Facilities
Fire Technology Services
Various divisions of research are housed on the more than 1,200 acres of land in San Antonio, Texas, where the headquarters of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is located. The Fire Technology Department facilities include ten buildings totaling approximately 40,000 square feet of laboratory and office space.
The Large-Scale Fire Engineering and Research building
Large-Scale Fire Engineering & Research Building
The Large-Scale Fire Engineering and Research Building is the newest addition to our facilities. The building has a 65 x 65-ft footprint and is 65 feet tall with an adjustable-height false ceiling assembly to simulate different-sized structures. The facility is large enough to contain and characterize a 25-MW continuous fire while exhausting the effluents at 120,000 scfm through the department’s first pollution abatement system. The building is equipped with a 1,500-gallon-per-minute fire pump, supplied by a 30,000-gallon water storage tank for warehouse sprinkler system evaluations.
Calorimetry Buildings
Additional calorimetry buildings include various levels of measurement, including nominal 1-MW and 8-MW collection hoods. The Department has a 12 x 13 x 12-ft tall explosion-containment facility on its main campus for medium-scale explosion analysis. Large-scale explosion analysis tests are performed at a remote facility located approximately 1-hr from our main campus.
Steiner Tunnel & Cone Calorimeter
Material flammability test facilities include a multitude of test apparati for the characterization of ignition resistance, flame speed, heat release rates, and smoke and toxic gas generation. Examples of standard test apparati include the Steiner Tunnel and Cone Calorimeter.
Large-Scale Furnaces
Fire resistance test facilities include three large-scale furnaces designed to expose medium to large-scale structures and construction assemblies to various simulated fire scenarios in vertical and horizontal orientations.
Related Terminology
code compliance • code change • code consulting • fire resistance • fire modeling • independent third party assessment • world wide inspectors • third party certification
