Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Hydrocarbon Open Standalone and Double Pool Fires

Abstract

Pool fire is defined as the buoyancy-induced diffusion combustion of liquid fuel on a pool of horizontal bed with low initial momentum. When these fires are situated in proximity to interact with each other, the burning of liquid of a respective pool is enhanced. Then, the flame morphological/geometrical and thermal properties will be altered compared to the standalone fire because of the complex flame interactions. This phenomenon is termed as formation of the multiple pool fires (MPF). MPF can produce disastrous hazards due to the enhanced outward thermal radiation than standalone pool fire (SPF) on the surrounding flammable packages and human beings. If the wind complements the MPF, the surrounding flammable packages or tanks will be engulfed in the fire. Then, the scenario becomes aggravated. In such cases, to assess the thermal behaviour of engulfed body, the thermo-physical and geometrical properties of the engulfed body are essential. The disastrous behaviour of MPF can be mitigated through an enhanced understanding of their flame morphological and thermal properties. newlineIn the present study, the measurements of flame geometrical and thermal properties of 0.1 m gasoline double pool fires are performed. The flame properties such as flame merging probability and flame height are studied using video graphic image analysis. The flame thermal properties such as emissivity, temperature, and emissive power are studied using the thermal imaging technique. The safe separation distances are calculated using the thermal imaging technique. The results show that the outward thermal radiation increases with the increase in flame height due to the air entrainment restriction caused by the flame interactions. The effect of air entrainment restriction on the flame height for the concerned separation distance is studied using 0.2 m n-heptane double pool fires. From the studies, a correlation is established to estimate the flame height as a function of air entrainment. The results show that the decrease in separation distance b