The Interaction between a Liquid Combustion Front and a Fire Barrier Made of CO2 Hydrate

Abstract

This paper presents experimental research into the propagation of a liquid fuel combustion front interacting with a fire barrier made of CO2 hydrate and ice. The combustible liquids studied here were kerosene, gasoline, Diesel fuel, oil, petroleum, and alcohol. The experiments with gas hydrate involved fire barriers based on powder and tablets. Heat and mass transfer and phase transitions in the area between the fire barrier and the combustion front were found to play a fundamental role. The liquid fuel combustion fronts propagate at a velocity ranging from 0.1 m/s to 3 m/s under natural convection. Forced convection leads to 2- to 5-fold changes in the flame propagation velocities. According to our experiments, 2–4 cm is the minimum width of a CO2 hydrate fire barrier for stopping the flame combustion front. We also determined the contribution of the gas hydrate dissociation to fire suppression and identified the conditions of the combustion front stoppage. The dimensionless processing of experimental data made them scalable to industrial applications. Finally, the experimental findings were also used to develop physical and mathematical models predicting the necessary and sufficient amount of CO2 hydrate in a fire barrier to provide the effective deceleration and stoppage of a flame combustion front.