Experimental study on heat transfer and propagation speed of spill fire on porous media substrate with micro-inclination

Abstract

During the transportation and usage of liquid fuel, leakage from container rupture can cause spill fires. When a spill fire occurs on porous media, the heat transfer mode will change. An experiment with the spill was carried out using a 15 × 150 cm porous media substrate to analyze the spill fire. The results showed that the propagation speed is inversely proportional to the square of the length of the transition zone in the uniform stage. Under horizontal conditions, the model calculation results had an error within 15% of the experimental values. When the substrate has an inclination angle, the speed model has a large error compared to the experimental results due to the influence of gravity. Additionally, the burning rate of spill fire was studied based on heat transfer analysis and experimental measurement. The burning rate of spill fire on porous media substrates was found to be significantly lower than that of a pool fire. In the acceleration and uniform stage, the burning rate increases with the increase in combustion equivalent diameter. In the deceleration stage, the burning rate decreases with the increase in equivalent diameter. The theoretical value of burning rate was consistent with the experimental value in the uniform stage.