- Author
- Madrzykowski, D. | Evans, D. D. | Haynes, G. A.
- Title
- Engineering Analysis of the Kuwait Oil Fires.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD Maryland Univ., College Park
- Book or Conf
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers. Large Fires: Causes and Consequences. Extended Abstracts. SFPE Engineering Seminars. November 16-18, 1992, Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Boston, MA, Dallas, TX, 40-47 p., 1992
- Keywords
- well fires | heat release rate | flame height | thermal radiation
- Abstract
- A series of measurements were made in the Al Mawqa/Al Ahmadi oil field region of Kuwait to explore the feasibility of assessing the heat release rate of individual well fires through flame height and thermal radiation measurements. The 12 fires measured ranged in calculated heat release rate from 90 to 2000 MW which correspond to flow rates of 240 m³/day (1500 bbl/day) to 4800 m³/day (30000 bbl/day). Based on these twelve burning well measurements, the estimated total flow from the 651 damaged wells, both burning and leaking in March, 1991, was 7,400,000 barrels/day which is only 20 percent greater than published NOAA estimates based on information from the Kuwait Oil Company.