Experimental investigation on burning characteristics of diesel pool fires in naturally ventilated compartment

Abstract

SummaryIn this study, experiments were performed in a 4 m × 4 m × 4 m compartment having a door size of 2 m × 1 m in the front wall. The pan diameter has been varied from 0.2 to 1.0 m in order to evaluate parameters, such as mass loss rate, CO/CO2 yield, global equivalence ratio (GER), flame height, flame pulsation frequency and total heat flux within the compartment. Experimental mass loss flux was found to be 0.23 times lesser than the mass loss flux obtained with an open fire test. A correlation was developed to estimate the flame height for compartment fire as the function of pool diameter and heat release rate. Pulsation frequency has been well correlated with previous studies for smaller pool sizes, due to no interaction between the flame tip and upper smoke layer. However, for a larger pool, this seems to be deviated due to a larger smoke layer thickness. Heat flux variations were observed to follow power law trends for all the inner surfaces of the compartment with respect to pool diameters. This investigation is also essential for better understanding of diesel (sooty) fuel burning effects with respect to pool size in a compartment having well‐ventilated door opening.