460
Views
40
Downloads
1
Crossref
6
WoS
6
Scopus
0
CSCD
As the installation of solar roofs increases, so has the concern over fires. Smoke from a solar roof fire could spread into a building through roof openings and presents a challenge for existing fire protection strategies. To date, there have been insufficient studies on solar roof fire-induced smoke spread. In this study, we conducted computational fluid dynamics (CDF) simulations using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to better understand the mechanisms of solar roof fire-induced smoke spread and help with solar roof designs. First, the photovoltaic (PV) combustion model was created in FDS and validated by experimental data. A parametric study was then simulated to investigate the impacts of roof slopes and vent sizes on the smoke spread of the solar roofs. It was found that the roof slope has a significant effect on the fire smoke spread. As the roof slope increases, the region of separation, where the smoke and air are mixed, can extend from the leeward side of the building to the roof ridge. As a result, smoke could fill the attic and room more slowly, leading to a lower soot density and lower indoor temperature. When design a solar roof, both fire smoke protection and PV energy performance should be considered, especially for the low latitude regions where the PV optimal title angle regarding energy performance is small and leads to a higher risk of smoke infiltration.
As the installation of solar roofs increases, so has the concern over fires. Smoke from a solar roof fire could spread into a building through roof openings and presents a challenge for existing fire protection strategies. To date, there have been insufficient studies on solar roof fire-induced smoke spread. In this study, we conducted computational fluid dynamics (CDF) simulations using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to better understand the mechanisms of solar roof fire-induced smoke spread and help with solar roof designs. First, the photovoltaic (PV) combustion model was created in FDS and validated by experimental data. A parametric study was then simulated to investigate the impacts of roof slopes and vent sizes on the smoke spread of the solar roofs. It was found that the roof slope has a significant effect on the fire smoke spread. As the roof slope increases, the region of separation, where the smoke and air are mixed, can extend from the leeward side of the building to the roof ridge. As a result, smoke could fill the attic and room more slowly, leading to a lower soot density and lower indoor temperature. When design a solar roof, both fire smoke protection and PV energy performance should be considered, especially for the low latitude regions where the PV optimal title angle regarding energy performance is small and leads to a higher risk of smoke infiltration.
Barbosa BPP, Brum NDCL (2018). Validation and assessment of the CFD-0 module of CONTAM software for airborne contaminant transport simulation in laboratory and hospital applications. Building and Environment, 142: 139–152.
Bazdidi-Tehrani F, Masoumi-Verki S, Gholamalipour P, et al. (2019). Large eddy simulation of pollutant dispersion in a naturally cross-ventilated model building: Comparison between sub-grid scale models. Building Simulation, 12: 921–941.
Bee E, Prada A, Baggio P, et al. (2019). Air-source heat pump and photovoltaic systems for residential heating and cooling: Potential of self-consumption in different European climates. Building Simulation, 12: 453–463.
Blocken B (2018). LES over RANS in building simulation for outdoor and indoor applications: A foregone conclusion? Building Simulation, 11: 821–870.
Cai N, Chow WK (2014). Numerical studies on heat release rate in a room fire burning wood and liquid fuel. Building Simulation, 7: 511–524.
Coakley D, Raftery P, Keane M (2014). A review of methods to match building energy simulation models to measured data. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 37: 123–141.
Hasnain SA, Nasif MS, Pao W, et al. (2017). Numerical investigation of smoke contamination in atrium upper balconies at different down stand depths. Building Simulation, 10: 365–381.
Hu C, Wang F (2005). Using a CFD approach for the study of street- level winds in a built-up area. Building and Environment, 40: 617–631.
Hu LH, Huo R, Yang D (2009). Large eddy simulation of fire-induced buoyancy driven plume dispersion in an urban street canyon under perpendicular wind flow. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 166: 394–406.
Jacobson MZ, Jadhav V (2018). World estimates of PV optimal tilt angles and ratios of sunlight incident upon tilted and tracked PV panels relative to horizontal panels. Solar Energy, 169: 55–66.
Ju X, Zhou X, Zhao K, et al. (2017). Experimental study on burning behaviors of photovoltaic panels with different coverings using a cone calorimeter. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 9: 063502.
Kristensen JS, Jomaas G (2018). Experimental study of the fire behaviour on flat roof constructions with multiple photovoltaic (PV) panels. Fire Technology, 54: 1807–1828.
Liu CH, Barth MC, Leung DYC (2004). Large-eddy simulation of flow and pollutant transport in street canyons of different building- height-to-street-width ratios. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 43: 1410–1424.
Roy A, Ghosh A, Bhandari S, et al. (2020). Realization of poly(methyl methacrylate)-encapsulated solution-processed carbon-based solar cells: An emerging candidate for buildings' comfort. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 59: 11063–11071.
Saadatian O, Haw LC, Sopian K, et al. (2012). Review of windcatcher technologies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16: 1477–1495.
Taguchi M, Suzuki A, Ueoka N, et al. (2019). Effects of poly (methyl methacrylate) addition to perovskite photovoltaic devices. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2067: 020018.
Takano Y, Moonen P (2013). On the influence of roof shape on flow and dispersion in an urban street canyon. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 123: 107–120.
Tominaga Y, Akabayashi SI, Kitahara T, et al. (2015). Air flow around isolated gable-roof buildings with different roof pitches: Wind tunnel experiments and CFD simulations. Building and Environment, 84: 204–213.
Tsuchiya M, Murakami S, Mochida A, et al. (1997). Development of a new k-ε model for flow and pressure fields around bluff body. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 67–68: 169–182.
Wei R, Huang S, Sun R, et al. (2020). Characteristics of steady burning over inclined polymethyl methacrylate surface in different pressure environments. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 140: 637–644.
Youssef AMA, Zhai ZJ, Reffat RM (2015). Design of optimal building envelopes with integrated photovoltaics. Building Simulation, 8: 353–366.
Zhang Y, Gu Z, Cheng Y, et al. (2011). Effect of real-time boundary wind conditions on the air flow and pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon—Large eddy simulations. Atmospheric Environment, 45: 3352–3359.
Zhao G, Li M, Jian L, et al. (2018). Analysis of fire risk associated with photovoltaic power generation system. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2018: 2623741.
This work was supported by the Start-up Fund of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), Discovery Grants of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (No. RGPIN-2019-05824), and Fonds de recherche Nature et technologies (FRQNT) - Research support for new academics (No. 2021-NC-281741). The support of Dr. Huizhong Lu, from Compute Canada - Université de Sherbrooke, is also acknowledged.