A Review of Experimental and Nuclear Studies Performed at CADARACHE on Hydrocarbon Fires

Abstract

The primary thermodynamic consequences of a in a room are evaluated through a zone model. In order to place a qualified numerical tool at the disposal of designers, project managers and safety analysts, an experimental programme started on large hydrocarbon pool fires in the fire laboratories at CADARACHE. Some outstanding results on single taking place in a single room are presented in this paper. Large scaled tests were performed on TBP/dodecane mixture involving up to 1000 l of mixture in a 3600 m3 concrete caisson and smaller ones on heavy oil and plastics. All the fires were controlled by ventilation management. Usually, the stopped around a 15% oxygen gas concentration and the initial transient pressure rise was the most important parameter for the mechanical resistance of the room and its associated venting system. The duration was short and re-ignitions were observed. Concerning the main variables, i.e. : Mean gas temperature, gas pressure, duration, released energy, exhaust flow rate, the calculated values from FLAMME 1 software package were in a good agreement with the experimental results. Associating the combustion code, FLAMME, with an accurate description of the whole venting system by LIQUINET code, provided more fitted calculates results.