On February 24 to March 8 a series of fire and ventilation tests were performed at the Fire Hall in Borås, Sweden. A model of a generic ro-ro deck was built up in scale 1:8 to test 15 different scenarios, divided in natural and mechanical ventilation.
Between the test scenarios the sides and ends of the model were modified, to enable a representation of both open and closed ro-ro spaces.
The main goal of the tests was to validate the influence of openings in terms of natural ventilation in case of fire, and also, to validate different mechanical ventilation systems used as fire safety measures.
For the natural ventilation in open ro-ro spaces, the aim was to provide recommendations for optimal configuration of openings to decrease the fire development, while also maintaining an adequate level of natural ventilation.
For the mechanical ventilation the team was investigating how reversible fans in closed ro-ro spaces could improve the manual firefighting operations by improving the visibility for the crew, and by creating a possibility to control the spread of smoke in the ro-ro space.
LASH FIRE Model Scale Fire Tests – Effect of natural and mechanical ventilation in open and closed ro-ro spaces.
