Effect of ventilation on carbon monoxide and soot particles emissions in a confined and mechanically-ventilated fire

Abstract

Fire behavior in a 1 m3 confined and mechanically ventilated compartment is investigated experimentally. The main objective is to study carbon monoxide and soot particle emissions by four different fuels: pure n-heptane, technical-grade dodecane, kerosene Jet A-1, and Mobil DTE oil heavy medium. Air Renewal rates are set at 4.83 ACH, 9.67 ACH, and 17.8 ACH, while the fuel pan diameters are 0.115 m, 0.14 m, and 0.19 m. The results show that decreasing the renewal rate or increasing the pan size decreases the mass loss rate and soot emissions. However, CO emissions increase. Lighter fuels exhibit higher mass loss rates and CO emissions than heavier fuels. The highest smoke temperatures are produced at high renewal rates and large pan diameters. Meanwhile, soot emission levels decrease in the order of kerosene > dodecane > Mobil oil > heptane. High levels of soot but low CO emissions are present in well-ventilated fires. However, high CO but low soot emissions appear in under-ventilated fires. The soot particles collected in the smoke layer show unimodal distribution. The modal diameter of the particles ranges from 220 nm to 300 nm.