Far field radiation properties of gaseous modelled wind-blown pool fires: An experimental investigation and simplified geometrical analysis

This paper presents an experimental study on the far-field radiation properties of modelled gaseous pool fires in cross winds, which have not been previously discussed in the literature. Bench scale experiments were conducted to quantify the evolution of radiation emission of pool fires using square porous burners (stainless-steel boxes filled with quartz sand) of different sizes (8, 10, 15 and 20 cm), employing propane as the fuel. The radiation heat flux as well as the radiation fraction were measured by a single-point method. For all pool fires employed, it was found that the radiation heat flux, as well as the radiation fraction, declined with increasing wind speed from similar to 0.5 m/s up to similar to 5 m/s. Based on an assumed triangular geometric approximation of flame projection area of wind-blown pool fires, a simplified correlation related to the flame surface area exposed to the radiometer was proposed to interpret the changing radiation fraction of pool fires of different sizes and heat release rates (HRR) in cross winds. The proposed function correlates the experimental data well under relative strong wind conditions (Fr > 1). This work provides new basic data revealing the radiation evolution behaviour of gaseous pool fires with respect to wind speed.