- Author
- Pitts, W. M. | Bryant, R. A. | Yang, J. C.
- Title
- Thermal Agent Extinguishment of Two Types of Diffusion Flames.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Combustion Institute/Western States Secion. U.S. Sections of the Combustion Institute, 2nd Joint Meeting. Hosted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Proceedings. March 25-28, 2001, Oakland, CA, 1-16 p., 2001
- Keywords
- diffusion flames | extinguishment | burners | combustion | diluents | fire extinguishing agents | fire suppression | laminar flames
- Abstract
- The extinguishment of diffusion flames on two types of burners-an opposed-flow Tsuji burner and an axisymmetric burner with a surrounding coflow-by thermal agents has been investigated. Thermal agents are those that act primarily by extracting heat and diluting the flame. In this study nitrogen, argon, helium, and carbon dioxide have been used as thermal agents. Both methane and propane have been used as fuels. Extinguishing concentrations are found to depend on the agent, type of burner, and on the fuel used. Propane flames are found to be more difficult to extinguish than methane flames on the same burner, while the Tsuji-type burner requires much higher concentrations of thermal agents for extinguishment than the coflow burner. Possible explanations for the observed differences are discussed.