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Carleton and NRC team up to expand fire research facilities
Carleton University, in partnership with NRC, the Ottawa Fire Services and the Toronto Transit Commission, with resources obtained from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust, has just completed construction of full-scale fire research facilities adjacent to existing NRC facilities in Almonte, Ontario. The new facilities, combined with the capabilities of the existing ones, provide a unique world-class resource for the Canadian construction and transportation industries.
CONSTRUCTION OF FULL-SCALE FIRE RESEARCH FACILITIES ADJACENT TO EXISTING NRC FACILITIES AT ALMONTE, ONTARIO IS UNDERWAY
The new facilities include:
- a 10-storey atrium with approximate dimensions of 20 x 20 x 26.5 m high. The atrium shares a wall with the existing 10-storey tower facility. The expanded facility will provide new opportunities for investigating smoke management in high-rise buildings and large-volume spaces.
- a new burn hall with dimensions of 20 x 20 x 12 m high. This hall can be used to investigate fire scenarios involving large fires.
- a tunnel measuring 10 m wide, 5.5 m high and 37 m long for conducting tests that realistically simulate fires in roadway and mass-transit tunnels.
Smoke produced in all three new facilities can be collected and exhausted through a high-capacity fan system (160 m3/s) to measure the heat-release rate. This exhaust system can also be used to simulate smoke-management systems used in atrium applications and in the emergency ventilation systems used in tunnels.
"The expanded test facilities will provide new opportunities for research that can improve fire safety in residential and commercial buildings, as well as in transportation facilities," said Prof. George Hadjisophocleous, Carleton University. "They will also provide a unique opportunity for training students."
For more information on the Carleton University program in fire-safety engineering, please visit the Web site at http://www.carleton.ca/cu/research/chairs/nserc_chairs/hadjisophocleous.html.
For further information on the full-scale fire research facilities, please contact Mr. Bruce Taber at (613) 256-4464, fax (613) 256-1309, or e-mail bruce.taber@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
