MeyerFire
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • THE TOOLKIT
    • SUBMIT AN IDEA
    • BACKFLOW DATABASE*
    • CLEAN AGENT ESTIMATOR*
    • CLOUD CEILING CALCULATOR
    • DOMESTIC DEMAND*
    • FIRE FLOW CALCULATOR*
    • FIRE PUMP ANALYZER*
    • FIRE PUMP DATABASE*
    • FRICTION LOSS CALCULATOR
    • HANGER SPACER*
    • IBC TRANSLATOR*
    • K-FACTOR SELECTOR*
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('19 ONLY)
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('99-'22)*
    • LIQUIDS ANALYZER*
    • OBSTRUCTION CALCULATOR
    • OBSTRUCTIONS AGAINST WALL*
    • PLUMBING FIXTURE COUNTS
    • QUICK RESPONSE AREA REDUCTION
    • REMOTE AREA ANALYZER*
    • SPRINKLER DATABASE*
    • SPRINKLER FLOW*
    • SYSTEM ESTIMATOR*
    • TEST & DRAIN CALCULATOR
    • THRUST BLOCK CALCULATOR
    • TRAPEZE CALCULATOR
    • UNIT CONVERTER
    • VOLUME & COMPRESSOR CALCULATOR
    • WATER STORAGE*
    • WATER SUPPLY (US)
    • WATER SUPPLY (METRIC)
  • UNIVERSITY
    • About
    • Catalog
    • Content Library
  • PE Exam
    • PE Forum & Errata
    • PE Store
    • PE Tools
    • PE Prep Series
    • PE 100-Day Marathon
  • LOGIN
  • PRICING
    • SOFTWARE & TRAINING
    • STORE
  • THE CAUSE
    • ABOUT US
    • BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR
    • HELP/SUPPORT
Picture

What is a Smoke Control System?

12/17/2021

0 Comments

 
MeyerFire University | SM001.01
By David Stacy, PE
RESOURCES
  • Notes Page

TRANSCRIPT

What is a smoke control system? 

Smoke and products of combustion are considered one of the greatest hazards to life safety in the built environment.  

Even considering the exceptional safety and proven suppression track record of automatic sprinkler systems, early detection and notification by automatic fire alarm systems, and other features of fire protection and life safety, we still need to deal with smoke in our buildings, and how that smoke could potentially impact occupants.  

A smoke control system is a means to prevent the impact of smoke and extremely hazardous products of combustion on egressing occupants and occupants located within a building, that may not be in immediate fire area. 

We want to keep deadly smoke from preventing people trying to escape a building.  

These systems are aimed at providing tenable conditions for egressing occupants from their initial location in a building throughout their complete egress. 

Smoke is airborne solid and liquid particulates as well as gases that are products of a material undergoing pyrolysis and combustion; these products then get mixed with entrained air and disperse as a smoke plume and smoke layer, quickly spreading throughout compartments and a building. 

Smoke contains reduced levels of oxygen and the presence of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, and other toxic gases. These conditions result in physiological and psychological effects on occupants, that need to be reduced through the use of a smoke control system. 

Overall, we characterize the goals of smoke control systems into one of the following four categories: 

Smoke control systems maintain a tenable environment along egress routes during the time required for evacuation 

Smoke control systems limit the migration of smoke beyond the fire area for the entire duration of the fire event 

Smoke control systems provide conditions outside of the fire area that enable emergency personnel to conduct search and rescue operations and to locate, control, and extinguish a fire 

Smoke control systems assist in post-fire smoke removal. 

Smoke control systems are aimed at preventing the unwarranted  movement of smoke through various occupancies including high-rises, atriums, hospitals, arenas, and more occupancies where the building code requires such. To achieve the overall goal of providing a tenable environment for egressing occupants, this is typically provided through either a pressurization approach, exhaust approach, or air-flow method to control, limit, and prevent the movement of smoke from the area of origin to adjacent spaces.  We want to keep a safe environment in a building long enough for everyone to escape. 

One of the most prominent fire events in the United States that made us take a strong look at smoke control systems was the MGM grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 21, 1980. This building was 26 stories in height and at the time of the fire had 5,000 patrons located within. A fire originated on the 1st floor in the Deli space due to an electrical fire. It took 6 minutes for the fire to become fully developed across the first floor casino space after it was discovered. Although lack of sprinkler protection on the ground floor due to an exception was also a contributing factor, it is important to note that of the 85 total deaths that occurred from this fire, 72 percent of these deaths were on upper floor levels. Thus, it was clearly building egress system that proved to be the deadliest factor, specifically non-protected vertical openings including stairwells that quickly became smoke-filled. This fire, among numerous others, pushed the significance of smoke control systems in the modern code structure. 

In this video, we gave you a strong overview of what a smoke control system is, from defining the hazards and characteristics of smoke, the goal of these systems, and a brief introduction to the approaches utilized in smoke control system design. 

I’m David Stacy, and this is MeyerFire University.  
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Sentry Page Protection
    Please Wait...

    FULL CATALOG

    SEARCH

    FILTER BY:

    All
    By: Aaron Johnson
    By: Al Yakel
    By: Ben Brooks
    By: Chris Campbell
    By: Chris Logan
    By: David Stacy
    By: Edward Henderson
    By: Franck Orset
    By: Joe Meyer
    By: Kelsey Longmoore
    By: Steve Frederick
    By: Tyler Mobley
    Category: Business
    Category: Documents
    Category: Fire Alarm
    Category: Fundamentals
    Category: Life Safety
    Category: Smoke Control
    Category: Suppression
    Category: Tools
    Course
    Level: Advanced
    Level: Intermediate
    Level: Introductory
    On-Demand Course

    ARCHIVES:

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021

    INSTRUCTORS:

    Aaron Johnson, CFEI
    Chris Campbell, PE
    ​Chris Logan, CFPS, RSE
    ​
    David Stacy, PE
    Franck Orset
    Joe Meyer, PE

    RSS Feed

Picture
​Home
Our Cause
The Blog
The Forum
PE Exam Prep
The Toolkit

MeyerFire University
​Pricing
Login
​Support
Contact Us
Picture

MeyerFire.com is a startup community built to help fire protection professionals shine.
Our goal is to improve fire protection practices worldwide. We promote the industry by creating helpful tools and resources, and by bringing together industry professionals to share their expertise.

​MeyerFire, LLC is an International Code Council Preferred Education Provider.

All text, images, and media ​Copyright © 2022 MeyerFire, LLC

We respect your privacy and personal data. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. 
The views, opinions, and information found on this site represent solely the author and do not represent the opinions of any other party, nor does the presented material assume responsibility for its use. Fire protection and life safety systems constitute a critical component for public health and safety and you should consult with a licensed professional for proper design and code adherence.

Discussions are solely for the purpose of peer review and the exchange of ideas. All comments are reviewed. Comments which do not contribute, are not relevant, are spam, or are disrespectful in nature may be removed. Information presented and opinions expressed should not be relied upon as a replacement for consulting services. Some (not all) outbound links on this website, such as Amazon links, are affiliate-based where we receive a small commission for orders placed elsewhere.

  • Blog
  • Forum
  • THE TOOLKIT
    • SUBMIT AN IDEA
    • BACKFLOW DATABASE*
    • CLEAN AGENT ESTIMATOR*
    • CLOUD CEILING CALCULATOR
    • DOMESTIC DEMAND*
    • FIRE FLOW CALCULATOR*
    • FIRE PUMP ANALYZER*
    • FIRE PUMP DATABASE*
    • FRICTION LOSS CALCULATOR
    • HANGER SPACER*
    • IBC TRANSLATOR*
    • K-FACTOR SELECTOR*
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('19 ONLY)
    • NFPA 13 EDITION TRANSLATOR ('99-'22)*
    • LIQUIDS ANALYZER*
    • OBSTRUCTION CALCULATOR
    • OBSTRUCTIONS AGAINST WALL*
    • PLUMBING FIXTURE COUNTS
    • QUICK RESPONSE AREA REDUCTION
    • REMOTE AREA ANALYZER*
    • SPRINKLER DATABASE*
    • SPRINKLER FLOW*
    • SYSTEM ESTIMATOR*
    • TEST & DRAIN CALCULATOR
    • THRUST BLOCK CALCULATOR
    • TRAPEZE CALCULATOR
    • UNIT CONVERTER
    • VOLUME & COMPRESSOR CALCULATOR
    • WATER STORAGE*
    • WATER SUPPLY (US)
    • WATER SUPPLY (METRIC)
  • UNIVERSITY
    • About
    • Catalog
    • Content Library
  • PE Exam
    • PE Forum & Errata
    • PE Store
    • PE Tools
    • PE Prep Series
    • PE 100-Day Marathon
  • LOGIN
  • PRICING
    • SOFTWARE & TRAINING
    • STORE
  • THE CAUSE
    • ABOUT US
    • BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR
    • HELP/SUPPORT