A numerical study of buoyancy-driven flows of mass and energy in a stairwell.

This paper describes a two-dimensional numerical study, by finite-volume method of buoyancy-driven flow in a half-scale model of a stairwell. The stairwell forms a closed system within which the circulation of air is maintained by the supply of heat in the lower floor. The heat loss takes place from the stairwell walls. The mathematical model consists of the governing equations of mass, energy, momentum and those of the k - E model of turbulence. The predicted flow pattern and the velocity in the stairway are presented and compared with the authors' experimental data.