Compartmentalization in structures, such as land-based
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...
s, traffic
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
s,
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s,
aerospace vehicles, or
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s, is the fundamental basis and aim of
passive fire protection
Passive fire protection (PFP) is components or systems of a building or structure that slows or impedes the spread of the effects of fire or smoke without system activation, and usually without movement. Examples of passive systems include floo ...
.
The idea is to divide a structure into "fire compartments", which may contain single or multiple rooms, for the purpose of limiting the spread of fire, smoke and
flue gases, in order to enable the three goals of
fire protection
Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...
:
*life safety
*property protection
*continuity of operations
The construction of such compartments and all their components is a matter of
systems
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and expresse ...
within systems, which use
bounding to achieve
fire-resistance ratings, all interdependent, forming part of an overall
fire safety plan. All components forming part of such a compartment are subject to stringent bounding in countries, where
product certification
Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests, and meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications ...
is mandatory.
See also
*
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.
Etymology
The word ''bulki'' meant "cargo" in Old Norse. During the 15th ...
External links
Wisegeek.com article on fire compartmentsProvince of Alberta Code Interpretation Concerning Fire Compartments
* ttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3737/is_200105/ai_n8950022/ Article by William E. Koffel entitled ''Fire compartments and building height''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compartmentalization (Fire Protection)
Passive fire protection