Experimental study on thermal and toxic hazards connected to fire scenarios in road tunnels

The problem of toxic smoke in case of an accident with fire scenario is particularly severe in long tunnels and immediate effects from combustion product exposure often include fatalities. Notwithstanding extensive studies on fire simulation in tunnel, there is still a substantial lack of information on the different toxic products from combustion of light or heavy vehicles. In particular, there is a need for reliable test methods suitable to provide toxic products yields connected to defined accidental fire scenarios. In this paper, experimental runs in a laboratory scaled tunnel, simulating accidental fires of different heat release rates allowed firstly to characterize the thermal profiles in pool and car fires and to compare results by an analytical pool fire model. Results were compared as well with those obtained in a real scale tunnel, so as to quantitatively assess the scaling effect. A series of experiments was performed simulating an accidental scenario including pool fire from collision between a light vehicle and a HazMat heavy vehicle. An extensive set of experimental data allowed performing with good accuracy and reproducibility a complete characterization of toxic gases from car model fires, together with carbon monoxide and oxygen trends. The results obtained under different heat release rates allowed evidencing the dependence of the yields of toxic gases upon the considered scenario. Based on the intrinsic toxicity data of identified compounds, it is possible to draw practical conclusions, useful to assess the potential hazard associated to exposure to toxic smoke in road tunnel.     

Fired equipment combustion chamber accidents: A historical survey

A historical analysis was carried out on 189 accidents that occurred in gas and oil fuel fired equipment. The variation of frequency as a function of time, the main causes leading to a fire or an explosion, as well as the consequences of the accidents were studied. Explosion was the most frequent accident, followed by fire; in a few cases the final outcome was a release. Accidents in gas fired combustion equipment were significantly more frequent than those in the liquid fired ones. The main causes were tube rupture and/or error in ignition/reignition sequences, followed by loss of flame in the combustion chamber and, with a minor frequency, entrance of non-expected fuel and presence of non-combusted materials. The consequences on people were much more important in case of explosions than in case of fires. Even though the equipment involving combustion chambers can be considered essentially safe, this historical analysis has shown that accidents continue to occur with certain frequency because the number of existing units is quite high and the possibility of human error during its operation and maintenance is still significant.     

细水雾对油池火热释放速率影响规律的实验研究

热释放速率是描述火灾现象的重要参数,可以表征火灾发展的强烈程度。利用大尺寸的热释放速率实验测量平台开展细水雾对不同种类油池火灭火效率的实验研究,同时分析细水雾对燃烧产物一氧化碳含量的影响。结果表明,热释放速率曲线能直接反映出细水雾对火源的作用,细水雾作用下三种燃料的热释放速率均被有效抑制,且细水雾的流量越大,对油池火的灭火效果越好。燃烧产物一氧化碳在施加细水雾时出现陡增,表明细水雾隔绝氧气,造成不完全燃烧或者燃烧熄灭。     

Methodology for the quantification of toxic dispersions originated in warehouse fires and its application to the QRA in Catalonia (Spain)

A tool for the quantification of the consequences of toxic dispersions coming from fires in warehouses has been developed. This tool is expected to be applied in the framework of the risk assessment in Catalonia, specifically in the Quantitative Risk Assessment. The present study is based on the criteria gathered in the technical guide BEVI 3.2 and the methodology CPR-15 used in the Netherlands. Hence, the approach performed accepts the main body of the foresaid methodology but implements a different and free source dispersion model, a modified Gaussian model that takes into account the warehouse effect. In the work conducted, a historical analysis of accidents involving fire in warehouses has been performed in order to justify the importance of assessing their potential toxic dispersions. Furthermore, the tool has been tested in different case studies providing results that have been compared with other methodologies, observing similar results that can be useful for the stakeholders and decision makers in the framework of the risk assessment.     

水平风对不同液位深度酒精池火火焰长度的影响

通过改变风速、液位深度的大小,研究边界条件变化对酒精池火火焰长度的影响。研究结果表明：在无量纲液位深度小于一定值时,酒精池火的火焰长度会随着风速的增加而增大,当无量纲液位深度较大时,油盘外部酒精池火的火焰长度基本为0。风速相同而液位深度不同时,酒精池火的火焰长度会随着液位深度的增大首先增大,而后逐渐减小。这主要是因为,液位深度较大时,燃料表面的供氧量降低导致燃烧效率降低,最终导致火焰长度的减小。     

Modelling of the plume rise phenomenon due to warehouse or pool fires considering penetration of the mixing layer

The present paper describes the theory behind the “plume rise from warehouse or pool fires model” as implemented in the software package EFFECTS. This model simulates the rising of buoyant plumes due to the density difference between the hot combustion products and the ambient air. The plume rise model calculates the maximum height at which the released material will be in equilibrium with the density of the air, and presents the resulting trajectory of the plume, including hazard distances to specific concentration threshold levels. These parameters will be determined depending on the wind speed, atmospheric stability class and the fire's convective heat production, leading to potential penetration of the mixing layer.Additionally, the penetration of the smoke plume through the temperature inversion layer is assessed. If the convective heat of production is sufficient to penetrate the mixing layer, the smoke plume will be trapped above the mixing layer. When this occurs, the (potentially toxic) combustion products do not disperse back below the mixing layer, thus, the individuals at ground level are not exposed to the harmful combustion products. If the convective heat of production is not sufficient to penetrate the mixing layer, the smoke plume may experience the so-called reflection phenomena which will trap the smoke plume below the mixing layer. This could have more dangerous consequences for individuals who then might be exposed to harmful combustion products at ground level.Moreover, this paper includes the validation of the model against experimental data as well as to other widely validated mathematical models. The experiments and mathematical models used for the validation are described, and a detailed discussion of the results is included, with a statistical and graphical comparison against the field data.     

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of heat radiation from large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pool fires

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is flammable and has risks of pool fires during its transportation, storage, and applications. The heat radiation by LPG pool fires poses hazards to individuals nearby and can lead to potential failures of ambient facilities. Due to the high costs and invasive nature of experiments for investigating large-scale pool fires, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is employed in this study as the cost-effective and noninvasive method to simulate the process and analyze the characteristics of large hydrocarbon pool fires. Specifically, an experimentally validated 3-D CFD model has been built to simulate surface emissive power (SEP) and incident radiation of large-scale LPG pool fires with three different diameters and wind speeds. Steady-state simulations with P1 radiation and probability density function (PDF) combustion models were employed to obtain reliable data after the optimizations based on the comparisons with experimental data and empirical models. The comparison with benchmark experimental data demonstrates that the CFD model employed in this study can accurately predict the incident radiation of large LPG pool fires. A new SEP correlation is also proposed, which is specifically for LPG pool fires with a diameter between 10 m and 20 m. Additionally, the safe separation distances between LPG facilities and surrounded objects have been estimated based on the CFD simulation results. The high-resolution CFD model for large LPG pool fires in this work provides noninvasive and direct quantitative evidence to enhance the fundamental understanding on the safety of large LPG pool fires and can assist regulatory agencies in refining the safety limits in the cost-effective and time-saving manners.     

储油罐火灾的原因分析及控制技术

储油罐发生火灾的主要原因有明火、静电、自燃和雷击,文章就火灾原因进行了分析,并据此从管理、工艺、设备、日常操作等方面提出了相应的预防和控制措施,为储油罐的安全管理提供了理论指导.     

Behaviour of smoldering fires during periodic refilling of wood pellets into silos

The evolution of smoldering fires in biomass stored in lab-scale silos with additional fuel material supplied repeatedly, has been studied. The direct effects of the added material on the sample are: cooling, enhanced thermal insulation, and facilitation of more intense combustion at a later stage. This article focuses on the cooling, which leads to an almost instantaneous reduction in the combustion rate. Surprisingly, this reduction does not vary only with the amount of material refilled – but also depends strongly on the stage of the smoldering process. This demonstrates that the underlying smoldering processes merely to a certain degree are regularized by the periodic refillings. Quantitatively, the functional relationship between the refilled amount and the change in combustion rate caused by the refilling was determined. The results displays four regimes, that reflect different stages of the smoldering process at the time of the refilling. Using the Arrhenius equation, we find for one of these regimes an expression for the ratio of combustion rates (immediately after to immediately before the refill) as function of the amount of added material. This expression contains only one free (undetermined) parameter. We determine the value of this parameter from the data and demonstrate that this value is consistent with a simple model for how the sudden cooling occurs spatially in the sample.     

Effect of admixture of solid inertant on fire hazard of dust layers oriented at varying degrees of inclination

Unlike metallic dust layers, the layer flammability levels (LFL) of non-metallic dust layers exhibit a wide range from Class 1 (No self-sustained combustion) to Class 6 (explosive combustion). However, determinations of layer flammability have not considered the effect of inclination angle, thereby potentially underestimating fire hazard of combustible dust layers in many industrial situations. In this research, inclined dust layers showed greater fire hazard than did horizontally oriented dust layers. For example, LFL of wood dust jumped from class 3 to class 5 when layers were positioned with an incline. Flame spread rate of PMMA dust layers increased from 1.8 to 3.6 mm/s when the angle of inclination increased from 0 to 40°. Even small amounts of solid inertant significantly decreased surface layer fires. The required amount of inertant to completely inert layer fires was far less than that for smoldering layer fires or dust explosions.     

基于CCD成像的多角度激光散射探测技术

介绍了基于CCD成像的多角度激光散射的探测技术。本技术采用数字图象、神经网络等处理技术，对不同的燃烧方式设定相应的灵敏度，能准确识别灰尘、飞虫和水蒸汽等非火灾的干扰因素，实现了在复杂环境中稳定可靠的超早期的火灾探测和报警，改变了现有探测技术在提高灵敏度后却只能用于洁净环境、对恶劣环境只能通过提高报警阈值等手段来解决的被动局面。     

森林燃烧圈

本文提出了由气象圈、植被圈和火源圈构成森林燃烧圈的新学说，并阐述了它们之间的主次关系和相互关系，说明了森林火灾属于自然灾害的属性。     

An experimental study on the burning rate of a continuously released n-heptane spill fire on an open water surface

Spill fires are common during oil product storage and transportation after a loss of containment. Since the burning fuel is moving and the fuel depth is quite shallow, the burning rate in a spill fire is different from that of a pool fire with a static burning zone. Unlike pool fires, which have been studied for decades and have well-established correlations for burning rate, research on spill fires is inadequate. In this paper, continuously released n-heptane spill fire experiments were conducted on open water surfaces with varying fuel discharge rates. The pool diameters were measured, and the spill fire burning rates were estimated based on a dynamic balance between fuel supply and combustion. The burning rates in n-heptane pool fires from the literature were reviewed and compared with the estimated burning rates in spill fires of the same dimension. The spill fire burning rate was found to be close to that in a pool fire during the initial burning phase but lower than that in a bulk burning pool fire and that in a “fuel-level-controlled” pool fire. The distinction between the burning rates of spill fires and pool fires is explained by the heat balance analysis of the fuel layer. A model for the spill fire burning rate was proposed accordingly. The results calculated with the presented model are closer to the measured data than those calculated with pool fire models.     

LNG池火热辐射模型及安全距离影响因素研究

重点对LNG池火热辐射模型,模型应用方式,以及热辐射安全距离的影响因素做了详细研究,给出池火热辐射模型采用及安全距离计算的方法。对常用的热辐射计算模型(点源模型、LNGFire3和PoFM ISE模型)加以介绍,并对3种模型做了对比研究。PoFM ISE模型充分考虑大池火直径时不完全燃烧的因素以及风速对火焰高度的影响,建议当风速大于1.5 m/s,池火直径大于20 m时采用。同时,进一步研究影响LNG池火热辐射安全距离的各种因素,包括池火直径、风速、环境温度和湿度,从而得出不同条件下池火热辐射安全距离的要求。     

煤矿井下隐蔽火源反演研究

煤矿井下由于煤炭自燃引发的火灾是煤矿生产过程中一大突出灾害,一旦发生火灾将严重影响煤矿的正常生产,这不仅威胁着井下人员的生命安全,还会给国家带来巨大的经济损失。由于矿井下隐蔽火源是引发火灾的重大因素之一,所以要更好的解决煤炭自燃而引发火灾的问题,重中之重就是对煤炭自燃隐蔽火源位置的确定。只有准确的确定了火源的位置,才能有的放矢地进行灭火。本文结合煤矿井下煤炭自燃发火的特点,建立数学模型,把煤矿井下隐蔽火源位置确定问题归纳为热传导方程的寻源反问题,利用离散正则化方法求解热传导方程,克服了反演问题的不适定性,并应用matlab进行了反演数值模拟,验证了利用离散正则化反演方法的实用性,为防火、灭火采取措施提供了依据,在理论上也具有一定的研究与应用价值。     

中庭火灾烟气流动数值模拟

根据中庭火灾特点 提出了考虑辐射换热损失和壁面传热损失、不考虑燃烧过程、视火焰为体积热源,浮升力作用下火灾烟气湍流流动的场模型,并将辐射换热损失计人壁面传热损失,简化辐射换热模型计算,运用该场模型对中庭模型实验装置火灾烟气流动进行了数值模拟,采用通用软件PHOENICS进行数值计算,研究表明,数值模拟结果与中庭模型实验装置火灾试验结果吻合;以热源模拟火焰的方法对分析中庭火灾烟流发展规律可行。     

淮南矿区井下煤炭自燃火灾因素分析及防治措施

１９９０年以来,淮南矿区１１个矿井共发生自燃火灾４９起,自燃发火率平均为每百万吨习煤量０．５３次。通过对该矿区井下煤炭自燃因素和地质条件及开采中出现的自燃发火原因作了具体分析,从中找出发火规律;并对井下煤层自燃发火采取均压通风和直接灭火做了新的尝试,提出了对井下煤炭自燃防治措施。     

Emission of Oxygenated Species from the Combustion of Pine Wood and its Relation to Soot Formation

Combustion tests of pine wood cribs have been performed in different airflows in a fire test chamber. VOC in the flue gas has been monitored on-line using FTIR. Soot was collected at different heights above the bed on to quartz fibre filters and was characterized using pyrolysis-GC-MS. Correlation between combustion conditions and emission profiles were elucidated. The soot contained significant amounts of adsorbed oxygenated material derived from pyrolysis of the wood. Three types of material were identified: pyrolysis products, pyrolysis recombination products and PAH, and significant proportions of O-PAH are also present. Oxygenated PAH increased with temperature and higher air flow rate whereas oxygenated phenolic type material increased with lower temperature and lower air flow rate. Cooler flames from oxygen-starved fires akin to conditions in household fires produce significant higher proportions of phenolic material.Oxygen appears to play a significant role in the production of soot and there appear to be two routes by which PAH material can be synthesized. Firstly through conventional hydrocarbon mechanisms such as the HACA method and secondly through a route involving the polymerization of biomass pyrolysis fragments. A number of important species are identified which could be intermediates between these pyrolysis products and PAH.     

火灾中聚合物材料热解对汽油辨识的影响分析

火灾中聚合物材料的燃烧过程产生的热解产物,从而增加化学分析谱图的复杂性,对助燃剂鉴定造成干扰。针对常见的聚合物材料开展了一系列燃烧实验,对其在燃烧过程中的热解机理进行了分析,并通过汽油存在条件下的聚合物材料燃烧实验分析了热解对汽油辨识产生的干扰。     

松针燃烧排放物的热重桥/质谱在线监测方法

森林火灾排放物主要包含气体、挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)、和半挥发性有机化合物(SVOCs),这些物质会严重威胁消防队员和居民的健康。森林火灾烟气是一种包含固体颗粒、液体和气体化合物的复杂混合物。在火前锋附近(靠近消防队员)或者离火前锋很远(但靠近居民)的地方,当苯、甲苯、烯烃等有机化合物的浓度超过各健康安全组织规定的极限值,就可能对健康产生影响。本文给出了一种使用室内热重桥一质谱联用对炉内松针燃烧实验进行火前锋排放物在线监测的新方法。该燃烧实验被认为含氧量较低,这是真实森林火灾中通常的情形。使用这种方法测量得到的苯和甲苯的最大浓度分别是1050和2050ppm。CO2的最大浓度超过10．000ppm。