performance power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

A High Performance Power System (HIPPS) is being developed. This system is a coal-fired, combined cycle plant with indirect heating of gas turbine air. Foster Wheeler Development Corporation and a team consisting of Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, Bechtel Corporation, University of Tennessee Space Institute and Westinghouse Electric Corporation are developing this system. In Phase 1 of the project, a conceptual design of a commercial plant was developed. Technical and economic analyses indicated that the plant would meet the goals of the project which include a 47 percent efficiency (HHV) and a 10 percent lower cost of electricity than an equivalent size PC plant. The concept uses a pyrolyzation process to convert coal into fuel gas and char. The char is fired in a High Temperature Advanced Furnace (HITAF). The HITAF is a pulverized fuel-fired boiler/air heater where steam is generated and gas turbine air is indirectly heated. The fuel gas generated in the pyrolyzer is then used to heat the gas turbine air further before it enters the gas turbine. The project is currently in Phase 2, which includes engineering analysis, laboratory testing and pilot plant testing. Research and development is being done on the HIPPS systems that are not commercial or being developed on other projects. Pilot plant testing of the pyrolyzer subsystem and the char combustion subsystem are being done separately, and after each experimental program has been completed, a larger scale pyrolyzer will be tested at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, Al. The facility is equipped with a gas turbine and a topping combustor, and as such, will provide an opportunity to evaluate integrated pyrolyzer and turbine operation. During this quarter, initial char combustion tests were performed at the CETF using a Foster Wheeler commercial burner. These preliminary tests were encouraging and will be used to support the development of an innovative char burner for the HIPPS
Algorithm 896: LSA: Algorithms for Large-Scale Optimization

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lukšan, Ladislav; Matonoha, Ctirad; Vlček, Jan

2009-01-01

Roč. 36, č. 3 (2009), 16-1-16-29 ISSN 0098-3500 R&D Pro jects: GA AV ČR IAA1030405; GA ČR GP201/06/P397 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : algorithms * design * large-scale optimization * large-scale nonsmooth optimization * large-scale nonlinear least squares * large-scale nonlinear minimax * large-scale systems of nonlinear equations * sparse pro blems * partially separable pro blems * limited-memory methods * discrete Newton methods * quasi-Newton methods * primal interior-point methods Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 1.904, year: 2009

Large-scale Intelligent Transporation Systems simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ewing, T.; Canfield, T.; Hannebutte, U.; Levine, D.; Tentner, A.

1995-06-01

A prototype computer system has been developed which defines a high-level architecture for a large-scale, comprehensive, scalable simulation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capable of running on massively parallel computers and distributed (networked) computer systems. The prototype includes the modelling of instrumented ``smart`` vehicles with in-vehicle navigation units capable of optimal route planning and Traffic Management Centers (TMC). The TMC has probe vehicle tracking capabilities (display position and attributes of instrumented vehicles), and can provide 2-way interaction with traffic to provide advisories and link times. Both the in-vehicle navigation module and the TMC feature detailed graphical user interfaces to support human-factors studies. The prototype has been developed on a distributed system of networked UNIX computers but is designed to run on ANL`s IBM SP-X parallel computer system for large scale problems. A novel feature of our design is that vehicles will be represented by autonomus computer processes, each with a behavior model which performs independent route selection and reacts to external traffic events much like real vehicles. With this approach, one will be able to take advantage of emerging massively parallel processor (MPP) systems.
Measurement of inter- and intra-annual variability of landscape fire activity at a continental scale: The Australian case

Science.gov (United States)

Grant J. Williamson; Lynda D. Prior; Matt Jolly; Mark A. Cochrane; Brett P. Murphy; David M. J. S. Bowman

2016-01-01

Climate dynamics at diurnal, seasonal and inter-annual scales shape global fire activity, although difficulties of assembling reliable fire and meteorological data with sufficient spatio-temporal resolution have frustrated quantification of this variability. Using Australia as a case study, we combine data from 4760 meteorological stations with 12 years of satellite-...
Performance of smokeless gasoline fire test facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, J.F.; Watkins, R.A.

1978-01-01

Packaging for radioactive materials must perform satisfactorily when subjected to temperatures simulating an accident involving a fire. The new thermal test facility has proved to be a reliable method for satisfactorily performing the required test. The flame provides sufficient heat to assure that the test is valid, and the temperature can be controlled satisfactorily. Also, the air and water mist systems virtually eliminate any smoke and thereby exceed the local EPA requirements. The combination of the two systems provides an inexpensive, low maintenance technique for elimination of the smoke plume
WImpiBLAST: web interface for mpiBLAST to help biologists perform large-scale annotation using high performance computing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parichit Sharma

Full Text Available The function of a newly sequenced gene can be discovered by determining its sequence homology with known proteins. BLAST is the most extensively used sequence analysis program for sequence similarity search in large databases of sequences. With the advent of next generation sequencing technologies it has now become possible to study genes and their expression at a genome-wide scale through RNA-seq and metagenome sequencing experiments. Functional annotation of all the genes is done by sequence similarity search against multiple protein databases. This annotation task is computationally very intensive and can take days to obtain complete results. The program mpiBLAST, an open-source parallelization of BLAST that achieves superlinear speedup, can be used to accelerate large-scale annotation by using supercomputers and high performance computing (HPC clusters. Although many parallel bioinformatics applications using the Message Passing Interface (MPI are available in the public domain, researchers are reluctant to use them due to lack of expertise in the Linux command line and relevant programming experience. With these limitations, it becomes difficult for biologists to use mpiBLAST for accelerating annotation. No web interface is available in the open-source domain for mpiBLAST. We have developed WImpiBLAST, a user-friendly open-source web interface for parallel BLAST searches. It is implemented in Struts 1.3 using a Java backbone and runs atop the open-source Apache Tomcat Server. WImpiBLAST supports script creation and job submission features and also provides a robust job management interface for system administrators. It combines script creation and modification features with job monitoring and management through the Torque resource manager on a Linux-based HPC cluster. Use case information highlights the acceleration of annotation analysis achieved by using WImpiBLAST. Here, we describe the WImpiBLAST web interface features and architecture
WImpiBLAST: web interface for mpiBLAST to help biologists perform large-scale annotation using high performance computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Parichit; Mantri, Shrikant S

2014-01-01

The function of a newly sequenced gene can be discovered by determining its sequence homology with known proteins. BLAST is the most extensively used sequence analysis program for sequence similarity search in large databases of sequences. With the advent of next generation sequencing technologies it has now become possible to study genes and their expression at a genome-wide scale through RNA-seq and metagenome sequencing experiments. Functional annotation of all the genes is done by sequence similarity search against multiple protein databases. This annotation task is computationally very intensive and can take days to obtain complete results. The program mpiBLAST, an open-source parallelization of BLAST that achieves superlinear speedup, can be used to accelerate large-scale annotation by using supercomputers and high performance computing (HPC) clusters. Although many parallel bioinformatics applications using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) are available in the public domain, researchers are reluctant to use them due to lack of expertise in the Linux command line and relevant programming experience. With these limitations, it becomes difficult for biologists to use mpiBLAST for accelerating annotation. No web interface is available in the open-source domain for mpiBLAST. We have developed WImpiBLAST, a user-friendly open-source web interface for parallel BLAST searches. It is implemented in Struts 1.3 using a Java backbone and runs atop the open-source Apache Tomcat Server. WImpiBLAST supports script creation and job submission features and also provides a robust job management interface for system administrators. It combines script creation and modification features with job monitoring and management through the Torque resource manager on a Linux-based HPC cluster. Use case information highlights the acceleration of annotation analysis achieved by using WImpiBLAST. Here, we describe the WImpiBLAST web interface features and architecture, explain design
Karhunen-Loève (PCA) based detection of multiple oscillations in multiple measurement signals from large-scale process plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Wickerhauser, M.V.

2007-01-01

In the perspective of optimizing the control and operation of large scale process plants, it is important to detect and to locate oscillations in the plants. This paper presents a scheme for detecting and localizing multiple oscillations in multiple measurements from such a large-scale power plant....... The scheme is based on a Karhunen-Lo\\`{e}ve analysis of the data from the plant. The proposed scheme is subsequently tested on two sets of data: a set of synthetic data and a set of data from a coal-fired power plant. In both cases the scheme detects the beginning of the oscillation within only a few samples....... In addition the oscillation localization has also shown its potential by localizing the oscillations in both data sets....
Large-scale performance studies of the Resistive Plate Chamber fast tracker for the ATLAS 1st-level muon trigger

CERN Document Server

Cattani, G; The ATLAS collaboration

2009-01-01

In the ATLAS experiment, Resistive Plate Chambers provide the first-level muon trigger and bunch crossing identification over large area of the barrel region, as well as being used as a very fast 2D tracker. To achieve these goals a system of about ~4000 gas gaps operating in avalanche mode was built (resulting in a total readout surface of about 16000 m2 segmented into 350000 strips) and is now fully operational in the ATLAS pit, where its functionality has been widely tested up to now using cosmic rays. Such a large scale system allows to study the performance of RPCs (both from the point of view of gas gaps and readout electronics) with unprecedented sensitivity to rare effects, as well as providing the means to correlate (in a statistically significant way) characteristics at production sites with performance during operation. Calibrating such a system means fine tuning thousands of parameters (involving both front-end electronics and gap voltage), as well as constantly monitoring performance and environm...
Large-scale matrix-handling subroutines 'ATLAS'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsunematsu, Toshihide; Takeda, Tatsuoki; Fujita, Keiichi; Matsuura, Toshihiko; Tahara, Nobuo

1978-03-01

Subroutine package ''ATLAS'' has been developed for handling large-scale matrices. The package is composed of four kinds of subroutines, i.e., basic arithmetic routines, routines for solving linear simultaneous equations and for solving general eigenvalue problems and utility routines. The subroutines are useful in large scale plasma-fluid simulations. (auth.)
Fire Influences on Atmospheric Composition, Air Quality, and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Voulgarakis, Apostolos; Field, Robert D.

2015-01-01

Fires impact atmospheric composition through their emissions, which range from long-lived gases to short-lived gases and aerosols. Effects are typically larger in the tropics and boreal regions but can also be substantial in highly populated areas in the northern mid-latitudes. In all regions, fire can impact air quality and health. Similarly, its effect on large-scale atmospheric processes, including regional and global atmospheric chemistry and climate forcing, can be substantial, but this remains largely unexplored. The impacts are primarily realised in the boundary layer and lower free troposphere but can also be noticeable in upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) region, for the most intense fires. In this review, we summarise the recent literature on findings related to fire impact on atmospheric composition, air quality and climate. We explore both observational and modelling approaches and present information on key regions and on the globe as a whole. We also discuss the current and future directions in this area of research, focusing on the major advances in emission estimates, the emerging efforts to include fire as a component in Earth system modelling and the use of modelling to assess health impacts of fire emissions.
Towards Building a High Performance Spatial Query System for Large Scale Medical Imaging Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Aji, Ablimit; Wang, Fusheng; Saltz, Joel H

2012-11-06

Support of high performance queries on large volumes of scientific spatial data is becoming increasingly important in many applications. This growth is driven by not only geospatial problems in numerous fields, but also emerging scientific applications that are increasingly data- and compute-intensive. For example, digital pathology imaging has become an emerging field during the past decade, where examination of high resolution images of human tissue specimens enables more effective diagnosis, prediction and treatment of diseases. Systematic analysis of large-scale pathology images generates tremendous amounts of spatially derived quantifications of micro-anatomic objects, such as nuclei, blood vessels, and tissue regions. Analytical pathology imaging provides high potential to support image based computer aided diagnosis. One major requirement for this is effective querying of such enormous amount of data with fast response, which is faced with two major challenges: the "big data" challenge and the high computation complexity. In this paper, we present our work towards building a high performance spatial query system for querying massive spatial data on MapReduce. Our framework takes an on demand index building approach for processing spatial queries and a partition-merge approach for building parallel spatial query pipelines, which fits nicely with the computing model of MapReduce. We demonstrate our framework on supporting multi-way spatial joins for algorithm evaluation and nearest neighbor queries for microanatomic objects. To reduce query response time, we propose cost based query optimization to mitigate the effect of data skew. Our experiments show that the framework can efficiently support complex analytical spatial queries on MapReduce.
Computing the universe: how large-scale simulations illuminate galaxies and dark energy

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shea, Brian

2015-04-01

High-performance and large-scale computing is absolutely to understanding astronomical objects such as stars, galaxies, and the cosmic web. This is because these are structures that operate on physical, temporal, and energy scales that cannot be reasonably approximated in the laboratory, and whose complexity and nonlinearity often defies analytic modeling. In this talk, I show how the growth of computing platforms over time has facilitated our understanding of astrophysical and cosmological phenomena, focusing primarily on galaxies and large-scale structure in the Universe.
How the Internet Will Help Large-Scale Assessment Reinvent Itself

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Randy Elliot Bennett

2001-02-01

Full Text Available Large-scale assessment in the United States is undergoing enormous pressure to change. That pressure stems from many causes. Depending upon the type of test, the issues precipitating change include an outmoded cognitive-scientific basis for test design; a mismatch with curriculum; the differential performance of population groups; a lack of information to help individuals improve; and inefficiency. These issues provide a strong motivation to reconceptualize both the substance and the business of large-scale assessment. At the same time, advances in technology, measurement, and cognitive science are providing the means to make that reconceptualization a reality. The thesis of this paper is that the largest facilitating factor will be technological, in particular the Internet. In the same way that it is already helping to revolutionize commerce, education, and even social interaction, the Internet will help revolutionize the business and substance of large-scale assessment.
Aerosols from fires: an examination of the effects on ozone photochemistry in the Western United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xiaoyan; Wiedinmyer, Christine; Carlton, Annmarie G

2012-11-06

This study presents a first attempt to investigate the roles of fire aerosols in ozone (O(3)) photochemistry using an online coupled meteorology-chemistry model, the Weather Research and Foresting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). Four 1-month WRF-Chem simulations for August 2007, with and without fire emissions, were carried out to assess the sensitivity of O(3) predictions to the emissions and subsequent radiative feedbacks associated with large-scale fires in the Western United States (U.S.). Results show that decreases in planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) resulting from the radiative effects of fire aerosols and increases in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the fires tend to increase modeled O(3) concentrations near the source. Reductions in downward shortwave radiation reaching the surface and surface temperature due to fire aerosols cause decreases in biogenic isoprene emissions and J(NO(2)) photolysis rates, resulting in reductions in O(3) concentrations by as much as 15%. Thus, the results presented in this study imply that considering the radiative effects of fire aerosols may reduce O(3) overestimation by traditional photochemical models that do not consider fire-induced changes in meteorology; implementation of coupled meteorology-chemistry models are required to simulate the atmospheric chemistry impacted by large-scale fires.
Seasonality of fire weather strongly influences fire regimes in South Florida savanna-grassland landscapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William J Platt

Full Text Available Fire seasonality, an important characteristic of fire regimes, commonly is delineated using seasons based on single weather variables (rainfall or temperature. We used nonparametric cluster analyses of a 17-year (1993-2009 data set of weather variables that influence likelihoods and spread of fires (relative humidity, air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, soil moisture to explore seasonality of fire in pine savanna-grassland landscapes at the Avon Park Air Force Range in southern Florida. A four-variable, three-season model explained more variation within fire weather variables than models with more seasons. The three-season model also delineated intra-annual timing of fire more accurately than a conventional rainfall-based two-season model. Two seasons coincided roughly with dry and wet seasons based on rainfall. The third season, which we labeled the fire season, occurred between dry and wet seasons and was characterized by fire-promoting conditions present annually: drought, intense solar radiation, low humidity, and warm air temperatures. Fine fuels consisting of variable combinations of pyrogenic pine needles, abundant C4 grasses, and flammable shrubs, coupled with low soil moisture, and lightning ignitions early in the fire season facilitate natural landscape-scale wildfires that burn uplands and across wetlands. We related our three season model to fires with different ignition sources (lightning, military missions, and prescribed fires over a 13-year period with fire records (1997-2009. Largest wildfires originate from lightning and military ignitions that occur within the early fire season substantially prior to the peak of lightning strikes in the wet season. Prescribed ignitions, in contrast, largely occur outside the fire season. Our delineation of a pronounced fire season provides insight into the extent to which different human-derived fire regimes mimic lightning fire regimes. Delineation of a fire season associated with
Seasonality of Fire Weather Strongly Influences Fire Regimes in South Florida Savanna-Grassland Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, William J.; Orzell, Steve L.; Slocum, Matthew G.

2015-01-01

Fire seasonality, an important characteristic of fire regimes, commonly is delineated using seasons based on single weather variables (rainfall or temperature). We used nonparametric cluster analyses of a 17-year (1993–2009) data set of weather variables that influence likelihoods and spread of fires (relative humidity, air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, soil moisture) to explore seasonality of fire in pine savanna-grassland landscapes at the Avon Park Air Force Range in southern Florida. A four-variable, three-season model explained more variation within fire weather variables than models with more seasons. The three-season model also delineated intra-annual timing of fire more accurately than a conventional rainfall-based two-season model. Two seasons coincided roughly with dry and wet seasons based on rainfall. The third season, which we labeled the fire season, occurred between dry and wet seasons and was characterized by fire-promoting conditions present annually: drought, intense solar radiation, low humidity, and warm air temperatures. Fine fuels consisting of variable combinations of pyrogenic pine needles, abundant C4 grasses, and flammable shrubs, coupled with low soil moisture, and lightning ignitions early in the fire season facilitate natural landscape-scale wildfires that burn uplands and across wetlands. We related our three season model to fires with different ignition sources (lightning, military missions, and prescribed fires) over a 13-year period with fire records (1997–2009). Largest wildfires originate from lightning and military ignitions that occur within the early fire season substantially prior to the peak of lightning strikes in the wet season. Prescribed ignitions, in contrast, largely occur outside the fire season. Our delineation of a pronounced fire season provides insight into the extent to which different human-derived fire regimes mimic lightning fire regimes. Delineation of a fire season associated with timing of
Planning for risk-informed/performance-based fire protection at nuclear power plants. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najafi, B.; Parkinson, W.J.; Lee, J.A.

1997-12-01

This document presents a framework for discussing issues and building consensus towards use of fire modeling and risk technology in nuclear power plant fire protection program implementation. The plan describes a three-phase approach: development of core technologies, implementation of methods, and finally, case studies and pilot applications to verify viability of such methods. The core technologies are defined as fire modeling, fire and system tests, use of operational data, and system and risk techniques. The implementation phase addresses the programmatic issues involved in implementing a risk-informed/performance-based approach in an integrated approach with risk/performance measures. The programmatic elements include: (1) a relationship with fire codes and standards development as defined by the ongoing effort of NFPA for development of performance-based standards; (2) the ability for NRC to undertake inspection and enforcement; and (3) the benefit to utilities in terms of cost versus safety. The case studies are intended to demonstrate applicability of single issue resolution while pilot applications are intended to check the applicability of the integrated program as a whole
Probes of large-scale structure in the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suto, Yasushi; Gorski, K.; Juszkiewicz, R.; Silk, J.

1988-01-01

Recent progress in observational techniques has made it possible to confront quantitatively various models for the large-scale structure of the Universe with detailed observational data. We develop a general formalism to show that the gravitational instability theory for the origin of large-scale structure is now capable of critically confronting observational results on cosmic microwave background radiation angular anisotropies, large-scale bulk motions and large-scale clumpiness in the galaxy counts. (author)
Utilization of Large Scale Surface Models for Detailed Visibility Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Caha, J.; Kačmařík, M.

2017-11-01

This article demonstrates utilization of large scale surface models with small spatial resolution and high accuracy, acquired from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle scanning, for visibility analyses. The importance of large scale data for visibility analyses on the local scale, where the detail of the surface model is the most defining factor, is described. The focus is not only the classic Boolean visibility, that is usually determined within GIS, but also on so called extended viewsheds that aims to provide more information about visibility. The case study with examples of visibility analyses was performed on river Opava, near the Ostrava city (Czech Republic). The multiple Boolean viewshed analysis and global horizon viewshed were calculated to determine most prominent features and visibility barriers of the surface. Besides that, the extended viewshed showing angle difference above the local horizon, which describes angular height of the target area above the barrier, is shown. The case study proved that large scale models are appropriate data source for visibility analyses on local level. The discussion summarizes possible future applications and further development directions of visibility analyses.
Very Large-Scale Neighborhoods with Performance Guarantees for Minimizing Makespan on Parallel Machines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brueggemann, T.; Hurink, Johann L.; Vredeveld, T.; Woeginger, Gerhard

2006-01-01

We study the problem of minimizing the makespan on m parallel machines. We introduce a very large-scale neighborhood of exponential size (in the number of machines) that is based on a matching in a complete graph. The idea is to partition the jobs assigned to the same machine into two sets. This
A Ranking Approach on Large-Scale Graph With Multidimensional Heterogeneous Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Gao, Bin; Liu, Tie-Yan; Wang, Taifeng; Li, Guohui; Li, Hang

2016-04-01

Graph-based ranking has been extensively studied and frequently applied in many applications, such as webpage ranking. It aims at mining potentially valuable information from the raw graph-structured data. Recently, with the proliferation of rich heterogeneous information (e.g., node/edge features and prior knowledge) available in many real-world graphs, how to effectively and efficiently leverage all information to improve the ranking performance becomes a new challenging problem. Previous methods only utilize part of such information and attempt to rank graph nodes according to link-based methods, of which the ranking performances are severely affected by several well-known issues, e.g., over-fitting or high computational complexity, especially when the scale of graph is very large. In this paper, we address the large-scale graph-based ranking problem and focus on how to effectively exploit rich heterogeneous information of the graph to improve the ranking performance. Specifically, we propose an innovative and effective semi-supervised PageRank (SSP) approach to parameterize the derived information within a unified semi-supervised learning framework (SSLF-GR), then simultaneously optimize the parameters and the ranking scores of graph nodes. Experiments on the real-world large-scale graphs demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms the algorithms that consider such graph information only partially.

Large-scale grid management; Storskala Nettforvaltning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langdal, Bjoern Inge; Eggen, Arnt Ove

2003-07-01

The network companies in the Norwegian electricity industry now have to establish a large-scale network management, a concept essentially characterized by (1) broader focus (Broad Band, Multi Utility,...) and (2) bigger units with large networks and more customers. Research done by SINTEF Energy Research shows so far that the approaches within large-scale network management may be structured according to three main challenges: centralization, decentralization and out sourcing. The article is part of a planned series.
Modeling very large-fire occurrences over the continental United States from weather and climate forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbero, R; Abatzoglou, J T; Steel, E A; K Larkin, Narasimhan

2014-01-01

Very large-fires (VLFs) have widespread impacts on ecosystems, air quality, fire suppression resources, and in many regions account for a majority of total area burned. Empirical generalized linear models of the largest fires (>5000 ha) across the contiguous United States (US) were developed at ∼60 km spatial and weekly temporal resolutions using solely atmospheric predictors. Climate−fire relationships on interannual timescales were evident, with wetter conditions than normal in the previous growing season enhancing VLFs probability in rangeland systems and with concurrent long-term drought enhancing VLFs probability in forested systems. Information at sub-seasonal timescales further refined these relationships, with short-term fire weather being a significant predictor in rangelands and fire danger indices linked to dead fuel moisture being a significant predictor in forested lands. Models demonstrated agreement in capturing the observed spatial and temporal variability including the interannual variability of VLF occurrences within most ecoregions. Furthermore the model captured the observed increase in VLF occurrences across parts of the southwestern and southeastern US from 1984 to 2010 suggesting that, irrespective of changes in fuels and land management, climatic factors have become more favorable for VLF occurrence over the past three decades in some regions. Our modeling framework provides a basis for simulations of future VLF occurrences from climate projections. (letter)
Supporting FIRE-suppression strategies combining fire spread MODelling and SATellite data in an operational context in Portugal: the FIRE-MODSAT project

Science.gov (United States)

Sá, Ana C. L.; Benali, Akli; Pinto, Renata M. S.; Pereira, José M. C.; Trigo, Ricardo M.; DaCamara, Carlos C.

2014-05-01

Large wildfires are infrequent but account for the most severe environmental, ecological and socio-economic impacts. In recent years Portugal has suffered the impact of major heat waves that fuelled records of burnt area exceeding 400.000ha and 300.000ha in 2003 and 2005, respectively. According to the latest IPCC reports, the frequency and amplitude of summer heat waves over Iberia will very likely increase in the future. Therefore, most climate change studies point to an increase in the number and extent of wildfires. Thus, an increase in both wildfire impacts and fire suppression difficulties is expected. The spread of large wildfires results from a complex interaction between topography, meteorology and fuel properties. Wildfire spread models (e.g. FARSITE) are commonly used to simulate fire growth and behaviour and are an essential tool to understand their main drivers. Additionally, satellite active-fire data have been used to monitor the occurrence, extent, and spread of wildfires. Both satellite data and fire spread models provide different types of information about the spatial and temporal distribution of large wildfires and can potentially be used to support strategic decisions regarding fire suppression resource allocation. However, they have not been combined in a manner that fully exploits their potential and minimizes their limitations. A knowledge gap still exists in understanding how to minimize the impacts of large wildfires, leading to the following research question: What can we learn from past large wildfires in order to mitigate future fire impacts? FIRE-MODSAT is a one-year funded project by the Portuguese Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT) that is founded on this research question, with the main goal of improving our understanding on the interactions between fire spread and its environmental drivers, to support fire management decisions in an operational context and generate valuable information to improve the efficiency of the
Identifying the Threshold of Dominant Controls on Fire Spread in a Boreal Forest Landscape of Northeast China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhihua; Yang, Jian; He, Hong S.

2013-01-01

The relative importance of fuel, topography, and weather on fire spread varies at different spatial scales, but how the relative importance of these controls respond to changing spatial scales is poorly understood. We designed a “moving window” resampling technique that allowed us to quantify the relative importance of controls on fire spread at continuous spatial scales using boosted regression trees methods. This quantification allowed us to identify the threshold value for fire size at which the dominant control switches from fuel at small sizes to weather at large sizes. Topography had a fluctuating effect on fire spread across the spatial scales, explaining 20–30% of relative importance. With increasing fire size, the dominant control switched from bottom-up controls (fuel and topography) to top-down controls (weather). Our analysis suggested that there is a threshold for fire size, above which fires are driven primarily by weather and more likely lead to larger fire size. We suggest that this threshold, which may be ecosystem-specific, can be identified using our “moving window” resampling technique. Although the threshold derived from this analytical method may rely heavily on the sampling technique, our study introduced an easily implemented approach to identify scale thresholds in wildfire regimes. PMID:23383247
A tale of two fires: The relative effectiveness of past wildfires in mitigating wildfire behavior and effects

Science.gov (United States)

Robert W. Gray; Susan J. Prichard

2015-01-01

The incidence of large, costly landscape-scale fires in western North America is increasing. To combat these fires, researchers and managers have expressed increased interest in investigating the effectiveness of past, stand-replacing wildfires as bottom-up controls on fire spread and severity. Specifically, how effective are past wildfires in mitigating the behavior...
Japanese large-scale interferometers

CERN Document Server

Kuroda, K; Miyoki, S; Ishizuka, H; Taylor, C T; Yamamoto, K; Miyakawa, O; Fujimoto, M K; Kawamura, S; Takahashi, R; Yamazaki, T; Arai, K; Tatsumi, D; Ueda, A; Fukushima, M; Sato, S; Shintomi, T; Yamamoto, A; Suzuki, T; Saitô, Y; Haruyama, T; Sato, N; Higashi, Y; Uchiyama, T; Tomaru, T; Tsubono, K; Ando, M; Takamori, A; Numata, K; Ueda, K I; Yoneda, H; Nakagawa, K; Musha, M; Mio, N; Moriwaki, S; Somiya, K; Araya, A; Kanda, N; Telada, S; Sasaki, M; Tagoshi, H; Nakamura, T; Tanaka, T; Ohara, K

2002-01-01

The objective of the TAMA 300 interferometer was to develop advanced technologies for kilometre scale interferometers and to observe gravitational wave events in nearby galaxies. It was designed as a power-recycled Fabry-Perot-Michelson interferometer and was intended as a step towards a final interferometer in Japan. The present successful status of TAMA is presented. TAMA forms a basis for LCGT (large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope), a 3 km scale cryogenic interferometer to be built in the Kamioka mine in Japan, implementing cryogenic mirror techniques. The plan of LCGT is schematically described along with its associated R and D.
Novel material and structural design for large-scale marine protective devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, Ang; Lin, Wei; Ma, Yong; Zhao, Chengbi; Tang, Youhong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Large-scale protective devices with different structural designs have been optimized. • Large-scale protective devices with novel material designs have been optimized. • Protective devices constructed of sandwich panels have the best anti-collision performance. • Protective devices with novel material design can reduce weight and construction cost. - Abstract: Large-scale protective devices must endure the impact of severe forces, large structural deformation, the increased stress and strain rate effects, and multiple coupling effects. In evaluation of the safety of conceptual design through simulation, several key parameters considered in this research are maximum impact force, energy dissipated by the impactor (e.g. a ship) and energy absorbed by the device and the impactor stroke. During impact, the main function of the ring beam structure is to resist and buffer the impact force between ship and bridge pile caps, which could guarantee that the magnitude of impact force meets the corresponding requirements. The means of improving anti-collision performance can be to increase the strength of the beam section or to exchange the steel material with novel fiber reinforced polymer laminates. The main function of the buoyancy tank is to absorb and transfer the ship’s kinetic energy through large plastic deformation, damage, or friction occurring within itself. The energy absorption effect can be improved by structure optimization or by the use of new sandwich panels. Structural and material optimization schemes are proposed on the basis of conceptual design in this research, and protective devices constructed of sandwich panels prove to have the best anti-collision performance
Construction products performances and basic requirements for fire safety of facades in energy rehabilitation of buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laban Mirjana Đ.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Construction product means any product or kit which is produced and placed on the market for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works, or parts thereof, and the performance of which has an effect on the performance of the construction works with respect to the basic requirements for construction works. Safety in case of fire and Energy economy and heat retention represent two among seven basic requirements which building has to meet according to contemporary technical rules on planning and construction. Performances of external walls building materials (particularly reaction to fire could significantly affect to fire spread on the façade and other building parts. Therefore, façade shaping and materialization in building renewal process, has to meet the fire safety requirement, as well as the energy requirement. Brief survey of fire protection regulations development in Serbia is presented in the paper. Preventive measures for fire risk reduction in building façade energy renewal are proposed according to contemporary fire safety requirements.
Surface forcing of non-stand-replacing fires in Siberian larch forests

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Dong; Loboda, Tatiana V.

2018-04-01

Wildfires are the dominant disturbance agent in the Siberian larch forests. Extensive low- to mediate-intensity non-stand-replacing fires are a notable property of fire regime in these forests. Recent large scale studies of these fires have focused mostly on their impacts on carbon budget; however, their potential impacts on energy budget through post-fire albedo changes have not been considered. This study quantifies the post-fire surface forcing for Siberian larch forests that experienced non-stand-replacing fires between 2001 and 2012 using the full record of MODIS MCD43A3 albedo product and a burned area product developed specifically for the Russian forests. Despite a large variability, the mean effect of non-stand-replacing fires imposed through albedo is a negative forcing which lasts for at least 14 years. However, the magnitude of the forcing is much smaller than that imposed by stand-replacing fires, highlighting the importance of differentiating between the two fire types in the studies involving the fire impacts in the region. The results of this study also show that MODIS-based summer differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) provides a reliable metric for differentiating non-stand-replacing from stand-replacing fires with an overall accuracy of 88%, which is of considerable importance for future work on modeling post-fire energy budget and carbon budget in the region.
Quantitative Missense Variant Effect Prediction Using Large-Scale Mutagenesis Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Vanessa E; Hause, Ronald J; Luebeck, Jens; Shendure, Jay; Fowler, Douglas M

2018-01-24

Large datasets describing the quantitative effects of mutations on protein function are becoming increasingly available. Here, we leverage these datasets to develop Envision, which predicts the magnitude of a missense variant's molecular effect. Envision combines 21,026 variant effect measurements from nine large-scale experimental mutagenesis datasets, a hitherto untapped training resource, with a supervised, stochastic gradient boosting learning algorithm. Envision outperforms other missense variant effect predictors both on large-scale mutagenesis data and on an independent test dataset comprising 2,312 TP53 variants whose effects were measured using a low-throughput approach. This dataset was never used for hyperparameter tuning or model training and thus serves as an independent validation set. Envision prediction accuracy is also more consistent across amino acids than other predictors. Finally, we demonstrate that Envision's performance improves as more large-scale mutagenesis data are incorporated. We precompute Envision predictions for every possible single amino acid variant in human, mouse, frog, zebrafish, fruit fly, worm, and yeast proteomes (https://envision.gs.washington.edu/). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Experimental study on the influence of different thermal insulation materials on the fire dynamics in a reduced-scale enclosure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leisted, Rolff Ripke; Sørensen, Martin X.; Jomaas, Grunde

2017-01-01

Four scaled (1:5) fire experiments with two identically classified types of commercially available sandwich panels incorporating either stone wool (SW) or poly-isocyanurate (PIR) foam as cores were conducted using a modified version of the ISO 13784-1 (Reaction to fire tests for sandwich panel...
A concurrent visualization system for large-scale unsteady simulations. Parallel vector performance on an NEC SX-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takei, Toshifumi; Doi, Shun; Matsumoto, Hideki; Muramatsu, Kazuhiro

2000-01-01

We have developed a concurrent visualization system RVSLIB (Real-time Visual Simulation Library). This paper shows the effectiveness of the system when it is applied to large-scale unsteady simulations, for which the conventional post-processing approach may no longer work, on high-performance parallel vector supercomputers. The system performs almost all of the visualization tasks on a computation server and uses compressed visualized image data for efficient communication between the server and the user terminal. We have introduced several techniques, including vectorization and parallelization, into the system to minimize the computational costs of the visualization tools. The performance of RVSLIB was evaluated by using an actual CFD code on an NEC SX-4. The computational time increase due to the concurrent visualization was at most 3% for a smaller (1.6 million) grid and less than 1% for a larger (6.2 million) one. (author)
Historical fire regimes, reconstructed from land-survey data, led to complexity and fluctuation in sagebrush landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bukowski, Beth E; Baker, William L

2013-04-01

Sagebrush landscapes provide habitat for Sage-Grouse and other sagebrush obligates, yet historical fire regimes and the structure of historical sagebrush landscapes are poorly known, hampering ecological restoration and management. To remedy this, General Land Office Survey (GLO) survey notes were used to reconstruct over two million hectares of historical vegetation for four sagebrush-dominated (Artemisia spp.) study areas in the western United States. Reconstructed vegetation was analyzed for fire indicators used to identify historical fires and reconstruct historical fire regimes. Historical fire-size distributions were inverse-J shaped, and one fire > 100 000 ha was identified. Historical fire rotations were estimated at 171-342 years for Wyoming big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) and 137-217 years for mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana). Historical fire and patch sizes were significantly larger in Wyoming big sagebrush than mountain big sagebrush, and historical fire rotations were significantly longer in Wyoming big sagebrush than mountain big sagebrush. Historical fire rotations in Wyoming were longer than those in other study areas. Fine-scale mosaics of burned and unburned area and larger unburned inclusions within fire perimeters were less common than in modern fires. Historical sagebrush landscapes were dominated by large, contiguous areas of sagebrush, though large grass-dominated areas and finer-scale mosaics of grass and sagebrush were also present in smaller amounts. Variation in sagebrush density was a common source of patchiness, and areas classified as "dense" made up 24.5% of total sagebrush area, compared to 16.3% for "scattered" sagebrush. Results suggest significant differences in historical and modern fire regimes. Modern fire rotations in Wyoming big sagebrush are shorter than historical fire rotations. Results also suggest that historical sagebrush landscapes would have fluctuated, because of infrequent
The Effects of Modern-Day Cropland and Pasture Management on Vegetation Fire: An Earth System Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Rabin, S. S.; Malyshev, S.; Shevliakova, E.; Pacala, S. W.

2014-12-01

Fire is a major component of the global carbon cycle, with some estimates of the associated emissions reaching 2.5 PgC/yr. This and the other impacts of biomass burning have driven efforts to improve its simulation in Earth system models. Recent global fire models usually include both bioclimatic and anthropogenic drivers of fire, with the latter (via population density and sometimes economic status) serving to increase or suppress burned area. Some models have added the representation of fire used in deforestation and cropland management, the extent and seasonal timing of which may not be accounted for by the usual approach to anthropogenic influence. Human land use can also limit fire by fragmenting landscapes, but this process is not included in most global models. Moreover, although people often use fire to manage grazing lands for livestock, these practices have not been explicitly modeled (except as performed by pre-industrial societies). This could be important for regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where the seasonality of pasture burning tends to differ from that of other lands, potentially influencing savanna-forest dynamics. Recent efforts elucidating the effects of cropland and pasture on fire regimes at regional scales provide insight into these processes. Using this new understanding, we have developed a fire model with structurally distinct modules for burning of croplands, pasture, and primary and secondary lands, as well as fire use for deforestation. Parameters for each are rigorously constrained using remote-sensing observations of burned area. This structure allows us to disentangle agricultural practices and fragmentation effects from the endogenous processes driving fire on non-agricultural land, resulting in a better ability to simulate how fire works at large scales. This is critical for modeling the future of fire and all the parts of the Earth system that it affects, including vegetation distributions, nutrient cycling, and biosphere
Design study on sodium-cooled large-scale reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimakawa, Yoshio; Nibe, Nobuaki; Hori, Toru

2002-05-01

In Phase 1 of the 'Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems (F/S)', an advanced loop type reactor has been selected as a promising concept of sodium-cooled large-scale reactor, which has a possibility to fulfill the design requirements of the F/S. In Phase 2 of the F/S, it is planed to precede a preliminary conceptual design of a sodium-cooled large-scale reactor based on the design of the advanced loop type reactor. Through the design study, it is intended to construct such a plant concept that can show its attraction and competitiveness as a commercialized reactor. This report summarizes the results of the design study on the sodium-cooled large-scale reactor performed in JFY2001, which is the first year of Phase 2. In the JFY2001 design study, a plant concept has been constructed based on the design of the advanced loop type reactor, and fundamental specifications of main systems and components have been set. Furthermore, critical subjects related to safety, structural integrity, thermal hydraulics, operability, maintainability and economy have been examined and evaluated. As a result of this study, the plant concept of the sodium-cooled large-scale reactor has been constructed, which has a prospect to satisfy the economic goal (construction cost: less than 200,000yens/kWe, etc.) and has a prospect to solve the critical subjects. From now on, reflecting the results of elemental experiments, the preliminary conceptual design of this plant will be preceded toward the selection for narrowing down candidate concepts at the end of Phase 2. (author)
Enhancing fire science exchange: The Joint Fire Science Program's National Network of Knowledge Exchange Consortia

Science.gov (United States)

Vita Wright; Crystal Kolden; Todd Kipfer; Kristine Lee; Adrian Leighton; Jim Riddering; Leana Schelvan

2011-01-01

The Northern Rocky Mountain region is one of the most fire-prone regions in the United States. With a history of large fires that have shaped national policy, including the fires of 1910 and 2000 in Idaho and Montana and the Yellowstone fires of 1988, this region is projected to have many large severe fires in the future. Communication about fire science needs and...
Low-Temperature Soft-Cover Deposition of Uniform Large-Scale Perovskite Films for High-Performance Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Fei; Tang, Wentao; Xie, Fengxian; Yin, Maoshu; He, Jinjin; Wang, Yanbo; Chen, Han; Qiang, Yinghuai; Yang, Xudong; Han, Liyuan

2017-09-01

Large-scale high-quality perovskite thin films are crucial to produce high-performance perovskite solar cells. However, for perovskite films fabricated by solvent-rich processes, film uniformity can be prevented by convection during thermal evaporation of the solvent. Here, a scalable low-temperature soft-cover deposition (LT-SCD) method is presented, where the thermal convection-induced defects in perovskite films are eliminated through a strategy of surface tension relaxation. Compact, homogeneous, and convection-induced-defects-free perovskite films are obtained on an area of 12 cm 2 , which enables a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.5% on a solar cell with an area of 5 cm 2 . This is the highest efficiency at this large cell area. A PCE of 15.3% is also obtained on a flexible perovskite solar cell deposited on the polyethylene terephthalate substrate owing to the advantage of presented low-temperature processing. Hence, the present LT-SCD technology provides a new non-spin-coating route to the deposition of large-area uniform perovskite films for both rigid and flexible perovskite devices. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Coupled atmosphere-wildland fire modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Henri Balbi

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Simulating the interaction between fire and atmosphere is critical to the estimation of the rate of spread of the fire. Wildfire’s convection (i.e., entire plume can modify the local meteorology throughout the atmospheric boundary layer and consequently affect the fire propagation speed and behaviour. In this study, we use for the first time the Méso-NH meso-scale numerical model coupled to the point functional ForeFire simplified physical front-tracking wildfire model to investigate the differences introduced by the atmospheric feedback in propagation speed and behaviour. Both numerical models have been developed as research tools for operational models and are currently used to forecast localized extreme events. These models have been selected because they can be run coupled and support decisions in wildfire management in France and Europe. The main originalities of this combination reside in the fact that Méso-NH is run in a Large Eddy Simulation (LES configuration and that the rate of spread model used in ForeFire provides a physical formulation to take into account the effect of wind and slope. Simulations of typical experimental configurations show that the numerical atmospheric model is able to reproduce plausible convective effects of the heat produced by the fire. Numerical results are comparable to estimated values for fire-induced winds and present behaviour similar to other existing numerical approaches.
105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility Supplemental Information to the Hanford Facility Contingency Plan (DOE/RL-93-75)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edens, V.G.

1998-05-01

This document is a unit-specific contingency plan for the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility and is intended to be used as a supplement to DOE/RL-93-75, Hanford Facility Contingency Plan (DOE-RL 1993). This unit-specific plan is to be used to demonstrate compliance with the contingency plan requirements of Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303 for certain Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) waste management units.The LSFF occupied the former ventilation supply fan room and was established to provide a means of investigating fire and safety aspects associated with large sodium or other metal alkali fires. The unit was used to conduct experiments for studying the behavior of molten alkali metals and alkali metal fires. This unit had also been used for the storage and treatment of alkali metal dangerous waste. Additionally, the Fusion Safety Support Studies programs sponsored intermediate-size safety reaction tests in the LSFF with lithium and lithium-lead compounds. The LSFF, which is a RCRA site, was partially clean closed in 1995 and is documented in 'Transfer of the 105-DR Large Sodium Fire Facility to Bechtel Hanford, Inc.' (BHI 1998). In summary, the 105-DR supply fan room (1720-DR) has been demolished, and a majority of the surrounding soils were clean-closed. The 117-DR Filter Building, 116-DR Exhaust Stack, 119- DR Sampling Building, and associated ducting/tunnels were not covered under this closure
A visual analytics system for optimizing the performance of large-scale networks in supercomputing systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takanori Fujiwara

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The overall efficiency of an extreme-scale supercomputer largely relies on the performance of its network interconnects. Several of the state of the art supercomputers use networks based on the increasingly popular Dragonfly topology. It is crucial to study the behavior and performance of different parallel applications running on Dragonfly networks in order to make optimal system configurations and design choices, such as job scheduling and routing strategies. However, in order to study these temporal network behavior, we would need a tool to analyze and correlate numerous sets of multivariate time-series data collected from the Dragonfly’s multi-level hierarchies. This paper presents such a tool–a visual analytics system–that uses the Dragonfly network to investigate the temporal behavior and optimize the communication performance of a supercomputer. We coupled interactive visualization with time-series analysis methods to help reveal hidden patterns in the network behavior with respect to different parallel applications and system configurations. Our system also provides multiple coordinated views for connecting behaviors observed at different levels of the network hierarchies, which effectively helps visual analysis tasks. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the system with a set of case studies. Our system and findings can not only help improve the communication performance of supercomputing applications, but also the network performance of next-generation supercomputers. Keywords: Supercomputing, Parallel communication network, Dragonfly networks, Time-series data, Performance analysis, Visual analytics

High severity fires, positive fire feedbacks and alternative stable states in Athrotaxis rainforest ecosystems in western Tasmania.

Science.gov (United States)

Holz, A.; Wood, S.; Fletcher, M. S.; Ward, C.; Hopf, F.; Veblen, T. T.; Bowman, D. M. J. S.

2016-12-01

Recurrent landscape fires present a powerful selective force on plant regeneration strategies that form a continuum between vegetative resprouters and obligate seeders. In the latter case, reduction of the interval between fires, combined with factors that affect plant traits and regeneration dynamics can drive plant population to local extinction. Here we use Athrotaxis selaginoides, a relict fire-sensitive Gondwanan tree species that occurs in western Tasmania, as model system to investigate the putative impacts of climate change and variability and human management of fire. We integrate landscape ecology (island-wide scale), with field survey and dendrochronology (stand-scale) and sedimentary records (watershed and landscape-scales) to garner a better understanding of the timing and impact of landscape fire on the vegetation dynamics of Athrotaxis at multiple scales. Across the species range sedimentary charcoal and pollen concentrations indicate that the recovery time since the last fire has consistently lengthened over the last 10,000 yrs. Stand-scale tree-age and fire-scar reconstructions suggest that populations of the Athrotxis have survive very infrequent landscape fires over the last 4-6 centuries, but that fire severity has increased following European colonization causing population collapse of Athrotaxis and an associate shift in stand structure and composition that favor resprouter species over obligate seeders. Overall our findings suggest that the resistance to fires and postfire recovery of populations of A. selaginoides have gradually declined throughout the Holocene and rapidly declined after Europeans altered fire regimes, a trend that matches the fate other Gondwanan conifers in temperate rainforests elsewhere in the southern Hemisphere.
Sensitivity of the scale partition for variational multiscale large-eddy simulation of channel flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holmen, J.; Hughes, T.J.R.; Oberai, A.A.; Wells, G.N.

2004-01-01

The variational multiscale method has been shown to perform well for large-eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. The method relies upon a partition of the resolved velocity field into large- and small-scale components. The subgrid model then acts only on the small scales of motion, unlike
Why small-scale cannabis growers stay small: five mechanisms that prevent small-scale growers from going large scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammersvik, Eirik; Sandberg, Sveinung; Pedersen, Willy

2012-11-01

Over the past 15-20 years, domestic cultivation of cannabis has been established in a number of European countries. New techniques have made such cultivation easier; however, the bulk of growers remain small-scale. In this study, we explore the factors that prevent small-scale growers from increasing their production. The study is based on 1 year of ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews conducted with 45 Norwegian cannabis growers, 10 of whom were growing on a large-scale and 35 on a small-scale. The study identifies five mechanisms that prevent small-scale indoor growers from going large-scale. First, large-scale operations involve a number of people, large sums of money, a high work-load and a high risk of detection, and thus demand a higher level of organizational skills than for small growing operations. Second, financial assets are needed to start a large 'grow-site'. Housing rent, electricity, equipment and nutrients are expensive. Third, to be able to sell large quantities of cannabis, growers need access to an illegal distribution network and knowledge of how to act according to black market norms and structures. Fourth, large-scale operations require advanced horticultural skills to maximize yield and quality, which demands greater skills and knowledge than does small-scale cultivation. Fifth, small-scale growers are often embedded in the 'cannabis culture', which emphasizes anti-commercialism, anti-violence and ecological and community values. Hence, starting up large-scale production will imply having to renegotiate or abandon these values. Going from small- to large-scale cannabis production is a demanding task-ideologically, technically, economically and personally. The many obstacles that small-scale growers face and the lack of interest and motivation for going large-scale suggest that the risk of a 'slippery slope' from small-scale to large-scale growing is limited. Possible political implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright
Large scale gas injection test (Lasgit) performed at the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. Summary report 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuss, R.J.; Harrington, J.F.; Noy, D.J.

2010-02-01

This report describes the set-up, operation and observations from the first 1,385 days (3.8 years) of the large scale gas injection test (Lasgit) experiment conducted at the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. During this time the bentonite buffer has been artificially hydrated and has given new insight into the evolution of the buffer. After 2 years (849 days) of artificial hydration a canister filter was identified to perform a series of hydraulic and gas tests, a period that lasted 268 days. The results from the gas test showed that the full-scale bentonite buffer behaved in a similar way to previous laboratory experiments. This confirms the up-scaling of laboratory observations with the addition of considerable information on the stress responses throughout the deposition hole. During the gas testing stage, the buffer was continued to artificially hydrate. Hydraulic results, from controlled and uncontrolled events, show that the buffer continues to mature and has yet to reach full maturation. Lasgit has yielded high quality data relating to the hydration of the bentonite and the evolution in hydrogeological properties adjacent to the deposition hole. The initial hydraulic and gas injection tests confirm the correct working of all control and data acquisition systems. Lasgit has been in successful operation for in excess of 1,385 days
Large scale gas injection test (Lasgit) performed at the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. Summary report 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuss, R.J.; Harrington, J.F.; Noy, D.J. (British Geological Survey (United Kingdom))

2010-02-15

This report describes the set-up, operation and observations from the first 1,385 days (3.8 years) of the large scale gas injection test (Lasgit) experiment conducted at the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. During this time the bentonite buffer has been artificially hydrated and has given new insight into the evolution of the buffer. After 2 years (849 days) of artificial hydration a canister filter was identified to perform a series of hydraulic and gas tests, a period that lasted 268 days. The results from the gas test showed that the full-scale bentonite buffer behaved in a similar way to previous laboratory experiments. This confirms the up-scaling of laboratory observations with the addition of considerable information on the stress responses throughout the deposition hole. During the gas testing stage, the buffer was continued to artificially hydrate. Hydraulic results, from controlled and uncontrolled events, show that the buffer continues to mature and has yet to reach full maturation. Lasgit has yielded high quality data relating to the hydration of the bentonite and the evolution in hydrogeological properties adjacent to the deposition hole. The initial hydraulic and gas injection tests confirm the correct working of all control and data acquisition systems. Lasgit has been in successful operation for in excess of 1,385 days
Distributed large-scale dimensional metrology new insights

CERN Document Server

Franceschini, Fiorenzo; Maisano, Domenico

2011-01-01

Focuses on the latest insights into and challenges of distributed large scale dimensional metrology Enables practitioners to study distributed large scale dimensional metrology independently Includes specific examples of the development of new system prototypes
The French fire protection concept. Vulnerability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaercher, M.

1998-01-01

The French fire protection concept is based on a principle of three levels of defence in depth: fire prevention, fire containing and fire controlling. Fire prevention is based on arrangements which prevent the fire from starting or which make difficult for the fire to start. Fire containing is based on design measures so that the fire will have no impact on the safety of the installation. For fire controlling, equipment nad personnel are on duty in order to detect, to fight and to gain control over the fire as early as possible. The French fire protection concept gives priority to fire containing based on passive structural measures. All buildings containing safety equipment are divided into fire compartments (or fire areas) and fire cells (or fire zones). Basically, a compartment houses safety equipment belonging to one division (or train) so that the other division is always available to reach the plant safe shut down or to mitigate an accident. Because there is a large number of fire compartments and fire cells, deviations from the general principle can be observed. To this reason the RCC-I (Design and Construction Rules applicable for fire protection) requires to implement an assessment of the principle of division. This assessment is called vulnerability analysis. The vulnerability analysis is usually performed at the end of the project, before erection. It is also possible to perform a vulnerability analysis in an operating nuclear power plant in the scope of a fire safety upgrading programme. In the vulnerability analysis, the functional failure of all the equipment (except for those protected by a qualified fire barrier, designed or able to withstand the fire consequences) within the fire compartment or cell, where the fire breaks out, is postulated. The potential consequences for the plant safety are analysed
Power plant economy of scale and cost trends: further analyses and review of empirical studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, C.F. Jr.; Paik, S.; Schriver, W.R.

1986-07-01

Multiple regression analyses were performed on capital cost data for nuclear and coal-fired power plants in an extension of an earlier study which indicated that nuclear units completed prior to the accident at Three-Mile Island (TMI) have no economy of scale, and that units completed after that event have a weak economy of scale (scaling exponent of about 0.81). The earlier study also indicated that the scaling exponent for coal-fired units is about 0.92, compared with conceptual models which project scaling exponents in a range from about 0.5 to 0.9. Other empirical studies have indicated poor economy of scale, but a large range of cost-size scaling exponents has been reported. In the present study, the results for nuclear units indicate a scaling exponent of about 0.94 but with no economy of scale for large units, that a first unit costs 17% more than a second unit, that a unit in the South costs 20% less than others, that a unit completed after TMI costs 33% more than one completed before TMI, and that costs are increasing at 9.3% per year. In the present study, the results for coal-fired units indicate a scaling exponent of 0.93 but with better scaling economy in the larger units, that a first unit costs 38.5% more, a unit in the South costs 10% less, flue-gas desulfurization units cost 23% more, and that costs are increasing at 4% per year
Combustion performance of pyrolysis oil/ethanol blends in a residential-scale oil-fired boiler

Science.gov (United States)

A 40 kWth oil-fired commercial boiler was fueled with blends of biomass pyrolysis oil (py-oil) and ethanol to determine the feasibility of using these blends as a replacement for fuel oil in home heating applications. An optimal set of test parameters was determined for the combustion of these blend...
PERSEUS-HUB: Interactive and Collective Exploration of Large-Scale Graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Di Jin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Graphs emerge naturally in many domains, such as social science, neuroscience, transportation engineering, and more. In many cases, such graphs have millions or billions of nodes and edges, and their sizes increase daily at a fast pace. How can researchers from various domains explore large graphs interactively and efficiently to find out what is ‘important’? How can multiple researchers explore a new graph dataset collectively and “help” each other with their findings? In this article, we present Perseus-Hub, a large-scale graph mining tool that computes a set of graph properties in a distributed manner, performs ensemble, multi-view anomaly detection to highlight regions that are worth investigating, and provides users with uncluttered visualization and easy interaction with complex graph statistics. Perseus-Hub uses a Spark cluster to calculate various statistics of large-scale graphs efficiently, and aggregates the results in a summary on the master node to support interactive user exploration. In Perseus-Hub, the visualized distributions of graph statistics provide preliminary analysis to understand a graph. To perform a deeper analysis, users with little prior knowledge can leverage patterns (e.g., spikes in the power-law degree distribution marked by other users or experts. Moreover, Perseus-Hub guides users to regions of interest by highlighting anomalous nodes and helps users establish a more comprehensive understanding about the graph at hand. We demonstrate our system through the case study on real, large-scale networks.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE MODELS FOR LARGE-SCALE DEFENSE SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kadir Alpaslan DEMIR

2015-10-01

Full Text Available TLarge-scale defense system projects are strategic for maintaining and increasing the national defense capability. Therefore, governments spend billions of dollars in the acquisition and development of large-scale defense systems. The scale of defense systems is always increasing and the costs to build them are skyrocketing. Today, defense systems are software intensive and they are either a system of systems or a part of it. Historically, the project performances observed in the development of these systems have been signifi cantly poor when compared to other types of projects. It is obvious that the currently used systems development life cycle models are insuffi cient to address today’s challenges of building these systems. Using a systems development life cycle model that is specifi cally designed for largescale defense system developments and is effective in dealing with today’s and near-future challenges will help to improve project performances. The fi rst step in the development a large-scale defense systems development life cycle model is the identifi cation of requirements for such a model. This paper contributes to the body of literature in the fi eld by providing a set of requirements for system development life cycle models for large-scale defense systems. Furthermore, a research agenda is proposed.
Vulnerability and Resilience of Temperate Forest Landscapes to Broad-Scale Deforestation in Response to Changing Fire Regimes and Altered Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Tepley, A. J.; Veblen, T. T.; Perry, G.; Anderson-Teixeira, K. J.

2015-12-01

In the face of on-going climatic warming and land-use change, there is growing concern that temperate forest landscapes could be near a tipping point where relatively small changes to the fire regime or altered post-fire vegetation dynamics could lead to extensive conversion to shrublands or savannas. To evaluate vulnerability and resilience to such conversion, we develop a simple model based on three factors we hypothesize to be key in predicting temperate forest responses to changing fire regimes: (1) the hazard rate (i.e., the probability of burning in the next year given the time since the last fire) in closed-canopy forests, (2) the hazard rate for recently-burned, open-canopy vegetation, and (3) the time to redevelop canopy closure following fire. We generate a response surface representing the proportions of the landscape potentially supporting closed-canopy forest and non-forest vegetation under nearly all combinations of these three factors. We then place real landscapes on this response surface to assess the type and magnitude of changes to the fire regime that would drive extensive forest loss. We show that the deforestation of much of New Zealand that followed initial human colonization and the introduction of a new ignition source ca. 750 years ago was essentially inevitable due to the slow rate of forest recovery after fire and the high flammability of post-fire vegetation. In North America's Pacific Northwest, by contrast, a predominantly forested landscape persisted despite two periods of widespread burning in the recent past due in large part to faster post-fire forest recovery and less pronounced differences in flammability between forests and the post-fire vegetation. We also assess the factors that could drive extensive deforestation in other regions to identify where management could reduce this potential and to guide field and modeling work to better understand the responses and ecological feedbacks to changing fire regimes.
Numerical prediction of heat-flux to massive calorimeters engulfed in regulatory fires with the cask analysis fire environment (CAFE) model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koski, Jorman A.; Suo-Antitla, Ahti; Kramer M, Alex; Greiner, Miles

2000-01-01

Recent observations show that the thermal boundary conditions within large-scale fires are significantly affected by the presence of thermally massive objects. These objects cool the soot and gas near their surfaces, and these effects reduce the incoming radiant heat-flux to values lower than the levels expected from simple σT fire 4 models. They also affect the flow and temperature fields in the fire far from their surfaces. The Cask Analysis Fire Environment (CAFE) code has been developed at Sandia National Laboratories to provide an enhanced fire boundary condition for the design of radioactive material packages. CAFE is a set of computer subroutines that use computational fluid mechanics methods to predict convective heat transfer and mixing. It also includes models for fuel and oxygen transport, chemical reaction, and participating-media radiation heat transfer. This code uses two-dimensional computational models so that it has reasonably short turnaround times on standard workstations and is well suited for design and risk studies. In this paper, CAFE is coupled with a commercial finite-element program to model a large cylindrical calorimeter fully engulfed in a pool fire. The time-dependent heat-flux to the calorimeter and the calorimeter surface temperature are determined for several locations around the calorimeter circumference. The variation of heat-flux with location is determined for calorimeters with different diameters and wall thickness, and the observed effects discussed
GPU-Accelerated Sparse Matrix Solvers for Large-Scale Simulations, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Many large-scale numerical simulations can be broken down into common mathematical routines. While the applications may differ, the need to perform functions such as...
SCALE INTERACTION IN A MIXING LAYER. THE ROLE OF THE LARGE-SCALE GRADIENTS

KAUST Repository

Fiscaletti, Daniele; Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Elsinga, Gerrit E.

2015-01-01

from physical considerations we would expect the scales to interact in a qualitatively similar way within the flow and across different turbulent flows. Therefore, instead of the large-scale fluctuations, the large-scale gradients modulation of the small scales has been additionally investigated.
Digitally controlled twelve-pulse firing generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berde, D.; Ferrara, A.A.

1981-01-01

Control System Studies for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) indicate that accurate thyristor firing in the AC-to-DC conversion system is required in order to achieve good regulation of the various field currents. Rapid update and exact firing angle control are required to avoid instabilities, large eddy currents, or parasitic oscillations. The Prototype Firing Generator was designed to satisfy these requirements. To achieve the required /plus or minus/0.77/degree/firing accuracy, a three-phase-locked loop reference was designed; otherwise, the Firing Generator employs digital circuitry. The unit, housed in a standard CAMAC crate, operates under microcomputer control. Functions are performed under program control, which resides in nonvolatile read-only memory. Communication with CICADA control system is provided via an 11-bit parallel interface
Characterization of the Fire Regime and Drivers of Fires in the West African Tropical Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Dwomoh, F. K.; Wimberly, M. C.

2016-12-01

The Upper Guinean forest (UGF), encompassing the tropical regions of West Africa, is a globally significant biodiversity hotspot and a critically important socio-economic and ecological resource for the region. However, the UGF is one of the most human-disturbed tropical forest ecosystems with the only remaining large patches of original forests distributed in protected areas, which are embedded in a hotspot of climate stress & land use pressures, increasing their vulnerability to fire. We hypothesized that human impacts and climate interact to drive spatial and temporal variability in fire, with fire exhibiting distinctive seasonality and sensitivity to drought in areas characterized by different population densities, agricultural practices, vegetation types, and levels of forest degradation. We used the MODIS active fire product to identify and characterize fire activity in the major ecoregions of the UGF. We used TRMM rainfall data to measure climatic variability and derived indicators of human land use from a variety of geospatial datasets. We employed time series modeling to identify the influences of drought indices and other antecedent climatic indicators on temporal patterns of active fire occurrence. We used a variety of modeling approaches to assess the influences of human activities and land cover variables on the spatial pattern of fire activity. Our results showed that temporal patterns of fire activity in the UGF were related to precipitation, but these relationships were spatially heterogeneous. The pattern of fire seasonality varied geographically, reflecting both climatological patterns and agricultural practices. The spatial pattern of fire activity was strongly associated with vegetation gradients and anthropogenic activities occurring at fine spatial scales. The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion had the most fires. This study contributes to our understanding of UGF fire regime and the spatio-temporal dynamics of tropical forest fires in
Modeling fire spatial non-stationary in Portugal using GWR and GAMLSS

Science.gov (United States)

Sá, Ana C. L.; Amaral Turkman, Maria A.; Bistinas, Ioannis; Pereira, José M. C.

2014-05-01

Portuguese wildfires are responsible for large environmental, ecological and socio-economic impacts and, in the last decade, vegetation fires consumed on average 140.000ha/year. Portugal has a unique fires-atlas of burnt scar perimeters covering the 1975-2009 period, which allows the assessment of the fire most affected areas. It's crucial to understand the influence of the main drivers of forest fires and its spatial distribution in order to set new management strategies to reduce its impacts. Thus, this study aims at evaluating the spatial stationarity of the fire-environment relationship using two statistical approaches: Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). Analysis was performed using a regular 2kmx2km cell size grid, a total of 21293 observations overlaying the mainland of Portugal. Fire incidence was determined as the number of times each grid cell burned in the 35 years period. For the GWR analysis the group of environmental variables selected as predictors are: ignition source (population density (PD)); vegetation (proportion of forest and shrubland (FORSHR)); and weather (total precipitation of the coldest quarter (PCQ). Results showed that the fire-environment relationship is non-stationary, thus the coefficient estimates of all the predictors vary spatially, both in magnitude and sign. The most statistically significant predictor is FORSHR, followed by the PCQ. Despite the relationship between fire incidence and PD is non-stationary, only 9% of the observations are statistically significant at a 95% level of confidence. When compared with the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) global model, 53% of the R2 statistic is above the 26% global estimated value, meaning a better explanation of the fire incidence variance with the local model approach. Using the same environmental variables, fire incidence was also modeled using GAMLSS to characterize nonstationarities in fire incidence. It is
Modelling pollutants dispersion and plume rise from large hydrocarbon tank fires in neutrally stratified atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Argyropoulos, C. D.; Sideris, G. M.; Christolis, M. N.; Nivolianitou, Z.; Markatos, N. C.

2010-02-01

Petrochemical industries normally use storage tanks containing large amounts of flammable and hazardous substances. Therefore, the occurrence of a tank fire, such as the large industrial accident on 11th December 2005 at Buncefield Oil Storage Depots, is possible and usually leads to fire and explosions. Experience has shown that the continuous production of black smoke from these fires due to the toxic gases from the combustion process, presents a potential environmental and health problem that is difficult to assess. The goals of the present effort are to estimate the height of the smoke plume, the ground-level concentrations of the toxic pollutants (smoke, SO 2, CO, PAHs, VOCs) and to characterize risk zones by comparing the ground-level concentrations with existing safety limits. For the application of the numerical procedure developed, an external floating-roof tank has been selected with dimensions of 85 m diameter and 20 m height. Results are presented and discussed. It is concluded that for all scenarios considered, the ground-level concentrations of smoke, SO 2, CO, PAHs and VOCs do not exceed the safety limit of IDLH and there are no "death zones" due to the pollutant concentrations.
PIV measurements of the turbulence integral length scale on cold combustion flow field of tangential firing boiler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Wen-fei; Xie, Jing-xing; Gong, Zhi-jun; Li, Bao-wei [Inner Mongolia Univ. of Science and Technology, Baotou (China). Inner Mongolia Key Lab. for Utilization of Bayan Obo Multi-Metallic Resources: Elected State Key Lab.

2013-07-01

The process of the pulverized coal combustion in tangential firing boiler has prominent significance on improving boiler operation efficiency and reducing NO{sub X} emission. This paper aims at researching complex turbulent vortex coherent structure formed by the four corners jets in the burner zone, a cold experimental model of tangential firing boiler has been built. And by employing spatial correlation analysis method and PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique, the law of Vortex scale distribution on the three typical horizontal layers of the model based on the turbulent Integral Length Scale (ILS) has been researched. According to the correlation analysis of ILS and the temporal average velocity, it can be seen that the turbulent vortex scale distribution in the burner zone of the model is affected by both jet velocity and the position of wind layers, and is not linear with the variation of jet velocity. The vortex scale distribution of the upper primary air is significantly different from the others. Therefore, studying the ILS of turbulent vortex integral scale is instructive to high efficiency cleaning combustion of pulverized coal in theory.

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