Abstract
Mechanistic aspects of scalings are addressed that include burning rates, flame spread, room fires, explosions, turbulent combustion and chemistry (fire suppression and the production of soot and toxic materials), with attention focused on dimensions sufficiently large for turbulence to be fully developed. For burning pools and cribs, scalings of burning rates, flame heights and radiant emissions are suggested, and for room fires, modifications associated with the onset of ventilation control are considered. Both confined and unconfined explosions are addressed, including overpressure scaling and, for the latter, size and radiation scaling for the limit of instantaneous release with momentum and buoyancy control. Relationships to scalings of turbulent combustion of gases and roles of chemical kinetics are mentioned.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Williams, F.A. Scaling Mass Fires. Fire Research Abstracts and Reviews, 11, 1969, pp. 1–23.
Quintiere, J.G. Scaling Applications in Fire Research. Fire Safety Journal, 15, 1989, pp. 3–29; How to Use a Scale Model to Simulate the Fire and Structural Failure of the World Trade Center Towers. Proceedings of the Third Joint Meeting of the U.S. Sections of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 16–19, 2003.
Blinov. V.I. and Khudiakov, G.N. Certain Laws Governing Diffusive Burning of Liquids. Academiie Nauk, SSSR Doklady, 113, 1957, pp. 1094–1098.
De Ris, J., Kanury, A.M. and Yuen, M.C. Pressure Modeling of Fires. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 14, 1973, pp. 1033–1044.
Thomas, P.H. Behavior of Fires in Enclosures Ñ Some Recent Progress. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 14, 1973, pp. 1007–1020.
Block, J.A. A Theoretical and Experimental Study of Nonpropagating Free-Burning Fires. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 13, 1971, pp. 971–978.
Heskestad, G. Modeling of Enclosure Fires. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 14, 1973, pp. 1021–1030.
Quintiere, J.G. Fire Behavior in Building Compartments. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 29, 2003, pp. 181–193.
Williams, F.A. Urban and Wildland Fire Phenomenology. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 8, 1982, pp. 317–354.
Williams, F.A. Mechanisms of Fire Spread. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 16, 1977, pp. 1281–1294.
Wickman, I.S. Flame Spread in an Opposed Flow with a Linear Velocity Gradient. Combustion and Flame, 50, 1983, pp. 287–304.
Pastor, E., Zárate, L., Planas, E. and Arnaldos, J. Mathematical Models and Calculation Systems for the Study of Wildland Fire Behaviour. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 29, 2003, pp. 139–153.
Bradley, D. Dimensionless Groups in Fires and Explosions. Fire and Explosion Hazard of Substances and Venting of Deflagrations, Proceedings of the First International Seminar (Molkov, V., Editor), Russian Association for Fire Safety Science, 1995, pp. 8–17.
Bradley, D. and Mitcheson, A. The Venting of Gaseous Explosions in Spherical Vessels. Combustion and Flame, 32, 1978, pp. 221–255.
Molkov, V., Korolchenko, A. and Alexandrov, S. Venting of Deflagrations in Buildings and Equipment: Universal Correlation, Fire Safety Science – Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium, International Association for Fire Safety Science, 1997, pp. 1249–1260.
Makhviladze, G.M. and Yakush, S.E. Large-Scale Unconfined Fires and Explosions, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 29, 2003, pp. 195–210.
Roper, F., Arno, J. and Jaggers, H.C. The Effect of Release Velocity and Geometry on Burning Times for Non-Premixed Fuel Gas Clouds. Combustion Science and Technology, 28, 1991, pp. 315–338.
Kuhl, A.L., Kamel, M.M. and Oppenheim, A.K. Pressure Waves Generated by Steady Flames, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 14, 1973, pp. 1201–1215.
Williams, F.A. Qualitative Theory of Nonideal Explosions. Combustion Science and Technology, 12, 1976, pp. 199–206.
Peters, N. Turbulent Combustion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.
Williams, F.A. Turbulent Combustion. The Mathematics of Combustion (Buckmaster, J.D., Editor) Chapter III, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1985, pp. 97–131.
Williams, F.A. A Review of Flame Extinction. Fire Safety Journal, 3, 1981, pp. 163–175.
Seshadri, K., Multistep Asymptotic Analyses of Flame Structures. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 26, 1996, pp. 831–846.
Brohez, S., Delvosalle, C., Marlair, G. and Tewarson, A. Soot Generation in Fires: An Important Parameter for Accurate Calculation of Heat Release. Fire Safety Science – Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium, International Association for Fire Safety Science, 2000, pp. 265–276.
Saito, K., Gordon, A.S. and Williams, F.A. Effects of Oxygen on Soot Formation in Methane Diffusion Flames. Combustion Science and Technology, 47, 1986, pp. 117–138.
Pitts, W.M. An Algorithm for Estimating Carbon Monoxide Formation in Enclosure Fires. Fire Safety Science – Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium, International Association for Fire Safety Science, 1997, pp. 535–546.
Hirano, T. Combustion Science for Safety, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 29, 2003, pp. 167–180.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Williams, F.A. (2008). Mechanistic Aspects of the Scaling of Fires and Explosions. In: Saito, K. (eds) Progress in Scale Modeling. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8682-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8682-3_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8681-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8682-3
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)