The Impact of Postures and Moving Directions in Fire Evacuation in a Low-Visibility Environment.

Walking speed is a significant aspect of evacuation efficiency, and this speed varies during fire emergencies due to individual physical abilities. However, in evacuations, it is not always possible to keep an upright posture, hence atypical postures, such as stoop walking or crawling, may be required for survival. In this study, a novel 3D passive vision-aided inertial system (3D PVINS) for indoor positioning was used to track the movement of 20 volunteers during an evacuation in a low visibility environment. Participants' walking speeds using trunk flexion, trunk-knee flexion, and upright postures were measured. The investigations were carried out under emergency and non-emergency scenarios in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. Results show that different moving directions led to a roughly 43.90% speed reduction, while posture accounted for over 17%. Gender, one of the key categories in evacuation models, accounted for less than 10% of the differences in speed. The speeds of participants under emergency scenarios when compared to non-emergency scenarios was also found to increase by 53.92-60% when moving in the horizontal direction, and by about 48.28-50% when moving in the vertical direction and descending downstairs. Our results also support the social force theory of the warming-up period, as well as the effect of panic on the facilitating occupants' moving speed.

Experimental data on water vapour adsorption on silica gel in fully packed and Z-annulus packed beds.

Experimental data on water vapour adsorption on silica gel in four packed bed configurations namely fully packed bed (FPB), large annulus packed bed (LAPB), medium annulus packed bed (MAPB) and small annulus packed bed (SAPB) are presented. Raw temperature data from designated mass transfer zones (MTZ) in the packed beds and on their corresponding walls are presented along with data of the inlet and outlet moist air conditions. Pressure transducers installed at the inlet and outlet provided pressure data. The presented data also covers the material properties of the silica gel for adsorption obtained through material testing and analysis in the laboratory. With detailed experimental methodology and comprehensive material and water vapour adsorption data, this article can help other researchers to validate and verify the performance of their adsorption systems. The material property data presented can also help investigators to use appropriate experimentally determined property values of silica gel in their theoretical studies. Furthermore, this data can serve as a basis of comparison for heat and mass transfer in other experimental adsorption systems.

Experimental data on Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipe (HCOHP) design and thermal performance.

Experimental and derived data from three Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipes (HCOHPs) charged with ethanol, methanol and deionized water working fluids respectively are presented. The data was obtained from prototypes of the HCOHPs fabricated out of copper and tested under laboratory conditions. The primary data presented covers the HCOHP aspects, charging of the working fluid and temperature measurements from Omega K-type Thermocouples installed on the evaporators, condensers, adiabatic sections, and on the cylindrical copper vessel integrated with it. The derived data covers the HCOHPs performances and thermal contact resistance experienced during laboratory testing. The data on the aspects and charging of the working fluid provides useful information for the validation of design parameters of other heat pipes. The measured temperature data and the derived performance data can used to validate the performance of heat pipes in other studies and to depict performance profiles in standard text and reference books. The nature of the data presented as a whole would be useful for comparative analysis involving heat pipes and other passive heat transfer devices.