Citation

Chi JH, Wu SH, Shu CM. J. Forensic Sci. 2011; 56(6): 1639-1644.

Affiliation

Department of Fire Science, Wu Feng University, 117, Jianguo Rd., Sec. 2, Minsyong, Chiayi 62153, Taiwan. Process Safety and Disaster Prevention Laboratory, Department of Safety, Health, and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, 123, University Rd., Sec. 3, Douliou, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01887.x

PMID

21854381

Abstract

The location of the hydroelectric power plant poses a high risk to occupants seeking to escape in a fire accident. Calculating the heat release rate of transformer oil as 11.5 MW/m(2') , the fire at the Taiwan Dajia-River hydroelectric power plant was reconstructed using the fire dynamics simulator (FDS). The variations at the escape route of the fire hazard factors temperature, radiant heat, carbon monoxide, and oxygen were collected during the simulation to verify the causes of the serious casualties resulting from the fire. The simulated safe escape time when taking temperature changes into account is about 236 sec, 155 sec for radiant heat changes, 260 sec for carbon monoxide changes, and 235-248 sec for oxygen changes. These escape times are far less than the actual escape time of 302 sec. The simulation thus demonstrated the urgent need to improve escape options for people escaping a hydroelectric power plant fire.

Language: en