Transient Plume Influence in Measurement of Convective Heat Release Rates of Fast-Growing Fires Using a Large-Scale Fire Products Collector

A theory for strongly buoyant transient plumes was used to determine whether the convective heat flow measured by a large-scale Fire Products Collector (FPC) could approximate the instantaneous convective heat release rate generated by fast-growing fires. The theory was confirmed by the plume data of rack storage fires obtained in this study. The theory provides a scheme for deriving the convective heat release rate generated at the fire source from the convective heat flow measured by the FPC.