Fire hazard assessment in a big hall with the multi-cell zone modelling concept

The multi-cell concept is further applied for assessing the fire hazard of a big hall using a zone model. A hall of size 60 m by 60 m by 5 m was selected for the study. HAZARD1, a computer-based hazard calculation method combining models of fire growth and egress was used for fire hazard assessment. This hall was divided into a ''nine-room'' structure, a ''three-room'' structure, and a ''one-room'' structure. Room numbers and node numbers for each group were labelled for use by the evacuation module EXITT. The fire environment was simulated by the fire zone model CFAST. With the predicted results, the escape paths of the occupants were then simulated. The module TENAB was used to study whether tenability criteria were exceeded. Because the ''multi-cell'' concept of using a zone model can give detailed information in the fire environment, better identification of the escape path and more accurate prediction on tenability are possible.