Effect of pressure on the heat transfer of pool fire in a closed chamber

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry Vol. 142; no. 6; pp. 2163 - 2171
• Main Authors: Chen, Jian, Bi, Yubo, Zhao, Yanli, Tam, Wai Cheong, Li, Changhai, Lu, Shouxiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2020; Springer
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Closed chamber; Pressure effect; Pool fire; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-020-09540-y

A combined analytical and experimental study was performed to determine the effect of pressure on the heat transfer of pool fire in a closed chamber. A series of ethanol pool fires with diameters from 4 to 10 cm were carried out in the pressure chamber with interior dimensions of 0.6 m (height) × 0.4 m (diameter), where the different initial pressures were ranged from 0.6 to 2.5 atm. Considering the effect of pressure, a theoretical formulation was proposed to estimate the radiation flux received by the fuel surface from the chamber wall and hot gases, with which the relationship between the modified mass burning flux of pool fire and pressure was obtained. It is found that external radiation received by fuel pool is affected with the gas emissivity, the gas transmissivity, the gas temperature and the wall temperature, and these factors compete with each other in determining the effect of pressure on the value of external radiation. Furthermore, the average mass burning flux modified by the obtained external radiation is fitted with pressure by a power function, and the fitted exponent value is consistent with theoretical analysis.