N-Heptane Pool Fire Suppression with Twin-Fluid Water Mist

Abstract

As one of the most promising halon alternatives, the merits of water mist have been demonstrated by prior research and tests. Much research done before has been focusing on the improvement of some aspects of water mist systems such as the shape of nozzle, the size of mist particles, and the additive used etc. In order to study the effectiveness of twin-fluid water mist technology and the role of nitrogen in fire suppression, a series of n-heptane pool fire suppression tests were carried out in this paper. The parameters such as fuel mass loss, flame temperature above the centerline of the pool, and axial heat fluxes were measured for assistant analysis of fire suppression during the tests as well as the fire video recorded. All suppression times were analyzed statistically based on the video and they all were under 30 seconds. Results show that the higher Nitrogen pressure is, the less the suppression time is, which means better suppression effect.