Study on Flame Spread over Aviation Kerosene and Diesel

Abstract

Flame spreading over liquid fuels is a common phenomenon involving in accidental fuel leakage in aircraft crash or oil tanker which may result in many casualties and economic losses. Comparative experiments are conducted concerning flame spread over aviation kerosene (RP5) and 0# diesel at a variety of initial fuel temperatures. The threshold value of initial fuel temperature for liquid-phase and gas-phase controlled flame spread is approximately 17 °C larger than liquid’s flashpoint for both oils. For a given initial fuel temperature, due to low volatility and ignitability of 0# diesel, its flame spread rate is smaller than that of RP5, while the length of the horizontal subsurface convection flow is larger. Given the difference in flame speed, fire accidents for RP5 are potentially more hazardous than those of 0# diesel. Moreover, the variation trend of subsurface convection flow length falls nearly linearly with the initial fuel temperature for both fuels.