FireDOC Search

Author
Hu, Z. | Utiskul, Y. | Quintiere, J. G. | Trouve, A.
Title
Towards Large Eddy Simulations of Flame Extinction and Carbon Monoxide Emission in Compartment Fires.
Coporate
Maryland Univ., College Park National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Report
Volume 31; Part 2,
Book or Conf
Combustion Institute, Symposium (International) on Combustion, 31st. Proceedings. Volume 31. Part 2. August 5-11, 2006, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, Heidelberg, Germany, Barlow, R. S.; Sick, V.; Glarborg, P.; Yetter, R. A., Editors, 2537-2545 p., 2007
Keywords
combustion | fire research | compartmernt fires | flame extinguishment | carbon monoxide | emissions | ventilation | combustion models | computational fluid dynamics | diffusion flames | vitiation | hydrocarbons | flammability | equations
Identifiers
Large-Eddy Simulation (LES); under-ventilated combustion; adapt current combustion modeling capabilities used in computational fluid dynamics solvers; adapt current combustion modeling capabilities used in computational fluid dynamics solvers; global equivalence ratio (GER) in the fire room; modeling of flame extinction due to air vitiation; modeling of CO/HC mass
Abstract
The general objective of this research is to adapt current combustion modeling capabilities used in computational fluid dynamics solvers to the treatment of under-ventilated compartment fires. More specifically, we consider in the present study two models proposed to describe: diffusion flame extinction due to air vitiation; and the emission of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbon (HC) mass in a compartment fire. The flame extinction model is based on a flammability diagram parametrized in terms of vitiated air properties. The CO/HC mass model is based on: a transport equation for fuel mass; a comparison of this fuel mass to a Burke-Schumann chemical-equilibrium expression; and an interpretation of the difference as a measure of incomplete combustion. Both models are implemented into a large eddy simulation solver developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA. The models performance is tested via detailed comparisons with an experimental database corresponding to reduced-scale compartment fires. The study considers two cases that correspond to different values of the fire room global equivalence ratio and are representative of strikingly different flame behaviors. The comparative tests serve to evaluate the general ability of the models to describe the transition from extinction-free conditions to conditions in which the flame experiences partial or total quenching, as well as the transition from fire regimes with no or little CO emission to regimes that emit hazardous levels.