- Author
- Martinez, M. J. | Hopkins, P. L.
- Title
- Modeling Subsurface Multiphase Transport of JP8 During a Fuel Spill Fire.
- Coporate
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM
- Report
- SAND2000-2464, October 2000, 44 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Email: orders@nist.fedworld.gov; Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Contract
- DE-AC04-94AL85000
- Keywords
- JP-8 jet fuel | fuel spills | aircraft accidents | jet fuels | water content | pool fires
- Identifiers
- soil properties; isothermal fuel infiltration into a 3D crash-generated crater; 2D heat-driven multiphase transport subsequent to pool infiltration; isothermal infiltration of JP8 into water-saturated soils; two-phase two-component thermal model for subsurface transport
- Abstract
- A weapon safety issue concerns the effects of a fuel spill fire on a weapon system, caused by the crash of a weapon-laden aircraft and the subsequent ignition of jet fuel. Given the small fraction of pavement covering the surface of the earth, such a crash is almost certain to occur over pemleable, possibly water-wet soil. Assuming the fuel is immediately ignited, the ensuing burn will be controlled by the availability of fuel to feed the fire. The availability is in turn controlled by the competing processes of fuel seepage via gravity drainage into the soil, and vaporization of fuel near the ground surface, which creates a capillary wicking action of soil-absorbed fuel back up to the fire. The interplay of these effects can create situations resembling pool fires, in the case of minimal fuel seepage into the soil, wicking-limited fires in the case of moderate seepage of fuel with significant capillary action to wick fuel from the subsurface to the tie, and rapidly extinguished fires due to effective soil absorption of the fuel spill. This study considers the multiphase multicomponent transport of JP8 jet fuel into dry (negligible water content) and fully water-wet subsurface soil. The modeling considers isothermal fuel infiltration into the soil during a steadily burning surface pool fire and the subsequent heat-driven transport once the surface pool has been depleted by combustion and infiltration of the fuel.