HEAT FEEDBACK TO THE FUEL SURFACE IN POOL FIRES

A series of measurements designed to investigate the heat feedback in pool fires burning liquid fuels are reported. Such measurements are es sential for the development and validation of detailed models which pr edict the burning rate of liquid hydrocarbons and solid polymers. The radial variation of the local radiative and local net heat flux incide nt on the surface of 0.30 m diameter pool fires were measured. A water -cooled, nitrogen purged, narrow view-angle gauge was developed to mea sure the radiative flux incident on the fuel surface. Measurements of the mass burning rate in a burner composed of annular rings was used t o estimate the local heat feedback. A number of different fuels were s tudied, yielding flames with a wide range of heat release rates and lu minosities. Consideration of the heat balance for a control volume enc losing the liquid pool indicated that radiation was an important compo nent of the heat feedback for non-luminous fires and a dominant compon ent in luminous fires.