The characteristics of a 1 m methanol pool fire

Abstract

A series of measurements was made to characterize the structure of a 1 m diameter methanol (CH3OH) pool fire steadily burning with a constant lip height in a quiescent environment. Time-averaged local measurements of gas-phase temperature were conducted using 50 μm diameter, Type S, bare wire, thermocouples with a bead that was approximately spherical with a diameter of about 150 μm. The thermocouple signals were corrected for radiative loss and thermal inertia effects. The mass burning rate was measured by monitoring the mass loss in the methanol reservoir feeding the liquid pool. The heat release rate was measured using oxygen consumption calorimetry. The heat flux was measured in the radial and vertical directions and the radiative fraction was estimated, which correspond to previous results.