Effect of initial pressure on the burning behavior of ethanol pool fire in the closed pressure vessel

Fire Hazards associated with pressure vessel seriously threaten the process safety in chemical industries. There are limited literatures about fire characteristics in closed pressure vessels, which are important for fire risk management and safety design. In this study, the effect of initial pressure on the burning behavior of ethanol pool fire in a pressure vessel was investigated. A series of ethanol pool fires with diameters from 4 cm to 10 cm was carried out in a pressure vessel with interior dimensions of 0.6 m (height) x0.4 m (diameter), and the initial pressures range from 60 kPa to 300 kPa. Results show that the flame structure changes from laminar to turbulent and the flame color changes from yellow to blue as the initial pressure or the burning time increases, which can provide information on the flow and chemical details. Furthermore, considering the effect of initial pressure on the mean burning flux, an empirical formula for predicting the self-extinction time of pool fire in the closed pressure vessel was developed, which showing a good agreement with the experimental data in our study and previous tests. Finally, it was observed that the changes of pressure with time are similar to the change of mass burning rate and could be divided into three representative stages. The relationship for predicting the over pressure peak was introduced and verified by the experimental data. (c) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Fire hazards associated with pressure vessel seriously threaten the process safety in chemical industries. Limited literatures about fire characteristics in closed pressure vessels were found, so the effect of initial pressure on ethanol pool fire burning behavior was investigated. An empirical formula for predicting the self-extinction time of pool fire in the closed pressure vessel was developed, showing good agreement with experimental data and previous tests.