Numerical study on fire smoke movement in elevator shafts under piston effect

The movement of elevator cars in a shaft can be simplified as piston motion. To study the piston effect on fire smoke flow, this article simulates some fire scenes under four different elevator cars motion states by Fluent. It analyzes the pressure distribution, the velocity distribution, and the CO2 concentration distribution. Because of the low CO2 content in the air, CO2 is used to track the movement of fire smoke. The effect of the piston motion on the smoke is analyzed. It has the maximum disturbance on the smoke when the two cars move up and down respectively at the same time. In this case, the smoke can get into the elevator shaft more easily. This will help expand the region of hazards and accelerate the spread of fire.