- Author
- Fernandez-Pello, A. C.
- Title
- Fire Propagation in Concurrent Flows. Final Progress Report. August 1, 1989-July 31, 1990.
- Coporate
- California Univ., Berkeley
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NIST GCR 90-586, December 1990, 132 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- NBS-GRANT-60NANB7D0737
- Keywords
- burning rate | flame spread | flame spread rate | ignition | turbulence | turbulent flow | turbulent heat transfer
- Abstract
- A research program is being conducted to study the mechanisms controlling the spread of fire in a turbulent forced gas flows moving in the direction of flame propagation. The research tasks completed during this reporting period include an experimental studies of the effect of flow turbulence on the rate of concurrent flame spread, and of mass burning when the combustible material is in a floor configuration. The results of the experiments with thick PMMA sheets show that flow turbulence affects significantly the flame spread and mass burning processes. As the turbulence intensity is increased, the flame spread rate decreases because the flame length sharply decreases, and the mass burning rate increases because the surface heat flux increases. Currently underway is a complementary study with the combustible material placed in a ceiling geometry to observe the effect of buoyancy on the flame spread and mass burning processes. An additional task also completed during this period is a review of the processes of ignition and flame spread of solid combustibles. The review presents a novel approach to the analysis and prediction of both processes based in their close interrelationship.