Mechanically ventilated compartments, combined with a high degree of air-tightness, occur in modern buildings (near-zero energy building) as well as in industry (e.g., well-sealed compartments). In case of a fire, this can lead to strong pressure build-up, something that has not received much attention yet.
This presentation will shed light on how high these pressure peaks can be, for a range of conditions. The link with the fire heat release rate, ventilation and heat losses will be made. It will be made clear what is important to reproduce these pressure peaks in numerical simulations (mainly CFD simulations). It will be illustrated how smoke can spread in multi-compartment configurations.