Modeling of pool fires in cold regions

Abstract

Fires and especially pool fires are among the most frequent accidents in process facilities. Flame impingement and thermal radiation are the main hazardous characteristics of pool fires. Pool fires have been the subject of numerous modeling and experimental studies covering a variety of areas such as fire and flame structure, emissive power, temperature distribution and fire characteristics. The effects of environmental parameters such as wind velocity, humidity and water/ice droplets in the air have not been studied extensively. Further, the effect of surrounding surface reflectivity has not been studied. This issue is very important for cold regions like the Arctic, where outdoor surfaces are covered with snow and ice for several months of the year. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive fire consequence modeling tool that includes pool fire development, environmental characteristics effects and thermal radiation. This study proposes a new comprehensive model for steady state and fully developed pool fires. This new model takes into account the effects of environmental variables such as temperature, the presence of droplets and surface reflectivity on thermal radiation and subsequently on the fire consequence assessment.