CFD simulation of smoke plumes emitted from an urban fire accident

The increasing occurrence of urban fires and their uncontrollable nature significantly impacts health, the environment, and infrastructure. Individual large-scale fires have the potential to emerge as significant sources, given their notable contribution to the total atmospheric emissions within a city. In this study, the smoke plume resulting from an actual building fire was simulated over an 8-hour particle emission period using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model. The emission parameters were estimated, taking into account the dimensions of the burned area and the materials involved. Initial and boundary conditions were established based on data from the local meteorological observation stations, and the estimated emissions were validated by comparing the simulated concentrations of particles with those measured at local atmospheric monitoring stations. The CFD model used in this study simulated the smoke plume dispersion and potential heat release every hour during the fire, analyzing its behavior in diverse wind conditions in a building congested area.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Particulate Matter Management Specialized Graduate Program through the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE).