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Fire and smoke containment are well known issues during fires in ro-ro spaces, especially in case of uncontrolled fires. Similarly, in some accidents, evacuation systems remained inoperative due to the heat and flames coming through the openings of the ro-ro spaces.This report presents a Formal Safety Assessment on containment and on evacuation fol...
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... The representation of realistic cargo in ro-ro spaces was based on a previous study (FIRESAFE II [6]) where a Standard RoPax owned by Stena Rederi has been used to perform fire simulations. ...
The International Maritime Organization, through its correspondence group on fire safety, has underlined the need for more scientific studies regarding the performance of A-60 boundaries in case of a ro-ro space fire, especially to prevent fire spread to accommodation spaces. RISE has carried out the RoBound project in order to answer to this need. The goal of the project was to clarify the performance of “state-of-the-art” fire boundaries between ro-ro spaces and accommodation spaces or other ro-ro spaces, and to give recommendations on how sufficient fire containment is ensured.In order to obtain realistic exposure reached during a fire within a ro-ro space, simulations were performed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Fire Dynamics Simulator).The first step was to model representative ro-ro spaces as well as representative cargo. Two representative ro-ro spaces were then defined: closed and open ro-ro spaces with open ends. Concerning the cargo, the ro-ro spaces were assumed fully loaded with trucks or fully loaded with cars. Moreover, two types of thermal insulation were chosen, A-60 and A-30. The highest temperature given for each simulated case was then compared with time-temperature curves for designing fire safety.Almost all comparisons showed that the hydrocarbon time-temperature curve fits better to the highest temperature reached in the simulations. The hydrocarbon time-temperature curve is more severe than the standard (cellulosic) time-temperature curve according to ISO 834, used for type approval of thermal insulation. Experimental tests were then carried out to observe the performance of A class insulation when exposed to the more representative hydrocarbon time-temperature curve in a cubic furnace. The fire insulations were mounted on steel plates with different thicknesses (5 mm, 6 mm and 12 mm).Tests results showed a significantly reduced fire integrity when exposed to the hydrocarbon time-temperature curve, meaning that it took less time to reach the maximum temperature elevations required by the FTP Code (140 °C for the average temperature elevation and 180 °C for the highest temperature elevation). The reduction was about 50%, depending on the thickness of the steel plate. These results apply for stone wool. Glass wool fire insulation was also used in the tests but it was deteriorated when exposed to the high heat exposure in accordance with the hydrocarbon time-temperature curve.
... It is the opinion of RISE, as already expressed in the FIRESAFE II project [6] that, in order to account for the smoke tightness requirement of A class divisions, the International Maritime Organization should strongly consider a modification of the FTP Code by the addition of a test procedure and criteria to evaluate smoke leakage for doors in A class divisions. A starting point for such a test procedure could be the EN 81-58 standard, which was concluded useful in this study and which may be well combined with the current test procedure in the FTP Code, Part 3. ...
The International Maritime Organization, through its correspondence group on fire safety of ro-pax ships, has underlined the need for more scientific studies regarding the performance of boundaries in case of a ro-ro space fire, especially to prevent fire and smoke spread to accommodation spaces. Following these discussions, Swedish Flag State has underlined the issue of the smoke tightness of doors in A class divisions. While smoke tightness is a requirement for A class divisions, the fire resistance test method in the FTP Code is not designed to evaluate hazards associated with smoke spread.RISE has carried out the RoBound project to meet this need.To increase the understanding of this weakness in the FTP Code, RISE has performed experimental tests of two almost identical doors. The only difference between the two doors was the presence or not of an intumescent joint between the leaf and the frame of the door, intended to prevent the passage of smoke. The doors were exposed to the test for fire boundaries in Part 3 of the FTP Code, which exposes specimens to a simulated fire by a temperature increase according to the standard fire curve ISO 834.A modification of the standard experimental rig was added and consisted of the addition of a canopy above the tested doors to gather and measure the rate of carbon dioxide to quantify the amount of smoke leaking from the doors. This set up of canopy and measurement rig was taken from the standard EN 81-58 which is applied for elevator doors acting as fire barriers.The results of the tests showed that both doors marginally failed the A-60 integrity criteria since there was presence of a sustained flame at the unexposed side before 60 minutes of test. However, both doors satisfied to the insulation criteria by maintaining a rise of temperature lower than 140 °C in average at the unexposed side. The main difference between the doors was that the door with the intumescent joints presented a rate of smoke leakage which was almost half of that of the fire door without intumescent joints.This result clearly shows the importance of evaluating the smoke tightness of A class doors during testing and the need to set up an experimental procedure and performance criterion for this in the FTP Code.
