- Author
- Wu, N. | Baker, M. | Kolb, G. | Torero, J. L.
- Title
- Ignition, Flame Spread and Mass Burning Characteristics of Liquid Fuels on a Water Bed.
- Coporate
- Maryland Univ., College Park
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Environment Canada. Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar, 20th. Volume 2. Proceedings. June 11-13, 1997, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Alberta, Canada, 769-793 p., 1997
- Keywords
- crude oil | oil spills | liquid fuels | ignition | flame spread | mass burns | methodology | equations | extinction | regression rate | lateral ignition
- Identifiers
- Lateral Ignition and Flame Spread Test (LIFT); H.I.F.T. (Horizontal Ignition and Flame Spread Test)
- Abstract
- An experimental technique has been developed to systematically study the ignition, flame spread and mass burning characteristics of liquid fuels spilled on a water bed. The final objective of this work is to provide a tool that will serve to assess a fuels ease to ignite, to spread and to sustain a flame, thus helping to better define the combustion parameters that affect in-situ burning of oil spills. A systematic study of the different parameters that affect ignition, flame spread and mass burning has been conducted in an attempt to develop a bench scale procedure to evaluate the burning efficiency of liquid fuels in conditions typical of oil spill scenarios. To study ignition and flame spread, the Lateral Ignition and Flame Spread (LIFT) standard test method (ASTM E-1321) has been modified to allow the use of liquid fuels and a water bed. Characteristic parameters such as the critical heat flux for ignition, ignition delay time and flame spread velocity as a function of the external heat flux have been obtained. A series of "fire properties" corresponding to the fuel can be extrapolated from these tests and used to assess the tendcy of a fuel to ignite and to sustain flame spread. Mass burning has been studied by determining the burning efficiency of different fuels under conditions where a simple one-dimensional heat conduction model describes the surface regression rate.