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Report of Investigations 8450

Behavior of Wood Fires in Model

Tunnels Under Forced
Ventilation Flow
Tests With Untreated Wood

By C. K. Lee , R. F. Chaiken , J. M. Singer,

and M. E. Harris
INTERIDE

OF TH
E
OR

March 3, 1849

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Cecil D. Andrus , Secretary
BUREAU OF MINES

Lindsay D. Norman, Acting Director

This publication has been cataloged as follows:

Pittsburgh Research Center

Behavior of wood fires in model tunnels under forced ventila
tion flow ; tests with untreaded wood .

( Report of investigations ; 8450)

Bibliography : p . 47-49.
Supt . of Docs , no .: I 28.23 : 8450

1. Mine fires . 2. Mine ventilation. 3. Wood -Combustion . I. Lee ,

C. K. II . Title . III . Series : United States . Bureau of Mines . Report of
investigations ; 8450 .

TN23.043 ( TN315) 622'.08 ( 622'.8] 79-60 7901

 CONTENTS
Page

Abstract .... 1
Introduction .. 1
Acknowledgments .. 2
Experimental work.... 2
Results and discussion .. 6
General observations .. 6
Ignition delay and flame spread . 7
Fire throttling and reverse flow. 13
Gas compositions and temperatures . 17
Extinguishment ... 30
Smoke particulates .. 36
Energetics ... 40
Conclusions .. 46
References ... 47
Appendix A .-- Calculation scheme for fuel mass flow rate and H2O
concentration .... 50
Appendix B. --Radiation calculation scheme . 53
Appendix C. --List of symbols . 55

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Schematic of fire tunnel facility... 3

2. Instrumentation of fire duct ..... 5
3. Typical view of wood duct fires from duct entrance . 8
4. Ignition delay time and flame spread measurements of
experiments 5 , 8 , and 10.....

9
5. Wood surface temperatures of experiment 5 .. 10
6. Ventilation air and fire duct exhaust mass flow rates of
experiment 5 ....... 11
7. Ventilation air and fire duct exhaust mass flow rates of
experiment 8 ..... 11
8. Heat generation and energy loss rates of fire duct for
experiment 8 ...... 12
9. Flow characteristics of exhaust fan and fire tunnel network
during cold and hot flow in experiment 8 .. 13
10 . Changes of pressure distribution of fire duct from cold to
hot flow at constant fan setting of 52 percent in
experiment 8 ... 14
4

11 . Changes of pressure distribution of fire duct from cold to

hot flow at different fan settings in experiment 8 .. 14
12 . Reverse flow viewed from fire duct entrance . ..... 15
13 . Fire throttling and reverse flow measurements in experiment 8 ..... 16
14 . Pressure distribution in fire duct during reverse and
nonreverse flow in experiment 8 ... 17
1

15 . Gas concentrations at stations X = 2.44 m , 4.27 m , and 8. 23 m

of fire duct and overall R values of experiment 8 ... 20
ii

ILLUSTRATIONS-- Continued
Page

16 . Profiles of oxygen and carbon monoxide concentrations

along the center of fire duct of experiment 6 ... 21
17 . Profiles of fire duct center temperatures of experiment 6 .. 22
18 . Gas concentrations at four stations in experiment 7 .. 23
19 . Molar ratios of hydrogen and methane to carbon monoxide
in experiment 7 ...... 24
20 . Jones - Trickett number at stations X = 2.44 m , 4.27 m , and
8.23 m of fire duct in experiment 8 ..... 25
21 . Jones - Trickett number of fire duct exhaust gas in
experiment 7 and experiment 6 ... 26
22 . Effect of high - expansion foam on temperature profile at
5 cm from duct floor in experiment 9 ....... 32
23 . Effect of high - expansion foam on fire duct gases in
experiment 9 ..... 32
24 . Effect of high - expansion foam on fire duct gases in
experiment 10 ...... 33
25 . Effect of high - expansion foam on temperature profile at
5 cm from duct floor in experiment 10 .. 33
26 . Effect of nitrogen gas injection on duct center temperatures
in experiment 5 .... 34
27 . Effect of nitrogen gas injection on fire duct gases in
experiment 5 ...... 35
28 . Optical transmission of fire duct exhaust gas in
experiment 8 ....... 37
29 . Optical density per unit length of fire duct exhaust
gas in experiment 8 .... 38
30 . Mass concentrations of smoke particulates and carbon
monoxide of fire duct exhaust gas in experiment 8 ... 38
31 . Mass generation rates of volatile fuel , smoke particulates ,
and carbon monoxide in experiment 8 ..... 39
32 . Transmission electron microscope picture of smoke particles
(magnification 50,000 ) collected at X = 6.2 m in
fire duct .... 40
33 . Total incident surface heat flux on side wall at x = 4.22 m
in fire duct .... 41
34 . Effect of ventilation air flow on radiative , convective , and
total incident heat fluxes on sidewall at X = 4.22 m of
fire duct in experiment 8 ... 42
35 . Radiative , convective , and total incident heat fluxes on side
wall at x = 4.22 m of fire duct for entire experiment 8..... 43
36 . Nusselt number versus Reynolds number of duct fire experiments .... 44
37 . Heat of pyrolysis calculated from conductive heat transfer
rate and volatile fuel mass generation rate of wood lining .... 45
 iii

TABLES
Page

1. Test conditions of experiments .. 6

2. Effects of ignition source intensity on duct fire , 9
3. Proximate and ultimate analyses of oak ... 18
4. Gas concentrations of fire duct exhaust gas determined from
analyses of collected gas samples in experiment 8 .... 27
5. Gas concentrations calculated from results in table 4 using
appendix A ( [H2o ] based on Oz balance) .... 28
6. Gas concentrations calculated from results in table 4 using
appendix A ([ H , o ] based on Hg balance) .. 29
7. Properties of high - expansion foam . ... 31
8. Gas concentrations in fire duct during sealing in experiment 6 . 36
9. Radiation characteristics of duct fire experiment 8 .... 43
10 . Surface heat fluxes of wood at midzone of fire duct in
experiment 8 ...... 44
 BEHAVIOR OF WOOD FIRES IN MODEL TUNNELS UNDER
FORCED VENTILATION FLOW
Tests With Untreated Wood

by

C. K. Lee, ' R. F. Chaiken,2 J. M. Singer, 3 and M. E. Harris 3

ABSTRACT

This Bureau of Mines report presents results from experimental studies

on wood fires in a laboratory - scale tunnel network . Experimental measurements
include ignition de lay time , flame spread rate , ventilation air and gas flow
rates , wood temperature , gas temperature , pressure and composition , thermal
flux , and smoke particulates . These measurements form a data base for fire
scaling studies and provide information on various fire processes , such as
flow interaction between ventilation air and fire , fire throttling and reverse
flow , and duct fire energetics . Results show how hazards of duct fires relate
to the development of ( 1 ) asphyxiating and toxic fumes , ( 2 ) explosive gas
mixtures , ( 3 ) throttling of ventilation air , and (4 ) high - temperature combus
tion products . Such fire hazards should be carefully considered when testing
flammabilities of materials used in a confined underground mine environment .
INTRODUCTION

Timber has often been a major fuel in mine fires , especially in metal and
nonmetal mines where large quantities are used . The hazards of such fires
relate to the development of ( 1 ) high - temperature combustion products , ( 2 )
asphyxiating and toxic fumes , ( 3 ) explosive gas mixtures , and (4 ) throttling
of ventilation air , which can strongly affect the nature and spread of the fire
and fumes . A quantitative understanding of these processes is essential for
developing optimal methods for prevention and control of mine fires . Through
properly designed experiments in model fire tunnels , appropriate scaling laws
for mine fires can be determined . This will enable the development of venti
lation control techniques for suppressing fire hazards as well as setting
useful criteria for small - scale flammability testing .

1 Mechanical engineer.
2 Supervisory research chemist .
3 Research chemist .
A11 authors are with the Pittsburgh Research Center , Bureau of Mines ,
Pittsburgh , Pa .
2

Roberts and his colleagues ( 20-21) 4 have studied small- and large - scale
tunnel wood fires under conditions of constant forced ventilation flows leading
to steady - state fire propagation . Such studies were useful in identifying
conditions for fuel - rich and oxygen- rich buring , and in defining some of the
potential hazards of timber fires in mines . However , they did not investigate .
the growth of such fires prior to steady flame spread from an ignition source .
This phase of fire growth involves complex transient phenomena in which the
ventilation flow and the fire interact with each other , and gives rise to igni
tion de lays which depend on ventilation velocity and ignition source intensity .
Fire - induced throttling of ventilation air is also developed which affects fire
spread , rate of oxygen consumption , development of smoke and toxic fumes and
reverse flow . The present experimental study of model wood tunnel fires is
designed to study these transient fire phenomena , and to provide the basic data
for scaling the various processes and fire hazards in large - scale mine timber
fires .

To data our tunnel wood fire experiments have been conducted in a small
scale ( 10 -m - long ) insulated duct with a 30 - cm - square opening for ventilation
flow . Ten experiments consisting of six untreated and four fire -retardant
treated woods were performed . Only results from the six untreated -wood tests
are presented in this report . Results on the treated -wood tests will be dis
cussed in a later report . General descriptions of experiments and results
on ignition de lay times , flame spread rate , flow interaction between fire and
ventilation flow , generation of gases and smoke , extinguishment , and fire
energetics are presented here . It is planned that in addition to these small
scale tunnel fire experiments , tunnel wood fires will be studied in a 80 - cm
square ( flow area ) by 10 -m - long intermediate - scale tunnel. Large - scale tim
ber fire tests are already underway at Factory Mutual Research Corp. (6 ) . In
addition , an analytical program is being carried out to model tunnel fires
( 8-9,11-12 ) . Based on the results from the three different -scaled fire experi
ments and the theoretical analyses , scaling laws for various fire processes
will be derived . Such scaling laws will both provide basic understanding of
mine timber fires and establish guidelines for fire testing .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are thankful to the following personnel of the Bureau of Mines
Pittsburgh Research Center for their experimental assistance : C. Bennett ,
K. Cashdollar , L. Dalverny , A. Damick , R. Diehl , F. Donnelly , and W. Hoffman .
EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The present model fire tunnel facility was initially designed for coal
tunnel fire studies (3) . A detailed description of the tunnel design has been
published by Chaiken (4) . Since the coal fire work , the tunnel has been modi
fied for wood fire studies . A schematic of the current tunnel layout is shown
in figure 1 . The tunnel network consisted of the original fire duct and a new
parallel bypass duct to simulate single and parallel mine roadways . The fire
4 Underlined numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references
preceding the appendixes at the end of this report .
 3

Exhaust duct
Venturi meter

9.6 m

Bypass duct
3.46

O
m

Front extension
m1.14

0.2 - m - diameter duct ,

Fire ducts 0.29- m - square duct
O

ni
O

( A ) PLAN VIEW

오 .w
Scale , meter
1.57
m

Venturi meter Exhaust duct Exhaust fan

0.305 - m square

TA年 Pressure - adjust gate Bypass duct

0.254 -m diam
Ś Water-cooled heat
exchanger

On - off gate
2.9

Pressure-adjust gate
m

0.15 -m -diam duct

Insulation gate for
fire and bypass duct,
On - off gate
Water- cooled heat 3 -cm -thick by 6.2-m 0.99-m -long wood lining
-0.3-m-square exchanger long wood lining on Fire duct, 0.27-m
duct roof and walls square flow area on 4 sides
1.9-cm - thick Marinite lining

0.46 -m
ETIA
square
ਤਕਨੀਕ
1.6 m 1.2 m Ź 7.1m 1.9m '2 1.8 m
Cooling Test section Ignition section
section

(B ) ELEVATION
FIGURE 1. - Schematic of fire tunnel facility . A, Plan view of fire tunnel network; B ,
vertical cross section of fire duct and side view of fire tunnel network .
In B , 1-6 are tunnel stations keying to later figures .
4

duct consisted of four sections : ( 1 ) Ignition , ( 2 ) test , ( 3 ) cooling , and (4 )

exhaust duct and fan sections . In addition , a portable front extension duct
was connected to the inlet of the ignition section for ventilation airflow
measurement during the experiments . In the ignition section , the four walls
were lined with oak slabs 30 cm high by 15 cm wide by 3 cm thick to form a
0.99 -m- long wood loading as an ignition source for the wood lining in the test
section . Oak slabs of the same size were used to line the two side walls and
the ceiling of the test section to form a continuous wood fuel lining . The
ignition and test sections were separated by a 2 -cm- thick insulation gate to
ensure thermal and flow isolation of the two sections before fire - testing the
wood in the test section . The water -cooled heat exchanger in the cooling sec
tion decreased the temperature of the duct exhaust gas to protect the exhaust
ductwork and exhaust fan . The variable - speed exhaust fan delivered up to
4 m/sec cold flow air velocity in the fire duct . The bypass duct , which
connected the ignition section and the exit of the fire duct , was equipped with
a water - cooled heat exchanger to cool the hot gases from the ignition section .
The cold - flow resistances of the fire and bypass ducts were adjusted to be
equal by dampers so that hot - flow gas flow rates remained approximately the
same in both ducts .

During a fire experiment , the two gates in the fire duct were first closed
and the airflow through the ignition section into the bypass duct was set at
3 m3 /min . A 5 - kw premixed gas burner was inserted into the ignition section
to ignite the wood . Self - sustained buring of the wood was established with a
burner insertion time of 6 minutes . The gas burner was then removed , and the
front extension duct was connected to the ignition section . Ventilation air
flow rate was slowly increased through 4 minutes to a predetermined value to
establish a standard constant - intensity ignition source for the wood lining
in the test section .

At time t = 0 , the gates in the bypass duct were quickly closed ; simulta
neously , those in the fire duct were opened to direct the flow into the fire
duct , thereby exposing the wood lining in the test section to the ignition
source . Through such procedures , ignition delay time and flame spread rate of
the wood lining were accurately measured .

After a certain ignition delay time , flame spread down the fire duct , and
subsequently the whole wood liniing became fully inflamed . In some
experiments , the fan speed was kept constant after the fire became fully
developed to let the fire take its own course . In other experiments , the fan
speed was varied in steps to study the fire - ventilation interaction at various
airflow rates . During the fire , various processes were measured by the typical
instrumentation shown in figure 2. These included measurements of ( 1 ) flame
spread rate by ionization flame detectors , view ports , and durface thermo
couples , ( 2 ) gas flow rate by Venturi meter , bidirectional velocity probes ( 19 ) ,
and vane anemometer , ( 3 ) wood and gas temperatures by thermocouples and pyrom
eter , (4 ) gas pressure by electronic pressure transducers , ( 5 ) radiative and
total heat fluxes by Gardon- type radiometers and calorimeters and , Marinite
5 " Cold flow " refers to airflow at room condition before fire ; "hot flow " refers
to flow condition during fire .
 5

KEY
© Calorimeter ( Gardon - type ) O Vane anemometer
© Gas - sampling probe Bidirectional velocity probe
439 Hygrometer probe Grid particulate sampling point
(HCM) Cyanide-sampling probe V Tonization smoke particulate detector
sampling point
M Marinite heat flux gage A Three-wavelength particulate
( imbedded TC ) detection tube
© Static pressure tap clonization flamedetector
® Radiometer (Gardon- type) Thermocouple ( TC )
♡ Viewport Wood lining
W Wood heat flux gage Firebrick
( imbedded TC ) Marinite lining

0
HCN )

XAX X '. XX
0.2 m
( H₂O)

-Test section
Ignition
section
1
9 8 Ź7 6 5 4 3 2 1

AXIAL DISTANCE FROM FIRE DUCT ENTRANCE X , m

FIGURE 2. - Instrumentation of fire duct .

and wooden disks ( 25 ) , ( 6 ) gas composition by batch samples and online gas
analyzers , and ( 7 ) smoke particulates by optical and sampling techniques .
General descriptions of the measurement techniques have been reported by
Chaiken ( 3-4 ) . Smoke measurement techniques were reported by Cashdollar (1)
and Lee ( 18 ) . The Marinite and wooden disk heat flux meters were 2.5 - cm- thick
disks with 2.5 cm diameter . One 0.076 - mm - diameter thermocouple was positioned
at the heated surface of the disk and one was 2 mm below the surface . Total
incident surface heat flux was calculated from the temperature -time histories
of the two thermocouples using a transient heat conduction analysis ( 25 ) .

All measurement signals were acquired on a 200 -channel data logger and
a magnetic tape for computer processing . During the transient buildup stage
of the fire , about 50 selected relevant measurements were continuously recorded
within every 10 seconds . Data scanning rate was reduced to one scan per
minute for all the measurements during the steady buring period , and one scan
every 5 to 10 minutes during the fire decay period . Measurements required
for visual observation and manual control during the experiment , such as venti
lation airflow rate and ignition section temperatures , were also recorded
continuously on strip -chart recorders .
6

Test conditions for the six untreated oak fire experiments are shown
in table 1 . Cold flow ventilation air velocities were chosen to be about 1.5
m/ s , similar to those in mines . Some fires were permitted to burn out by
themselves , and some were extinguished by either high - expansion foam or nitro
gen gas .

TABLE 1 . · Test conditions of experiments

-

Experiment No.1
5 6 7 8 9 10
Length of wood lining
(ignition and test
sections) ... m .. 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1
Cold flow air velocity
m / sec .. 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.2 1.7 1.7
Fan setting during
experiment ... Constant Varied Varied Varied Varied Varied
Extinguishant ....... Nitrogen None None None Foam Foam
(burnout ) (burnout ) (burnout )
1 Tests 1-4 involved treated woods .

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

General Observations

The ventilation air velocity range of 0 to 2 m/sec used in the present

experiments always resulted in oxygen - rich burning of the 0.99 - m oak lining in
the ignition section . Upon exposure of the ignition section to the wood lining
in the test section , oxygen - rich burning continued throughout the ignition
delay time period . After the ignition delay time , flame began to spread down
the fire duct along the surface of the wood lining in the test section . Sub
sequently , the entire wood lining became fully inflamed . As volatile fuel mass
was generated and burned to produce high - temperature combustion products , the
ventilation airflow was throttled to flow rates lower than the original cold
flow rate . The throttled ventilation air was insufficient for complete com
bustion of all the volatile fuel generated . This resulted in fuel -rich burning
in the duct , which continued throughout the fully developed fire period . As
more volatile fuel was depleted , charcoal started to form and burning began to
decay . Oxygen concentration in the fire duct started to rise . Eventually the
entire wood lining burned out , leaving ashes on the floor . In some experi
ments , high -expansion foam was used to extinguish the fire before it was burned
out . In summary , typical sequential events during the duct fires were ( 1 )
oxygen-rich burning of wood in the ignition section , ( 2 ) ignition de lay and
flame spread on the wood lining in the test section , ( 3 ) development of
throttling of ventilation air , ( 4 ) fuel - rich burning of fully developed wood
fire , and ( 5 ) fire decay and burnout . Important findings are summarized
below for these events .
 7

Ignition Delay and Flame Spread

One of the difficulties in tunnel fire studies is the establishment of
a well - defined ignition source that is sufficiently intense to generate a
self-propagating fire , but not so intense as to overwhelm the subsequent
tunnel fire . In addition , if the fuel of the ignition source is identical
to the fuel that is being tested in the tunnel , then the fire characteristics
of the fuel alone can be studied . The present " wood ignition technique"
serves well for these purposes .
There are three variables that can be used to characterize the present
ignition source of burning wood . The first one is the heat generation rate
from flaming combustion of the wood in the ignition section , acomb , 1 :
ģcond , 1 me ? Qcomb (1 )

In equation 1 , me ,t is the wood burning rate , which is obtained from the

difference between the measured duct exhaust mass flow rate , me 5 and the
ventilation air mass flow rate , ma ; and Qcomb is the heat of combustion of the
volatile fuel from wood pyrolysis , which is taken to be 3,500 cal/ g (23 ) . The
second variable is the enthalpy flux from the ignition section to the test
section an which is determined from the gas mass flow rate and temperature
measurements at the intersection of the ignition and test sections ; that is ,

Վ h ,1 Eg = 1 ga g3 (mcpT ); (2)
In equation 2 , Cp and T are the specific heat and temperature of the gas ; m is
the gas mass flow rate ; and j refers to the top , center , and bottom cross
sectional areas of the intersection . The third variable is the average veloc
ity, V8,1 , of the hot gas from the ignition section to the test section . Such
a velocity V8 ,1 is related to the average ventilation air velocity , Va , far
upstream from the ignition section , which in turn is a function of the
cold - flow air velocity before the fire , Va .
The first variable, con b ,1 , is the basic heat output from the wood lining
in the ignition section to generate ignition and flame spread of the wood
lining downstream , Part of this basic heat output is fed back to the ignition
section , and part of it is transferred to the wood lining downstream by radia
tion and convention , The convective part of the heat transfer is related to
the second variable , qn 1 , and the third variable , V8,1 . The radiative part
of the heat transfer is dependent on the properties of the combustion gases
and fuel lining , and the relative geometry between the ignition and test
sections .

During the experiments , effort was made to establish a flow of hot gas of
uniform temperature from the ignition section to the test section to generate
one -dimensional flame spread , a condition compatible with our theoretical fire .

5Whenever applicable , lowercase letters refer to hot flow during fire and
uppercase letters refer to cold flow before fire ; for example , me versus
Me . See also appendix C for list of symbols .
8

spread model (8-9 ) . However , the upward buoyant flow of the hot gas tended to
cause higher gas temperatures in the upper portion of the ignition section than
the lower . Consequently , the wood lining on the ceiling was more effectively
heated than the wood on the two sidewalls during the ignition delay period .
Such uneven heating caused the flame to propagate slightly farther ahead on
the ceiling than on the two sidewalls . The upward buoyant flow of the hot
combustion gas along the two sidewalls can be seen in figure 3. Figure 3 shows
a typical fully developed fire as viewed from the duct entrance . Two large
flame vortices occurred in the upper corners as the buoyant flames along the
sidewalls intersected the horizontal roof flame . The turbulent motion of the
flow in the fire zone apparently rapidly mixed the gases and their tempera
tures . Such good mixing resulted in reasonably one -dimensional variation in
gas concentration and temperature distributions in the fire zone . However ,
one - dimensional flow broke down during reverse flow at low ventilation air
flow velocities .

As mentioned earlier , upon exposure of the wood lining in the test sec
tion to the ignition source , flame began to spread at a velocity , Ve , after
an ignition delay time , ty . This phenomenon for experiments 5 , 8 , and 10 is
shown in figure 4 and table 2. While quantitative correlation between the
characteristics of the ignition source and the ignition delay time has not
yet been obtained because of the limited data , some significant trends are

FIGURE 3. - Typical view of wood duct fires from duct entrance .

 9

evident from figure 4 and table 2 . First, ignition delay time , ty , is strongly
dependent on Icomb , 1 and Vs same As
acoģc
n ombat and v. increase , t, decreases as
expected . Second , ' for the same icomo
b ås in expériments 8 and 10 , since
burning of the ignition section is
e n
oxygen -rich , higher ventilation airflow ,
Va , results in higher gas dilution and lower gas temperatures in the ignition
section . This results in a longer ignition de lay time in the experiment 8
than 10. Third , flame spread rate , Ve , is relatively independent of the
burning intensity of the ignition source . This is probably because once the
flame starts to spread , the " instantaneous ignition source " to ignite the
unburned wood is no longer the original ignition source , but the total amount
of burning wood involved during flame spread . Fourth , the ratio of Valve is of
an order of 25. A linear functional dependence of ve on Va was discussed by
de Ris (7) .
TABLE 2 . Effects of ignition source intensity on duct fire

Exp . No. acom 0,19 an , 1 V

1 Va , Vaa , te ,> Ver
m/sec m/sec m / sec sec cm /sec
5 < 150 35 2.6 1.15 1.5 456 7.44
8 150 62 3.8 1.7 2.21 40 6.45
10 150 70 4.2 1.25 1.72 12 8.33

Figure 5 shows the wood surface temperatures at three locations on the

ceiling and one side wall as a function of time for experiment 5 . In addition ,
flame signals from the three
9 ionization flame detectors
adjacent to the three ceil
ENTRANCE
DISTANCE

8 ing thermocouples are also

FROM
DUCT

included . From the surface

FIRE

KEY
temperatures and flame sig
,m
X

Experiment No.
0 5 nals , a 300 ° C wood surface
temperature is a good indi
section

o 8
6

Test

AA 10
cation for flaming ignition
Flame detection by of the wood lining . The
OO A view ports
D

O
II A ionization flame detectors earlier rise of the wood
tie ignition delay time surface temperatures on the
Vpoflame spread velocity ceiling as compared to that
4

on the sidewall indicates

vp = 7.4 cm /sec
( exp.5 ) the more effective heating
on the former than the
latter owing to buoyancy
Ignition
section
-

= 7.6 min during the ignition delay

1

( exp. 5 ) period . This resulted in

flame spread on the ceiling
ahead of that on the side
wall as confirmed by the
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 surface temperature
TIME , 1, min measurements .
FIGURE 4. - Ignition delay time and flame spread measure
ments of experiments 5, 8, and 10.
 10
TURE
SURFACE
CEILING
TEMPERA
800
WOOD

x = 3.96 m
tf- +
C°,Two

6.10 m
600
A
7.32 m
KEY
400
t; = ignition delay time
fp = flame spread time
200 td - fire development time
Temperature range for signal
from flame detector
URE
SURFACE
SIDEWALL

800

O
TEMPERAT
WOOD

800
+ td x = 3.96 m
6.10 m
°C,TW

600H
B
7.32 m
400

200

2 4. 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME , t , min

FIGURE 5. - Wood surface temperatures of experiment 5. A, Ceiling surface temperatures and

flame ionization detector signals ; B , side wall surface temperatures .

Immediately after the flame reached the exit end of the ceiling wood
lining , the entire wood lining in the duct became fully inflamed .
quently , the ventilation air was rapidly throttled to lower flow rates ,
leading to extremely fuel - rich burning . This is shown in figures 6 and 7 for
experiments 5 and 8 , respectively . In experiment 5 , the fan speed was kept
constant and the fire was permitted to take its own course . The ventilation
air was throttled to about half of its initial value as shown in figure 6 . The
volatile fuel mass generation rate was about the same as the ventilation air
flow rate , suggesting extremely fuel - rich wood combustion . In experiment 8 ,
fan speed was kept constant during the first 4 minutes for the fire to develop .
During the time period between the 4th and 20th minutes , the fan speed was
increased in steps to regulate the ventilation air velocity . The correspond
ing duct mass flow rates are shown in figure 7. Because of fuel - rich burning ,
higher ventilation airflows intensified the fire and resulted in higher
volatile fuel mass generation rates as shown in figure 7 .
 11

140

me
MASS

120
FLOW
,RATE
g/s™ ec

KEY
100 % t; = ignition delay time
mt
fp = flame spread time
to = fire development time
80 mg= exhaust mass flow rate
mg- ventilation air mass flow rate
mp= volatile fuel mass generation rate
-

60
ma

40 te --
20
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME, t, min
FIGURE 6. - Ventilation air and fire duct exhaust mass flow rates of
experiment 5 .
300

Fan setting
: 52 % 41207|| 25 % -30% 4+40% + 50% + 60% 470 % tt 80%
O i
250
Fit- tots 7 KEY
MASS
FLOW
RATE

+ A t; - ignition delay time

g/, ec
sm

2000
tye flame spread time
to fire development time
mos exhaust mass flow rate
mga ventilation air mass flow rate
150 mp-volatile fuel mass
generation rate

100 ma

50

1 1
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME ,t, min
FIGURE 7. - Ventilation air and fire duct exhaust mass flow rates of experiment 8 .
See glossary for explanation of additional symbols .
 12

The total heat generation rate from fuel combustion , comb , and the rate
of enthalpy loss by the exhaust gas , än were calculated from the mass flow
rates and temperatures of the volatile fuel , ventilation air , and exhaust gas .
The results for experiment 8 are shown in figure 8. It is seen that only less
than half of the heat generated from combustion was lost by the duct exhaust
gas . The remaining energy was fed back through conduction into the duct
lining , Äx to generate volatile fuel to sustain flaming combustion ; that is ,

äx ,+= 'comb - ‫ و‬. (3 )

From figures 7 and 8 , it is seen that the fire growth from the finite ignition
source and rapid transition from oxygen - rich to fuel - rich burning were the
result of the simultaneous processes of fire throttling and thermal heating
of wood . These processes resulted in rapid decrease in air supply and increase
in volatile fuel generation .

600

Fan setting : 52 % 20 % 25 % 30% 40 % 50% 60 % 70 80 %

529 4|20% t h
Air velocity Vay 0.42 " 0.52 0.55 0.7
ot Q.82 0.9
E 1.07 1.25
500 m / sec = 1.7-0.9
KEY
Acomb = heat generation rate of combustion of air and volatiles
HEAT

Hi taip to 4 Tänge = convective enthalpy loss rate byduct exhaust gas

RATE
k,9FLOW

a kt- rate of heat conduction into duct lining

w

400
ti = ignition de lay time
: flame spread time
td = fire development time
300

' comb
200H

100

1
O 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME,t, min
FIGURE 8. - Heat generation and energy loss rates of fire duct for experiment 8 .
 13

Fire Throttling and Reverse Flow

As mentioned earlier , ventilation airflow was throttled to flow rates

lower than its initial cold flow value as the fire was generated in the fire
duct . This flow interaction among the ventilation air , the fire , and the
exhaust fan was reported in detail by Lee ( 17 ) . A summary of the results
follows :

To facilitate the study , six stations are designated in the fire tunnel
network as shown in figure 1 : Station 1 - entrance to fire duct at room con
dition ; Station 2 - entrance to wood lining in ignition section ; Station 3 -
exit of wood lining in test section ; Station 4 - common exit of fire and
bypass ducts ; Station 5 - entrance to exhaust fan ; Station 6 - fan exit . It
was found that the duct fires essentially acted to produce flow blockage by

5 · 70 % 80 % 817
DIFFERENTI
PRESSURE AL

4 h
70 %
AP569
FAN
H20
.cm

60 %

F
Р
3

60 % -9
-

52 % -
YA KEY
50 % -- Cold flow Hot flow
&
1

ob

a
52 % %_ % Fan curve
50 % @ Fire duct curves
4 (P ) (P Parallel fire and
1
bypass duct curves
Wood burning in
40 %
ignition section
A , B ;----- H Cold flow condition
a, b ,----- Hot flow condition
30 % 20 % , 25 %; ---- 80 % Fan speed settings

25 %
Fire- induced natural
20 % ventilation
BВ

100 200 300 400 500

EXHAUST GAS MASS FLOW RATE, ņe, g /sec
FIGURE 9. - Flow characteristics of exhaust fan and fire tunnel network during cold and hot
flow in experiment 8 .
 14

virtue of their ( 1 ) volatile fuel mass injection from pyrolysis into the duct
gas stream and ( 2 ) heat generation from combustion of the volatile fuel to
produce high -temperature gases . Figure 9 shows the resultant overall increase
in the flow resistance of the newwork and the corresponding decrease of the
tunnel mass flow rate from cold to hot flow for experiment 8 . Figure 9 also
shows the cold and hot flow characteristics curves of the fan , the single fire
duct , and the parallel fire and bypass ducts . It is seen that the cold - flow
fan curves were shifted downward during hot flow owing to the high temperatures
of the exhaust gas at the fan . Concurrently , the cold - flow curves of the
single and parallel ducts were shifted toward the left during hot flow owing
to the fire . Such changes in flow characteristic curves from cold to hot flow
suggest the flow blockage effect of the fire . That is , for a constant fan
setting , tunnel exhaust mass flow rate decreases as the fire is generated ; for
example , from point A to a at the fan setting of 52 pct in figure 9 .

Local effects of the fire on the flow upstream and down stream of the
fire and in the fire zone are shown in figure 10 , which shows the changes in
the pressure drops of the fire duct from cold flow to hot flow as the fire
developed at the constant fan setting of 52 pct ( See also figure 9. ) It is
seen that the available pressure head generated by the fan , Apas , and the
10
MT

IO
KEY
me me melmel
TAPES
KEY AP2 AR AP35
N,c)APRESSURE

A o O
( EGATIVE

Cold flow
PRESSURE

A
,c)A(NEGATIVE

a e е Hot flow with fully

DROP

DPI? JAP .. AP68 developed fire

H2O mp

Hot flow with wood

DROP H2O

burning in
mP

A o o Cold flow ( A ) ignition section

O

Hot flow with wood Hot flow with

0

wood collapse
A

burning in ignition
o

1.0
O

section ( a ')
All conditions indicated by the alphabet
Hot flow with wood letters correspond to those shown in
1 figure 9 for the characteristic curves
burning in ignition
and test sections ( a ) of fire duct and fan

Subscripts 1,2 ---6 refer to tunnel stations ne Fire duct exhaust mass flow rate
as shown in figure / no Ventilation air mass flow rate
MT

co
Subscripts 1,2--- 6 refer to tunnel
stations as shown in figure !
ДА
o
0.1
-

.01

.‫لیبیاره‬ ‫ليبر‬ .0021 பட்ட

50 100 1,000 10,000 30 100 1,000 10,000
GAS MASS FLOW RATE, ń , g /sec GAS MASS FLOW RATE, ™ , g /sec
FIGURE 10.- Changes of pressure distribution of FIGURE 11. - Changes of pressure distribution of
fire duct from cold to hot flow at constant fan fire duct from cold to hot flow at different
setting of 52 percent in experiment 8 . fan settings in experiment 8.
 15

pressure drop downstream between the end of the fire zone and the fan entrance ,
AP35 remained relatively constant from cold to hot flow as the fire developed .
Similarly , the available pressure head for the flow between the duct entrance
and the exit of the fire zone , Ap13 , was also relatively unchanged . However ,
AP13 was mostly dissipated in the fire zone , as indicated by the opposing paths
of Apia and Ap23 . Such changes in the pressure drops in and upstream of the
fire zone from cold to hot flow indicate the additional flow resistance in the
fire zone . Similar changes in pressure drops from cold to hot flow for other
fan settings were also measured . Results are shown in figure 11 .
From the measurements shown in figure 11 , it is found that the flow
resistance increased by factors of about 6 in the fire zone and about 1.5
upstream and downstream of the fire . Such increases in flow resistances throt
tled the ventilation air . At low fan settings and ventilation air velocities ,
severe fire throttling resulted in reverse flow of the hot gases and smoke
flow from the fire zone into the ventilation air . Such backing of smoke along
the ceiling into the ventilation air is shown in figure 12 . Pertinent measure
ments for reverse flow are shown in figure 13 . It was found that reverse flow
began to occur when hot - flow air velocity , Ve , was about 0.7 m/ sec . The

FIGURE 12. - Reverse flow viewed from fire duct entrance .

16

VELOCITY
4
AgLOW
(VCOLD
ND
)FHOT

Fanting 12094+25% +|-30% ||-40%41-50% * 60% * 70% 80%

(V
,m/sAIR
ec
3 a b с d e f g
KEY
Hot flow measurements during fire
Cold flow air velocity measured
before fire
N

Va
Fr, -0.983
1.85
2.53
3.45 4.27
3.6
9.6 5.88 (A )
16.7 10.1
O

5
VELOCITY

4
Vg .
,Vm/sGAS
ec

Fro = 0.0548
Vь

0.156
0.22
0.119 0.283
0.317
0.691 0.59

0.745

1.0
(B )
-|
DENSITY

12
А ९०
/cgx1,PGAS
m3
04

10
Pf

(C )
4
1
12

2 4 6 8 10 14 16 18 20
TIME , t, min
FIGURE 13. - Fire throttling and reverse flow measurements in experiment 8. A, Changes in
ventilation air velocity from cold to hot flow and corresponding Froude numbers ;
B, gas velocities upstream of (v and v. ) and in the fire ( v ) and local Froude
numbers ; C, gas densities upstream of fire.
 17

corresponding Froude numbers Fra , Fra ,4 , and Fre were ~ 7 , ~ 5 , and ~1 ,

respectively . These nondimensional parameters are defined as

(
4
)
Fra = gH / va ,
Fra , = gH (Pa -pe ) , (5 )
va 3 Pa

and gH (Pb -Pt ) . (6 )

Fre Ръ Vъ

In these expressions , g is the gravitational acceleration ; H is the tunnel

height; Va is the ventilation air velocity far upstream of the fire ; Pa and
De are the air density far upstream and average hot gas density in the fire ,
respectively ; pp and pt are the gas density 35 cm upstream of the fire on the
duct floor and ceiling , respectively ; and vp is the gas velocity corresponding
.
These Froude numbers are basically ratios of the buoyancy head of fire
to the kinetic head of ventilation air . More detailed description is given by
Lee ( 17 ) . At such reverse flow conditions , the source for reverse flow was
mainly in the first 2 m of
the fire zone as shown by the
0.25
pressure distributions along
Wood in
-ignition
section
+ - Wood in test section the fire duct shown in fig
ure 14. Similar pressure
A

KEY
distributions and source for
NPRESSURE
)( EGATIVE

AP reverse flow were also found

.20 Fan setting Top Center Bottom in coal fires in the same
GAGE

20 % O
duct ( 4 ) .
H2O mP

A
70 %
,cA

A network analysis for

cold and hot flows in the
.15 tunnel network was carried
out by Lee (17 ) . It was
found that the fire throt
tling and flow reversal
effects on the ventilation
.10
air could be predicted if
the characteristics of the
fire in terms of fuel mass
generation rate and the
high temperatures generated ,
and the criteria for reverse
.05 flow , such as Froude num
bers , were known .

Gas Compositions and

Temperatures
1 2 3 4 5
AXIAL DISTANCE FROM FIRE DUCT ENTRANCE X , m
Before presenting the
gas composition measure
FIGURE 14. - Pressure distribution in fire duct during ments , it is constructive to
study the stoichiometry and
reverse and nonreverse flow in experiment 8 .
18

some relevant parameters of wood combustion . The proximate and ultimate

analyses of oak in table 3 suggest C. Hg.8804.02 to be the chemical composi
tion of dry , ash - free oak . Upon pyrolysis , 90 wt - pct of oak decomposes into
volatile gases with an overall composition of C4.8H3.8804.02 and 10 wt - pct
fixed carbon Cı .2
. For a complete and stoichiometric combustion of the
volatile gases , the overall reaction is

C4.8H3.8804.02 + 5.01 Og + 18.6 N , - 4.8 CO2 + 4.44 H2O + 18.6 N , (7)

From equation 7 , the mass stoichiometric ratios of fuel and oxygen , mem, , and
fuel and air , ne da , are
me /im = 1 / 1.23 (8)

= 0.81

and me /ņa = 1 /5.32 (9 )

= 0.19 .

According to equations 7-9 , fuel - rich burning would occur if the line exceeded
~1 /5 , or 0.20 . In the tunnel timber fire studies by Roberts (20) , the melma
ratio was normalized by the constant 1/5 to define a parameter R as follows :

R = 5 mg /ma . ( 10 )

Thus > the combustion of a wood fire is oxygen rich when R < l , fuel rich when
R > l , and stoichiometric when R = 1 .

TABLE 3 . Proximate and ultimate analyses of oak?

Wt - pct
(moisture free )
Proximate analysis :
Volatile matter . 89.4
Fixed carbon .... 10.0
Ash. ..... .6
Ultimate analysis :
Carbon ... 49.2
Hydrogen .. 6.1
Oxygen . 44.0
Nitrogen . .1
Sulfur .... .0
Ash ..... .6
1 The analyses were performed by the Coal Analysis
Section , U.S. Department of Energy , Pitts
burgh , Pa .

For fuel -rich burning , the reaction becomes more complicated as pyrolysis
products are present in the exhaust gas mixture . If carbon monoxide ( co) ,
methane (CH ) , and hydrogen ( H ) are the major pyrolysis gases and the
 19

condensibles are neglected , one can write the following generalized reaction :
OC Ho Oc + doz + eNe fle + hCH + pCO2 + qHe 0 + 402 + s Na (11 )

In equation 11 , 0 is the number of moles of the volatile fuel vapor , d ,

e , ---- s are the number of moles of the corresponding gas , and d = e/ 3.72_for
air . In all the experiments , concentrations of the major gases [he ] , [ co] ,
[ CH, ] , [ co ], [Na ] , and [ ] and the minor hydrocarbon gases [ CH] , [CH Í >

[ CHO ) , [ cz Ha] , and ( C3 Hg ] were mainly determined from gas chromatographic

analyses of gas samples at several locations in the fire duct . The major gases
(except Na ) were also determined at the fire duct exit during experiments by
the on - line automatic gas analysis system . In addition , [ nox ] , [NQ ] , [ no ] ,
[ s02 ], and [ He s ] were also measured by the on- line system in some experiments .
The water concentration [ H0 ] of the fire duct exhaust gas was measured in
some experiments using a hygrometer with an aluminum oxide sensor . Results
have not been very satisfactory owing to inadequate heating of the gas trans
port system of the hygrometer . Values of measured [H0 ] were usually lower
than those predicted .

In coal fire and explosion studies , the Jones - Trickett number JT ( 14 ) was
developed to assess the type of volatile fuel being burned . Detailed
derivation and characteristics of the JT number and its applicability to the
combustion of wood and oil shale have been reported by Chaiken (2) . For the
present reaction as shown in equation 7 , the JT number is
JT = 0.5 { 1 + dom (0.50 - 0.25 b + a )}
= { 0.75 [ co] + [ Co ] - 0.25 [ H ]} / (d-5 ) . ( 12 )
For a complete and stoichiometric combustion of the volatiles from wood
pyrolysis , it can be shown that the JT number is 0.96 from equations 7 and 12 .
For fuel -rich burning , if co is the main excess fuel gas in the exhaust gas
products , the JT number would increase from that for oxygen - rich burning . Such
data will be shown later in this section .

Figure 15 shows the gas concentrations at three stations along the fire
duct for the first 20 minutes of experiment 8. During the ignition delay time
period , burning occurred in the ignition section and was, oxygen rich as shown
in figure 15 . As the upstream wood lining in the test section was sufficiently
heated , flame began to spread down the duct . Ventilation air was continuous ly
throttled as the fire developed as discussed before . As the whole wood lining
became fully inflamed , oxygen was completely depleted downstream of the fire
and burning became fuel rich . The excess fuel gases contained large amounts
of Co , CH4 , and H. Generally , co was generated first , CH , second , and Hy
third . Total amount sof minor hydrocarbons C, H , and Ca Hy were less than 1
vol - pct , and the nitrogen oxides were less than 0.02 vol -pct. The transition
from oxygen - rich to fuel - rich burning paralleled the R values calculated from
the ventilation air mass flow rate and the volatile fuel mass generation rate
( fig . 7 ) , as shown in figure 15 .
 20

20 20 10

x = 2.44m

8
16 16

1
,pCO2
ct
p, ct

12

, ct
12
O2

pH2
8
8

4.27 )

.
2
4 4

8.23m
takt ‫ نيط‬- ‫السالم‬
O

O
NORMALIZED

Va , m /sec 12 6

1.7 -0.9 0.42 0.52 0.55 0.7 0.82 0.9 1.07 1.25

5 10 5
FUEL
MASS
RATIO
-TO

td
,RAIR
4

8 4

p,CH4
ct
p, ct
CO
2

2:

-tooli Tuttatto
O 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
TIME ,1,min TIME , t, min TIME , 1 , min

FIGURE 15. - Gas concentrations at stations X = 2.44 m, 4.27 m , and 8.23 m of fire duct and
overall R values of experiment 8 .

During the time period of 4 to 20 minutes in experiment 8 , the ventila

tion airflow rate was increased in steps by varying the fan speed as shown in
figure 7 to study the effect of various airflow rates on the fire . Because
of fuel - rich burning of the fire , higher airflow rates tended to burn more
volatile fuel and generated more heat in the fire duct . This resulted in
higher incident surface heat flux on the wood lining , which in turn generated
more volatile fuel . Thus , these competing effects resulted in only a slight
decrease in the degree of fuel - rich burning when the airflow rate was
increased . This is shown by the [ co] and R measurement in figure 15 .
During the active burning period , the ventilation air supply was suffi
cient only for the combustion of the pyrolysis gases generated from upstream
of the wood lining . Consequently , a flaming combustion zone was formed
upstream in the fire zone . The heat generated in this combustion zone pyro
lyzed the wood lining downstream , forming a pyrolysis zone to produce excess
fuel gases . Such phenomena occurred for the first 30 minutes in experiment 6 ,
as shown in figures 16 and 17. As burning proceeded and more volatile gases
were depleted from the upstream wood lining , charcoal began to form and fall
on the duct floor . The combustion zone moved downstream to shorten the
pyrolysis zone . Such processes occurred in the time period between 30 and 60
 21
0CONCENTRATI ON

25 minutes , as shown in figures

Wood lining
OXYGEN

14 and 15. Finally , the

Time ,
combustion zone reached the
],p(2ot

hr : min
20 end of the wood lining and
3:00
burning returned to oxygen
rich . This occurred at
1:38 about 1 hour into the burn ,
1

as shown in figures 16
and 17 .
1:18
Figure 18 shows the
0:58 gas concentration measure
pCONCENTRATION

0:37 ments at four stations along

0:24
the fire duct for the entire
0:18 experiment 7. Local flucua
MONOXIDE

15 tions in the measurements

CARBON

were mainly due to varying

(),Cot
O

0:24
air ventilation flow rates .
The transitions in overall
O

0:18
0:58
burning , from oxygen rich
0:37 to fuel rich , and from fuel
1:18
rich back to oxygen rich ,
1:38 are shown by the gases mea
3:00
sured at the exit fire zone ,
X = 8.23 m . The fuel - rich
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
DISTANCE FROM FIRE DUCT ENTANCE X , m burning period lasted for
about 1 hour . It is of
FIGURE 16. - Profiles of oxygen and carbon monoxide concen interest to know the rela
trations along the center of fire duct of experiment 6 .
tive proportions of the
three major combustible
volatile gases Co , Ha , and CH , generated from wood pyrolysis . Measurements
from figure 18D were used to calculate ratios of [Hz ]/ [co] and [ CH ]/[ co ].
Results are shown in figure 19. The relative magnitudes among [ co ]:[H2 ]:[ CH ]
were approximately 1 : 0.55 : 0.32 .
 22

1,200
linin
Woodg Y,Time
m
:h
orin
0:58
1,000
1:18

0:37
800 1:38

0:24
0:18
600

3:00
400

KEY
Active
burning
200 Fire
decay

DUCT CENTER GAS TEMPERATURE, Tg , °C

0 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
9

DISTANCE
DUCT
FIRE
FROM
ENTRANCE
X,m
FIGURE
17.
-Pof
fire
duct
center
temperature
of
experiment
6.rofiles s
 23

30
Al BI
20
, et
pO2
10

0
20
PCO2

82
, ct

A2
run
10
.
pCH4

A3 B3
, ct

M
O

A4 84
ot
,pCo
4

0
8
Am ,
A5 B5
et
,pH2

‫ܢܬ‬
O

30
CI DI
02.

20
pct

O
30
C2 02
CO2
,pet

20
10
O

6
03
CH4
,pct

16
04 04

12
et
p,co
.

6
C5 D5 '
,pot
H2

etwa
3.0

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 0 0.5 10 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.5
TIME , 1 , hr

FIGURE 18. - Gas concentrations at four stations in experiment 7. A, X=2.44 m; B ,

X=4.27 m; C, X= 6.1 m ; D , X = 8.23 m .
COMBUSTIBLE
VOLATILES 24

0.7
RATIO

KEY
OF

.6 o [ Hz] /[co]
O [ CHA ]/ [co ]
.5

.4

.3 ‫ܛܛܛܬܛ‬
.2

O 15 30 45 60
TIME, 1 , min
FIGURE 19. - Molar ratios of hydrogen and methane to carbon monoxide in experiment 7 .

Figure 20 shows the Jones - Trickett number calculated from the gas measure
ments in figure 15 for experiment 8. For oxygen - rich burning , values of the JT
number were approximately 0.9 as estimated before in equations 11 and 12 . Such
JT values suggest that burning mainly involved flaming combustion of the vola
tiles generated from wood pyrolysis as proposed in equation 11 . For fuel -rich
burning the JT number became higher , being dependent on the degree of fuel - rich
combustion ; that is , the amount of excess fuel vapor generated .

As mentioned before , the overall burning of the entire wood lining changed
from oxygen rich to fuel rich and eventually back to oxygen rich . Such changes
are reflected in the JT number of the duct exhaust gas as shown in figure 21
for experiments 6 and 7. Present findings in JT number indicate that JT is
indicative of the nature of the fuel being burned and the burning stoichio
metry . However , it must be recognized that in a real mine fire situation , the
gas composition could be affected by gas absorption and /or emission from the
mine strata . Thus , one must be cautious in interpreting the JT values deter
mined from gas measurements .
 25

VENTILATION AIR VELOCITY, va , m /sec

-TTRICKETT

0.43 0.52 0.55

UMBER

1.75-0.9 0.7 0.82 0.9 1.07 1.25

2.0
)JONES
N
(J

1.5
Station 3 at 8.23 m

Station 2 at 4.27 m
1.0

( JT),v=0.958,*JT number for stoichiometric Station 1 at 2.44 m

combustion of wood volatiles ( C4.8 H8.88 04.02 )
5

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
TIME , t, min
FIGURE 20. - Jones- Trickett number at stations X= 2.44 m, 4.27 m, and 8.23 m of fire duct
in experiment 8 .

In view of the difficulty in accurate [ HO] measurements , an attempt was

made to calculate the H. O concentration in combustion products from the
measured gases . Details of the calculation scheme are given in appendix A.
Basically , concentration measurements of the major and minor gases were used
for the mole balance of H. and 0 , in a generalized combustion reaction of
the volatiles . Concentration of H , 0 was then calculated based on either the
Hy or a balance . . In carrying out such calculation procedures , the overall
chemical composition of the volatiles was also calculated for each set of gas
measurements . Therefore , the calculation scheme also provides some information
on the nature of the volatiles being formed from pyrolysis .
26

40 2.0

30 1.5

TRICKETT
NUMBER
20 1.0

JONES
-
IO .5

o
40 2.0

1.5
30

1.O
20

10 . .5

B
1
o 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

TIME, 1, hr
FIGURE 21. - Jone's - Trickett number of fire duct exhaust gas in ( A ). experiment 7 and
( B ) experiment 6 .

Table 4 gives the concentrations of the measured major and minor gases
(without H , 0 ) in the duct exhaust gas as a function of time for experiment 8 .
Tables 5 and 6 show the resultant gas concentrations, including Ho , using the
measurements in table 4 and the calculation scheme in appendix A , based on
Qy and H balance , respectively . During the active burning stage , the cal
culated H , 0 concentrations in the duct exhaust gas were between 15 and 20
vol- pct , whereas the measured [ H0] values were about 10 vol -pct . The lowered
measured values were most likely due to water condensation from inadequate
heating of the water-detecting system . For complete stoichiometric combustion
of the volatiles from oak with 5.1 wt -pct moisture content ( condition of oak
in experiment 8 ) , the water concentration in the combustion product should be
about 25 vol -pct . In view of the fuel- rich burning condition in the present
fire , values of the calculated [HO] is important not only in studying the
overall combustion process but also in calculating gas radiation in the fire
duct . This will be discussed later in the report .
 .
4
TABLE concentrations
v
o
(-Gf
.)pas
ol
ct
exhaust
duct
fire
gas
determined
analyses
from
collected
of
samples
gas
experiment
8in

H.
hr
Time CO ,со2
OCH AC h
C₂ H₂
C C
H H
C₂ C₂
H₂
0.000
0.004 0.167 16.619
1.891
0.031
80.329 0.9559 0.0027 0.0042 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
1.000
..013
54 2.612
1 7.924
.028
|78.340 .9322 .0037 .0060 .0007
.0000 0000
.000
.021
.169 17.639
2.862
78.306
.028 .9318 .0031 .0061 .0012
.0000 .0000
.000
.223
.029 |1 6.770
3.706
78.326
.029 .9321 .0038 .0083 .0014
.0000 0000
.000
.038 .231 .015
|1 1.023
8.955
78.832 .9381 .0032 .0025 .0000
.0000 .0000
.32
.0456 1.168 1.620
78.383
.250
17.188 .9328 .0490 .0809 .0014
.0021 .0008
1.377
.054
4.605 16.783
.243
74.488
.889 .8864 .2183 .4830 .0145
.0120 .0003
2.112
.071
9.991 2.615
17.002
.398
65.624 .7809 .4754 .7487 1 530
..0870 .0124
2.082
.079
9.935 2.655
16.852
65.896
.431 7
. 842 .3262 .7599 .1 789
.0867 .0128
2.415
10.95
.113 6 3.311
1 8.010
|63.027
.118 .7500 .3243 .7905 .1891
.0963 .0126
3.122
.154
9.787 .2 84
18.273
3.391 63.103 .7509 .3086 .7840 1 209
..0664 .0093
.171
3.089
8.288 2.941
18.065
.219
65.56 3 .7802 .3079 .6420 .0565
.0407 .0081
4.775
.238
9.289 16.38
3.2795
.097
64.26 3 .7647 .4266 .5909 .1045
.0245 .0017
5.059
.271
9.000 3.033
15.27
.154 1
65.658 .7813 .4535 .5492 .0159
.0244 .0002
4.359
.304
6.321 16.34
1.837
.111
69.638 4 .8286 .2521 .2985 .0052
.0052 .0000
6.324
.338
7.309 67.55
15.38
.1 43 9
2.101 2 .8039 .0624 .3061 .0059
.0041 .0000
4.283
.363
7.802 2.697
16.10
.1
67.28 04 55 .8007 .3740 .5101 .0161
.0183 .0041
5.085
.521
8.606 15.43
2.787
.079
66.3169 .7892 .3335 .5171 .0209
.0229 .0046
.688
1.149
.823 15.83
.123
.121 2
80.96 7 .9635 .0154 .0062 .0000
.0000 .0000
1.2
.88864
1.382 .151
.1 87 0
16.53
79.53 6 .9465 .0026 .0011 .0000 .0000
1.4
.538
.00054 |78.70
4.430
1 .003 6
5.387 .9366 .0000 .0000 .0000 .0000
2.0
.314
.00021 2.274
17.9
.003 15
78.559 .9349 .0000 .0000 .0000
1.0000 .0000
.088
.000
2.5 29 .003 .555 20.067
78.353 .9324 .0000 .0000 .0000
.0000 .0000
.000
.03121
3.0 78.279
.001
20.552
.206 .9315 0000 .0000 .0000 .0000
27
 28

.
5
TABLE concentra
u Gas
calculate
from
results
table
sing
appendix
A4in dtions
a 0
ased
]([Halance
)bon

Time
volatile
Wood
fuel Actual
v
,Products
ol
pet
hr
H
С O
н,CH
,CO CO2 HO Сн
,Сон
C
hC₂ H C2
H2
0.0
2.0
1.0
-1.
0.1
2.0
1
|1.8
6.2
0.0
0.0 13
04
905
00
64
31
079
026
5041
000
000 9 .66
.027
7 2.0
1.0
.013
2.5
2.6
|17. 491
.646
7.1
.000
.1.005
.00 13
4
44
9
00 874.0036
2.7
17.1
.027
76..021
2.94
2.0
1.0
.000
.700
.003
.164
.00
.005
.000
.0018
91
13
701
00 9
20
.2.0
1.0
.029
.215
76.028
3.5
16.1
3.7
.739
|.008
.003
.001
.000
.000
.00 13
7
26
8404
00 7
1.0
.038
2.0
.000
.759
8.2
.014
10.
.00
8.4
73.
.21213
0
09
00
.0003
.0025
29
00 3
1.0
.046
2.0
.068
.001
114.5
.212
.771
|1.3
67.5.2
.275
.990
.001
.04
.00 13
7
15 076872
24
2.0
1.0
.054
.76
14.
.744
2
.|6
.404
.1 016
.000
.01 3.0
827
.012 13
0001.
05
2
39
1 .30
1523.8
1.0
.071 2.013
1.0
1
.988
13.85
|.0101
.6097 .7208.13
18.5654.
.32
.0708
. 246
.3872 0872.
1.0
.079
2.013
.18.1172.1
1.701
.974
13.77
.0708
18.30
.35
.6209
.2
.010554.48 462
665 69
2.679
.6396 1
1.9548.8
1.047
|14.57
.10
51.60 13
2.013
1.0
. 9.09
.0779
.2624
.0102
.1 530 65
1.0
2.0132.5608.0
1.023
2.781
.1.6429
14.98
52.36
18.00
.23
.2531
.0545
.0076
.0991 54 26
2.557
1964
6.8632.4
14.96 1.0
2.013
54.94
17.20
.18
.2549
.5316.171
.0468
.0337
.0067 35
4.042
1.0
.825
7.8632.7
13.87
15.3655.
.08
2.013
.238
.5002
.3611
.0884
.0207
.0014 75
04
|1
.271
2.013
.7254.33
2.597
7.706
13.07
56.88
14.38
.13
.4702
.3883.0
.0209
.0002
.0136 1
.7273.73
5.408
1.572
. 2.013
1.0
13.99
).304
.0044
.2554
.2157
|1 00044
.1.00004.4560.2 08
1.0
2.013
.338
5.5246.3
.646
13.44
1.835
.0545
.2673
59.70
12.66
.12
.0052 .0036
.0000 84
.363
2.013
1 .0
.7543.64
|2.296
6.642
13.71
.0914.87 757.96 .013
.31
.015
.434
.00 84
35 7
6
3
.52
1.0
2.0 .71
13.
.002.3
14.
.07
.017
.285
.019
.443 1394.
89
123
285
39 9 3582
6 7.5
2 7.3
1.0
.688
2.0
.329
.1
13..70
13.
.11
.005
.000
.00
.01 13
63
00
04 33 8.9
0
3
917 893
0.5
|1
.888
2.0
14.
.00 .463
1
.16
.000
.00. .0
14.
.002 2913
.17106
00
20
00
09021.
2 101
9.1 3
.00
.0002.0
1.0
.454
.564
.000
4.2
.003
14.6
4.7.512
.00
.000 13
00675
2
00
050 .85
1.0
2.0
.390
.000
3 21
. 0613 .003
2.2217.46
2.54
77.48
.0000
.299
.5519.94
2.013
1.0
2.529
.0000
.088
.000
|7
.64
8.78
.0000
.0000
.003
TABLE
.
6 concentrations
Gas
calculated
results
from
table
u
appendix
A4insing
0]([Heased
balance
He
b)on

fuel
volat
Wood
Time ile Products vo
Actual pctl
H
C
hr CO
н,0 о
,сCH HO
02 또N H.
Ca
C
CH
Cala
,Cg
HgHE
7.661
1.0
0.919
0.029
70.155
0.004
|0.000
7.39
5.28
0.0025
0.00390.
15.39
1.75
0.0000
0.0000 0000
1 .013
2.558
.919
.000
1.0
|.148
2.52
7.31
3.41
.027
76.57
.0036
.0058
.0007
.0000
.0000
2.452
1.0.021
3.5776.4
.919
.027
.163
.000
1
2.76
7.06
.0030
|.0059
.0012
.0000 1
2.372
16.03
3.54
.214
.029
75.74
4.44
.0036
1.0
.919
.0079
.028
.000
.0000
.0013
.038
1.0
.000
.919
2.334 .014
.209 9.96
8.09
9.6772.05
.0029
.0023
0000
.0000
2.310
1.0
.046
.207
.967.919
14.23
17.1965.68
1.34
.0406
.269
.0670
.0012
.0017
.0007
1.0
.054
2.331
1.1173.736
13.62
.722
.919
18.8761.15
.20.1771
.0002
.0118
.3919
.0097
1.876
.919
1.0
.071
1.7528.2882.1
1 55.09
17.04
.33
.6211
.3944
).0722
.0103
269
. 4.10
.079
1.0
1.903
1.7268.23712.201
55.28
1
|.2704
.36
3.97
7.10
|.919 .071 19
483
..010
.63 006
.113
.10
53.
.2 11.7
1.0
2.0
.663
.010
|.08 56
.919
724299
5.13
56
16.
09
588 9
6 .2012.7
02
.15
1.0
2.6
2.8
15.
.24
53.
.007
1 1.8
.260
.662
..919
.056 4
021378
05
64
43
93
558
6
1 .26 6
.1
1.9
1.0
2.5
.532.4
15.
.258
.006
.03 .919
16.
.18
55. 22
886
64
14
79.
59
21
7141 04753
0 .94
8
.238
1.0
2.2
3.9
7.6
2.7
13.
.919
17.
.08
53.
.35201
44
72
08
53
71
41
3 .4880
.0863
.0014
.0202
2.402
1.0
2.47
14.1
.919
12.46
.271 297.
18.3
.13
54.2
.4483
.3702
.0002
.0199
.0130 6
3
8 346
2.396
1.0
.304
5.19
3.579
.919
13.42
.0043
.2451
17.9
.09
57.8
.0043
.2070
.0000 01.5
5
0 08
.338
5.20
.2520
2.559
1.0
.0049
1.729
.919
12.67
56.2
17.68
.12
.0000
.0034
.0514766.0
1 17
.363
.0150
.4176
.0132
2.343
1.0
2.20
6.38
3.506
18.14
55.7
.0034
.08
.919 17
.3062 4
713.18
1.0
|2 .413
.521 .919 2.27712.61
7.032
4.154
.4225.0187
.0038
.0171
.2725
54.83
18.30
.06
1.0
.688
.919
3.193
12.54
.9101.096
.652
64.88
.1020.81
.0000
.0049
.0122
|2
1.0
.888
.1 .925
1.095
.919
.028
19.75
.15
13.27
21
164.59
.0000
].0021
.0009
1.454
14.41
4.15
1.0
74.60
6.33
.000
2.722
.504
.919
.003
.0000
.0000
2.021
3.071
1.0
.919 3.8
2.
76
.00 0
.4
3
2
00
.3019
006 .23
2 17
.55
4.
1.0
.00
2.5
1.4
78
.91
.00
19. 3
45
1
0
9
78
7
2970 0000
.08.1 .0000
29
30

In tables 5 and 6 , the calculated molar ratios of C , H , and o during

active burning are in good agreement with the overall composition of the
volatiles from oak with 5.1 wt -pct moisture content ; that is , C4.8H3.88
04.02 0.39 H , O or CH2 .0100.09 19 : This indicates that burning involved
.

mainly the volatiles . However , during the later stage of the fire , when
most of the volatiles were consumed and burning involved mainly oxidation of
charcoal , agreement is poor , as expected .
The volatile fuel mass injection rates from pyrolysis were calculated
based on the results in tables 5 and 6 and the measured duct exhaust mass
flow rate ( appendix A ) . The calculated fuel mass injection rates were gen
erally about 40 pct lower than those obtained from the difference between the
mass flow rates of duct exhaust gas and ventilation air . Such discrepancy is
most likely due to the condensibles from wood pyrolysis , which were not
accounted for in the gas measurements .
Extinguishment

Extinguishment of the wood duct fires was studied using three different
techniques : ( 1 ) High -expansion foam , ( 2 ) nitrogen gas , and ( 3 ) duct sealing .
In experiments 9 and 10 , high-expansion foam was injected into the fire from
the duct entrance when there was still flaming combustion with some glowing
wood char on the floor . Details of the foam are shown in table 7. In both
experiments , foam was applied periodically within a time period of about 30
minutes . The actual foam application time was about 27 and 7 min for experi
ments 9 and 10 , respectively . The gas temperature along the fire duct and
gas concentrations of the duct exhaust gas during foam application for experi
ment 9 are shown in figures 22 and 23 , respectively . Immediately following
foam injection , combustible gases of He , co , and CH4 increased , especially
H : This is most likely due to the reaction between the water droplets in
the foam and the high - temperature carbon in the wood char . The injected foam
initially quenched burning upstream in the fire ( fig . 22 ) . As foam applica
tion continued , quenching proceeded downstream into the fire zone . However ,
within the foam application period , burning downstream in the fire zone was
never completely extinguished , as shown by the temperature and gas measurements
in figures 22 and 23 . This is apparently because the foam had absorbed suf
ficient heat from the hot fire bricks and wood char upstream in the fire zone
and became ineffective when it reached downstream in the fire zone . In addi
tion to this difficulty , because of the additional pressure drop introduced
by the physical blockage of the wood char , the exhaust fan of the fire duct
had to operate at its maximum capacity in order to avoid backflow of foam away
from the fire . These two problems appeared to be major difficulties in
fighting duct fires with foam . From table 4 , one can show that about 1.7 X
108 calories were absorbed by the water in the foam from 15 ° C ( liquid ) to
800 ° C (vapor ) within the foam application period . If an average temperature
drop of 800 ° C to 300 ° C is used for the wood char , its heat release within
the foam injection time period was about 5 x 106 calories . Thus , only about
3 pct of the cooling capacity provided by the foam was used by the wood char .
The rest presumably was taken up by the firebricks and lost through the exhaust
gas .
 31

TABLE 7 . Properties of high - expansion foam

Exp . No. Composition , pct Expansion Injection rate ,

H , O Foam agent ratio gal /min
9 95 5 500 : 1 2
10 95 5 380 : 1 8

In experiment 10 , the foam injection rate was increased to four times

higher than that in experiment 9 , but the foam application time period was
only 7 minutes . At this higher foam injection rate , the water hot carbon
reaction was not as pronounced as in experiment 9 and the cooling effect
reached the end of the fire zone rapidly , as shown by the gas and temperature
measurements in figures 24 and 25. However , because of the short time duration
of foam application , the residual heat in the wood char and firebricks
rekindled glowing combustion of the wood char once the foam injection was
terminated . This is shown by the temperature measurements in figure 25 .

Based on the results from experiments 9 and 10 , high -expansion foam

is effective in quenching flaming combustion of the volatiles from a solid
fuel . However , the residual heat of the solid fuel and the surrounding wall
support upstream of the fire could effectively heat up the foam such that it
becomes ineffective when it reaches downstream of the fire . Therefore , loca
tions of foam injection points relative to a fire are very important in fire
fighting In addition , fast foam injection rates and long duration of applica
tion are essential in fighting duct fires .

In experiment 5 , during active burning at t =20 min when the wood lining
was still in place , nitrogen gas at a total flow rate of about 0.4 m /min was
injected at three equally spaced stations along one side wall of the fire duct .
During nitrogen injection , the entrance to the fire duct was sealed and the
exit was opened to exhaust the nitrogen and the gases from the fire . The
effects of ^ on the duct temperature and gases are shown in figures 26 and 27 ,
respectively. Flaming combustion was rapidly quenched by the nitrogen gas .
However , cooling of the wood was relatively slow , resulting in prolonged
generation of combustible pyrolysis gases . After 40 minutes of nitrogen injec
tion , small amounts of co , CH , , and he were still detected . As compared to
the high - expansion foam , the cooling effect of Ng on the solid fuel was much
expected
inferior , as .
 32
1,400
Wood
lining
1,200
min
36
31.4min
1,000 )(finoam
20
37.4
min
40.4
min
800 49.4
min
55.4
min

O2 , pot
20
600

O
KEY

CO2 , pct
4
>00
-Before
injection
foam 6
-During
foam
injection 4
200
2

CH4 , pct
o
O 16
1,000
12

TEMPERATURE , T, ° C
8.4
7,min 8
800

CO, pct
4
63.4
min
)(foam
out
600 KEY
termination
foam
After
OO
1 113
min
00
400 1

200 -158
min
H2 , pct
Foamin Foam
out
N

O 238956
4
7
0.2
00
:3
O.1 0.4 0.7
0.6
0.5
0.9
0.8
1.0 1.1
DISTANCE
FIRE
FROM
ENTANCE
DUCT
,m
X hTIME
1, r
FIGURE
E22.
ehigh
on xpansion
-offfect
foam
temperature FIGU
E23. RE
- ffect
high
eof
foam
on
ductxpans
fire ion
profile
at
5cm
duct
from
floor
experiment
9.in experiment
9.in
gases
 20

10 1,400
Wood
lining 4

02 , pet
0
1,200
20
of 10
1,000
min
36.5
KEY
Before
foam
injection
800 injection
foam
During

CO2 , pct
8
600

400 min
38.2
f
in
). oam
(
min
45.8

CH4 , pct
2 200 52.9
min

O
O
15 1,000

TEMPERATURE T, ° C
KEY
10 termination
foam
After 83.9
min
800 93.9
min
5
68.9
min

Co, pct
600 103.9
min

O
400

DO
Foam 113.9
min
4 63.9
min
in 200 tu
57.9
min

H2 ,pct
55.9
(fmin
)outoam
0.6
0.2
0.4
0.3
0.5
00.1
0.7
o 1 3
2
4 5 6 9
8
7
TIME
,h1 r DISTANCE
FROM
DUCT
FIRE
ENTANCE
X,m
foam
24.
-eFIGURE
high
of
Effect
xpansion
duct
fire
on FIGURE
25.
Effect
ehigh
-ofxpansion
foam
tempera
on
.10
exper
in iment
gases in
duct
floor
from
m
profile
5c
at
ture
10
.
experiment
33
 +€

1,000

800 ,hr
Time
0.342

600

0.377
400

0.443
200
1.14
Wood
lining

DUCT CENTER GAS TEMPERATURE,Tg,° C

O | 2 3 4 5 6 7 9
8

DISTANC
FROM
FIRE
DUCT
ENTRANC
X,m EE
26.
FIGURE
-of
gas
nitrogen
Einjection
duct
on
temperature
center
in
experiment
5.ffect s
CH4
CO2 35

20
et
ct
,p02

10

0
20
TO
o
4

12
,pct
Co

0
4
,pct
H2

2 Nitrogen in
||
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
TIME ,t, hr
FIGURE 27. - Effect of nitrogen gas injection on fire duct gases in experiment 5 .

An attempt was made to extinguish the fire in experiment 6 by sealing the

fire duct . Sealing was carried out during flaming combustion at about 30
minutes into the fire by closing the duct entrance and exit gates within about
1 minute . During sealing , the exit gate was closed first . As the entrance
gate was about half closed , the concentrations of He , co , and CHų suddenly
increased to extremely high values as shown in table 8 . This was presumably
due to the limited amount of oxygen in the fire during sealing and the sudden
accumulation and generation of volatile fuel gases . A minor explosion occurred
in which the high - fuel - concentration gas mixture was expelled from the fire
zone by high gas pressure into the front entrance of the fire duct , forming a
temporary 3 -m- long flame jet . This hazardous situation was quickly avoided
by reopening the gates of the fire duct to exhaust the combustible gases .
These observations show the extreme danger in sealing an active fire at high
temperature . Thus , important factors to consider before sealing a tunnel fire
36

appear to be ( 1 ) the amount of oxygen available before sealing and ( 2 ) the

amount of volatile fuel that may be generated from the hot solid fuel after
sealing . In addition , the gas concentrations of the sealed fire should be
continuously monitored for observation of possible explosive mixtures . These
are the same factors that were identified in coal fires performed in the same
fire duct ( 4 ) .

TABLE 8 . - Gas condentration in fire duct during sealing in experiment 6

Gas concentration , Distance from duct entrance , m

vol pct
2.44 4.27 7.32 8.23
TIME : 30.4 MIN (BEFORE SEALING )
н. 0 0 3.93 4.85
CO . • .01 .046 6.78 8.29
0 .003 2.46 3.35
CH,
5.69 12.3 14.2 13.9
со,
Oz 14.5 6.06 .114 .14

TIME : 31.4 MIN ( DURING SEALING )

н. 32.3 35.5 7.69 7.47
CO . 27.8 30.1 30.4 18.8
9.25 6.58 11.7 7.36
CH
со, 20.1 21.5 28.0 16.9
02 .179 .359 .068 .357
TIME : 35.4 MIN (AFTER SEALING
нH₂ 0 0 0.0856 1.59
co ... .086 .015 2.67 4.78
CH , .002 0 .717 1.79
со, 4.38 8.92 15.7 15.0
15.6 10.4 .132 .14
Og

Smoke Particulates

Characteristics of the smoke particles generated from the wood fires were
examined using a three -wave length optical technique at the duct exit and a
smoke - sampling technique in the fire zone . Details of these two techniques
have been reported by Lee ( 18 ) and Cashdollar (1) . Basically , the three
wave length optical technique provided transmission measurements through the
smoke - laden duct exhaust gas at the three wave lengths of 0.45 , 0.63 , and 1.0
um . From these transmission measurements , volume - to - surface mean diameter and
mass concentration of the smoke particles were determined using the Mie scat
tering theory and Bouquer's transmission law . In the sampling technique ,
smoke particles were sampled in the fire zone using stainless steel electron
microscope grids . The collected smoke particles were then examined by
transmission -electron microscope photography .

Before presenting the measurements on smoke particles , some definitions

and relationships need to be introducted . From the transmission measurement ,
T , optical density per unit length of the duct exhaust gas , D /L , was calculated
as follows :
 37

D/L =
( -log T ) /L , (13 )
where D is the optical density and L is the optical beam length (11 cm) . Smoke
mass concentration , Cs , was calculated from Bouguer's law using the measure
ments of T , mean diameter of the smoke particles , dge , and average particle
extinction efficiency , K:
3KL
T = exp ( 14 )
2d32 p S

In equation 14 po is the mass density of the smoke particles , which was taken
to be 1.5 g / cmº . Smoke mass generation rate , ma , was calculated from Co and
the duct exhaust volumetric flow rate , le , as follows :
ms = c.le. ( 15 )

Results of T , d22 , D/L , and ṁg and their significance in terms of fire hazards
for experiment 5 were reported by Lee (18 ) . While similar smoke characteris
tics were obtained from other experiments , only measurements from experiment 8
are presented here to illustrate typical smoke characteristics of small - scale
wood duct fires .

FAN SETTING, pet

I
52 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 52
SSION

AIR VELOCITY, va, m / sec

1.7 -0.9 0.42 0.52 0.55 0.7 0.82 0.9 1.07 1.25
1.4
OPTICAL
TRANSMI

al.2 to
Mainly charcoal burning
Fuel - rich burning
,

1.0 Oxygen - rich

burning 1 , -1pm
8

KEY
t ; = ignition delay time ^ 2= 0.63umy
14 = flame spread time
.4

to = fire development time Az = 0.45pm

.2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 24
24 28 32 36 40
O

TIME , 1 , min
FIGURE 28. - Optical transmission of fire duct exhaust gas in experiment 8 .
 SITLY
PERICA
DEN
OPT 38

20
T
,D/L TGTH

dz= 0.45pm See fig. 28 for 7 versus i curve

for ventilatio n control and
m

16
LEN
UNI

12
26 1 , = 1pm
burning characteristics

- 2 = 0.63um
8

To ( large D / L
see equation for D )'
4

II
o 2 4 6 8 IO 12 14 16 18 20 24 28 32 36 40
CONCENTRATION

TIME , 1 , min
FIGURE 29. - Optical density per unit length of fire duct exhaust gas in experiment 8 .
50
MASS

Сco
40
,
10$,g/m3
cCx
영 20

10

O 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 60

TIME, 1 , min
FIGURE 30. - Mass concentrations of smoke particulates and carbon monoxide of fire duct
exhaust gas in experiment 8 .

Figures 28-31 show the light transmission measurements for the three
selected wavelengths ( ^ = 0.45 and 0.63 um are within the visible spectrum ) ,
optical density per unit length , smoke mass concentration , and smoke mass
generation rate , respectively . Relatively low smoke mass concentration , Cg ,
was measured for oxygen - rich burning of the wood in the ignition section
during the ignition delay time period . These low Cg values resulted in the
high transmission to During the flame spread period , burning was still
oxygen rich ; however , ventilation airflow was throttled , and additional com
bustion and pyrolysis products were produced , causing transmission to decrease .
 39
Following flame spread , the entire wood lining in the fire duct was inflamed
and excess fuel was generated . The ventilation air was further throttled , and
burning became extreme ly fuel rich . This led to almost zero transmission and
exceedingly high smoke concentration . Such a rapid change in smoke concen
tration and optical transmission from oxygen - rich to fuel - rich burning repre
sents an extremely hazardous fire environment .
During the time period between t = 4 and 20 minutes , the air velocity , Va ,
was increased from 0.42 m/ sec to 1.25 m/sec to generate a hot - flow charac
teristic curve for the fire duct as described earlier . As the ventilation
airflow rate increased , burning became more intense and less fuel rich .
sequently , smoke generation rate and concentration dropped , and transmission
increased Generation of smoke particles was parallel to that of co .

At t =20 minutes , ventilation air velocity , Va , was decreased back to 0.8

m/sec , which momentarily increased cs and decreased T. About this time , the
upstream wood lining began to collapse and charcoal was formed . Burning in
the duct changed from flaming combustion of volatiles to oxidation of volatile
gases and charcoal . Although burning was still fuel rich , less smoke was pro
duced . At t = 30 minutes , ventilation airflow rate increased as less air throt
ling was generated by the decaying fire . Burning became increasingly less
fuel rich , and transmission began to rise . At t = 40 minutes , burning was prac
tically all glowing combustion of charcoal . Only small amounts of co were
generated . Smoke concentration was practically zero , and transmission was
back to 100 pct .

In addition to the overall behavior of the smoke generation in the wood

duct fires as described above , detailed characteristics of the smoke particles
were determined . The mean diameter of the smoke particles , dzą , was found to
be about 0.15 um with a log -normal size distribution and a standard deviation
of 1.5 . The mean diameter compares favorably with the sizes of the collected

ON
smoke particles using the grid - sampling technique . Some typical collected
GENERATION

smoke particles are shown in figure 32 . In addition , the complex refractive

20 100 GENERATI
MASS

MASS
inco sRATE
8
sRATE

80
,mg/ ec
g/ec

15 me
,ṁ

60
10
40
5 mg
-

20
-
1

1 1
O 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

TIME ,t , min
FIGURE 31. - Mass generation rates of volatile fuel , smoke particulates , and carbon
monoxide in experiment 8 .
40

index was estimated to be 1.8 to 0.3i ,

and the extinction efficiency was 0.6
for the wavelength of 0.63 um . These
characteristics of the smoke particles
are in general agreement with previous
studies on smoke particles by Chippett
( 5 ) , Foster ( 10 ) , and Saeder ( 22 ) .
Besides being useful in assessing
the smoke hazard of wood tunnel fires ,
the smoke characteristics as described
0 0.2 above are necessary in soot radiation
Scale , um study . This will be discussed in the
next section .
FIGURE 32. - Transmission electron microscope Energetics
picture of smoke particles ( magnification As mentioned before and shown in
50,000) collected at X = 6.2 m in fire duct. figure 8 , less than half of the energy
generated from combustion of the
volatile gases , “comb , was lost by convection to the duct exhaust gas , qn ,e .
The remaining energy wasfed back into the wood liningto generatevolatile
fuel gases for combustion . The energy feedback consisted of convection , że ona
and radiation , ùr ,1 , which constituted a total incident surface heat flux ,
gt , on the wood surface ; that is ,
ģt = acony * qr 1 • (16 )
The local convective heat flux , qu'ony , is primarily a function of the wood sur
face temperature , Tw and the temperature , Tg , and the velocity , Vg , of the duct
gas . Following the conventional definition of heat transfer coefficient , h ,
qdony is expressed as
acony = h (Tg - Tv ) . ( 17 )
The local incident radiative heat flux , Q' ,1 , consisted of radiation from ( 1 )
water vapor , carbon dioxide , and carbon monoxide gases , Qi' ,8 , (2 ) soot parti
cles , Qi' os , and (3) hot wood surface , Qir' , The total incident radiative heat
flux is not necessary for the algebraic summation of the above three sources .
This will be discussed later .
Due to the high wood surface temperatures , a significant amount of
radiative energy , ģr' ‫ܘܕ‬ ‫ܕ‬ was emitted from the surface . From the energy balance
at the wood surface , the energy conducted into the wood , ak', for pyrolysis
becomes

aki =
ģ !' -- '
45 ',
or =

qarony + ď!",- - r ( 18 )
In the present study, al', QFT 21., Tg , and Ts were measured . From these
measurements , values of qconv , h , qa' ,o , and gk were calculated from equations
1-18 . Relative magnitudes of the three radiating sources described above were
estimated from the temperature , gas , and smoke measurements .
 41

Surface heat flux measurements using Gardon- type heat flux gages in the
present severe fire environment are generally difficult owing to the possibility
of condensation of water vapor from combustion and tars from wood pyrolysis
on the sensors of the gages . Such difficulties were minimized by circulating
the gages with hot water at 60 ° C to minimize vapor condensation and purging
the windows of the radiometers with nitrogen gas . In some experiments , a new
set of gages was installed to replace the first set during the fire . Reliable
thermal flux measurements were also obtained using Marinite disks , as described
earlier . However , their structural changes ( shrinkage and cracks ) prevented
meaningful measurements beyond half an hour of exposure to the fires .
tural and physical changes were worse for the wooden disks , and useful measure
ments were limited to the preignition time period .

2.0 Figure 33 shows the

incident total surface heat

1.5
flux measured by a calori
meter and a Marinite disk
Calorimeter Marinite disk
on the side wall at about
1.0 the center of the fire for
INCIDENT

experiments 5 and 8 . Two

?-s/cTOTAL
HEAT

calorimeters were used in

FLUX

.5 A
,4mec al

experiment 8 , as indicated ,
1 1
to minimize surface con
4.0
tamination . While agreement
Fan between the calorimeters and
setting = 52 % 25 % 30 % 40 50 % 60 % 70 %
Air the Marinite disks is fair ,
3.5 velocity va , 0.42 0.52 0.55 0.7 0.82 1.25
0.9 1.07 measurements from the
m /sec = 1.7-0.9
Calorimeter calorimeters were generally
set 2 higher than those from Mari- .
3.0
nite disks . The difference is
most likely due to higher
2.5
convective heat transfer to
the calorimeters based on
2.0 their lower surface tempera
Marinite tures as compared with those
disk
Calorimeter of the Marinite disks . Sur
-

1.5 set !
face temperatures of Marinite
and wooden disks were gener
1.0 ally similar . Their measured
total incident heat fluxes
B
.5
should be close , whereas the
heat flux measurements from
1 1 1 1 1 1
the calorimeters would tend
16

20

to be higher than those on

8

O 2 4 6 10 12 14 18 22
TIME , 1, min the wood surface .

FIGURE 33. - Total incident surface heat flux on side wall

Figure 34 shows the
at X = 4.22 m in fire duct. A, Experiment 5; incident total and radiative
B, experiment 8. heat flux measured by two
sets of calorimeters and
radiometers on the sidewa11
 42

Va , m /sec at about the center of the fire zone

for the first 20 minutes of experi
1.7 -0.9 0.42 0.52 0.55 0.7 0.82 0.9 1.07 1.25 ment 8 . The convective heat flux

FAN SETTING , pet

was calculated from the two measure
ments using equation 16 . It is seen
52 20'25'30'40'50 ' 60'70 80 that the radiative heat flux was
3.6
somewhat higher than the convective
KEY heat flux . As the ventilation air
Measured heat flux flow rate increased , the duct gas
SURFACE

3.2
Total velocity increased and the fire became
more intense owing to the fuel -rich
c/,"HEAT
FLUX

. -Radiative
sec m2
al

--Convective and ventilation- controlled nature of

2.8 Calculated radiative fire as discussed before . Con
heat flux sequently , both radiative and con
vective heat fluxes increased as
2.4
expected .

As mentioned earlier , the

a

2.0 radiating heat sources in the fire

dah

duct consisted of the radiating gases ,

soot particles , and burning wood sur
1.6 faces . Contributions from these
sources to the radiative heat flux
on the wood surface in the center of
1.2
the fire zone were investigated
utilizing the measurements on gas
compositions and temperatures , soot
.8
particles , and wood surface tempera
tures . Details of the calculation
scheme are shown in appendix B.
.4 Basically , the gray gas emission
approximation by Hottel ( 13 ) was used
1 for the radiating gases of Ho , caz ,
5 10 15 20 and Co. The calculation techniques
TIME , t , min by Yuen ( 26 ) on radiation from soot
and from mixtures of soot and gases
FIGURE 34. - Effect of ventilation air flow on were employed . Stefan -Boltzman
radiative, convective , and total incident radiation law with an appropriate
heat fluxes on sidewall at X 4.22 m view factor was used for the wood
of fire duct in experiment 8. surface radiation . Total incident
radiative heat flux was thus calcu
lated for t = 8 , 12 , and 17 minutes
for experiment 8. Results are shown in figure 34 and compared with the meas
ured values . Agreement is good , indicating the usefulness of the calcula
tion technique employed . Pertinent radiative parameters of the gases , soot ,
and wood surface are shown in table 9 . It is seen that gas emissivity
remained fairly constant and soot gases was greater than from soot particles ;
the difference was more pronounced at higher gas velocities . Radiation from
the burning wood surface was greater than from the mixture of gases and soot ,
being more pronounced at higher gas velocities . Apparently burning was
trolled by air ventilation owing to fuel - rich burning of the fire ; an increase
 43

in airflow rate intensified the fire , causing higher gas and wood surface temp
eratures and their radiation . However , higher gas flow rates and temperatures
diluted and burned out the soot particles , reducing radiation from soot .
TABLE 9 . Radiation characteristics of duct fire experiment 8
Time , minutes
8 12 17
Va • . m /sec .. 0.55 0.82 1.1
Re1 10,000 15,200 19,600
0.111 0.116 0.110
Eg
Es 0.0689 0.0354 0.0078
O
T. C .. 850 910 990
il
ar , SB .cal / cm ? -sec .. 0.373 0.392 0.406
o
In C .. 660 800 900
..11 W ..cal/ cm -sec .. 0.555 0.999 1.48
qr 1 ..cal / cm2 -sec.. 0.928 1.39 1.89

Reynolds number far upstream of fire, ma

cSURFACE

4.0 Figure 35 shows the

incident total , radiative ,
HEAT FLUX

3.6 KEY and convective heat fluxes

m²
al
,À"-s/ ec

Heat flux on the wood surface in

3.2 Total the middle of the fire zone
Radiative for the entire experiment 8 .
Convective As mentioned before , in this
2.8
experiment airflow rate was
increased from t =0.067 to
2.4 0.4 hour to intensify the
fire . The increasing fire
2.0 intensity was reflected in
poren the increasing heat fluxes
1.6 in that time period . If
the airflow rate was kept
1.2 constant at constant fan
speed , the total surface
.8 w
heat flux would typically
a
m be about 2 cal / cm -sec ,
e
a and then decrease to zero
4
after about 3 hours at
. 1 burnout .
O 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Since the surface temp
TIME , t, hr eratures of the Marinite
disk and the burning wood
FIGURE 35. - Radiative, convective, and total incident heat were about the same , the
fluxes on sidewall at X= 4.22 m of fire duct total incident surface heat
for entire experiment 8. flux measured by the Marinite
disk in figure 33B and the
 44

radiative heat flux in figure 34 were used to calculate the convective heat
transfer coefficient , h , and conductive heat transfer , using equations 17
and 18 . Results of h along with other pertinent parameters are shown in
table 10 . The convective heat transfer coefficient , h , was 0.006 cal /cm ?
-sec . Similar a ' values were obtained for wood using the wooden disk heat
flux gages .

TABLE 10 . Surface heat fluxes of wood at midzone

of fire duct in experiment 8
Fan qonv., Tg T. h,
at', ar ,1 . > Gr " ak ,
setting , cal / cal / cal / С cal / cai? ” cal /
pct.
20 ....
25 ...
2
cm? -sec
0.96
1.23
cm2 - sec cm -se
0.86
.87
- secc
0.1
.36
$ 780 570 0.000476
810 650
cm ? с

.00225
cm -sec
0.684
.983
?
cm -sec
0.247
.276
30 ... 1.6 .92 .68 840 720 .00567 1.32 .28
40 .. 2.0 1.18 .82 910 780 .00631 1.66 .34
50 . 2.25 1.46 .79 930 | 820 .00718 1.93 .32
60 .. 2.55 1.8 .75 990 870 .00625 2.31 .24
70 ...... 2.8 1.9 .9 1,020 900 .0075 2.56 .24
80 .... 2.9 1.9 1.0 1,020 908 .00893 2.63 .27

10,000 From the results in

table 10 , the corresponding
Laminar Transitional Turbulent
Nusselt number , Nu , was
calculated and plotted
against the Reynolds num
ber , Re , in figure 36. The
Nu number is defined as
1,000
NUSSELT

KEY
NUMBER

X
hH /k , where k is the gas
Experiment No. thermal conductivity ; Re
X 5 is defined in table 9. Note
,Nu

o 8 that Re defined in terms of

the upstream ventilation
Nu Re0.8 air at room condition
100 ( table 9 ) is only about 10
pct higher ( at maximum ) than
the Re defined in terms of
the downstream hot exhaust
gas . The reason is that
Air in inert duct
both mass flow rate , i , and
10 the gas absolute viscosity ,
H , increased (Re = /uH )
from upstream to downstream
Nu « Re0.3 of the fire zone to main
tain constant Re values .
For comparison , the rela
tionship of Nu versus Re
100 1,000 10,000 100,000 for air flowing through an
REYNOLDS NUMBER, Re inert duct ( 15 ) is also
presented in figure 36 . It
FIGURE 36. - Nusselt number versus Reynolds number of is seen that the convective
duct fire experiments . heat transfer is almost 10
CONDUCTIVE
TRANSFER 45
SURFACE
RATE
HEAT
WOOD
AREA
UNIT
1.0 times more effective than
PER

that for air in an inert

KEY
,“K

duct . This increase is

Experiment No. most likely due to
.8 combustion - induced turbu
0 5
lence in the local gas
/cm2

flow near the wood

sec

o 7
cal

surface .
.6 o 8
The heat of pyrolysis ,

.4 og ogle logo 4p , for wood was estimated

from measurements of ener
getics and mass flow rates
in the fire duct . For a
solid undergoing pyrolysis
.2 A at an external heat flux ,
- 240 cal / g Tewarson (24 ) found 4p to be
Δη ;
1 I 4p = A Qx /am ". ( 19 )
o 4 8 12 16 20
For the present wood lining ,
FUEL MASS GENERATION RATE PER average it' was calculated
UNIT WOOD SURFACE AREA,M; 104, from the following energy
2 balance for the fire duct :
g / cm - sec
0.75
FIGURE 37. - Heat of pyrolysis calculated from conductive äx
Aw
(acomb - in , o ) , ( 20 )
heat transfer rate and volatile fuel mass gen
eration rate of wood lining .
where Aw is the total heated
wood surface area exposed to
the fire . The constant 0.75 accounts for the three -quarters of the heat
retained in the duct that was fed back to the wood lining ; the remaining
one - quarter was absorbed by the Marinite lining on the floor . Values of
and " calculated from measurements such as those shown in figures 7 and 8 for
experiments 5-8 are shown in figure 37. The slope of the line through the
data points gives an endothermic heat of pyrolysis , lp , of 240 cal/ g . This is
a reasonable value and in agreement with values previously determined by Lee
( 16 ) . Also , an average heat conduction , , of 0.3 cal / cm² - sec into the wood
lining for pyrolysis is in agreement with values measured by Marinite disk
shown in table 10. In experiment 5 , a wooden disk thermal gage was placed at
the end of the wood lining , where the oxygen was completely depleted and the
wood was mainly undergoing pyrolysis . The measured in there was also about
0.3 cal / cm² - sec.

The ability of the wood to sustain flaming combustion in the present duct
fire is seen in figure 8 . Well over 50 pct of the heat generated from wood
combustion was fed back to the wood to generate pyrolysis gases . Such feed
back is much higher in duct fires than in open wood fires and makes a duct
fire more severe than an open fire above ground .
46

CONCLUSIONS

Detailed measurements obtained in the present small -scale tunnel wood

fires provide basic data for scaling various processes and fire hazards in
large - scale mine timber fires . Results clearly show the distinctive charac
teristics and complexity of duct fires under forced ventilation flow .
Development of such fires is closely coupled to the ventilation flow and
vice versa . The severe fire hazards of excess fuel, heat , and smoke genera
tion are a direct consequence of this coupling and arise from ( 1 ) the pro
pensity of wood to produce excess co , heat , and smoke during fuel -rich
burning and ( 2 ) the tunnel fire environment with its limited air supply and
highly effective heat feedback . In addition , a very significant hazard of
duct fires is the propagation of toxic fumes and smoke via ventilation flow
downstream and reverse flow upstream . The coupling of fire hazard with
environmental conditions is a key factor to be considered in the realistic
fire testing of all combustible materials .

Based on the present study , it also appears that the intensity of an

ignition source has an effect on the subsequent growth of fires in a duct .
For example , there is a significant relationship between ignition de lay ,
source strength , and ventilation conditions . How this relationship is
affected by tunnel size would be an important aspect of evaluating mine fire
hazards from fire test results .
 47

REFERENCES

1. Cashdollar , c . K. , c . K. Lee , and J. M. Singer . A Three -Wavelength

Light Transmission Technique to Measure Smoke Particle Size and Con
centration . Applied Optics , v . 18 , 1979 , pp . 1763-1769 .

2. Chaiken , R. F. , L. E. Dalverny , M. E. Harris , and J. M. Singer .

Simulated In Situ Coal Combustion Experiment . Proc , 4th Underground
Coal Conversion Symposium , Steamboat Springs , Colo . , July 17-20 , 1978 ,
pp . 515-526 ; available from Div . of Oil , Gas , Shale and In Situ
Technology , U.S. Department of Energy .

3. Chaiken , R. F. , and J. M. Singer . Experimental Coal Mine Fire Research .

Arch . Thermodynamics and Combustion Processes (Warsaw , Poland ) , v . 7 ,
1976 , p . 529 ; available upon request from R. F. Chaiken , Bureau of
Mines , Pittsburgh , Pa .
4. Chaiken , R. F. , J. M. Singer , and C. K. Lee . Model Coal Tunnel Fires
in Ventilation Flow . BuMines RI 8355 , 1979 , 32 pp .

5. Chippett , s . , and W. A. Gray . The Size and Optical Properties of Soot

Particles . Combustion and Flame , v . 31 , 1978 , p . 149 .

6. Croce , P. A. , J. L. Buckley , B. G. Vincent , and D. B. Heard . A Full

Size Investigation of the Fuel - Load Hazard of Timber Sets in Mines .
Factory Mutual Research Corp. (Norwood , Mass . ) , Serial 22501 ,
October 1978 , 30 pp .

7. de Ris , J. Duct Fires . Combustion Sci . and Technol . , v . 2 , 1970 ,

pp . 239-258 .

8. Edwards , J. C. , H. E. Perlee , and R. F. Chaiken . Cylindrical Duct Fire

Spread . BuMines RI 8258 , 1977 , 32 pp .
9. Flame Spread in a Duct Fire . ASME -AICHE Heat Transfer Conf . ,
St. Louis , Mo. , Aug. 9-11 , 1976 , ASME Paper 76 -HT-56 , 7 pp .
10. Foster , W. W. The Size of Wood Smoke Particles . Ch . in Aerodynamic
Capture of Particles , ed . by E. G. Richardson . Pergamon Press , New
York , 1960 , pp . 89-125 .
11. Hwang , C. c . , and R. F. Chaiken . Effect of Duct Fire on the Ventilation
Air Velocity . BuMines RI 8311 , 1978 , 19 pp .
12. Hwang , C. C. , R. F. Chaiken , J. M. Singer , and D. N. H. Chi . Reverse
Stratified Flow in Duct Fires : A Two - Dimensional Approach . Proc . 16th
Symp . (Internat ) on Combustion , The Combustion Institute , Pittsburgh ,
Pa . , 1977 , p . 1385 .
48

13. Hottel , H. C. , and H. G. Mangelsdorf . Heat Transmission by Radiation

From Non - Luminous Gases II . Experimental Study of Carbon Dioxide
and Water Vapor . , Trans . AICHE , v . 31 , 1935 , p . 517 .

14 . Jones , J. H. , and J. C. Trickett . Some Observations on the Examination

of Gases Resulting From Explosions in Collieries . Trans . Inst . Min .
Eng . , v . 114 , 1954-55 , p . 768 .

15. Kreith , F. Principles of Heat Transfer . Intext Educational Publishers ,

New York , 1973 , p . 419 .

16 . Lee , c . K. , R. F. Chaiken , and J. M. Singer . Charring Pyrolysis of

Wood in Fires by Laser Simulation . Proc . 16th Symp . ( Internat . ) on
Combustion , The Combustion Institute , Pittsburgh , Pa . , 1977 , p . 1459 .
17 . Interaction Between Duct Fires and Ventilation Flow : An
Experimental Study . Combustion Sci . and Technol . , v . 20 , 1979 ,
pp . 59-72 .

18 . Lee , C. K. , J. M. Singer , and C. K. Cashdollar . Smoke Characteristics

of Tunnel Wood Fires . Fires and Materials , v . 2 , No. 3 , 1978 , p .
110 .

19. McCaffrey , B. J. , and G. Heskestad . A Robust Bidirectional Low -Velocity

Probe for Flame and Fire Application . Combustion and Flame , v . 26 ,
1976 , p . 125 .

20. Roberts , A. F. Fires in Timber Lining of Mine Roadways : A Comparison

of Data From Reduced - Scale and Large - Scale Experiments . Safety in
Mine Research Establishment , Res . Rept . H.M. Sta . off . , London , 1950 ,

21 . The Possibility of the Occurrence of Fuel -Rich Mine Fire .

Min . Eng . , September 1969 , p . 699 .

22 . Saeder , J. D. , and I. N. Einhorn . Some Physical, Chemical , Toxicological

and Physiological Aspects of Fire Smokes . Proc . 16th Symp . ( Internat . )
on Combustion , The Combustion Institute , Pittsburgh , Pa . , 1977 , p . 1423 .
23. Susott , R. A. , W. DeGroot , and F. Shafizadeh . Effective Heat Content
of Forest Fuels . University of Montana , Wood Chemistry Laboratory ,
Study Plan 2103-08 , Missoula , Mont . , 1975 , 60 pp .
24 . Tewarson , A. , and R. F. Pion . A Laboratory - Scale Test Method for the
Measurement of Flammability Parameters . Factory Mutual Research Corp. ,
( Norwood , Mass . ) , Final Tech . Rept . II , Serial 22524 , October 1977 ,
P. 48 .
 49

25. Tamanini, F. The Third Full - Scale Bedroom Fire Test of the Home Fire
Project , Vol , II - Analysis of Test Results , Section V. Tech . Rept .
RC -B - 69 , Serial 21011.7 , Factory Mutual Research Corp. ( Norwood ,
Mass . ) November 1976 , 263 pp .

26. Yuen , W. W. , and C. L. Lien . A Simple Calculation Scheme for the

Luminous - Flame Emissivity . Proc . 16th Symp . ( Internat . ) on Combustion ,
The Combustion Institute , Pittsburgh , Pa . , 1977 , p . 1481 .
50

APPENDIX A .--CALCULATION SCHEME FOR FUEL MASS FLOW RATE AND HO CONCENTRATION
The calculations in this appendix were used to determine the fuel mass
flow rate by computing the actual combustion products , including water ,
using either the total or volatile composition of the original wood and the
measured concentrations of combustion gases without water .

A generalized combustion reaction for wood gives

CA Hg Oc + D02 + EN2 He + GCO + HCH4 + PCO2 + QH2 0 + R02 + SN2 + TC2 H2 + VC2H4 + WC2 H2 + XCg H & + YC , He
( A-1 )

Let SUM be the total number of moles of products , that is ,

SUM = F + G + H + P + Q + R + S + T + V + W + X + Y . (A - 2 )

The mold balance equations for the reaction in equation A - l are

C : G + H + P + 2T + 20 + 2W + 3x + 3y = A = 1.0 (when normalized with respect to A )
(A - 3)
=
H : 2F + 4H + 20 + 2T + 41 + 6W + 6X + 8Y B (A -4 )
Og : c/2+D G / 2 + P + 2 / 2 + R , or C = G + 2P + Q + 2R - 2D (A - 5 )

Na : E = S when N is measured (A -6 )

and E = S = SUM - F - G - H - P - R - R - T - V - W - X - Y when N , is not measured . (A - 7 )

In addition , the known composition of air gives

D = E /3.76 . (A - 8 )

The measured concentrations ( indicated by subscript M) give

[H ] = F / ( SUM - Q ) , or F = [ H ]m * (SUM - Q ) (A - 9 )
[ co] m = G / ( SUM -Q ) , or G = [ CO]m * (SUM - Q ) (A - 10 )

[ CĄ, JM H / ( SUM - Q ) , or H = [ CH, JM * ( SUM - Q ) (A - 11 )

[ CQ ] P / (SUM - Q ) , or P = [ co ]M * (SUM - Q ) (A - 12 )

[ Q ]M R / (SUM - Q ) , or R = [ Q2Jm * (SUM - Q ) (A - 13 )

[N IM =
s / (SUM - Q ) , or s = [ Jm * ( SUM - Q ) (A- 14 )

[ C Helm T / (SUM - Q ) , or T = [ C, Hy ] * (SUM - Q ) (A - 15 )

[ C, H , IM =
v / ( SUM - Q ) , or v = [ C, H , JM * (SUM - Q ) (A - 16 )
 51

[ C, H. JM - W / ( SUM - Q ) , or W = [ C, H. Im * (SUM -Q ) (A - 17 )

[ C, Hu JM - X / (SUM - Q ) , or X = [C2 H . ] * (SUM - Q )

=
(A - 18 )

[ C, Hg] = Y / (SUM -Q ) , or Y = [ C H. ]m * ( SUM - Q ) (A - 19 )

where ( SUM - Q ) is determined from the carbon mole balance ( equation A -3 ) and
results in

( SUM - Q ) =
1.0 /[ Co]m +[ CĄ Im +[ cą Jm + 2* [ C2 H2 ] m + 2* [ C, H , JM + 2 * [ C, Ho ] (A-20 )
+ 3* [ C H ]m + 3* [C, Hg ]m
If the determination of [ H0] is based on the H mole balance (equation
A -4 ) , then

Q = B / 2 - F - 2H - T - 2V - 3W - 3X -4Y (A- 21 )

and if it is based on the oz mole balance ( equation A -5 ) , then

Q = C+2D -G- 2P- 2R . (A - 22 )

In the first case a value of B and in the second case a value of C must
be determined from the proximate and ultimate analyses of the volatiles / and
the original wood fuel ( table 3 in text ) . These analyses result in the formula
C, H , O. .XH 0 , where a can be either the moles of carbon associated with the
total fuel or the moles of carbon associated with the volatile part of the
fuel . This formula can be transformed into the form CA Ho Oc , where
A = a /a (A - 23 )
B = (b+2x ) /a (A - 24 )

C = ( c +X ) /a (A -25 )
X = y ( 12a+b+ 16C ) / ( 18-18y ) (A - 26 )
18x / [ ( 12a+b+ 16c )+ 18x] (A - 27 )

In equation A- 27 , y is the moisture content of the original wood fuel .

If [ на о]) is based on the H mole balance , then C on the left side of equation
A- 1 is calculated from the 02 mole balance ( equation A- 5) . If (Heo ] is based on
the Oa mole balance , then B on the left side of equation A- l is calculated
from the H mole balance ( equation A- 4) .
The actual volumetric percent of combustion products ( represented by sub
script A) , including water , would then be

[HQ ] = ( F / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 28)

[ co ] ( G / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 29 )
52

[ CH, JA ( H / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 30)

[ Co2 JA = ( P / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 31)

[не о , =
( Q / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 32 )

[ 02 JA ( R / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 33 )
[Na ]A ( S / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A - 34)

[ Ca HQ JA = ( T / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 35)

[ cate la =
( V / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A - 36 )
[ caHa JA =
( W / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 37 )

[C3Hal ( X / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A- 38)

[ cg Hg JA =
( Y / SUM ) * 100.0 ( A - 39 )

The moles per second of CO + CH4 + CO2 +C2 H2 +C2 H4 +C2 H& +C3Hg +C3 Hg are calcu
lated by multiplying the actual concentration / 100.0 of each species by the
volumetric flow rate ( cubic centimeters per second) and dividing by cubic
centimeters per mole . The moles per second of carbon equals the sum of the
moles per second of each species . The mass flow rate of fuel ÁFUEL ( grams per
second) is then equal to
MFUEL = ( 12.0+ B+ 16C) g /mole x ( CARBON ) moles / sec . ( A- 40)
 53

APPENDIX B .--RADIATION CALCULATION SCHEME

The calculation scheme in this appendix was used to calculate the radia
tive heat flux on a radiometer from gases , soot particles , and burning wood
surfaces in the fire duct . The radiometer had a 90° solid view angle and
was located at the center of one side wall in the middle of the fire zone .

For the radiating gases of H20 , Coz , and co , the gray gas emission
approximation from Hottel ( 13) was used . The mean beam length l of the fire
zone in the present duct as viewed by the radiometer was estimated to be
20 cm. Since the heat flux measurements were made in the middle of the fire
zone , gas concentrations were assumed to be half of those measured at the
duct exit shown in table 5 . At time t= 8 minutes , the following products of
partial pressure p and mean beam length l were determined for the three gases :

( pl) H20 = 1.8 atm - cm . ( B- 1)

( pl) coz 1.5 atm - cm . ( B - 2)

( pl) co = 0.8 atm - cm . ( B-3)

The measured average gas temperature Tg was 850° C. Thus , from Hottel ( 13)
the gas emissivities E became

CH2O = 0.034 . ( B - 4)

Eco2 = 0.042 . ( B - 5)

Eco = 0.0352 . ( B-6)

The total gas emissivity Eg then became

Eg = CH + eCO2 + ECO = 0.111 . (B- 7)

For the emissivity of the radiating soot particles es , the technique

developed by Yuen ( 26 ) was used . Using half of the soot mass concentration
measurements , Cs , in figure 30 , the absorption coefficient k was found to be
0.0036 cm The soot emissivity , Es , became
k) = 0.0689 .
= ( B - 8)

The total emissivity , Et , of the mixture of gases and soot became ( 26 )

Esg = €. + enkle 8 ( B- 9)

From the Stefan - Boltzman law , the total incident radiative heat transfer from
the gases and soot qit', 88 became

QF",06 = ( € ) ( ) ( TG)* = 0.373 cal /cmº-sec. ( B - 10)

54

where o is the Stefan - Boltzman constant .

For the radiating wood surfaces as viewed by the radiometer , the shape
factor , F , was 0.65 . The measured wood surface temperature , Tw , was 660 ° C.
The radiative heat flux from the wood surface , ģi! , w , became
2
Q:' .- = ( 1-a) ( 0) ( F) ( Tv) 4 0.555 cal / cm - sec ( B - 11 )

where a is the absorptivity of the mixture of the gases and soot , equal to
€8g at thermal equilibrium .

The total incident radiative heat flux from the gases , soot , and wood
surface , ģ ',1 , then became
9 ", =

QF",88 + Q ', ( B - 12)

= 0.373 + 0.555
a
=
0.928 cal / cm - sec .

Similar procedures were applied to time t = 12 and 17 minutes . The

corresponding calculated total incident radiative heat fluxes are shown
in figure 34 for comparison with the measured values . The pertinent radia
tive properties are tabulated in table 9 .
 55

APPENDIX C. --LIST OF SYMBOLS

A , B , ----H Cold - flow equilibrium operating conditions between fire duct

and exhaust fan ( figs . 7 and 9) .

A Surface of wood lining exposed to duct fire .

a , b , ---- Hot - flow equilibrium operating condition between fire duct

duct and exhaust fan ( figs . 7 , 9 , and 13) .
a' Hot - flow equilibrium operating condition between fire duct
with ignition section burning and exhaust fan ( figs . 7
and 9 ) .

a '। Hot - flow equilibrium operating condition between parallel

fire and bypass ducts and exhaust fan ( fig . 9 ) .
Cs Mass concentration of smoke particulates in fire duct
exhaust gas .

Ср Gas specific heat .

D Optical density .

daa Volume - to - surface mean diameter of smoke particles .

F View factor between radiometer and fire duct .

Fra , Fra , , Fre Froude numbers , see equations 4-6 .

H Height of fire duct .

h Convective heat transfer coefficient .

JT Jones - Trickett number .

K Average extinction efficiency .

k Gas thermoconductivity or absorption coefficient .

L Beam path length of three -wavelength smoke dectector .

l Mean beam length .

m Mass flow rate .

Ma ma >
Ventilation air mass flow rate for cold and hot flow ,
respectively .
mco Mass generation rate of carbon monoxide .
56

Me , me Fire duct or fire tunnel network exhaust gas mass flow rate
for cold and hot flow , respectively .

ing ine , Volatile fuel mass generation rate from wood lining in
entire fire duct and in ignition section , respectively .

me' Fuel mass generation rate per unit wood surface area .

mg Mass generation rate of smoke particulates .

Nu

Nusselt number ( fig . 36) .

AP , Ap Pressure drop across two stations in fire tunnel network

for cold and hot flow , respectively .

р Gas partial pressure .

Qcomb Heat of combustion of volatile fuel from oak .

ge Volumetric flow rate of fire duct exhaust gas .

9,9" Heat flow rate . Surface heat flux ,

bombol
Gomb , 400Mb Heat generation rate from combustion of ventilation air
and volatile fuel from wood lining in entire fire duct
and in ignition section , respectively .

ģcony Convective heat transfer rate to entire wood lining .

q" .
con v
Local convective heat flux to wood lining .

Convective enthalpy loss rate at exit of fire duct .

he .
ang h 1
Convective enthalpy flow rate from ignition to test section .
ģ" Local conductive heat flux to wood lining .
a Heat of pyrolysis of oak .

G" r ,&
Local radiative heat flux from gases to wood lining.
‫ܕܕ ܨ‬ Total incident radiative heat transfer rate to entire wood
r
lining .

q" Local total incident radiative heat flux to wood lining .

ry1

ģ "ryo Local emitted radiative heat flux from wood lining.

ģ" . 6 Local radiative heat flux from soot particles to wood lining .
 57

qil
,W Local radiative heat flux on wood lining from surrounding
wood surfaces .

q S8 Local radiative heat flux from soot and gases to wood lining .

ģt Total convective and radiative heat transfer rate to entire

wood lining .

ģt' Local total convective and radiative heat flux to wood

lining .

R Normalized fuel - to -air mass ratio ( equation 10) .

Re Reynolds number ( table 9) .

T Temperature.

Tg Gas temperature .
T.

Surface temperature of Marinite disk .

TW

Wood surface temperature .

t Time

ta Fire development time .

ti Flame spread time .

ti Ignition delay time .

V Gas velocity .

Va , Va Average ventilation air velocity for cold and hot flow ,

respectively .
Vъ Gas velocity at 5.1 cm from duct floor and 35 cm upstream
of fire .

Ve Flame spread rate .

V8 , V8,1 Gas velocity in fire duct and gas velocity from ignition
section to test section , respectively .
Vt Gas velocity at 5.1 cm from duct ceiling and 35 cm upstream
of fire .

X Axial distance from fire duct entrance .

1,2 ---- 6 Designated stations in fire tunnel network ( fig . 1) .
58

a Absorptivity of gases and soot .

Egy Es , Ess Emissivity of gases , soot , and combination of soot and
gases , respectively .

λα , λα , λο Wavelength of light source .

‫بلا‬ Absolute viscosity of gas .

p Gas density .

ръ Gas density at 5.1 cm from duct floor and 35 cm upstream

of fire .

Ps Mass density of soot particles .

Pt Gas density at 5.1 cm from duct ceiling and 35 cm upstream

of fire .

Stefan - Boltzmann constant .

b

T Gas transmission .

* U.S . GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1980-603-102/73 INT..BU.OF MINES , P GH . , PA . 246 22

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

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