Effects of Ambient Pressure on Burning Characteristics of Gasoline: A Pilot Study

Pengcheng Qin,Tao Yan,Zhanwen Chen,Guanfeng Yan,Mingnian Wang,Anmin Wang,Changling Han

doi:10.3390/en14154627

Abstract

A fire can pose a significant threat to a building’s occupants and leads to property damage. The burning characteristics usually determine the severity of the accident. Environments in high-altitude areas feature low oxygen content and ambient pressure, which can influence the burning characteristics of combustibles. In this paper, a series of field experiments were conducted to investigate the burning characteristics of gasoline at different altitudes considering heat release rate (HRR), flame height, and smoke release rate. Results show that the combustion process can be divided into three stages: initial stage, stable stage, and attenuation stage. Lower oxygen content and ambient pressure reduce the HRR; for example, the HRR at an altitude of 4150 m is nearly half at an altitude of 500 m, contributing to a lower smoke release rate. The HRR is proportional to 1.3 power of atmospheric pressure, and a fitting equation was brought out in this paper. Flame height increases with the increase in altitude due to the demand for more oxygen during the combustion process since the oxygen content is low in high-altitude areas.

Highlights

With the development of urbanization and the economy in China, increasingly more industrial and civil architecture and traffic facilities have been constructed to satisfy all kinds of resident demands [1,2]
Flame height is an important sign in the initial stage of detecting and confirming the existence of a fire, which can be affected by fire source dimensions and ventilation conditions
A series of field experiments in plain and high-altitude areas were conducted to explore the effects of ambient pressure on burning characteristics of fuel, including heat release rate (HRR), flame height, and smoke release rate

Summary

Introduction

With the development of urbanization and the economy in China, increasingly more industrial and civil architecture and traffic facilities have been constructed to satisfy all kinds of resident demands [1,2]. A fire is a process that involves the ignition and combustion of materials, which generates heat and smoke, endangering peoples’ lives and the safety of the structures [6,7]. Burning characteristics such as heat release rate (HRR)—the most important factor in a fire—fire growth speed, smoke release rate, flame height, and smoke toxic directly determine the severity of fire accidents [8,9,10]. The influence of wind speed conditions on these burning characteristics, especially for the HRR, can be quite complex [15,20]. It is reported that stranded people who leave for a safe zone by passing through a smoky environment often have to change direction or even retrace their steps since the existence of smoke can cause breathing problems, low visibility, psychological panic, and so on [36,37]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion