There have been a number of concerns regarding the balcony spill plume equation provided in North American standards and codes. These include: lack of verification by fullscale experiments and application of the equation for high atria, even though it was developed for low-height atria. As a result of these concerns, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) initiated a project to evaluate the balcony spill plume equation used in North American codes and standards (RP-1247). The research project included computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling studies to investigate smoke entrainment in the balcony area and in high atria. The primary research conducted as part of RP- 1247 was a series of full-scale experiments conducted to investigate smoke flow in balcony spill plumes and the resulting mechanical exhaust requirements for an atrium. The full-scale experiments included measurements inside the fire compartment and in the opening between the fire compartment and the balcony area. They also included measurements in a simulated atrium space. In Part 1 of this paper, the results of the measurements in the fire compartment area are discussed. The data were also analyzed to estimate the mass flow rate through the compartment opening. The estimated mass flow rates are compared with algebraic equations, which are used to estimate the mass flow through a compartment opening.

Units: Dual