SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Site Map

Various divisions of research are housed on the 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 and 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 and 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.

For more information about fire technology services, facilities, and capabilities at SwRI or how you can contract with SwRI, please call (210) 522-2311 or e-mail fire-info@swri.org.

| Fire Technology Department | Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Division | SwRI Home |

Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 12 technical divisions.

September 17, 2009