Verification and validation of a CFD model for simulations of large-scale compartment fires

Abstract A fire field model is being developed at IRSN to simulate a fire in mechanically ventilated compartments. This numerical tool has the specificity of being one of the rare fire field model that allows us determination of over or underpressure peaks and reverse flow in intake ducts of the ventilation network. Although dedicated to fire simulations in confined environments, the ISIS computer code is a field model, also called CFD model, and thus enables to simulate many academic and industrial flows. The assessment process of such a numerical tool is a complex task and requires a suitable methodology. The purpose of this paper is therefore to outline an adaptation of the wellknown V&V method applied to the verification and validation processes of a fire field model. Numerical methods and physical models used in the code are briefly presented first. Afterwards, the verification and validation phases of the fire field model dealt with and exhibit comparisons to analytical, manufactured or benchmark solutions for the verification phase and the development of a building-block approach for the validation phase. For these two V&V phases, an example is clearly described in detail: the first illustrates a test case from the verification matrix while the second refers to a complete system from the validation process and describes a fire simulation in a large-scale compartment mechanically ventilated. The results, in good agreement with the experimental measurements show that the code is validated for these types of fire scenarios.

[1]  H. Jander,et al.  Soot formation in a laminar diffusion flame , 1981 .

[2]  Bassem F. Armaly,et al.  Three-dimensional convective flow adjacent to backward-facing step: effects of step height , 2002 .

[3]  C. Ross Ethier,et al.  Exact fully 3D Navier–Stokes solutions for benchmarking , 1994 .

[4]  Robert Cheesewright,et al.  DISTRIBUTIONS OF TEMPERATURE AND LOCAL HEAT-TRANSFER RATE IN TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION IN A LARGE RECTANGULAR CAVITY , 1986 .

[5]  Timothy G. Trucano,et al.  Verification and validation benchmarks , 2008 .

[6]  J. B. Moss,et al.  Flamelet-based smoke properties for the field modelling of fires , 1998 .

[7]  S. Suard,et al.  Fuel Mass-Loss Rate Determination in a Confined and Mechanically Ventilated Compartment Fire Using a Global Approach , 2011 .

[8]  James A. Sethian,et al.  THE DERIVATION AND NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF THE EQUATIONS FOR ZERO MACH NUMBER COMBUSTION , 1985 .

[9]  D. Honnery,et al.  Soot and Mixture Fraction in Turbulent Diffusion Flames , 1987 .

[10]  Kevin B. McGrattan,et al.  Fire dynamics simulator (ver-sion 3) technical reference guide , 2001 .

[11]  Jan Vierendeels,et al.  Modelling of natural convection flows with large temperature differences : a benchmark problem for low Mach number solvers. Part 1, Reference solutions , 2005 .

[12]  Marcel Worring,et al.  NIST Special Publication , 2005 .

[13]  Christopher J. Roy,et al.  Review of code and solution verification procedures for computational simulation , 2005 .

[14]  R. Rannacher,et al.  Benchmark Computations of Laminar Flow Around a Cylinder , 1996 .

[15]  M. J. Peatross,et al.  Ventilation Effects On Compartment Fire Characterization , 1997 .

[16]  N. Afgan,et al.  Heat transfer in flames , 1974 .

[17]  B. Armaly,et al.  Experimental and theoretical investigation of backward-facing step flow , 1983, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[18]  Patrick J. Roache,et al.  Verification and Validation in Computational Science and Engineering , 1998 .

[19]  T. Trucano,et al.  Verification, Validation, and Predictive Capability in Computational Engineering and Physics , 2004 .

[20]  X. C. Zhou,et al.  Experimental estimation of thermal expansion and vorticity distribution in a buoyant diffusion flame , 1998 .

[21]  F. Durst,et al.  Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of Turbulent Flows with Separation , 1979 .

[22]  L. Rigollet,et al.  Quantifying differences between computational results and measurements in the case of a large-scale well-confined fire scenario , 2011 .

[23]  B. Hjertager,et al.  On mathematical modeling of turbulent combustion with special emphasis on soot formation and combustion , 1977 .

[24]  Hugues Pretrel,et al.  Experimental Study of Burning Rate Behaviour in Confined and Ventilated Fire Compartments , 2005 .

[25]  John K. Eaton,et al.  A Review of Research on Subsonic Turbulent Flow Reattachment , 1981 .

[26]  Cheng Ping,et al.  Multi-dimensional radiative transfer in non-isothermal cylindrical media with non-isothermal bounding walls , 1975 .

[27]  Hugh W. Coleman,et al.  Comprehensive Approach to Verification and Validation of CFD Simulations—Part 1: Methodology and Procedures , 2001 .

[28]  S. Ben Nasrallah,et al.  Numerical resolution of the radiative transfer equation in a cylindrical enclosure with the finite-volume method , 2004 .

[29]  P. Roache.  Code Verification by the Method of Manufactured Solutions , 2002 .

[30]  Christopher R. Shaddix,et al.  Quantitative Measurements of Enhanced Soot Production in a Flickering Methane/Air Diffusion Flame , 1994 .

[31]  Robert J. Santoro,et al.  The Transport and Growth of Soot Particles in Laminar Diffusion Flames , 1987 .

[32]  Clifford Goodman,et al.  American Society of Mechanical Engineers , 1988 .

[33]  Chul Han Kim,et al.  Soot surface growth and oxidation in laminar diffusion flames at pressures of 0.1–1.0 atm , 2004 .

[34]  Rolf Rannacher,et al.  Evaluation of a CFD benchmark for laminar flows , 1998 .

[35]  B. Mccaffrey.  Purely buoyant diffusion flames :: some experimental results , 1979 .

[36]  G. D. Raithby,et al.  A Finite-Volume Method for Predicting a Radiant Heat Transfer in Enclosures With Participating Media , 1990 .

[37]  G. M. Faeth,et al.  Soot Formation in Laminar Acetylene/Air Diffusion Flames at Atmospheric Pressure. Appendix H , 2001 .

[38]  An Li,et al.  Measurements in three-dimensional laminar separated flow , 2003 .

[39]  Jean-Claude Latché,et al.  An L2‐stable approximation of the Navier–Stokes convection operator for low‐order non‐conforming finite elements , 2011 .

[40]  G. H. Markstein.  Radiative energy transfer from turbulent diffusion flames , 1976 .

[41]  Wilson K. S. Chiu,et al.  A TWO-DIMENSIONAL SCHEME FOR AXISYMMETRIC RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER USING THE FINITE-VOLUME METHOD , 2005 .

[42]  L. Rigollet,et al.  Analytical Approach for Predicting Effects of Vitiated Air on the Mass Loss Rate of Large Pool Fire in Confined Compartments , 2011 .

[43]  J. Tinsley Oden,et al.  Verification and validation in computational engineering and science: basic concepts , 2004 .

[44]  R. Cheesewright,et al.  Direct Measurements of the Turbulence Heat Flux in a Large Rectangular Air Cavity , 1989 .

[45]  J. B. Moss,et al.  Laser Doppler Anemometry Measurement in and around a Turbulent Buoyant Flame , 1984 .

[46]  P. Jourda,et al.  Influence of Ventilation on Ignition Risk of Unburnt Gases in the Extraction Duct of Underventilated Compartment Fire , 2010 .

[47]  Jan Vierendeels,et al.  Numerical study of the flow in a three-dimensional thermally driven cavity , 2005 .

[48]  Mitchell D. Smooke,et al.  Computational and experimental study of soot formation in a coflow, laminar diffusion flame , 1999 .

[49]  D. A. Smith,et al.  Major chemical species in buoyant turbulent diffusion flames , 1992 .

[50]  Jun Shao,et al.  Quantitative V&V of CFD simulations and certification of CFD codes , 2006 .

[51]  Takeyoshi Tanaka,et al.  Doorway flow induced by a propane fire , 1986 .

[52]  R. Barlow,et al.  Piloted methane/air jet flames: Transport effects and aspects of scalar structure , 2005 .

[53]  James P. Johnston,et al.  Investigation of a Reattaching Turbulent Shear Layer: Flow Over a Backward-Facing Step , 1980 .

[54]  Timothy G. Trucano,et al.  Verification and Validation in Computational Fluid Dynamics , 2002 .

[55]  G. Cox,et al.  Combustion fundamentals of fire , 1995 .

[56]  Louis A. Gritzo,et al.  The international FORUM of fire research directors: A position paper on verification and validation of numerical fire models , 2005 .

[57]  Vb Novozhilov,et al.  Computational fluid dynamics modeling of compartment fires , 2001 .

[58]  Alan Shapiro.  The Use of an Exact Solution of the Navier–Stokes Equations in a Validation Test of a Three-Dimensional Nonhydrostatic Numerical Model , 1993 .

[59]  M. Pinar Mengüç,et al.  Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer , 2020 .

[60]  Jan Vierendeels,et al.  Modelling of natural convection flows with large temperature differences: A benchmark problem for low Mach number solvers. Part 2. Contributions to the June 2004 conference , 2005 .

[61]  Reginald E. Mitchell,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation of confined laminar diffusion flames , 1980 .

[62]  S. Suard,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PYROLYSIS OF A HEPTANE POOL FIRE IN A REDUCED-SCALE COMPARTMENT , 2011 .

[63]  T. F. Smith,et al.  Evaluation of Coefficients for the Weighted Sum of Gray Gases Model , 1982 .

[64]  Marshall B. Long,et al.  Soot formation in laminar diffusion flames , 2005 .

[65]  J. B. Moss,et al.  Flowfield modelling of soot formation at elevated pressure , 1989 .

[66]  S. Patankar,et al.  Finite volume method for radiation heat transfer , 1994 .

[67]  P. L. Betts,et al.  Experiments on turbulent natural convection in an enclosed tall cavity , 2000 .