Specificities of the control of heat and smoke extraction systems

Abstract

The development of indoor fires and the corresponding fire risk and damage they cause is usually closely related to the scale of the phenomena accompanying the combustion processes triggered by the fire. The spreading smoke produced by a fire and the combustion heat
permanently transmitted by the heat transport processes in the enclosed space to the enclosed environment pose an increasing risk to the occupants and to the structural elements of the building itself. Ensuring the required level of fire safety, even in dynamic fire conditions, requires rapid and effective intervention. Heat and smoke extraction systems are a key element of the technical solutions that guarantee this, allowing the extraction of high-temperature air and combustion gases, which have a toxic, flammable and structurally damaging effect and which can reduce visibility more and more dynamically over time. It is clear from this that special care must often be taken to ensure that heat and smoke extraction systems are effectively organised in spaces which are particularly vulnerable in this respect. The authors of this paper focus on this aspect of fire safety.