Experimental study and new-proposed characterization of burning rate and flame geometry of gasoline pool fires with different aspect ratios

Abstract

This study investigated the burning rate and the flame geometry of gasoline pool fires under crosswinds in the context of bridge vehicle fires. A 1:4 scale bridge fire platform was established. A total of 45 fire experiments were conducted on 9 gasoline pool with 1–2.2 aspect ratios under 0–2 m/s cross-wind. The influence mechanism of aspect ratio n on the characteristic parameters of pool fires was investigated. The results showed that the burning rate of gasoline pool ranges from 0.028 kg‧m−2‧s−1 to 0.064 kg‧m−2‧s−1, which increases with wind speed and pool size. When the wind speed exceeds 1 m/s, the title angle of the flame on the windward side is greater than 45° and is less affected by pool size. The wall heat conduction at wind downstream increases with aspect ratio when placing the longer side facing to cross flow. The correction factor Fr·n can be used to describe the competition between the air entrainment and the buoyancy in gasoline pool fire. A general model based on aspect ratio is proposed to quantify the burning rate and flame tilt characteristics of gasoline fires. The reliability and applicability of the model are compared with the existing experimental data.