Development characteristics of container confined space fires based on FDS simulation and experimental

The growth and spread of container confined space fires are strongly tied to a variety of operating conditions and result in serious casualties and property damage. The location of the fire source, wind speed and direction, and opening or closing conditions closely determine the development trend of fires in containers. Based on this point, the hazardous goods containers were considered the object in this paper, and the impact on the development characteristics of container fires under different conditions has been invested by conducted a combination of full-scale experiments and FDS simulation. The results show that the temperature above the fire source is highest when the container door keep fully closed, which is 57% higher than when the container door is fully open. It is consistent with the conclusions of the experimental that the average temperature appears to be the highest when the container door is fully closed, followed by the half-open state, and the lowest when the door is fully open during the stable combustion period. The wind direction has a little impact on the development of fires, while the wind speed appears to have a greater impact. The higher the ambient wind speed, the higher the temperature inside the container. When the fire source is located far from the opening side of the container, it has highest thermal radiation value, which is 30% lower than the fire source in the middle. This determines that the internal temperature of the container is closed affected by the location of the fire source. The closer the fire source is to the inner side away from the opening, the higher the temperature of the central axis of the fire source location during stable combustion. This work will contribute support and help for the fire safety design, fire prevention, and control of confined containers.