Carbon Monoxide Transport Through Water Curtain

Drencher water systems are commonly installed across openings for substituting fire resisting constructions in the Far East such as Hong Kong. There were studies on blocking heat and smoke, but not yet on toxic gases. Spreading of toxic gas through the water curtain discharged from the system will be studied by taking carbon monoxide as an indicator to evaluate the system performance in a fire. Blocking of carbon monoxide was demonstrated in a two-room structure with a ‘fire’ side and a ‘protected’ side. A water curtain with common design data on operating pressures and flow rates was discharged in the opening between them. A propanol pool fire of 600 mm diameter and heat release rate 165 kW was burnt in the ‘fire’ room. Carbon monoxide concentration was measured in the ‘protected’ room. It was observed that water curtain cannot block the spreading of carbon monoxide. The concentrations in the protected room were roughly the same with or without discharging the curtain. The reason is because of the large porosity inside the water curtain as proposed earlier.