Citation

Ling EN, Metcalfe E, Nadarajan S, Patel MK. Fire Safety J. 1992; 19(4): 279-293.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A numerical simulation of the NBS cup furnace toxicity test (Potts' Pot) is presented. The Navier-Stokes equations describing the hydrodynamics are solved numerically using the general-purpose computational fluid dynamics code, PHOENICS. In this initial study, the behaviour of the potentially toxic material is represented by introducing a tracer gas into the flow from the furnace fire model. This approach gives some idea of typical toxicity lifetimes inside the enclosure attached to the furnace.The results are displayed in contour and vector plots. They clearly show the recirculatory flow within the furnace pot and enclosure. This recirculation may play an important role in maintaining the toxicity of the particulate fraction that has been implicated in producing ultra-high toxicity products in this apparatus. An upper limit of 2-5 min is estimated the lifetime of the particulate toxicity during the oxidative pyrolysis of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).