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Dr. Dorota Brzezińska
Lodz University of Technology

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Hydrogen
0 Fire
0 Smoke Control
0 Fire Strategy
0 Car Parks

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Fire
Hydrogen
Car Parks
Smoke Control
Fire Strategy

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Short Biography

Dorota Brzezinska teaches about ventilation and fire protection at the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering at Lodz University of Technology since 1999. She has got also lectures of smoke control systems at Technical University of Warsaw, and The Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw. She has been involved in research about smoke control systems since 1998, when she started to work as ventilation systems designer in Q&W Associates, Inc. Poland Sp. z o. o., and later as chief of fire safety products in Ciat Inc. Poland Sp. z o. o. (2000–2002). In 2005 she received her Ph. D. (Thesis Title: “Modeling of smoke movement in buildings”, described smoke movement CFD analysis on the evacuation roads in high buildings and identified maximum fire size for keeping good evacuation conditions on the evacuation roads, under different smoke management systems). She is the author of over 180 technical publications and conference papers and co-author of “Handbook of smoke control in high buildings”, published in 2003. Her research is focused on smoke control and daily ventilation systems in buildings. She has extensive experience in the design of ventilation and smoke control systems in real objects. She was Vice President of Society of Fire Protection Engineering (SFPE) Polish Chapter and is an active member of Polish Society of Fire Engineers and Technicians (SITP), ASHRE, SFPE, IBPSA, Poland.

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Journal article
Published: 04 July 2021 in Energies
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Hydrogen is an explosive gas, which could create extremely hazardous conditions when released into an enclosure. Full-scale experiments of hydrogen release and dispersion in the confined space were conducted. The experiments were performed for hydrogen release outflow of 63 × 10−3 m3/s through a single nozzle and multi-point release way optionally. It was found that the hydrogen dispersion in an enclosure strongly depends on the gas release way. Significantly higher hydrogen stratification is observed in a single nozzle release than in the case of the multi-point release when the gas concentration becomes more uniform in the entire enclosure volume. The experimental results were confirmed on the basis of Froud number analysis. The CFD simulations realized with the FDS code by NIST allowed visualization of the experimental hydrogen dispersion phenomenon and confirmed that the varied distribution of hydrogen did not affect the effectiveness of the accidental mechanical ventilation system applied in the tested room.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Hydrogen Dispersion and Ventilation Effects in Enclosures under Different Release Conditions. Energies 2021, 14, 4029 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Hydrogen Dispersion and Ventilation Effects in Enclosures under Different Release Conditions. Energies. 2021; 14 (13):4029.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska. 2021. "Hydrogen Dispersion and Ventilation Effects in Enclosures under Different Release Conditions." Energies 14, no. 13: 4029.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2021 in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
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The hydrogen dispersion phenomenon in an enclosure depends on the ratio of the gas buoyancy-induced momentum and diffusive motions. Random diffusive motions of individual gas particles become dominative when the release momentum is low, and a uniform hydrogen concentration appears in the enclosure instead of the gas cumulation below the ceiling. The expected hydrogen behavior could be projected by the Froude number, which value ~1 predicts a decline of buoyancy. This paper justifies this hypothesis by demonstrating full-scale experimental results of hydrogen dispersion within a confined space under six different release variations. During the experiments, hydrogen was released into the test room of 60 m3 volume in two methods: through a nozzle and through 21 points evenly distributed on the emission box cover (multi-point release). Each release method was tested with three volume flow rates (3.2 × 10−3 m3/s, 1.6 × 10−3 m3/s, 3.3 × 10−4 m3/s). The tests confirm the decrease of hydrogen buoyancy and its stratification tendencies when the Mach, Reynolds, and Froud number values decrease. Because the hydrogen dispersion phenomenon would impact fire and explosive hazards, the presented experimental results could help fire protection systems be in an enclosure designed, allowing their effectiveness optimization.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Hydrogen dispersion phenomenon in nominally closed spaces. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2021, 46, 28358 -28365.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Hydrogen dispersion phenomenon in nominally closed spaces. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2021; 46 (55):28358-28365.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska. 2021. "Hydrogen dispersion phenomenon in nominally closed spaces." International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 46, no. 55: 28358-28365.

Journal article
Published: 15 April 2021 in Applied Sciences
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The use of fire safety engineering and performance-based techniques continues to grow in prominence as building design becomes more ambitious, increasing complexity. National fire safety enforcement agencies are tasked with evaluating and approving the resulting fire strategies, which have similarly continued to become more advanced and specialist. To assist with the evaluation of fire strategies, this paper introduces a methodology dedicated to sustainable building fire safety level simulations. The methodology derives from ideas originally introduced in British Standard Specification PAS 911 in 2007 and combines a visual representation of fire strategies with a semi-quantitative approach to allow for their evaluation. The concept can be applied to a range of industrial fire safety assessments and can be modified for specific needs relative to different industries.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant. Risk Index Method—A Tool for Building Fire Safety Assessments. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 3566 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska, Paul Bryant. Risk Index Method—A Tool for Building Fire Safety Assessments. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11 (8):3566.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant. 2021. "Risk Index Method—A Tool for Building Fire Safety Assessments." Applied Sciences 11, no. 8: 3566.

Research article
Published: 12 October 2020 in Building Services Engineering Research and Technology
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The task of fire pressure differential systems in a building is to prevent smoke from entering protected spaces such as stairwells and areas that should remain smoke-free in the event of fire. The required overpressure must consider leakage within the protected space. This article presents the results of testing to determine the impact of leakage of the protected space on the conditions for maintaining overpressure. The research was conducted in accordance with draft standard N161-prEN12101-6. The pressure distribution as a function of time was obtained for stairwells with different levels of leakage, using a constant flow aeration fan as well as systems with a variable airflow. Practical application: Designers of differential pressure smoke control systems are required to calculate aeration fan airflow volume. The leakage level of protected spaces should be taken into consideration given that European Standard EN12101-6 suggests that gap areas should be minimal. Consequently, modern building design and construction requires estimation of the leakage area in such protected spaces. The objective is to improve safety of buildings and reduce the system reaction time during a fire.

ACS Style

Marcin Fryda; Dorota Brzezińska; Marek Dziubiński. High rise buildings stairwells pressure differential systems tests and improvement solutions. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 2020, 42, 112 -124.

AMA Style

Marcin Fryda, Dorota Brzezińska, Marek Dziubiński. High rise buildings stairwells pressure differential systems tests and improvement solutions. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology. 2020; 42 (1):112-124.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marcin Fryda; Dorota Brzezińska; Marek Dziubiński. 2020. "High rise buildings stairwells pressure differential systems tests and improvement solutions." Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 42, no. 1: 112-124.

Research article
Published: 04 September 2020 in Fire and Materials
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Passenger vehicle fires present a significant fire hazard in enclosed car parks. Accordingly, this hazard is often used as a design fire scenario for the application of fire protection systems. Specific fire protection standards, like NFPA 88A:2019 and NFPA 502:2020 in the United States (US) or BS 7346‐7:2013, NBN 21‐208‐2:2014, VDI 6019‐1:2006, NEN 6098:2010 and ITB 493:2015 in Europe, provide varying requirements for car park fire protection. Car parks fire strategies, especially when smoke control systems are used, often make use of performance‐based methods, in which fire growth (ie, heat release rate [HRR]) plays a fundamental role. The chosen HRR can influence the specification of car park construction and on smoke control system calculations. This article presents a review of 44 full‐scale car fire tests together with Polish and British passenger car fire statistics from the last 8 years. Based on the collected data and the averaged tests, HRR values provided in this article could assist local authorities and stakeholders determine optimal fire safety design criteria for car parks.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Renata Ollesz; Paul Bryant. Design car fire size based on fire statistics and experimental data. Fire and Materials 2020, 44, 1099 -1107.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezinska, Renata Ollesz, Paul Bryant. Design car fire size based on fire statistics and experimental data. Fire and Materials. 2020; 44 (8):1099-1107.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Renata Ollesz; Paul Bryant. 2020. "Design car fire size based on fire statistics and experimental data." Fire and Materials 44, no. 8: 1099-1107.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2020 in Sustainability
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Modern fire safety engineering seeks to ensure buildings are safe from fire by applying optimum levels of fire safety and protection resources without the need to overprotect. Similarly, the principles of sustainability aim to ensure resources are suitably applied to meet social, economic, and environmental objectives. However, there is a mismatch between the actual application of fire safety and the sustainability objectives for buildings, typically caused by the highly prescriptive historical approaches still largely adopted and legislated for in many countries. One solution that is increasingly adopted is the more flexible, “performance-based” fire engineering approach that bases fire safety and protection provisions on the development of key performance objectives, some of which could be influenced by sustainability engineering propositions for buildings, but very often this does not appear to be enough. The proposed new concept prompts separate assessment and scoring of the eight most important fire safety factors, allowing for calculation of the fire strategy risk index (FSRI). By comparing the FSRI of the actual submitted strategy against the baseline strategy, enforcement agencies or other interested stakeholders will have a methodology to determine optimal fire safety solutions for buildings.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant. Risk Index Method–A Tool for Sustainable, Holistic Building Fire Strategies. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4469 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska, Paul Bryant. Risk Index Method–A Tool for Sustainable, Holistic Building Fire Strategies. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (11):4469.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant. 2020. "Risk Index Method–A Tool for Sustainable, Holistic Building Fire Strategies." Sustainability 12, no. 11: 4469.

Journal article
Published: 28 August 2019 in Sustainability
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There is a mismatch between the desire to introduce greater levels of sustainability in engineering design and in the need to provide effective engineering solutions, particularly where issues of human safety and asset protection are involved. Sustainability engineering typically incorporates economic, environmental, and social factors, all of which are highly relevant and applicable to fire safety and the design of fire protection systems. The term fire strategy denotes a documented methodology to encapsulate a full range of such systems, within a single framework, for more complex risks such as those found in the process industry. The subject of fire safety is emotive and its application within building design may not change unless we refocus on a holistic and strategic approach, especially for complex building profiles. Fire is a recognized critical safety issue for most types of industrial plants. Due to the complexity of the processes, even a relatively small fire accident can lead to a chain of events that could be devastating, resulting in huge asset and continuity losses, damage to the local environment, and of course, the threat to life. More complex processes require a more flexible and relevant approach. The use of fire safety engineering and performance-based evaluation techniques, instead of prescriptive rules, continues to grow in prominence because of this. This is the case when specifying fire protection and safety for modern power generating plants. However, when it comes to critical infrastructure, such as is the case with power plants, it is sometimes not clear whether optimum fire safety engineering solutions have been applied. One of the ideas specifically developed for evaluating the most appropriate fire safety strategies and systems, especially for such infrastructure examples, is a method based upon the British Standard Specification PAS 911. This method is captured in a diagram and identifies eight main elements for fire safety and protection. The idea presented in this article is to allow assessment of a submitted actual fire strategy for a building or other form of infrastructure, against what has been predetermined as a standard baseline fire strategy for, in this case, a power plant building. The assessment makes use of a multi-level questionnaire, in this case specifically formulated for power plant fire safety needs. By comparing the actual fire strategy diagram against a baseline fire strategy, enforcement agencies, or other interested stakeholders, can recognize which fire safety factors play the most important part in the fire strategy, and determine whether proper levels of fire safety and protection have been applied. The fire strategy evaluation is realized by a team of engineers, which consists of independent fire strategist from a consultant office, internal fire and technical experts from the industrial plant, such as the person responsible for fire safety, person responsible for explosion safety, person responsible for housekeeping, and building manager. Additionally, there should be representatives of insurance companies and independent fire experts. Typically, the group consists of 7 to 12 people.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant; Adam S. Markowski. An Alternative Evaluation and Indicating Methodology for Sustainable Fire Safety in the Process Industry. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4693 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska, Paul Bryant, Adam S. Markowski. An Alternative Evaluation and Indicating Methodology for Sustainable Fire Safety in the Process Industry. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (17):4693.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Paul Bryant; Adam S. Markowski. 2019. "An Alternative Evaluation and Indicating Methodology for Sustainable Fire Safety in the Process Industry." Sustainability 11, no. 17: 4693.

Journal article
Published: 24 March 2019 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Alternative and innovative fuel types are being introduced to power cars. These include liquified petroleum gas (LPG) gas and hydrogen energy sources. However, they also introduce new hazards, requiring revised thinking with respect to safety within car parking environments. One of the most significant dangers is accidental gas release from a car's system, especially in underground car parks. Jet fan systems are widely used for ventilation of such enclosures, but currently their design is most often based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) according to computer simulations that may not be relevant for such new fuels. This paper presents the results of full-scale tests which demonstrate the operational factors of jet fan ventilation systems, and assesses the conditions which can occur in a car park when a small volume of LPG is released. On the basis of measurements undertaken, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software was validated against the air velocity flows and LPG gas dispersion patterns. Finally, the simulations were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of systems in an actual car park, in the case of an accidental LPG car tank release.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska. LPG Cars in a Car Park Environment-How to Make It Safe. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 1062 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska. LPG Cars in a Car Park Environment-How to Make It Safe. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (6):1062.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska. 2019. "LPG Cars in a Car Park Environment-How to Make It Safe." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 6: 1062.

Journal article
Published: 10 August 2018 in Energies
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When charging most types of industrial lead-acid batteries, hydrogen gas is emitted. A large number of batteries, especially in relatively small areas/enclosures, and in the absence of an adequate ventilation system, may create an explosion hazard. This paper describes full scale tests, which demonstrate conditions that can occur in a battery room in the event of a ventilation system breakdown. Over the course of the tests, full scale hydrogen emission experiments were performed to study emission time and flammable cloud formation according to the assumed emission velocity. On this basis, the characteristics of dispersion of hydrogen in the battery room were obtained. The CFD model Fire Dynamic Simulator created by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was used for confirmation that the lack of ventilation in a battery room can be the cause of an explosive atmosphere developing, and leading to, a potential huge explosive hazard. It was demonstrated that different ventilation systems provide battery rooms with varying efficiencies of hydrogen removal. The most effective type appeared to be natural ventilation, which proved more effective than mechanical means.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Ventilation System Influence on Hydrogen Explosion Hazards in Industrial Lead-Acid Battery Rooms. Energies 2018, 11, 2086 .

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Ventilation System Influence on Hydrogen Explosion Hazards in Industrial Lead-Acid Battery Rooms. Energies. 2018; 11 (8):2086.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska. 2018. "Ventilation System Influence on Hydrogen Explosion Hazards in Industrial Lead-Acid Battery Rooms." Energies 11, no. 8: 2086.

Original articles
Published: 15 November 2017 in International Journal of Ventilation
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Good air quality is one of the main requirements of human health. Jet fan ventilators are often applied for pollutant removal in large enclosures, where lack of fresh air is significant. During the design phase, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) techniques are most often used to verify the effectiveness of ventilation. However, reliable designs based on CFD, require accurate jet fan airstream modelling. The paper intends to present the best turbulence model (as available in FDS) for modelling of a jet fan in FDS. For that measurements of longitudinal velocity distribution of air supplied from the jet fan are performed and presented. Results from CFD simulations for the same geometry in which measurements are performed are compared with that. The outcome proposes use of specific turbulence models as available in FDS for this configuration. It is proven that the default Deardorff model for the FDS 6 is not the most accurate for jet fan stream simulations. Moreover, the results show that sloped jet fan airstreams are modelled correctly only with fine meshes, and this can have a significant impact on increasing computational costs.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Practical aspects of jet fan ventilation systems modelling in fire dynamics simulator code. International Journal of Ventilation 2017, 17, 225 -239.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska. Practical aspects of jet fan ventilation systems modelling in fire dynamics simulator code. International Journal of Ventilation. 2017; 17 (4):225-239.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska. 2017. "Practical aspects of jet fan ventilation systems modelling in fire dynamics simulator code." International Journal of Ventilation 17, no. 4: 225-239.

Journal article
Published: 01 August 2017 in Process Safety and Environmental Protection
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ACS Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Adam S. Markowski. Experimental investigation and CFD modelling of the internal car park environment in case of accidental LPG release. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 2017, 110, 5 -14.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezinska, Adam S. Markowski. Experimental investigation and CFD modelling of the internal car park environment in case of accidental LPG release. Process Safety and Environmental Protection. 2017; 110 ():5-14.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Adam S. Markowski. 2017. "Experimental investigation and CFD modelling of the internal car park environment in case of accidental LPG release." Process Safety and Environmental Protection 110, no. : 5-14.

Journal article
Published: 27 June 2017 in Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S
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Despite the fact that LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) is used in a large number of cars, tests have not yet been carried out to ascertain how hazardous can be the release of LPG from the car when parked in enclosed garages. The problem applies to both public and industrial parking areas, especially in Poland, where more than 10% cars are fueled by LPG. The paper describes full scale experiments, which demonstrate conditions that may occur in a garage in the event of accidental LPG release from the car installation. Over the course of the tests, a series of six LPG spillage tests were performed to study emission time and flammable cloud formation depending on the accidental gap diameter. Additionally, to enable the visual observation of the gas dispersion and influence of the ventilation system the experiment was conducted using well visible CO2 gas cloud, produced from dry ice. The experiments have shown that without ventilation LPG can accumulate on the floor of the enclosed garage for a long time, which generates a high explosive hazard. However, good ventilation (especially jet fan systems) can quickly remove hazardous flammable LPG clouds. Moreover, very important for effective LPG detection is the location of detectors closer to the floor than is currently recommended - at a height of 30 cm.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Marek Dziubiński; Adam S. Markowski. Analyses of LPG Dispersion During Its Accidental Release in Enclosed Car Parks. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 2017, 24, 249 -261.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezińska, Marek Dziubiński, Adam S. Markowski. Analyses of LPG Dispersion During Its Accidental Release in Enclosed Car Parks. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S. 2017; 24 (2):249-261.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezińska; Marek Dziubiński; Adam S. Markowski. 2017. "Analyses of LPG Dispersion During Its Accidental Release in Enclosed Car Parks." Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S 24, no. 2: 249-261.

Original articles
Published: 14 November 2016 in Science and Technology for the Built Environment
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Jet fan ventilators are often applied for smoke control and support for pollutant dispersal in large enclosures, especially in tunnels and car parks. In the design phase, computational fluid dynamics techniques are most often used to verify the fire safety level afforded by the application of jet fans. However, reliable design based on computational fluid dynamics requires a validation of jet fan airstream modeling. To predict these flows, this investigation evaluated the performance of four turbulence models using large-eddy simulations by comparing the simulation results with the experimental data of both horizontal and sloped jet fan guide vanes. The axial velocity was examined and simulations were prepared with fire dynamics simulator software, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is the most popular program for fire simulations, although it is often criticized for inaccurate mapping of ventilation jet fan airstreams. In addition, this investigation analyzed the computing costs of the simulations, according to the fire dynamics simulator version and grid size, showing that the old version of software (fire dynamics simulator 4) was much faster than new one (fire dynamics simulator 6), and that changing grid size from 30 to 15 cm does not significantly change results.

ACS Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Marcin Sompolinski. The accuracy of mapping the airstream of jet fan ventilators by fire dynamics simulator. Science and Technology for the Built Environment 2016, 23, 736 -747.

AMA Style

Dorota Brzezinska, Marcin Sompolinski. The accuracy of mapping the airstream of jet fan ventilators by fire dynamics simulator. Science and Technology for the Built Environment. 2016; 23 (5):736-747.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dorota Brzezinska; Marcin Sompolinski. 2016. "The accuracy of mapping the airstream of jet fan ventilators by fire dynamics simulator." Science and Technology for the Built Environment 23, no. 5: 736-747.