Large Fires: Burning of Oil Spills.
Large Fires: Burning of Oil Spills.
(395 K)
Evans, D. D.; Walton, W. D.; Notarianni, K. A.; Baum, H.
R.; Koseki, H.
NIST SP 995; Volume 2; March 2003.
U.S./Japan Government Cooperative Program on Natural
Resources (UJNR). Fire Research and Safety. 12th Joint
Panel Meeting. October 27-November 2, 1992, Tsukuba,
Japan, Building Research Inst., Ibaraki, Japan Fire
Research Inst., Tokyo, Japan, 365-371 pp, 1992.
Sponsor:
Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
Keywords:
fire safety; fire research; oil spills; combustion;
burning rate; smoke yield; particle size distribution;
fire plumes; regression rate
Abstract:
In 1991 a series of 14 mesoscale fire experiments were
performed to measure the burning characteristics of
crude oil on salt water. These oil burns in a pan
ranged in size from 6 m square to 15 m square. Results
of the measurements for burning rate and smoke emissions
are compared to those from previous smaller scale burns
conducted both in the U.S. and in Japan. The burning
rate as indicated by the regression rate of the oil
surface was found to be 0.055 + 0.01 mm/s for pan fires
with effective diameters greater than 7 m. Smoke
particulate yields from fires greater than 2 m in
diameter were found to be approximately 0.13 of the oil
burned on a mass basis. Predictions of smoke plume
trajectory and particulate deposition at ground level
from the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model developed as
part of this research effort were found to be different
from those predicted by the EPA approved SCREEN model.
LES is a steady-state three-dimensional calculation of
smoke plume trajectory and smoke particulate deposition
based on a mixed finite difference and Lagrangian
particle tracking method.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899