Experiments and Modeling of Large-scale Benchmark Enclosure Fire Suppression

Abstract

This article presents a series of experiments on benchmark fire suppression. The experiments were performed in a controlled environment, utilizing a cylindrical object or calorimeter centered above a 2 m diameter pan filled with kerosene-based hydrocarbon fuel, JP8. The experimental setup and procedure for gathering data on water suppression performance are presented. The characteristics of the nozzles used in the experiments are presented as well. The experimental results provide the boundary condition and temporal data necessary for validation of the fire suppression models used. The article also includes simulation results on the fire suppression experimental tests. The suppression simulations were carried out using a numerical model based on a Temporally Filtered Navier-Stokes (TFNS) formulation coupled with a Lagrangian model for droplets, which includes detailed descriptions of the interaction between the water droplets and the fire plume. The results from both experiments and simulations suggest that the criterion for complete suppression depends on a combination of factors including the mass flow rate (or nozzle diameter), nozzle operating pressure, and calorimeter presence. A critical regime which distinguished the regions of suppression and no-suppression in the domain of the mass flow rate versus operating pressure is found.