An Empirical Model of the Yield of Carbon Monoxide in Fires

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) is considered to be the most important toxic gases that may be contained in fire effluents. Hence, it will be very beneficial for the evaluation of the hazard of smoke if the prediction of CO can be successfully introduced into fire models.
Several experiments conducted to date suggest that the yield of CO is strongly affected by 'equivalence ratio'. So it seems worthwhile to develop an empirical model of CO yield as a function of equivalence ratio based on the existing experimental data, and to use this model as the source term in fire models for the prediction of CO concentrations in the buildings.
In this paper, we introduce a combustion model of propane and determine each parameter used in the model as a function of equivalence ratio. The species assumed to be generated in the model are CO₂, CO, O₂, H₂O, H₂, C and unburned fuel. The model agrees reasonably well with the results of the existing experiments.