J. J. Yao, J. H. Liu, X. Chen, H. H. Li, Y. Niu, Z. H. Zhou and J. Wang (2015) Experimental study of small scale n-heptane pool fire with water bath in an altitude chamber. Journal/International Journal Of Heat And Mass Transfer 90 1153-1159. [In English]
Web link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.07.058
Keywords: Heat transfer; Small scale; Conduction; Mass burning rate; LOW AIR-PRESSURE; DIFFUSION FLAMES; HEAT FEEDBACK; BURNING RATE
Abstract: A series of experiments on n-heptane pool fires with water bath was conducted in an altitude chamber capable of reaching 26.4 kPa to investigate the performance of small scale pool fires under hypobaric conditions. The fuel pools chosen ranged from 3 cm to 8 cm in diameter which are in the conduction dominated range. The mass loss and flame envelopes were recorded during the experiments. Specific heat transfer mechanisms are discussed in this paper. Fuels in pool fires boil eventually due to the heat transferred back from the pool to the fuel. Water bath equipment used in this paper was applied to prevent the boiling stage. Experimental findings reveal that the length of the quasi-steady stage varied inversely to the pressure and the pool diameter. Meanwhile, the averaged mass loss rate in the steady burning stage increased with the increasing pressures and pool sizes. The flame with water bath turned to be stable at lower pressure and the flame height also decreased as the pressure decreased. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.