Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, Vol.46, No.10, 689-694, 2013
Influence of Vortex Parameters on the Flame Height of a Weak Fire Whirl via Heat Feedback Mechanism
A fire whirl is known as a phenomenon that causes severe fire damage. A fixed-frame-type are whirl generator is often used in are whirl research, and it typically produces a weak are whirl, whose name height is determined almost solely by the heat feedback mechanism. The presence of a vortex above a pool are changes the shape of the flame base and enhances the heat feedback from the flame to the fuel, increasing the burning rate, and hence the flame height. Since the burning rate of a fire whirl is determined by the nature of the vortex, its flame height should be able to be expressed as a function of vortex parameters, specifically, the circulation and the core radius of the vortex. This paper reports such a flame height correlation that was semi-empirically derived through a series of experiments, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, and theoretical considerations.