Unsteady rans modeling of water-spray suppression for large-scale compartment pool fires

Sam S. Yoon, Ho Young Kim, Paul E. Desjardin, John C. Hewson, Sheldon R. Tieszen, Thomas K. Blanchat

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    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper presents a computational study of the effect of water-spray characteristics on the suppression of a large-scale (2 m × 2 m) JP-8 pool fire in a 10 m × 10 m × 10 m compartment with an open ceiling. The numerical model is based on an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes formulation using a stochastic separated flow approach for the droplets that includes detailed descriptions of the interaction between water droplets and fire plume. Simulation results indicate that water-spray injection causes the gas temperature to rise due to the initial enhancement of the turbulent mixing. A threshold suppression condition is achieved when the injected droplet carries enough momentum (injection speed range is 20-80 m/s) to penetrate the fire plume and evaporate in the flame regions where most of the gas-phase combustion is taking place. In addition, the droplet size (ranging from 100-800 m) should be small enough to yield quick evaporation when in contact with the flame surface for efficient cooling. Based on a parametric study, a preferred fire suppression configuration is recommended for the systems considered. Copyright ® 2007 Begell House, Inc.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-45
    Number of pages45
    JournalAtomization and Sprays
    Volume17
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Chemical Engineering

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