Invited seminar by Dr Paul Palmer on wildfire emissions observed from space

On 2 March 2009, Dr Paul Palmer from the School of Geosciences at The University of Edinburgh gave the talk "Vertical transport of surface fire emissions observed from space".

Dr Palmer's talk is part of an ongoing collaboration to bridge the gap between Fire science and Earth science with researchers at the BRE Centre of Fire Safety Engineering and School of Geosciences.

Abstract of his talk:
Wildfires are an integral part of the climate system. Only over the past decade have space-based measurements of surface properties and atmospheric chemistry measurements drawn attention to the widespread nature of biomass burning emissions and their subsequent long-range transport of pollutants. Rapid vertical mixing of trace gases associated with intense surface burning can reach the upper troposphere, with serious implications for interpreting resulting trace gas observations, but the frequency and nature of these events is currently unknown. I will outline a new methodology, based on Bayesian inference, to observe this vertical transport using satellite observations of carbon monoxide, a tracer of incomplete combustion. I will evaluate the method using close-by satellite measurements of aerosol optical properties and lidar measurements.

Six Papers and four Awards at Applications of Structural Fire Engineering - Prague 2009

The Centre presented 6 papers at the International Conference Applications of Structural Fire Engineering, celebrated in Prague on 19-20 February 2009.

Dr Luke Bisby got the Best Poster Award (see poster here) and three of our PhD students - Susan Deeny, Angus Law and Kate Anderson - obtained the young researcher award, and their papers will be published in the Acta Polytechnica (the journal of Czech Technical University in Prague).

NOTE: in addition, two papers were presented by PhD alumni from the Centre

Fire in the 'Luna' Nightclub in Edinburgh, Hogmanay 2008-09

This 'YouTube' footage (below) gives an interesting insight into human behaviour in fire. The BBC news website described the incident (in the early hours of 1st January 2009) as follows:

Fireworks cause fire at nightclub

About 400 people had to be evacuated from an Edinburgh nightclub after indoor pyrotechnics set fire to plastic netting stretched across the ceiling.

The netting melted and fell on to the crowd below, slightly burning two women and a member of staff.

They were treated at the scene but were not taken to hospital.

The fire broke out on the ground floor of the Luna nightclub in Picardy Place, just after midnight. Fire officers are investigating.

What the news report doesn't say is that most of the people there didn't evacuate. They stayed to watch the roof burning. Some even started singing the club anthem "the roof is on fire"!

---

Comment from SW:

"Would be interesting to know whether it was clear to occupants that the fire was not going to spread, i.e. ceiling itself apparently non-combustible. If this was not the case then it is quite scary to see the lack of awareness of an impending disaster, after similar fires have lend to multiple fatalities. Fire awareness training needed?!"

Mott MacDonald presents opportunities in Fire Engineering to students

Mott MacDonald will present opportunities in Fire Engineering to students of the University of Edinburgh

Date and time of event: Monday 2nd March, 1pm - 2pm.
Venue: Sanderson Drawing Office, Sanderson Building, KB.

Mott MacDonald's £900 million business spans 120 countries with 14,500 staff working in all sectors from transport, energy, buildings, water and the environment to health and education, industry and communications.

Mott MacDonald is holding an informal lunch presentation to discuss Fire Engineering opportunities. There will be a short presentation covering the company, recent projects and graduate opportunities followed by any questions.

More information at Careers Service

Visit our Youtube channel in Fire Safety Engineering

Our Youtube channel, launched in Oct 2007, now hosts more than 36 videos of presentations, seminars and events related to our work on Fire Safety Engineering. By Feb 2009, the videos had collectively already been seen more that 2,500 times.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=FireSafetyEngineerin&view=videos

Visit of Dr Manzello from NIST

Dr Sam Manzello, from the Fire Research Division of NIST, visit the group and gave a seminar at the University of Edinburgh on Feb 3, 2009 presenting his experimental work on firebrands and structure ignition mechanisms in wildland-urban interface fires.

Dr Manzello is a dynamic and successful researcher bridging the gaps between combustion, fire and structural engineering. His unconventional expertise and original approach to fire problems was very well received by the group.

The Design Process of Landmark Buildings, by David Scott from Arup NY

David Scott, structural engineer and Principal at Arup New York, has visited the fire group and gave the seminar "The Design Process of Landmark Buildings" on Feb 2nd 2009.

Abstract
The current tallest building in the world is Taipei 101 at 508m; Emaar’s Burj Dubai, by SOM, now under construction, will set the new world record when it tops out at approximately 750m. These buildings are enormous and demonstrate a very high level of confidence in the performance of tall buildings. But few new buildings are targeting the tallest spot, and the drive to be tallest has moved out of reach for most developers. New technology, however, is changing the design landscape faster than ever. Scott will discuss his involvement in a wide variety of very tall and significant building projects around the world and his work toward a better understanding of the key issues that affect tall building design.


Scott's Vita
David Scott, a structural engineer and principal at Arup (New York). He is chair of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an international body and leading independent authority on planning, design, construction and operation of tall buildings and urban areas.

David graduated with a first class BSc in Engineering from The University of Edinburgh and joined the London office of Arup in 1977 as a structural engineer.

Scott has led Arup’s structural design work on numerous large and prestigious building projects throughout the world. His career in tall buildings started with Sir Norman Foster’s Hong Kong Bank in 1981, where he was involved from concept to completion, as designer to site engineer. He has worked on high-rise buildings throughout the world in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Based in New York since 1998, he has been involved in projects such as the master planning and structural schemes for the Freedom Tower with Daniel Libeskind, and overseas projects in London and Korea. Scott’s additional assignments have included the award-winning design for the international terminal at Hong Kong Airport, the 300m Cheung Kong Center and the 425m Landmark Tower in Hong Kong; the Orca tower in Warsaw, Poland; and the Northeast Asia Tower in Songdo, Korea. He was a team leader working with contractors on the search, recovery and clean-up of the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attack and was extensively involved in the subsequent industry review of building design and standards. He has authored papers on seismic design, wind engineering, the performance of tall buildings in fire, composite structures and the design of long-span roofs.

2nd call for papers for the 6th Mediterranean Combustion Symposium

In the name of Prof. Albert Simeoni, find attached the 2nd call for papers for the 6th Mediterranean Combustion Symposium to be hold in Island of Corsica in June 2009. Note that deadline for submission of papers has been extended to 1st of March.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Colleagues,


Please find attached the second announcement of the Sixth
Mediterranean Combustion Symposium which will take place on next June,
7-11 in Ajaccio, France.

You are warmly invited to send us a contribution. Please mark your
dairy and distribute this announcement to your colleagues and people
who are interested in combustion science. We look for new results,
from fundamental research to application.

The deadline to submit a full paper (no more than 12 pages, see here) is March 1, 2009.

We remind you that selected papers presented at the Symposium, after a
peer review process, will be published in special issues of:

* Combustion Science and Technology


* Experimental Thermal and Fluid
Science


*Turkish Journal of Engineering and Environmental Sciences



The deadline for sending abstracts for work in progress presentation
(posters) is April, 15.

We will also hold a workshop on Forest Fires the day before the
Conference (June, 7) as it is one of the main research topics of the
University of Corsica. Please add this event in your diary. We will
send you more information soon.

We will do our best to have an excellent Symposium, as it was in
Monastir in 2007, Lisbon in 2005, Marrakech in 2003, Sharm El-Sheikh
in 2002 and Antalya in 1999.

We look very much forward to meeting you in Corsica.

On behalf of the local organizing committee,

Albert Simeoni.

Sixth Mediterranean Combustion Symposium
Porticcio, Ajaccio, France
Date: 7 - 11 June 2009
http://www.ichmt.org/mcs-09

Short report on the 32nd International Symposium on Combustion - Montreal

by Dr Guillermo Rein, The University of Edinburgh.


More than 1,100 delegates from 40 countries participated in the 32nd International Symposium on Combustion in Montreal where 7 parallel sessions took place with 5 plenaries, 554 presentations and about 330 posters during the five-day long event. The McGill campus and the city of Montreal were brilliant choices for the venue, providing easy international access, the right facilities and a vibrant cultural atmosphere. The organization was flawless.

This was the third combustion symposium that I attended. I found it very interesting - not only because I learnt about some of the latest developments in combustion science but also because I met some extraordinary people. By attending the ISC, I continue on discovering the roots of the combustion community, the reasons for the path taken in the past and its current aims.

The fire group in Edinburgh presented three papers:

. Small-scale forward smouldering experiments for remediation of coal tar in inert media

. Carbon emissions from smouldering peat in shallow and strong fronts

. Transport mechanisms controlling soot production inside a non-buoyant laminar diffusion flame

Judging from the Symposium plenaries and paper presentations that I attended or read (about 40 of them), the combustion research community has largely focused again on the fundamental research of topics like detailed chemistry, turbulence models and engines/turbines. This feeling is confirmed by reviewing the programme where these three topics were the focus of 35-45% of the talks. Of the 12 colloquia that made the programme, one was dedicated to Fire Research, my expertise. In this colloquium, there were 31 presentations and 20 work-in-progress posters on fire topics that included fundamental aspects of fires, flame spread, radiation effects, combustion suppression, and fire and the environment.

At times, I had the impression that I had already been there. Similarities, in general lines, with previous symposium contents were patent. From my point of view, there were not many breakthroughs but a general lack of exciting topics, with a few exceptions like the plenary lecture of Prof. Sawyer on energy and environmental problems, the talk of Dr Linne on ballistic imaging, and others. The Symposium contained little applied research and little new topics (ie. less that 3% of the papers addressed new technology concepts). In the meantime, some of the biggest scientific concerns of our time are directly linked to combustion processes but largely ignored by the combustion community for some reasons. For example, emissions, energy and environmental problems were the focus of less than 1% of the papers.

For the next symposium in Beijing 2010, I personally look forward a wave of stimulating applied research, and fresh ideas from outside the box in addition to new detailed fundamental studies of older topics.

I appreciate the partial financial support of the British Section of the Combustion Institute to attend the symposium.

Dr G. Rein

***

NOTE I: Parts of this report has been published in the 2009 Spring Newsletters of the British Section of the Combustion Institute and The International Association of Fire Safety Science .

NOTE II: I asked Prof. Sawyer via the Combustion Institute website if we were doing enough given the great importance of the energy and environment combustion problems? He replied by saying "The debate over the Combustion Institute's role, whether to focus solely on high quality science or to venture into advocacy, has been ongoing for decades. Past decisions to avoid advocacy deserve review. The participation of the new generation of combustion scientists in this debate is essential"

NOTE III: The 5 Plenary Lectures of the Symposium can be watch here

Short report on the 9th IAFSS Symposium in Karlsruhe

by Guillermo Rein, BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, UK.



NOTE: See announcement on papers and awards at the 9th IAFSS Symposium

The 9th Symposium of The International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) was the first IAFSS symposium that I attended; it was a positive experience all together.

The venue was a good choice. The city of Karlsruhe is an appealing town that offers very good communications, diverse cultural atmosphere, and decent weather (in Sept at least). The conference centre held all the talks, breaks and poster sessions within a small area that helped the attendees have frequent and extensive interactions. The organization and events were impeccable (congratulations to Dieter Brein and his team).

The audience was largely composed of academics and some industrial presence was noted. I would be interested in knowing with more accuracy the average age of the attendees, but I would venture it was around 45 years old. I attended about 20 or 22 paper presentations. My favourite papers were those presented by Lonnermark, Matala, Koo, Rangwala, Hostikka and Marshall. They all have three things in common; the papers were of high quality, the topic was original and relevant, and the presenter was a promising, young, communicative researcher.

The most interesting Plenary Lecture was clearly that of Andy Buchanan, who provided not only a review of the challenges in the field of structures and fires but also a philosophy to understand the problem. Ingason's lecture on tunnel fires and Hadjisophocleous's lecture on design fires were also good. I was rather disappointed with the presentation of the Howard Emmons Invited Lecture since it did not present much science and I personally barely learnt anything from it.

One of the most engaging and substantial part of the IAFSS symposium were the Sunday workshops. They were held on the Sunday afternoon before the start of the 9th Symposium in Karlsruhe. This was the first time such workshops have been held. The workshop topicc were:

.Flame spread modelling
.Structural fire engineering
.Egress modelling

All three workshops were well-attended and feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive. At least the one that I attended (Structural Fire Engineering). We truly had a sincere exchange of ideas from very different views of the problem. Following is a participant's comment on one of the workshops (Structural fire engineering) also published in the IAFSS Spring 2008 Newsletter.

-------
Short Report on the Structural Fire Workshop,
by Allan Jowsey, Arup Fire London

The Structural Fire Workshop organised by IAFSS provided a valuable opportunity for both consultants and researchers in the field to discuss their opinions regarding current practices, techniques and future research opportunities. The workshop provoked good discussion by specifically addressing an issue which relates not only to structural issues, but also fire dynamics and the role that it plays as a fundamental input to structural analyses. It brought together those involved in both sides of the storey as it were - a feature that is commonly lost when a conference creates parallel sessions that effectively separate the two, or indeed separate conferences entirely.

The workshop also provided a good platform for different presentation topics. It was well structured and organised to introduce the topic with an overview of the subject followed by a series of technical presentations and case studies that reflected how the field of structural fire engineering has evolved, is currently being applied in industry and where it may be heading in the future.

Not only did the workshop provide an insight into various aspects of structural fire engineering, but it provided a context into which they could be put. This in itself is valuable for young researchers to appreciate how their work can influence designs in the wider world.
-----

RAE 2008 results: Edinburgh is 3rd UK Engineering

The RAE 2008 results have now been published.

The Fire Group was part of the School of Engineering submission that was ranked 3rd in the UK and 1st in Scotland in research quality and quantity. According to the analysis by Research Fortnight, in terms of total volume of world-leading research in engineering the top 2 are Cambridge and Oxford. Edinburgh is 3rd and Imperial College 4th.

The Head of School said "This is an extremely encouraging result that recognises the quality, scope and volume of research in our interdisciplinary Research Institutes, addressing major research challenges that include Energy, Bio-Engineering and Fire Safety". It is not often that we see energy and bio associated to fire in an multidisciplinary institution with nearly 100 research staff members (!!).

In other disciplines, Edinburgh was ranked at the very top in Computer Science, Chemistry, Medicine, Architecture, Mathematics, Linguistics, English Literature among others.

The RAE is one of two main sources of research money in UK higher education. Sixty-seven panels of 900 experts look at the work of researchers in discipline and award stars. The higher-education funding councils that mount the RAE use this information to award grants to universities.

* UK research funding and RAE issues are better explained in this article of The Economist: University funding. Chronicle of a death foretold, Jun 22nd 2006
From The Economist.

*Clips and more on the RAE 2008 results at University's website (accessible only from the @ed domain).

* An explanation of RAE results in the context of Computer Science is provided here

Paper downloads Aug 07- Nov 08

These are the statistics per paper in our ERA collection in the period in from Aug 07 to Nov 08.

Take a look and see the most 'popular' ones.

Number of downloads per paper

1,836 The behaviour of concrete structures in fire
1,796 Light Steel Framing: Improving the Integral Design
1,595 How did the WTC towers collapse: a new theory
1,560 Fire Size in Tunnels
1,458 Determination of Fire Induced Collapse Mechanisms of Multi-Storey Steel Framed Structures
1,298 Large-scale pool fires
1,188 A Study of Fire Durability for a Road Tunnel: Comparing CFD and Simple Analytical Models
1,072 Multi-story Fire Analysis for High-Rise Buildings
1,071 Fire Safety in High-rise Buildings, Lessons Learned from the WTC
977 Behavior of Structures in Fire and Real Design - A Case Study
950 Performance of concrete in fire: a review of the state of the art, with a case study of the windsor tower fire
822 Model-based analysis of a concrete building subjected to fire
798 Tall building collapse mechanisms initiated by fire
602 BRE large compartment fire tests – characterising post-flashover fires for model validation
577 Fire Size and Fire Spread in Tunnels with Longitudinal Ventilation Systems.
573 A Case Study on Building Specifications
561 Application of Genetic Algorithms and Thermogravimetry to Determine the Kinetics of Polyurethane Foam in Smoldering Combustion
505 Applications of Computer Modelling to Fire Safety Design
491 Collapse scenarios of WTC 1 & 2 with extension to generic tall buildings
456 Characterisation of Dalmarnock Fire Test 1
449 Caractérisation de la fraction volumique et de la température des suies d'une flamme de diffusion établie en micropesanteur
440 Clyde Tunnel refurbishment: Modelling the performance of the new lining system and drainage channel in the event of a fire
436 Development and validation of a generalised engineering methodology for thermal analysis of structural members in fire
419 Modelling of Structures in Fire: An Example of the Boundary Condition
414 Ignition Performance of New and Used Motor Vehicle Upholstery Fabrics
388 The Application of a Genetic Algorithm to Estimate Material Properties for Fire Modeling from Bench-Scale Fire Test Data
377 The contribution of asphalt road surfaces to fire risk in tunnel fires: Preliminary findings
366 Analysis of thermal fields generated by natural fires on the structural elements of tall buildings
349 Application of a generalised engineering methodology for thermal analysis of structural members in fire
342 Treatment of Design Fire Uncertainty using Quadrature Method of Moments
336 Experimental Observations on the Thermal Degradation of a Porous Bed of Tires
327 In-Depth Temperature Measurements of Timber in Fires
312 Characterisation of the Thermal and Chemical Effects of Energetic Materials not Likely to Detonate
290 Development of an engineering methodology for thermal analysis of protected structural members in fire
288 The Risk Imposed by Fire to Buildings and How to Address It
272 Heat and Mass Transfer in Fires: Scaling Laws and their Application
261 Modeling of One-Dimensional Smoldering of Polyurethane in Microgravity Conditions
260 Modelling the Propagation of Forward and Opposed Smouldering Combustion
256 Smoke buildup and light scattering in a cylindrical cavity above a uniform flow
252 Soot Volume Fraction Measurements in a Three-Dimensional Laminar Diffusion Flame established in Microgravity
248 Sooting Behaviour Dynamics of a Non-Bouyant Laminar Diffusion Flame
245 Computational Model of Forward and Opposed Smoldering Combustion in Microgravity
243 Experiments and Observation of Peat Smouldering Fires
231 Evaluation of a Large Eddy Simulation's Applicability to a Worst Case Fire Scenario
219 Multi-story Fire Analysis for High-Rise Buildings
217 Material Properties that Control Ignition and Spread of a Fire in Micro-Gravity Environments
199 The role of secondary char oxidation in the transition from smoldering to flaming
169 Evaluation of the Extinction Factor in a Laminar Flame Established over a PMMA Plate in Microgravity
166 A novel engineering tool for thermal analysis of structural members in natural fires

Fire Investigation & Fire Dynamics CPD courses in 2009

The BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering offers the following Continuing Professional Development courses for the spring of 2009:

*23rd Fire Science & Fire Investigation, 30 March - 3 April 2009 [Information]. Well-established and popular course, accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers.


* 4th Fire Dynamics & Fire Safety Engineering Design, 6 to 8 April 2009 2009 [Information]. Invited speakers from Arup and BRE.

Launched the Edinburgh Fire Alumni group

Dr Allan Jowsey from Arup Fire London has started a group for Alumni, Students and Staff in Fire Safety Engineering from The University of Edinburgh.

http://groups.google.com/group/edinburghfirealumni

The group stands for:
"people who have studied or worked at the University of Edinburgh's fire
research group. The intention of the group is to create a central area
where members can keep in contact and to allow them to see the latest
developments associated with the present Fire Group"

If interested, please register at the link above, you will only need a
Google Groups account.

Also, we are looking for information regarding alumni of Edinburgh...
please pass the word and ask them to contact us.

Demand for fire protection engineers exceeds the supply

According to a recent 2008 study by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the demand for fire protection engineers is rising and exceeds the supply of qualified personnel. Surveys indicate that this imbalance in demand will continue for at least five more years.

See more at www.emediawire.com

New MSc. in Structural and Fire Safety Engineering

The new taught postgraduate degree MSc in Structural and Fire Safety Engineering aims to equip engineering graduates and working professionals with specialist training in the analysis and design of structures to resist fire. It was introduced in the autumn semester of 2008/09. A summary of the degree can be found here:


http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/taughtdeg/SFSE

Entry requirements and Programme can be found here.

Students are eligible for funding from a variety of external bodies and The University of Edinburgh itself.

Research Positions Available in Fire Engineering

The PhD and Postdoc positions available in the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering are regularly published in this link:

http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/fire/phd-positions.html

Some PhD positions are fully-funded with grants for UK engineers and some are for European Union engineers. These grant pays all university fees plus a tax-free stipend of over £12,000 per year. Information on how to apply for a PhD and requirements can also be found in the link.

General enquiries on research can be sent to

Visits to our web in Jun-Nov 2008

See here the statistics of visits in the period from June to November 2008 to our website.


This plot shows daily loads from Jun to Nov 2008. :


We have an average of ~ 200 per week. Something happened in mid September that produced a sustained increase to ~260 per week since then on. The effect of the recent FireSeat 2008 and the new blog in Nov is obvious and has doubled the normal number of visitors (but now perhaps somehow decaying).


See also here a map of the world with the location of most recent
visitors.

The Inaugural "Philip H Thomas Lecture"

As part of the 2008 FireSeat Symposium on "Fire & Building Safety in the Single European Market" - held on Wednesday 12th November 2008 - the University of Edinburgh established an annual Lecture and Medal in honour of Dr Philip H. Thomas, formerly of the Fire Research Station.

The inaugural 'Philip H Thomas Lecture' was delivered by Prof Geoff Cox, who worked with Philip for many years.

The lecture was recorded and has been uploaded to YouTube in six parts (plus two other sections for the intro and questions at the end):

Introduction by Prof Jose Torero and Prof Dougal Drysdale:


Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:

[Sorry, the example has been removed]

Part 5:


Part 6:


Questions:

For further information please visit www.fireseat.org

Maths & Fire Engineering Workshop

The Workshop Mathematical Problems in Fire Safety Engineering was organized by Heriot-Watt University and University of Edinburgh on Oct 31st, 2008, at the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Edinburgh. Six speakers gave invited talks on the topic and more than 30 people attended (full house). Some of the presentations are available in the workshop page. (NOTE: the venue is the house where James Maxwell was born) . Funding was provided by Bridging the Gaps Programme, Edinburgh Research Partnership.