Effects of oblique air flow on burning rates of square ethanol pool fires

•Flame detachment from the windward rim of the pools was observed.•Flame wrapping around the fuel container was observed for downward wind conditions.•The burning intensity is influenced by the wind direction and the wind speed.•Heat transfer is the controlling factor in the burning intensity of a p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hazardous materials 2013-09, Vol.260, p.552-562
Main Authors: Tao, Changfa, He, Yaping, Li, Yuan, Wang, Xishi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
Air flow
Airflow
Applied sciences
Burning rate
Chemical engineering
Combustion
Detachment
Ethanol - chemistry
Ethyl alcohol
Exact sciences and technology
Fires
Flame
Fuels
Gases
Heat and mass transfer. Packings, plates
Heat transfer
Hot Temperature
Pollution
Pool fires
Temperature
Time Factors
Wind
Wind direction
Wind tunnels
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Summary:•Flame detachment from the windward rim of the pools was observed.•Flame wrapping around the fuel container was observed for downward wind conditions.•The burning intensity is influenced by the wind direction and the wind speed.•Heat transfer is the controlling factor in the burning intensity of a pool fire.•The burning intensity is sensitive to the wind direction but the relationship is non-monotonic. The effects of downward airflow on the burning rate and/or burning intensity of square alcohol pool fires for different airflow speeds and directions have been studied experimentally in an inclined wind tunnel. An interesting flame-wrapping phenomenon, caused by impingement of air flow, was observed. The mass burning intensity was found to increase with the airflow speed and the impinging angle. The fuel pan rim temperatures were also measured to study the effect of wind direction and speed on heat transfer from the flame to the fuel source. A model based on heat transfer analysis was developed to correlate the burning intensity with the pan rim characteristic temperature. A good correlation was established between the model results and the experimental results.
ISSN:0304-3894
1873-3336
DOI:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.06.015