opening.

Equation 9 can now be considered to be superseded by new guidance [21] on

the influence of balcony/downstand combinations on smoke flows from compartments.

4.2.1 The importance of the spill plume

Milke [22] carried out a comparison between the smoke production rate of an
axisymmetric plume with that of a balcony spill plume. The smoke production rate for
the spill plume was determined using the formula developed by Law [20]. Comparison
between each type of plume was made for a fire with a convective flow in the plume of
5000 kW. The smoke production rate for the spill plume was determined for a variety of
balcony heights and spill edge lengths.

Figure 5: Comparison of smoke production between an axisymmetric and a balcony spill plume [22]

Milke [22] demonstrated that for the conditions studied, the spill plume entrains a greater
amount of air than an axisymmetric plume for a height of rise up to 40 m (see Figure 5).
This height of rise will cater for the majority of design layer heights in buildings with
large enclosed spaces and confirms that the spill plume generally provides the worst case
condition for smoke production rate. Beyond a height of 40 m, the spill and axisymmetric
plumes are likely to behave similarly in terms of smoke production rate. This is likely to
be due to entrainment into the ends of the spill plume as it rises, causing it to become
three dimensional in nature, and similar to an axisymmetric plume.

10