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Experimental study on the dynamic evolution of merged flame under the thermal effect of multiple fire sources in a shaft

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Abstract

Special flame merging behaviour and complex combustion characteristics can be formed under the coupling effect of tangential flow and heat transfer of multiple pool fires (MPFs) in a shaft. In this study, quadruple pool fires (DPFs) evolutionary experiments in shaft were carried out, and the influence of pooled spacing and side slit width of the shaft on flame merging behaviour were analyzed. The primary influencing mechanism of merged flame evolution was expounded from heat transfer and thermal feedback between fire sources. The shape of conical merged fire whirls that can completely fill the gap between the oil pools with flame is confirmed, and its cone angle is determined by the position of outer edge of oil pools. In the formation of merged fire whirls, the critical conditions are that the distance between fire sources is less than three times the pool diameter and the width of side slits is 1/4 of the side length of the shaft, respectively. Compared with the single pool fire whirls with the same liquid surface area, the thermal flow field of DPFs in shaft is relatively unfavorable to the formation of fire whirls. The formation time of merged fire whirls is nearly five times that of the single pool fire whirls, and the flame height can be reduced by nearly half.

The evolution process of the DPFs that can form merged fire whirls exhibits the multi-stage morphological characteristics over time and all of these stages possess different heat transfer mechanisms. Before forming the merged fire whirls, intermittent merging among pool fires is a necessary stage. And the duration of this stage is relatively less affected by the width of slit on the side of shaft. The transverse force of asymmetric tangential flow on the flame is difficult to be completely overcomed by merged fire whirls. Because of the inclination of merged flame, the overall vertical height is unsuitable as a direct characterization parameter of combustion intensity.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Nos. 51976041 and 51676051) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 3072022CF0210), for which the authors express their gratitude.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Yan Huo, Ya-Ping Yu, Gao-Wan Zou & Hui Dong

  2. College of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Dong-mei Yang

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  1. Yan Huo
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  2. Ya-Ping Yu
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  4. Gao-Wan Zou
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  5. Hui Dong
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Correspondence to Yan Huo or Dong-mei Yang.

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Highlights

• The cone angle of the conical merged fire whirls is determined by the position of the outer boundary of the oil pools.

• Intermittent merging among pool fires is a necessary stage before forming the merged fire whirls.

• The transverse force of asymmetric tangential flow on the flame is difficult to be completely overcome by the merged fire whirls.

• The width of the side slits of the shaft mainly affects the non-merged and continuous merged flame stages.

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Huo, Y., Yu, YP., Yang, Dm. et al. Experimental study on the dynamic evolution of merged flame under the thermal effect of multiple fire sources in a shaft. Heat Mass Transfer 59, 2197–2211 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-023-03405-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-023-03405-4

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