Experimental study on the effect of pool fire area and violent fuel boiling on fuel burning state evolution in compartment fire

Author: Wang, D., Zhou, X. D., Gui, J., Ju, X. Y., Ye, K., Zhou, Z. Z., Cao, J. D., Zheng, Y., Cao, B., Yang, L. Z., Peng, F.

Journal: Fuel

DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118933

Keywords: Ventilation-controlled compartment fire, Opening factor, Burning rate, Indoor temperature, Facade flame, Violent boiling, thin-layer, boilover, behavior, heights

Abstract: 

Experiments were conducted to elucidate the impact of pool area and violent liquid fuel boiling on a compartment fire evolution and facade flame. The experiments were performed in a 1/2 reduced-scale compartment, with several different-sized openings and pools. The temperatures at the inner and outer corners of the compartment, the fuel mass loss rate and the height of the facade flame ejected from the opening were analyzed. As the ratio of pool area to opening factor gradually increased, both the temperature variations at the inner and outer corners underwent three stages after the fuel boiled violently. The slope of the mass flow rate of air inflow with the burning rate gradually decreased to 8.43 as the fuel area increased. It was found that fuel pyrolysis rate was determined by opening factor and fuel area in a ventilation-controlled fire. Data from other researcher was used to verify that this inference was also applicable to different fuels. A new characteristic length was proposed to explain the evolution of facade flame height when there was a temperature difference in the enclosure.