The onset of extreme fire behaviour in a mine drift

The onset of extreme fire behaviour in a mine drift with longitudinal ventilation was analysed. A fire in a mine drift with continuous fuel load, involving several separate fires may lead to flames tilted horizontally and filling up the entire cross section. This will lead to earlier ignition, higher fire growth rate, higher fire spread rate and a severe fire behaviour. The focus has been on what changes take place at the onset and signs of the impending phenomenon. It was found that the fire gas temperature at the ceiling level provided a poor indicator. At the downstream far-field region of the fire, the sudden temperature increase at the lowest levels of the cross section and the sudden increase in flow velocities would provide signs of extreme fire behaviour. The corresponding full-scale heat release rates of the experiments at the onset of extreme fire behaviour were found to be very high for mining applications but not necessarily for tunnel fires. The heat release rate threshold for a mine drift with smaller cross-sectional dimensions would decrease considerably, increasing the likelihood of occurrence. The distance between the fuel items will play an important role during the initiation of horizontal flames.