Experiments and Simulations of Burner and Pool Fires in Underventilated Compartments

Abstract

In the conditions where the oxygen supply into the fire compartment is insufficient to maintain steady combustion (underventilated fires), the flame becomes essentially transient and can be thrown out of the ventilation opening. In this paper, experimental and computational studies on burner and pool compartment fires with limited ventilation in a small-scale fire box with a single rectangular ventilation opening are presented. Temperature-time curves as well as video recordings demonstrating the flame ejection are obtained for four opening geometries to measure the time to flame ejection. Results of burner and pool fire experiments are presented in non-dimensional form as the dependence of induction period on the global equivalence ratio. Large Eddy Simulations, LES, of underventilated fires are carried out and compared with the experiments.