Categories
FDS tools

Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTs)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed quantitative methods, known as Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTs), for analyzing the impact of fire and fire protection systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs).

These methods have been implemented in Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets, which are publicly available at the official U.S. NRC website.

You can download the spreadsheet you need from the list below by clicking on the “English Units” version or the “S.I. Units” version (International System of Units).

01. FDTs spreadsheets list (download)

  • Chapter 2.1 – Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature and Smoke Layer Height in a Room Fire with Natural Ventilation (English Units) (S.I. Units)
  • Chapter 2.2 – Predicting Hot Gas Layer Temperature in a Room Fire with Forced Ventilation (English Units) (S.I. Units)
  • Chapter 3. – Estimating Burning Characteristics of Liquid Pool Fire, Heat Release Rate, Burning Duration, and Flame Height (English Units) (S.I. Units)
  • Chapter 5.1 – Estimating Radiant Heat Flux from Fire to a Target Fuel at Ground Level under Wind-Free Condition Point Source Radiation Model (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 5.2 – Estimating Radiant Heat Flux from Fire to a Target Fuel at Ground Level in Presence of Wind (Tilted Flame) Solid Flame Radiation Model (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 6. – Estimating the Ignition Time of a Target Fuel Exposed to a Constant Radiative Heat Flux (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 15. – Estimating Pressure Increase and Explosive Energy Release Associated with Explosions (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 17.1 – Estimating Thickness of Fire Protection Spray-Applied Coating for Structural Steel Beams (Substitution Correlation) (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 17.2 – Estimating Fire Resistance Time of Steel Beams Protected by Fire Protection Insulation (Quasi-Steady-State Approach) (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 17.3 – Estimating Fire Resistance Time of Steel Beams Protected by Fire Protection Insulation (Quasi-Steady-State Approach) (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 17.4 – Estimating Fire Resistance Time of Unprotected Steel Beams (Quasi-steady-state Approach) (English Units ) (S.I. Units )
  • Chapter 19 – Estimating the Thermally-Induced Electrical Failure (THIEF) of Cables (English Units ) (S.I. Units)

02. Additional info

The FDTs were developed using state-of-the-art fire dynamics equations and correlations that were preprogrammed and locked into Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets. These FDTs enable inspectors to perform quick, easy, firstorder calculations for potential fire scenarios using today’s state-of-the-art principles of fire dynamics. Each FDTs spreadsheet also contains a list of the physical and thermal properties of the materials commonly encountered in NPPs.

The majority of the original FDTs were developed using principles and information from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Protection Handbook, and other fire science literature.

You can access the official U.S.NRC for Fire Dynamics Tools at this link.