Extinguishment of Burning Solid Materials by a Water Spray

The heat transfer between a water spray and a burning solid surface is considered for the fire extinguishment problem. The study combines analytical and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approaches. A steady-state formulation of the problem is investigated, where extinguishment is considered as the non-existence of a steady-state burning regime. An analytical one-dimensional burning model of the solid phase is employed, which connects the temperature gradient in the solid with the burning rate. To get the critical boundary between the burning and extinction regimes requires the dependence of flame-to-surface feedback on the burning rate to be determined, which is done using the CFD fire simulations.
The results are presented as a critical water flow rate required for extinguishment. Different types of burning materials are considered and the results are compared with the available experimental data.