- Author
-
Bankston, C. P.
|
Back, L. H.
- Title
- Pool Fire-Ventilation Crossflow Experiments in a Simulated Aircraft Cabin Interior.
- Coporate
- Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA
- Report
-
WSS/CI 83-01,
- Book or Conf
- Combustion Institute/Western States Section. Spring Meeting, 1983. April 11-12, 1983,
Pasadena, CA,
36 p.,
1983
- Keywords
-
pool fires
|
oxygen concentration
- Abstract
- A new experimental facility has been built an instrumented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study pool fire dynamics and flame spread in a 1/3 scale simulated aircraft cabin interior. In this paper, the results of pool fire-ventilation crossflow experiments are reported utilizing a "channel" pool fire subjected to crossflow velocities which replicate possible flow conditions in a post-crash wide body aircraft. Measurements made include detailed gas phase temperatures, fuel evaporation rate, radiative and total heat fluxes, oxygen concentrations and flow field characteristics. The nominal crossflow velocity was varied from 0.18 to 0.7 m/s and results show that energy release rates and combustion efficiency decrease with decreasing flow velocity. The crossflow velocity had a strong effect on visible flame geometry; tending to tilt the flame over sharply. However, a reverse flow ceiling jet of hot gases was also present in all tests extending far upstream of the fire. That is, despite the appearance of the visible flame, the vertical mementum of the plume was strong enough to establish the reverse flow layer, thus spreading smoke and toxic gases upstream against a significant ventilating flow. These data provide information which will aide in the evaluation of hazards from fires in ventilted, tunnel-like geometries such as an aircraft fuselage interior, mine tunnels or building corridors.