ITEMS

modern scholarly publishers in the finest tradition

Journals

	Search

Atomization and Sprays

Journal of the International Institutes for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems

ISSN for PRINT: 1045-5110

Institutional price:	$787.00
Issues per year:	8

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2007, Volume17

102 pages

Issue price - $109.00

UNSTEADY RANS MODELING OF WATER-SPRAY SUPPRESSION FOR LARGE-SCALE COMPARTMENT POOL FIRES

Sam S. Yoon
Mechanical Engineering Department, Korea University, Anamdong, 5-Ga, Sungbukgu, Seoul, 136-713, Korea

Ho Young Kim
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Anamdong, 5-Ga, Sungbukgu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

Paul E. DesJardin
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, New York, NY

John C. Hewson
Sandia National Laboratories, Fire Science & Technologies, P. O. Box, 5800, Albuquerque, NM, 87185-1135

Sheldon R. Tieszen
Fire Science & Technologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Thomas K . Blanchat
Fire Science & Technologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a computational study of the effect of water-spray characteristics on the suppression of a large-scale (2 m × 2 m) JP-8 pool fire in a 10 m × 10 m × 10 m compartment with an open ceiling. The numerical model is based on an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier−Stokes formulation using a stochastic separated flow approach for the droplets that includes detailed descriptions of the interaction between water droplets and fire plume. Simulation results indicate that water-spray injection causes the gas temperature to rise due to the initial enhancement of the turbulent mixing. A threshold suppression condition is achieved when the injected droplet carries enough momentum (injection speed range is 20−80 m/s) to penetrate the fire plume and evaporate in the flame regions where most of the gas-phase combustion is taking place. In addition, the droplet size (ranging from 100−800 μm) should be small enough to yield quick evaporation when in contact with the flame surface for efficient cooling. Based on a parametric study, a preferred fire suppression configuration is recommended for the systems considered.