Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of the Extinction of a Pool Fire with Water Mist

Abstract

In order to study the effectiveness of the extinction of a pool fire with one nozzle water mist, a series of experiments were conducted under different conditions in an open space. Fire sources are small-scale circular stainless steel pans of 130 and 200 mm in diameter with the fuel of alcohol and kerosene. Before and after the application of water mist, some K-type thermocouples along the pool centerline and a digital camera were used to measure the flame temperature and visualize the process of the fire extinction. A thermogage and a turbine flux sensor were used to measure the flame radiant heat flux and the application rate of water, respectively. A Particle Image Velocimetry and Sizing (PIVS) technique was developed to characterize the water mist. The experimental results show that both the flame of alcohol and kerosene cannot be extinguished in many cases when the pressure is lower than 0.4 MPa. In addition, the distance between the flame and the nozzle, and the application rate of water are two main factors which influence the effectiveness of the extinction of a pool fire when the working pressure is lower and the impulse injection of water mist can improve the effectiveness of fire extinction. However, it should be noted that the results are limited to the experimental conditions because it is still difficult to get the functional relationships of pool fire extinction mechanisms with water mist.