Extinction Limit of Diesel Pool Fires Suppressed by Water Mist

Abstract

This work describes an experimental and theoretical investigation of extinction limit of diesel pool fires suppressed by water mist. A downward-directed nozzle produced a fine water spray over small-scale opposed diesel pool fires. The fire extinction limit is obtained from minimum nozzle injection pressure or maximum fire size when the fire extinguishment took place. For the conditions tested, it is observed that there are two distinct regions in the relationship between the injection pressure and fire size, i.e., a fire suppression region and a fire intensification region. The transition of the two regions is dependent on the effective water flux and the plume-spray thrust ratio. It is also revealed that the fuel surface cooling is the dominant mechanism for diesel pool fires at extinction limit in the tests. The failure to cause fire extinction is mainly due to the insufficient water flux applied to remove enough heat from the fuel surface.

Keywords

water mist diesel pool fires extinction limit fire suppression and intensification.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Mawhinney, J.R. and Back, G.G. (2000). Water Mist Fire Suppression Systems, SFPE Handbook , 3rd edn, pp. 4-311.

Grant G. , Breton J. and Drysdale D. (2000). Fire Suppression by Water sprays, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 26(2): 79-130.

Liu, Z.G. and Kim, A.K. (2000). Review of Water Mist Fire Suppression Systems - Part I Fundamental Studies, Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, 10(2): 32-50.

Back, G.G. , Beyler, C.L. and Hansen, R. (2000). The Capabilities and Limitations of Total Flooding Water Mist Fire Suppression Systems in Machinery Space Applications, Fire Technology, 36(1): 8-23.

Mawhinney, J.R. , Dlugogorski B.Z. and Kim A.K. (1997). A Closer Look at the Fire Extinguishing Properties of Water Mist, In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, pp. 47-60.

Kokkala, Matti A. (1992). Fixed Water Sprays against Open Liquid Pool Fires , In: Sjölin, V., Evans, D.D. and Jason (eds), First International Conference on Fire Suppression Research, Proc., May 5-7, 1992, Stockholm, Sweden.

Kim, M.B. , Jang, Y.J. and Kim , J.K. (1996). Burning Rate of a Pool Fire with Downward-directed Sprays, Fire Safety Journal, 27: 37-48.

Kim, M.B. , Jang, Y.J. and Yoon, M.O. (1997). Extinction Limit of a Pool Fire with a Water Mist, Fire Safety Journal, 28: 295-306.

Ndubizu, C.C. , Ananth, R. and Tatem, P.A. (2000). The Effects of Droplet Size and Injection Orientation on Water Mist Suppression of Low and High Boiling Point Liquid Pool Fires, Combustion Science and Technology , 157: 63-86.

10.

Nam, S. (2002). Application of Water Sprays to Industrial Oil Cooker Fire, 7th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Massachusetts, USA, June 2002.

11.

Wang, Xishi , Liao, Guangxuan , Qin, Jun and Fan, Weicheng. (2002). Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of the Extinction of a Pool Fire with Water Mist, Journal of Fire Sciences, 20: 279-295

12.

Alexander, J.I. , St Aubin, H.J. , Stone, J.P. and Williams, F.W. (1982). Large Scale Pressurizable Fire Test Facility-Fire I, NRL Report 8643.

13.

National Fire Protection Association (2000 ). NFPA 750 Standard for the Installation of Water Mist Fire Protection Systems, 2000 Edition, Quincy, MA.

14.

Liu, Z.G. , Kim, A.K. and Carpenter , D. (2007). A Study of Portable Water Mist Fire Extinguishers Used for Extinguishment of Multiple Fire Types, Fire Safety Journal, 42: 25-42.

15.

Drysdale, D. (1985). An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, Wiley, New York.

16.

Rasbash, D.J. (1962). The Extinction of Fires by Water Spray, Fire Research Abstracts and Reviews, 4: 28-52.

17.

Downie, B. , Polymeropoulos, C. and Gogos, G. (1995). Interaction of Water Mist with a Buoyant Methane Diffusion Flame, Fire Safety Journal, 24: 359-381.