An experimental investigation of burning behaviour of liquid pool fire in corridor-like enclosures

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the burning behaviour of liquid fuel pool fires in corridor-like enclosures and to identify key factors influencing fire development. A series of experiments is conducted in a 3 m long medium-scale corridor-facade configuration using ethanol pool fires. To minimize lip effects, a novel fuel supply system has been developed. The influence of fuel surface area and ventilation factor on the fire development is investigated by using two different pan sizes and eight opening dimensions. Experimental results indicate that in corridor-like enclosures the steady-state fuel burning rate in ventilation-controlled conditions corresponds to about 2/3 of that observed in cubic-like enclosures, because the temperature distribution in the enclosure changes from uniform, in cubic-like enclosures, to layered, in corridors. The ventilation coefficient, used to calculate the inflow rate in corridor-like enclosures during post-flashover conditions, is found to decrease as the ventilation factor increases. Subsequently, the heat released inside the corridor was found less than that in cases of burning in cubic-like enclosures. The series of data obtained in the present work can be used for validating engineering correlations and evaluation of CFD models.