Optimization of fume ducts in case of Fire – Optifum

These last years show a development of the eco-constructions and the sector a wood-energy (100 % in 10 years). A strong stake concerns then the security of the conduit of extraction of smokes.
Since 2012, in front of scientific requirements concerning the notions of safety in case of fire, the Poujoulat company, European leader of the metallic flues, and the Pprime Institute (UPR 3346 CNRS - University of Poitiers - ISAE-ENSMA) collaborates. The obtained results are convincing but the stakes numerous. It seems then necessary to cross a new stage, by uniting the skills and the ways of both bodies within LabCom.
Two scenarios of fire are to be considered (each answering a normative requirement):
- Scenario 1: a fire in the room where is situated the conduit. This one has not to be a vector of transmission of the fire in the neighboring rooms (Classification EI according to the prEN project 1366-13). It is thus necessary to estimate the structural holding of the conduit and the heat transfer released by the disaster via the conduit. A specific digital tool will be developed to simulate exactly these phenomena and to allow, then, the definition of technical solutions to implement. This model will be applicable in various configurations of buildings, installations and for various types of conduits. This tool can then be used in R&D by the company Poujoulat.
- Scenario 2: a fire in the conduit. It is advisable that the fire does not propagate outside (Classification G according to the standard IN 13216-1). The fire is associated in this case with the presence of deposits in the conduit, their thermal decomposition then their inflammation. It is thus necessary to characterize the mechanisms of generation of the deposit and their properties, as well as their behavior in case of heating (flammability and combustibility aspects). The objective of the study is to develop a database of the properties of the deposits and their conditions of generation. Secondly, the study, by an experimental characterization of the conditions and the mechanisms of inflammation and combustion of the deposits, will allow an enrichment of this database and the development of an associated digital model. If the fire sets in the conduit, raise themselves the questions of the heating of this one and the distribution of heat the neighboring combustible elements and their possible inflammation.
The aim of the study is to develop the tools necessary for the development of conduits limiting the deposits as well as their dangerousness and their possible inflammation. Besides, the generated data will allow to define the best practice of use of the system of wood-fired heating (customers). The deliverables expected are:
- The constitution of a database correlating for every family of deposits, their conditions of formation and their associated dangerousness. This database will be an important tool R&D for the development of conduit limiting the generation of deposits and their dangerousness.
- The development of two digital models, one simulating the thermal heating of conduits and combustible surrounding elements to develop conduits limiting the heat transfers and a model simulating the generation of deposits and their possible inflammation and combustion.
This work is going to allow Poujoulat to support its politic of R&D, of innovation, to increase its competitiveness and its international development. The results will be also valued by scientific publications and by integration in the future statutory and normative evolutions. Poujoulat and the Pprime Institute afterward wish to continue to unite their skills and their expertises (human and experimental) in a long-lasting way.