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Measurement of Flame Emissivity of Hydrocarbon Pool Fires

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Abstract

Flame emissivity is an important parameter in the study of pool fires. A series of pool fire experiments are carried out with four different fuels namely diesel, gasoline, hexane and kerosene for pool diameters of 0.10 m, 0.13 m and 0.20 m. Flame emissivity at a height of 0.25 times the pool diameter from the base is measured by observing the flame with reference to a black body using infrared camera. Influence of pool diameter (0.3 m, 0.34 m, 0.5 m, 0.7 m and 1.0 m) on flame emissivity at a height of 0.25 times the pool diameter is studied with diesel as the fuel. Variation of flame emissivity with the height of the flame along the center of diesel pool fire is investigated for diameters of 0.3 m, 0.5 m, 0.7 m and 1.0 m. It is observed that the flame emissivity is less at the tip of the flame in comparison with that at the base of the pool fire. The measurement of flame emissivity by observing flame with reference to a black body using infrared camera is corroborated with the measurements conducted with reference to an electrically heated black body for diesel pool fires with diameters 0.3 m, 0.5 m and 0.7 m. Flame emissivity is also inferred from the mass burning rate measurements for diesel oil pool fires of 0.3 m, 0.5 m, 0.7 m and 1.0 m diameters. Flame emissivities are independent of the measurement method. Temperature and surface emissive power distributions of the diesel pool fires for diameters 0.3 m, 0.5 m, 0.7 m and 1.0 m are computed using infrared thermography.

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Abbreviations

A :

Constant in Equation (7) (K)

A s :

Pool surface area (m2)

B :

Constant in Equation (7)

D :

Pool diameter (m)

E :

Surface emissive power (kW/m2)

f(ε):

Function of emissivity in Equation (8)

H :

Height of the black body (mm)

∆H c :

Heat of combustion (MJ/kg)

∆h g :

Total heat of vaporization or gasification (kJ/kg)

i, j :

Indices indicating the position in thermal images

I b :

Intensity of black body radiation (W/m2)

I bf :

Radiation of black body intensity when viewed through the flame (W/m2)

I f :

Intensity of flame radiation (W/m2)

I t :

Intensity of total radiation (W/m2)

\( \dot{m}^{\prime \prime } \) :

Mass loss rate per unit area (kg/m2 s)

\( \dot{m}_{\infty }^{\prime \prime } \) :

Mass loss rate per unit area of a pool with infinite diameter (kg/m2 s)

OS 300 :

Object signal of the flame and the black body (at 300°C) transmitted through the flame

OS 400 :

Object signal of the flame and the black body (at 400°C) transmitted through the flame

OS p300 :

Object signal of the black body (at 300°C) alone

OS p400 :

Object signal of the black body (at 400°C) alone

Y i :

Distance from the base of the pool to the center of ith black body (mm)

\( \dot{q}_{c}^{\prime \prime } \) :

Convective heat flux (kW/m2)

\( \dot{q}_{loss}^{\prime \prime } \) :

Miscellaneous heat lost flux (kW/m2)

\( \dot{q}_{r}^{\prime \prime } \) :

Radiative loss (kg/m2 s)

\( \dot{q}_{rr}^{\prime \prime } \) :

Re-radiation heat flux (kW/m2)

t :

Time (s)

T :

Absolute temperature (K)

T b :

Black body temperature (K)

T f :

Flame temperature (K)

T t :

Flame temperature combined with black body temperature (K)

W :

Width of the black body (mm)

X :

Horizontal distance from the pool center (m)

Y :

Vertical distance along the axis of the pool, above the fuel bed (m)

α f :

Flame absorptivity

β:

Mean beam length corrector

ε:

Emissivity

ε b :

Black body emissivity

ε f :

Flame emissivity

ε t :

Flame emissivity combined with black body emissivity

η:

Efficiency of combustion

κ :

Extinction coefficient (m−1)

σ:

Stefan–Boltzmann’s constant (5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 K4)

τ f :

Flame transmissivity

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Acknowledgment

Authors sincerely acknowledge the financial support by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India for carrying out this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    S. Sudheer & S. V. Prabhu

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  1. S. Sudheer
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  2. S. V. Prabhu
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Correspondence to S. V. Prabhu.

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Sudheer, S., Prabhu, S.V. Measurement of Flame Emissivity of Hydrocarbon Pool Fires. Fire Technol 48, 183–217 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-010-0206-5

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