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Surface Flame Spread

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SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

Abstract

Surface flame spread is a process of a moving flame in the vicinity of a pyrolyzing region on the surface of a solid or liquid that acts as a fuel source. It is distinct from flame propagation in a premixed fuel and oxygen system in that the surface spread of flame occurs as a result of the heating of the surface due to the direct or remote heating by the flame generated from the burning surface. The surface flame spread is very often critical to the destiny of fires in natural and built environments. This spread applies whether the fire is an urban conflagration or is the first growth after ignition of a room’s draperies. This chapter provides fire safety engineers with an overview of surface flame spread during the growth of a fire and the modeling of different modes of flame spread to improve understanding of their effects on the outcomes of fires.

This chapter is based in part on material by Professor J. Quintiere appearing in previous editions of this handbook.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wasada University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuji Hasemi

Authors
  1. Yuji Hasemi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aon Fire Protection Engineering, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Morgan J. Hurley P.E., FSFPE (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Hughes Associates, Baltimore, USA

    Daniel Gottuk Ph.D., P.E.

  3. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

    John R. Hall Jr. Ph.D.

  4. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Harada Dr. Eng.

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Erica Kuligowski Ph.D.

  6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA

    Milosh Puchovsky P.E., FSFPE

  7. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    José Torero Ph.D.

  8. The Fire Safety Institute, Quincy, USA

    John M. Watts Jr. Ph.D., FSFPE

  9. FM Global, Johnston, USA

    Christopher Wieczorek Ph.D.

Nomenclature and Superscripts

a

\( {k}_f{\dot{Q}}_{\ell}^{{\prime\prime} } \)

b

flame spread acceleration factor (= (a − 1) − t ig */t b )

c

specific heat of solid

c g

specific heat of gas

c p

specific heat of air

δ

fuel thickness

δ fc

characteristic preheat distance

D

characteristic length of the burning area (height, etc.)

Da

Damköhler number

Δ

distance from the pyrolysis front

ΔH

heat of combustion

ΔH ox

ΔH/r

g

gravitational acceleration

k

\( {x}_f/{\dot{Q}}_{\ell}^{*n} \)

k′

constant \( {\left({\mathrm{k}}^{3/2}/{c}_p{T}_o{g}^{1/2}\right)}^{2/3}{\dot{Q}}_{\ell}^{2/3} \)

k

\( {x}_f/{\dot{Q}}_{\ell } \)

k g

gas thermal conductivity

L

heat of gasification

μ

viscosity

q″

heat flux due to gas-phase conduction

q ″ f

flame heat flux

q ″ fc

characteristic flame heat flux

\( {\dot{Q}}_{\ell } \)

heat release rate per unit width

\( {\dot{Q}}_{\ell}^{*} \)

dimensionless heat release rate per unit width

\( {\dot{Q}}_{\ell e}^{*} \)

effective heat release rate per unit width

r

stoichiometric mass ratio oxygen/fuel

ρ

density

ϕ

impulse response function

Φ

opposed-flow preheat factor (numerator in n)

σ

surface tension

t

time

t b

time to local burnout

t c

characteristic decay time of pyrolysis

t * ig

characteristic time to ignition

τ

time

T f

flame temperature

T ig

ignition temperature

T o

initial surface temperature

T r

reference temperature

T s

surface temperature

T ∞

ambient temperature

V g

gas velocity

V p

flame spread velocity

x f

flame length

x p

pyrolysis front length

x po

pilot flame length

x poff

maximum pyrolysis front length

Y ox,∞

mass fraction of oxygen

x, y

coordinates

·

per unit time

′

per unit length

″

per unit area

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Hasemi, Y. (2016). Surface Flame Spread. In: Hurley, M.J., et al. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2564-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2565-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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