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For full details and to register to join, please visit the event website.
Please briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience with regards to fire modelling
Oliver Heynes OH: I am the lead developer of a commercial CFD software package that includes fire modelling. I therefore have an in-depth knowledge about the various methods and modelling techniques, down to the nuts-and-bolts implementation in a commercial setting.
What is the top challenge facing your industry at present?
OH: Fire modelling is very application-specific – what works in one industry will not work in another. This makes it very difficult for engineers, even those with advanced knowledge of CFD and fire modelling, to set up fire simulations appropriately. It is also very difficult for them to judge the validity of their results, or to diagnose problems with their simulations, because there are many modelling choices which all affect each other.
How would you say your industry has evolved over the past two years?
OH: Engineers are thinking about CFD projects differently. We are moving from projects with a handful of simulations to project with several thousand simulations. The idea of convergence and discretization have traditionally been applied to single CFD simulations, but we are now applying those same concepts to projects – “project convergence”. When faced with projects involving an almost infinite number of potential simulations (such as analysing accidental leaks and fires from process equipment) there is a balance between the accuracy of a single simulation versus the accuracy of the project as a whole. For example, if you perfectly model a single scenario but it takes a week to get the results, that is much less accurate from a project point of view than analysing a thousand scenarios less accurately. Now we have tools that can handle the data and processing of thousands of simulations, we can start to adjust and quantify the right balance between the quality of a single simulation and the quality of the project as a whole.
What developments are going on in your industry that may have an impact on the development of future modelling methods?
OH: Automation is key. As we are moving to more intelligent solutions that can start to answer more challenging questions, we need to move away from requiring engineers to set up every detail of each simulation and be able to take a step back and view the project as a whole.
What will you be presenting at the IMechE: Fire Modelling seminar and how will this benefit participants?
OH: I will be presenting on fire modelling in the oil and gas industry in general but with a particular focus on radiation modelling as an example of how processes can be streamlined and improved. I hope that participants will be prompted to think broadly about their projects and whether spending time on automating processes can improve quality and benefit projects.
Which other speakers and presentations are you looking forward to hearing at the forthcoming seminar?
OH: All the speakers are leaders in this area and I am looking forward to hearing them all.
Why is it important for engineers and industry to come together at this event and share best practice?
OH: It’s valuable to discuss ideas face to face, and to be able to ask experts in their fields. There are many developments in our field and being exposed to these ideas will benefit your own project work.
The Improving Fire Safety Through Simulation and Modelling 2024 will take place on 11 June 2024 a the ICC Birmingham.
Building on 2022's popular event, this seminar will cover the work of mechanical engineers to model fire across a range of disciplines and application areas. Whether modelling smoke, evacuation routes or material choices, understanding the computational methods of modelling is essential.
Featuring input from modelling practitioners, academic researchers and experts, attendees will gain a clear understanding of which tools, software and development platforms are the most effective in individual, real world scenarios.
For full details and to register to join, please visit the event website.