Study of water‐mist behaviour in hot air induced by a room fire: Model development,validation and verification

Water‐mists are emerging as an effective agent for the suppression of fires. However, the mechanisms of suppression are complex and the behaviour of individual water droplets in a smoke layer generated by fires must be quantified. This study investigates the behaviour of individual droplets injected from a nozzle into a hot air environment induced by a room fire. A semi‐empirical model has been developed based on the conservation of mass, momentum and energy to evaluate the heat and mass transfer phenomena in an air‐water droplet system. The model has considered the effect of change of momentum of an evaporating droplet. A forward finite difference approach is applied to solve the governing time dependent ordinary differential equations. The droplets are considered to be ‘lumped mass’ and variable thermo‐physical properties of water and air and the change of Reynolds number of the droplets, due to the change of their diameter and velocity are considered. The effect of high evaporation rate on the mass and heat transfer coefficient and the contribution of radiation emanating by a flame and the surrounding boundary walls are also considered in the model which were not taken into account in the previous studies. Experimental data on terminal velocity and adiabatic saturation temperature are used to validate and verify the model. The validation and verification indicate that the proposed model predicted the terminal velocity within 4% of the experimental data and predicted the saturation temperature within 5% of the adiabatic saturation temperature. This semi‐empirical model is also used as a tool to validate a more comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based tool, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). It is found that FDS results agree well with the results of the proposed model. Furthermore, the proposed model can be used to evaluate the temperature, velocity, diameter and other physical properties of a droplet travelling through a layer of hot air. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

生物柴油浸没喷吹的雾化特性

以生物柴油替代柴油进行浸没喷吹熔池熔炼是发展低碳铜冶炼的重要途径。针对该过程建立生物柴油浸没喷吹雾化流动过程计算模型,本文模拟计算了喷枪在水模型中浸没深度为20mm时不同油气比条件下生物柴油雾化颗粒的雾化特性,并实验验证了计算模型。研究结果表明：油滴颗粒的贯穿距随着空气流速的增加而增大;在气泡内油滴颗粒以一定的雾化半角向前扩散;当油滴颗粒到达气泡底部时,油滴颗粒以气泡底部平面为中心向整个空间扩散;气泡内距离喷枪轴向越远的观察面内大颗粒数目越多;油滴颗粒的索特平均直径（SMD）沿喷枪轴向先增大后减小;气泡内距喷枪口越远油滴颗粒SMD越大,进入水区域的油滴颗粒SMD逐渐减小;雾化空气流速越大,油滴颗粒SMD最大值的位置距喷口越远。     

Heat transfer from a buoyant smoke layer beneath a ceiling to a sprinkler spray. 1—a tentative theory

A theory is developed for calculating the heat transferred from a buoyant layer of fire gases and smoke, to a sprinkler spray. The theory involves calculating the heat transfer to a single water drop as it describes its trajectory, and uses experimentally derived information on the nature and structure of such sprays to calculate heat transfer to the whole spray. Because such experimental information is sparse for sprinklers, a very simple model of the ballistic properties of a sprinkler spray is adopted. Calculations using the teory suggest that the practive of installing sprinklers in the smoke reservoirs of shopping malls would, in some cases at least, reduce the effectiveness of natural venting of smoke by reducing the buoyancy of the hot smoky gases.     

具有冲击平板的雾化喷雾流中汽液流动的模拟

A comprehensive three-dimensional model of droplet-gas flow was presented to study the evolution of spray in the effervescent atomization spray with an impinging plate.For gas phase,the N-S equation with the k-ε turbulence model was solved,considering two-way coupling interaction between droplets and gas phase.Dispersed droplet phase is modeled as Lagrangian entities,accounting for the physics of droplet generation from primary and secondary breakup,droplet collision and coalescence,droplet momentum and heat transfer.The mean size and statistical distribution of atomized droplets at various nozzle-to-plate distances were calculated.Some simulation results were compared well with experimental data.The results show that the existence of the impinging plate has a pronounced influence on the droplet mean size,size distribution and the droplet spatial distribution.The air-to-liquid ratio has obvious effects on the droplet size and distribution.     

Experimental and numerical study of water spray system for a fire event in a confined and mechanically ventilated compartment

The present work addresses the application of a water spray system in case of a fire event in large‐scale experiments for nuclear safety issues. It focuses on the interaction between a water spray system and a stratified smoke layer due to a pool fire in a mechanically ventilated enclosure. This study is supported by a set of four large‐scale tests and one numerical simulation with a 3D CFD software, named CALIF³S/ISIS, and developed by the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN). The modelling used in this paper is based on an Eulerian‐Lagrangian approach. The fire tests are performed in a 165 ?m³ mechanically ventilated single room. The fire is a lubricant oil pool fire of about 400 kW. The ventilation flow rate is 2550 m³.h^?1 and corresponds to a renewal rate of 15.5 h^?1. The spray nozzles are deluge and sprinkler type. The test parameters are the water flow rate, the time of activation, and the duration of activation. Based on the large‐scale experiments and the numerical simulation, four typical physical mechanisms have been enlightened. The first one corresponds to the cooling of the gas phase that is the straightforward consequence of the heat transfer exchange between the water droplets and the surrounding gas. The second effect is the process of gas mixing and homogenization induced by the water spraying system. The gas concentrations (O₂, CO₂) in the upper and lower parts of the room tend to the same level. The third effect is the significant increase of the fire heat release rate (HRR), up to 25 %, when the water spray is activated. Then, the last noteworthy effect is the occurrence of gas pressure peaks when the water spray is activated or shut off, consequence of the sudden change of the gas temperature. The processes of gas cooling and fire HRR increase are showed to be the main causes of these variations of gas pressure.     

Physical properties of a sprinkler water spray

This paper reports an experimental study on the physical properties of a sprinkler water spray. The mass flux density, shape of spray pattern, size distribution and velocity of water droplets discharged from two types of 15 mm orifice sprinkler heads were measured. Three operating flow conditions of the sprinkler system, including one specified for the Ordinary Hazard class under the LPC rules for sprinkler design, were set. The sprinkler head was installed above finished floor levels of either 2 m or 2.2 m. The median droplet size was found to be related to the water pressure and the orifice diameter of the sprinkler head as proposed by Dundas. The droplet size distribution function can be fitted by a Rosin–Rammler function.     

COMPARISON OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND AIR OPERATED SPRAY DRYERS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS.

In this paper a numerical simulation of a spray dryer using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Fluent is described. This simulation is based on a discrete droplet model and solve the partial differential equations of momentum, heat and mass conservation for both gas and dispersed phase.

The model is used to simulate the behaviour of a pilot scale spray dryer operated with two drying media : superheated steam and air Considering that there is no risk of powder ignition in superheated steam, we choosed a rather high inlet temperature (973 K). For the simulation, drop size spectrum is represented by 6 discrete droplets diameters, fitting to an experimental droplets size distribution and all droplets are injected at the same velocity, equal to the calculated velocity of the liquid sheet at the nozzle orifice.

It is showed that the model can evaluate the most important features of a spray dryer : temperature distribution inside the chamber, velocity of gas, droplets trajectories as well as deposits on the walls. The model predicts a fast down flowing core jet surrounded by a large recirculation zone. Using superheated steam or air as a drying medium shows only slight differences in flow patterns. Except for the recirculation which is tighter in steam.

The general behaviour of droplets in air or steam are quite the same : smallest droplets are entrained by the central core and largest ones are taken into the recirculation zone. In superheated steam, the droplets penetrate to a greater extent in the recirculation zone. Also, they evaporate faster. The contours of gas temperature reflect these differences as these two aspects are strongly coupled. In both air and steam there is a “cool” zone which is narrower in steam than in air. Finally, the panicle deposit problem seems to be more pronounced in air than in steam.

Adding to the inherent interest in using superheated steam as a drying medium, the model predicts attractive behaviour for spray drying with superheated steam. In particular. under the conditions tested with the model, a higher volumetric drying rate is obtained in superheated steam.     

COMPARISON OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND AIR OPERATED SPRAY DRYERS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS.

ABSTRACT

In this paper a numerical simulation of a spray dryer using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Fluent is described. This simulation is based on a discrete droplet model and solve the partial differential equations of momentum, heat and mass conservation for both gas and dispersed phase.

The model is used to simulate the behaviour of a pilot scale spray dryer operated with two drying media : superheated steam and air Considering that there is no risk of powder ignition in superheated steam, we choosed a rather high inlet temperature (973 K). For the simulation, drop size spectrum is represented by 6 discrete droplets diameters, fitting to an experimental droplets size distribution and all droplets are injected at the same velocity, equal to the calculated velocity of the liquid sheet at the nozzle orifice.

It is showed that the model can evaluate the most important features of a spray dryer : temperature distribution inside the chamber, velocity of gas, droplets trajectories as well as deposits on the walls. The model predicts a fast down flowing core jet surrounded by a large recirculation zone. Using superheated steam or air as a drying medium shows only slight differences in flow patterns. Except for the recirculation which is tighter in steam.

The general behaviour of droplets in air or steam are quite the same : smallest droplets are entrained by the central core and largest ones are taken into the recirculation zone. In superheated steam, the droplets penetrate to a greater extent in the recirculation zone. Also, they evaporate faster. The contours of gas temperature reflect these differences as these two aspects are strongly coupled. In both air and steam there is a “cool” zone which is narrower in steam than in air. Finally, the panicle deposit problem seems to be more pronounced in air than in steam.

Adding to the inherent interest in using superheated steam as a drying medium, the model predicts attractive behaviour for spray drying with superheated steam. In particular. under the conditions tested with the model, a higher volumetric drying rate is obtained in superheated steam.     

Mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer in hot gas spray systems

A mathematical model is developed to study simultaneous heat and mass transfer in hot gas spray systems. The model is obtained by writing mass, energy, and momentum balances for both continuous and discontinuous phases. Governing equations along with suitable correlations for heat and mass transfer coefficients have been solved numerically. In order to develop a realistic model for such complicated systems, a droplet size distribution was implemented in the model instead of using an average size. A steady state spray-cooling problem is analyzed to illustrate the applicability of the model. To validate the mathematical model for this case, necessary data was collected and measured in commercial cement plants. A good agreement between plant data and the model was noticed in general, and results obtained from the model indicate that size distribution of water droplets and physical dimensions of the spray-cooling system are important parameters. This model is very useful in determining the so-called "critical operation condition" at which sludge formation at the bottom of spray-cooling systems will happen. The predicted parameters in spray-cooling systems both for droplet phase and gas phase aptly illustrate the ability of the model to treat the complex phenomena associated with two-phase flows.     

MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN HOT GAS SPRAY SYSTEMS

A mathematical model is developed to study simultaneous heat and mass transfer in hot gas spray systems. The model is obtained by writing mass, energy, and momentum balances for both continuous and discontinuous phases. Governing equations along with suitable correlations for heat and mass transfer coefficients have been solved numerically. In order to develop a realistic model for such complicated systems, a droplet size distribution was implemented in the model instead of using an average size. A steady state spray-cooling problem is analyzed to illustrate the applicability of the model. To validate the mathematical model for this case, necessary data was collected and measured in commercial cement plants. A good agreement between plant data and the model was noticed in general, and results obtained from the model indicate that size distribution of water droplets and physical dimensions of the spray-cooling system are important parameters. This model is very useful in determining the so-called "critical operation condition" at which sludge formation at the bottom of spray-cooling systems will happen. The predicted parameters in spray-cooling systems both for droplet phase and gas phase aptly illustrate the ability of the model to treat the complex phenomena associated with two-phase flows.     

A Modified Eulerian-Lagrangian Approach Applied to a Compact Down-Hole Sub-Sea Gas-Liquid Separator

This article presents a modified Eulerian-Lagrangian approach for solving multi-phase flow applied to a laboratory-scale gas-liquid separator designed for high gas content. The separator consists of two concentric pipes with a swirl tube in the annular space between the pipes. The gas-liquid mixture comes from a tangential side inlet and the system works with a combination of gravity and centrifugal forces to achieve a high-efficient gas-liquid separation. In the modified Eulerian-Lagrangian method, gas flow is coupled with the spray and wall film models. The spray model involves multi-phase flow phenomena and requires the numerical solution of conservation equations for the gas and the liquid phase simultaneously. With respect to the liquids phase, the discrete-droplet method (DDM) is used. The droplet-gas momentum exchange, droplet coalesces and breaks-up, and the droplet-wall interaction with wall-film generation and entrainment of the water droplet back into the gas stream are taken into account in this investigation. To be consistent with the experiments the experimental air water mixture on the liquid carry over (LCO) curve is used for the numerical investigation. The standard k-? turbulence model is used for turbulence closure. The predicted results from the modified Eulerian-Lagrangian multi-phase model explain the complex flow behavior inside the separator and are in good agreement when compared with experiments.     

DROPLET-GAS INTERACTION IN COUNTER-CURRENT SPRAY DRYERS

The mass, momentum and energy exchange between the droplets and particles and the drying medium in a spray dryer is a complex process. One approach to modeling this process is to apply the particle-sourcein- cell model in which the droplets and particles are regarded as sources of mass, momentum and energy to the conveying gas flow. This mode1 is app1ied to a counter-current spray dryer. The results show the strong interaction between the droplet/particle and gas flow fields. The calculations show the inadequacy of predictions in which the exchange between phases is ignored.     

Assessment of fire protection performance of water mist applied in exhaust ducts for semiconductor fabrication process

Fume exhaust pipes used in semiconductor facilities underwent a series of fire tests to evaluate the performance of a water mist system. The parameters considered were the amount of water that the mist nozzles used, the air flow velocity, the fire intensity and the water mist system operating pressure. In order to make a performance comparison, tests were also performed with a standard sprinkler system. The base case served as a reference and applied a single water mist nozzle (100 bar operating pressure, 7.3 l/min water volume flux and 200 µm mean droplet size) installed in the pipe (60 cm in diameter) subjected to a 350°C air flow with an average velocity of 2 m/s. In such a case, the temperature in the hot flow dropped sharply as the water mist nozzle was activated and reached a 60°C saturation point. Under the same operating conditions, four mist nozzles were applied, and made no further contribution to reducing the fire temperature compared with the case using only a single nozzle. Similar fire protection performances to that in the base case were still retained when the exhaust flow velocity increased to 3 m/s and the inlet air temperature was increased to 500°C due to a stronger input fire scenario, respectively. Changing to a water mist system produced a better performance than a standard sprinkler. With regard to the effect of operating pressure of water mist system, a higher operating pressure can have a better performance. The results above indicate that the droplet size in a water‐related fire protection system plays a critical role. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical modeling of an evaporative spray in a riser

A numerical model is developed for modeling the evaporative spray in a hot gas-solid flow. Phenomenological sub-models for the interaction between the cold evaporative spray droplets and hot particles, including momentum exchange, heat and mass transfer, are proposed based on previous experimental and numerical studies in the literature. Simulation of an evaporative water spray through a hollow cone spray nozzle in a riser operated at an elevated temperature is conducted. Comparison with available experimental measurements in terms of the spray expansion and spray width is performed, and reasonable agreement is obtained. The effect of various parameters introduced into the model is investigated in parametric studies, and appropriate values for those parameters are suggested. In addition, influences of various operating conditions including droplet size, bed temperature, and spray angle are evaluated.     

Use of the ARGOS fire risk analysis model for studying chinese restaurant fires

The fire risk in Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong is analyzed using the ARGOS fire risk analysis model developed at the Danish Institute of Fire Technology. A sample size of fifteen Chinese restaurants with different floor areas and fire load densities is considered. Fire simulations are performed for two cases by assuming a PU foam furniture fire occurring in the dining hall and a kerosene fire in the kitchen. Correlations are derived between the floor area and the predicted maximum hot gas temperature, the corresponding smoke layer interface height and the cost of damaged stock in the restaurants. The effectiveness of fire protection systems including sprinkler systems and smoke vents in controlling the fire is also discussed.     

双液滴碰撞行为及调控机制的研究进展

双液滴碰撞行为广泛存在于雨滴形成、燃油喷雾、喷雾冷却、喷墨印刷、农药喷洒等自然现象与工业应用过程中,其碰撞结果会受到液滴参数及气相环境等因素的综合影响,研究双液滴的碰撞行为规律及调控机制一直是该领域的热点。结合目前双液滴碰撞的实验进展和数值模型,将围绕着碰撞行为的主控因素与调控机制展开综述,具体介绍了碰撞参数、液滴理化性质、气相环境等因素对液滴碰撞行为的影响规律与调控结果,并展望了液滴碰撞理论及应用的发展趋势和方向。     

SIMULATION OF SPRAY DRYING WITH REACTION: ABSORPTION OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE IN AMMONIACAL SOLUTION OF ZINC CHLORIDE

Absorption of hydrogen sulfide gas in ammoniacal solution of zinc chloride is accompanied with an instantaneous chemical reaction forming zinc sulfide precipitates. Such reactions are moat suited for operation of spray drying with reaction. A mathematical model for the system which incorporates chemical reaction, heat, mass and momentum transfer has been proposed. It is assumed that the gases and the spray droplets move in co-current plug flow mode end spray is considered monodiaperse for sake of simplicity. The differential equations derived for the modal have been solved as an initial value problem uslng the Runge-Kutta method. The variations of temperature, humidity, droplet diame-ter. moisture content and concentrations of reactants are pra-dieted along the length of the column and compared with exprimental data.     

Concentrating dilute sulfuric acid by spray evaporator

Large quantities of dilute spent sulfuric acid are released in many chemical processes. Recovering the dilute acid is not only profitable to the manufacturer but also imperative to environmental protection. This paper proposes a spray evaporator with a Venturi-type nozzle to concentrate the dilute sulfuric acid. Both hot air and dilute acid flow concurrently upwards through the nozzle. Water involved in the droplets is vaporized in the chamber and the dilute acid is concentrated. The bench-scale experimental results show that the dilute acid with initial concentration 18 wt% can be easily concentrated to 40–75 wt%. The measured parameters, such as concentration of outlet sulfuric acid, outlet air temperature and total pressure drop, are in accordance with those estimated from a mathematical model incorporating momentum, mass and heat transfer between the acid and air. The model is also applied to simulate the performance of the concentrator, including variations of droplet diameter, droplet velocity, droplet temperature, air temperature, air absolute humidity as well as pressure drop along the concentrator.     

喷淋塔液滴粒径分布及比表面积的实验研究

以水和空气为实验介质,通过拍照法获得喷淋塔内液滴粒径分布,考察了不同喷淋量及空塔气速对塔内不同高度处液滴Sauter平均直径(SMD)的影响,并对液滴粒径分布进行了理论分析.结果表明,喷淋塔顶部液滴分布密集,底部稀疏,液滴群在下落过程中,平均粒径减小且趋于均匀化;塔顶处液滴SMD随喷淋量的增加而增大,处在塔中下部的液滴SMD则随喷淋量增大而减小,提高空塔气速,可减小平均粒径;理论分析认为,液滴粒径减小主要是由于发生了碰撞破碎的缘故,而塔内液滴大小不一是碰撞的主要原因;通过量纲1化拟合得到喷淋塔内液滴SMD经验关联式,其计算结果与实验值吻合较好;考虑液滴破碎的喷淋塔比表面积比不考虑破碎的比表面积大70%左右.     

湿工况下泡沫金属内换热和压降的数值模拟和实验验证

泡沫金属应用到换热器空气侧有望提高析湿工况下的换热性能。为了了解湿空气在泡沫金属内的热质传递和压降特性,建立了泡沫金属内液滴形成、生长和运动特性的数值模型。基于液滴成核数目和成核临界半径得出液滴形成过程的传质率模型;通过建立液滴与湿空气相界面附近湿空气中水蒸气的组分守恒方程,得出液滴生长过程的传质率模型;通过对不同孔棱柱表面液滴的受力分析,建立在重力和风力的共同作用下的液滴接触角模型。将液滴形成及生长的传质率模型和接触角模型分别作为质量源项和表面张力源项,加入连续性方程、动量方程和能量方程组中,实现对泡沫金属内液滴生长、形成和运动过程模拟。模型的实验验证结果表明,换热量预测值与实验结果的最大偏差为11.9%,压降预测值与实验结果的最大偏差为17.7%。