*Article* **Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of the Smoke Layer Height in the Engine Room under the Forced Air Condition**

**Xiaowei Wu 1,2, Yi Zhang <sup>1</sup> , Jia Jia <sup>2</sup> , Xiao Chen 1,\*, Wenbing Yao <sup>1</sup> and Shouxiang Lu 1,\***


**Abstract:** The smoke layer height in the ship engine room under forced ventilation has been experimental and theoretical investigated in this work. A series of test were carried out in a scaled engine cabin experimental platform to obtain the influence of air supply volume and air inlet height on the burning parameters, including the mass loss rate, smoke temperature, etc. The research results show that under the experimental conditions, the fire source mass loss rate increases exponentially, and smoke layer height also increases gradually with the increase in the air supply volume. The empirical formula of smoke layer height under different air supply conditions was given. Then, a prediction model of smoke layer height under different forced ventilation conditions was constructed through theoretical analysis based on conservation equations. Within the range of experimental air volume and air inlet height, the relative error between theoretical prediction results and experimental results was less than 11%, which could effectively predict the smoke layer height in the ship cabin fire.

**Keywords:** engine room; fire; forced air supply; smoke layer height
