- Author
-
McCaffrey, B. J.
- Title
- Jet Diffusion Flame Suppression Using Water Sprays. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
-
Combustion Science and Technology,
Vol. 40,
No. 3-4,
107-136,
July 1985
- Sponsor
- Interior Dept., Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBSIR 84-2812-1,
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Book or Conf
- National Bureau of Standards/Center for Fire Research. Fire Science for Fire Safety. August 23-25, 1983,
Gaithersburg, MD,
Levine, R. S.; Pagni, P. J., Editors,
['1983', '1985']
- Keywords
-
blowout fires
|
fire suppression
|
flame temperature
|
offshore well fires
|
water sprays
|
well fires
- Abstract
- The feasibility of using water sprays for the control of offshore oil/gas well blowout fires has been addressed. Considering the sheer scale of the problem, knowledge from a fundamental viewpoint is going to be required in order to extrapolate laboratory-sized flame studies up to full scale. Available data and appropriate litersture concerned with the application of water sprays as a jet diffusion flame suppression/extinguishment agent have been reviewed. Small pneumatic atomizing nozzles using H2 gas, both as the flame source as well as the atomizing driver, have been used to scale high momentum jet flames and to study the effect of water on the flame. Thermodynamic equilibrium was shown to be an effective guide in interpreting the results. The effect of flame temperature reduction due to water sprays has been observed to correlate with a single spray parameter - the median drop diameter. Directions for further study have been indicated.