Large Fires: Kuwait.
Large Fires: Kuwait.
(410 K)
Madrzykowski, D.; Evans, D. D.
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, 357-364 pp, 1992.
Keywords:
fire safety; fire research; well fires; heat release
rate; flame height; thermal radiation; radiation
measurements
Abstract:
A series of measurements were made in the Al Mawqa/Al
Ahmadi oil field region of Kuwait to explore the
feasibility of assessing the heat release rate of
individual well fires through flame height and thermal
radiation measurements. The 12 fires measured ranged in
calculated heat release rate from 90 to 2000 MW which
correspond to flow rates of 240 m3 day (15000 bbl/day)
to 4800 m3/day (30000 bbl/day). Based on these twelve
burning well measurements, the estimated total flow from
the 651 damaged wells, both burning and leaking in
March, 1991, was 7,400,000 barrels/day which is only 20
percent greater than published NOAA estimates based on
information from the Kuwait Oil Company.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899