An experimental investigation of burning behaviour of liquid pool fire in corridor-like enclosures

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the burning behavior of a liquid fuel pool fire in a corridor-like enclosure and to identify the key factors influencing fire development. A series of experiments is conducted in a medium-scale corridor-facade configuration using ethanol pool fires. A new fuel supply system has been developed to keep the fuel level constant to minimize lip effects. The influence of fuel surface area and ventilation factor on the fire development is also investigated. Experimental measurements consist of mass loss, heat release rate, temperatures and heat fluxes inside the corridor. Experimental results indicate that in corridor-like enclosures the fuel burning rate in ventilation-controlled conditions corresponds to about 2/3 of that observed in cubic-like enclosures. The fuel burning rate varies as the temperature distribution in the enclosure changes from uniform, in cubic-like enclosures, to layered, in corridors. The ventilation coefficient value used for the calculation of the inflow rate in corridor-like enclosures during post-flashover conditions is found to decrease with an increase of the ventilation factor.