ANR 2024 | Focus on the PAF project to protect buildings against fire

A collaborative research project – Enterprise (PRCE) obtained following the ANR’s 2024 generic call for projects, the aim of the project is to study the protection of buildings against fire by water spraying.

In a context where global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, the scenario is that of an outdoor fire, particularly near natural areas, presenting a high fire risk. Spraying facades and roofs is one way of reducing heat flow and cooling surfaces, thereby preventing them from catching fire.

Coordinated by Gilles Parent – LEMTA’s Fires team, this project brings together the skills of the Environmental Sciences Laboratory (SPE | Université de Corse/CNRS), and the companies Efectis and STME FIRE.

The experimental part of the project involves characterising the sprays and their ability to attenuate thermal radiation and cool surfaces. Tests will be carried out on the Explorii platform of the SPE laboratory in Corsica, as well as on the Efectis test platform in Saint-Yan (71).

At the same time, the project includes a numerical component to :

– improve the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) code, in particular on aspects relating to the evaporation of drops and their interactions with surfaces and,
– simulate experimental tests.

Total budget: €593k, including €261k for LEMTA


PAF, one of the 4 projects awarded funding under the ANR’s 2024 generic call for projects, alongside :

  • ICoPEC for the study of complex inter-particle interactions
  • RAGNAROCH
  • ACACIA-2