Small scale experiment study on burning rate characteristics of boilovers

Key words:  boilover  burning rate  flame height  initial fuel-layer thickness  boilover intensity

Abstract:

The small scale experiment on the the burning rate has been performed in use of Shengli crude oil.Three diameters in the burning process were considered:0.1 m, 0.15 m, and 0.2 m. During the experiment, the combustion process was observed, and the change of the burning rate and temperature with respect to time was recorded. The combustion period of boiling fire was divided according to the burning phenomenon, i.e. the burning rate and the height of the flame. In addition, the influences of different diameters and initial fuel-layer thickness on the burning rate were discussed, and the boilover intensity model was built according to the burning rate. The result shows that the boilover includes four typical periods, i.e. pre-combustion, quasi-steady, boilover and flame extinguishing periods. The burning rate and flame height during the boilover period are significantly greater than those in the quasi-steady period. Moreover, the burning rate increases with the pool diameter during all the combustion process, and the increased amplitude in the boilover period is greater than other periods. The steady burning rate in the quasi-steady period increases with the increase of the diameter, and has little to do with the initial fuel-layer thickness. The boilover intensity increases with the increase of the initial fuel-layer thickness and the decrease of the diameter, and as well, it is proportional to the rate between the initial fuel-layer thickness and the pool diameter.