Numerical simulation of fire in a multistoried ready-made garments factory using PyroSim

Fire in a seven-storied ready-made garments (RMG) factory building, based on the actual drawing of an existing RMG building, is simulated and the tenability of the occupants isanalyzed. The modeling is conducted by using PyroSim,a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool with the capability of simulating fire and optimized for low-speed, thermally-driven flow. A number of factors including temperature, visibility, and CO concentration are analyzed to examine their effects on the tenability of different zones and floors. The source of the fire is considered to be the fabric storage of the ground floor andnylon, a commonly used fiber in the RMG industries with a high heat release rate, is selected as the fuel. It is found that within 3 min of the initiation of the fire, fire-smoke spreads very rapidly through the hallways and stairways and completely blocks the escape routes of the building. From the point of view of an efficient evacuation process, the conditions in the 1^st floor are found to be the most critical as fire and dense smoke surround the escape routes with a high degree of visibility reduction within 2 min. The available safety egress time is found to be small unless the smoke migration ismitigated by the use of fire doors and other smoke management techniques. Findings of this study will be helpful in the assessment of fire risk in the RMG buildings in Bangladesh and would enable to suggest design measures to control the propagation of fire and smoke and improve tenability, thus minimizing the life and property damages.