Scale effect of mass loss rates for pool fires in an open environment and in tunnels with wind
2019 (English)In: Fire safety journal, ISSN 0379-7112, E-ISSN 1873-7226, Vol. 105, p. 41-50Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This paper investigates the influence of wind on mass loss rate per unit area (MLRPUA) of fuel-controlled pool fires both in an open environment and inside tunnels and the scale effect of pool fires is also investigated. Large pool fires with a diameter D greater than 1 m (D > 1 m) are of key concern but small pool fires (D < 1 m) are also considered for comparison. This is done by analyzing large amounts of experimental data from the literature. Results show that for small pool fires (D < 1 m) in an open environment, increasing wind speed tends to increase the MLRPUA, especially for pools with D < 0.2 m, where the MLRPUA could increase significantly with the increase of wind speed. But when small pool fires occur in tunnels, the results are more complex. When the ratio of effective tunnel height to pool diameter is less than 3, increasing wind speed tends to decrease the MLRPUA. When this ratio is greater than 3, the influence of wind on MLRPUA of pool fires in tunnels is similar to that in an open environment. The influence of wind on the MLRPUA decreases for larger pool diameters, no matter whether the pool fire occurs in an open environment or in a tunnel. For large pools with D > 1 m, the MLRPUA is not affected significantly by increasing wind speed and most likely varies within 30% for a wide range of wind speeds based on the test data collected. This influence is far less than the values concluded by previous studies based on small pool fire experiments. The outcome of this study contributes to improving the understanding of burning characteristics of pool fires under windy conditions, especially large pool fires, which are much more meaningful than small pool fires from the perspectives of fire protection engineering and fire hazard assessment.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. Vol. 105, p. 41-50
Keywords [en]
Heat feedback mechanism, Mass loss rate, Pool fire, Scale effect, Tunnel fire, Wind, Fire resistance, Fires, Lakes, Speed, Heat feedback, Pool fires, Scale effects, Tunnel fires, Fire protection
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-38216DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2019.02.004Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85062285313OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-38216DiVA, id: diva2:1301509
Note
Funding details: China Scholarship Council; Funding text 1: This project was financially supported by the Tunnel and Underground Safety Center (TUSC) . The authors would also like to acknowledge the China Scholarship Council for providing Yongzheng Yao with the opportunity to study at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Thanks also to our colleague Dr Francine Amon at RISE for her valuable comments.
2019-04-022019-04-022023-06-08Bibliographically approved