Experimental Investigation on the Mass Loss Rates of Thin-Layered n-Heptane Pool Fires in Longitudinally Ventilated Reduced Scale Tunnel

Thin-layered n-heptane pool fires are burned with varied pool depths under longitudinal ventilation velocities ranging between 0.5-2.5 m/s in a reduced scale tunnel model. The combined effects of ventilation, pool size, and depth are investigated on the heat release rate, temperature distribution, and mass loss rate of fire. The gas temperature distribution and heat release rate results indicate that the critical ventilation velocity is achieved around 1 m/s in the scaled model, corresponding to 3.6 m/s in the real scale tunnel. It is observed that the gas temperature downstream of the fire increases at 2.5 m/s ventilation due to an enhancing effect of oxygen supply to the fire and increased flame deflection towards the leeward side of the pan. Results show that maximum heat release rate and total heat release normalized by fuel amount tend to occur at critical ventilation velocity. The measured mass loss rates show a considerable increasing trend with pool depth.