Effect of heat transfer through the release pipe on simulations of cryogenic hydrogen jet fires and hazard distances

Jet flames originated by cryo-compressed ignited hydrogen releases can cause life-threatening conditions in their surroundings. Validated models are needed to accurately predict thermal hazards from a jet fire. Numerical simulations of cryogenic hydrogen flow in the release pipe are performed to assess the effect of heat transfer through the pipe walls on jet parameters. Notional nozzle exit diameter is calculated based on the simulated real nozzle parameters and used in CFD simulations as a boundary condition to model jet fires. The CFD model was previously validated against experiments with vertical cryogenic hydrogen jet fires with release pressures up to 0.5 MPa (abs), release diameter 1.25 mm and temperatures as low as 50 K. This study validates the CFD model in a wider domain of experimental release conditions - horizontal cryogenic jets at exhaust pipe temperature 80 K, pressure up to 2 MPa ab and release diameters up to 4 mm. Simulation results are compared against such experimentally measured parameters as hydrogen mass flow rate, flame length and radiative heat flux at different locations from the jet fire. The CFD model reproduces experiments with reasonable for engineering applications accuracy. Jet fire hazard distances established using three different criteria - temperature, thermal radiation and thermal dose - are compared and discussed based on CFD simulation results.     

Directions for improving manual fire suppression using a physically based computer simulation

The Swedish Fire Research Board and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency are sponsoring a project to further the understanding of the basic mechanisms involved, as well as to support the development of standards for and to seek ways of improving the performance of portable fire suppression systems used by fire departments.This paper describes a physically based computer model developed to simulate one aspect of the problem: the manual suppression of postflashover fires. This includes: (1) an overview of the physical basis behind the model; (2) a comparison of model predictions with available experimental data, and (3) an analysis of fire suppression effectiveness using the model.The analysis concludes that, when direct access and extinguishment of the burning fuel is not possible, improved fire control occurs with water sprays having a Rosin-Rammler distribution of droplet sizes with volume-median-drop diameters in the 0.15 to 0.35 mm range. This agrees with available experimental data. It is also shown that fire fighting venting and standoff distance requirements may lead to more severe fires requiring more water for control; although venting and water spray induced air/gas flow also serve to channel hot steam and gases away from the fire fighter adding to his safety. The analysis also shows that allowing higher gas and surface temperatures at fire control through improved fire fighter protective clothing and equipment design reduces water flow rate requirements. Additional experimental work is recommended before all these conclusions are considered definitive. Reference: L. M. Pietrzak and G. A. Johanson, Directions for Improving Manual Fire Suppression Using a Physically Based Computer Simulation,Fire Technology, Vol. 22, No. 3, August, 1986, p. 184.     

Estimating room temperatures from fires along walls and in corners

Determination of temperatures associated with room fires provides a means of assessing an important aspect of fire hazard: the likelihood of the occurrence of flashover. Layer temperatures in excess of 600°C have been associated with the occurrence of flashover. A data correlation has previously been presented to estimate layer temperatures for fires burning in the center of rooms. For fires in corners and along walls, restricted entrainment results in higher layer temperatures than predicted by the previous correlation. Modification factors for the previous correlation are developed to extend its applicability to wall and corner burning geometries. The present analysis suggests that a fire in a corner may cause flashover with only half the heat release rate necessary for a fire burning in the center of a room. Reference: Frederick Mowrer and Robert Williamson, Estimating Room Temperatures from Fires along Walls and in Corners,Fire Technology, Vol. 23, May 1987, pp. 133–145.     

隧道列车火灾的顶棚射流平均温度分布

列车着火并停留在隧道内时,容易产生夹带火焰的顶棚射流。通过建立列车中部着火时火焰顶棚射流的一维单元控制体模型,考虑火焰烟气与隧道壁面和列车壁面之间的换热,导出列车火灾火焰顶棚射流平均温度的迭代计算公式。并通过隧道列车火灾的1∶8缩尺模型实验和数值模拟计算,确定了迭代公式中的待定系数。由该公式经过迭代运算后得到的平均温度值与实测值吻合较好,最大误差不超过7%,验证了公式的可靠性。结果表明：列车上方和离开列车进入隧道的火焰顶棚射流的平均温度均沿隧道纵向呈指数形式变化,但变化的程度不同。通过分段拟合的方法,分别给出了两段顶棚射流的平均温度沿隧道纵向变化的预测公式。对隧道列车火灾的报警参数选择及装置设置、乘客安全疏散,以及分析火灾对隧道衬砌结构的破坏作用等均具有一定的参考价值。     

Validation of GOES and MODIS active fire detection products using ASTER and ETM+ data

In this study we implemented a comprehensive analysis to validate the MODIS and GOES satellite active fire detection products (MOD14 and WFABBA, respectively) and characterize their major sources of omission and commission errors which have important implications for a large community of fire data users. Our analyses were primarily based on the use of 30 m resolution ASTER and ETM+ imagery as our validation data. We found that at the 50% true positive detection probability mark, WFABBA requires four times more active fire area than is necessary for MOD14 to achieve the same probability of detection, despite the 16× factor separating the nominal spatial resolutions of the two products. Approximately 75% and 95% of all fires sampled were omitted by the MOD14 and WFABBA instantaneous products, respectively; whereas an omission error of 38% was obtained for WFABBA when considering the 30-minute interval of the GOES data. Commission errors for MOD14 and WFABBA were found to be similar and highly dependent on the vegetation conditions of the areas imaged, with the larger commission errors (approximately 35%) estimated over regions of active deforestation. Nonetheless, the vast majority (> 80%) of the commission errors were indeed associated with recent burning activity where scars could be visually confirmed in the higher resolution data. Differences in thermal dynamics of vegetated and non-vegetated areas were found to produce a reduction of approximately 50% in the commission errors estimated towards the hours of maximum fire activity (i.e., early-afternoon hours) which coincided with the MODIS/Aqua overpass. Lastly, we demonstrate the potential use of temporal metrics applied to the mid-infrared bands of MODIS and GOES data to reduce the commission errors found with the validation analyses.     

Multi-Scale Adaptive Sampling with Mobile Agents for Mapping of Forest Fires

The use of robotics in distributed monitoring applications requires wireless sensors that are deployed efficiently. A very important aspect of sensor deployment includes positioning them for sampling at locations most likely to yield information about the spatio-temporal field of interest, for instance, the spread of a forest fire. In this paper, we use mobile robots (agents) that estimate the time-varying spread of wildfires using a distributed multi-scale adaptive sampling strategy. The proposed parametric sampling algorithm, “EKF-NN-GAS” is based on neural networks, the extended Kalman filter (EKF), and greedy heuristics. It combines measurements arriving at different times, taken at different scale lengths, such as from ground, airborne, and spaceborne observation platforms. One of the advantages of our algorithm is the ability to incorporate robot localization uncertainty in addition to sensor measurement and field parameter uncertainty into the same EKF model. We employ potential fields, generated naturally from the estimated fire field distribution, in order to generate fire-safe trajectories that could be used to rescue vehicles and personnel. The covariance of the EKF is used as a quantitative information measure for sampling locations most likely to yield optimal information about the sampled field distribution. Neural net training is used infrequently to generate initial low resolution estimates of the fire spread parameters. We present simulation and experimental results for reconstructing complex spatio-temporal forest fire fields “truth models”, approximated by radial basis function (RBF) parameterizations. When compared to a conventional raster scan approach, our algorithm shows a significant reduction in the time necessary to map the fire field.     

Sensitivity of spectral reflectance to variation in live fuel moisture content at leaf and canopy level

Wildland fires burn large areas of the earth's land surface annually, causing significant environmental damage and danger to human health. In order to mitigate the effects, and to better manage the incidence of such fires, fire behaviour models are used to predict, among other things, the likelihood of ignition, the rate of spread, and the intensity and duration of burning. A key input parameter to these models is the amount of water in the vegetation, described as the fuel moisture content (FMC). A number of studies have shown that vegetation indices (VI) calculated from red and NIR reflectances may be used to map spatial and temporal variation in FMC in a range of fire-prone environments, with varying degrees of success. Strong empirical relationships may be established between VI and FMC over grasslands, yet over shrublands and forests, the relationships are weaker. If FMC is to be estimated with greater accuracy and consistency than is currently achieved, it is necessary to fully understand the relative contribution that spatial and temporal variation in the various biophysical and geometrical variables make to reflectance variability at the leaf and canopy level.This paper uses a modelling approach to investigate the sensitivity of reflectance data at leaf and canopy level to variation in the biophysical variables that are used to compute FMC. At the leaf level, the results show that the sensitivity of reflectance to variation in leaf water and dry matter content, used to compute FMC, is greatest in the SWIR and NIR, respectively. Variation in FMC has no effect in the visible wavelengths. At the canopy level, the results show that the sensitivity of reflectance to variation in leaf water and dry matter content is heavily dependent upon the type of model used and the range of variation over which the variables are tested. In the longer wavelengths of the SWIR, the competing influence of variable leaf area index, fractional vegetation cover, and solar zenith angle is shown to be greater than that at the shorter wavelengths of the SWIR and NIR. Empirical relationships between the normalised difference water index (NDWI) and FMC are shown to be weaker than that with canopy water content. However, when the range of the variables under study is more limited, useful empirical relationships between FMC and remotely sensed VI may be established.     

Assessment of sealed fire states by fire characteristic

The paper presented assessment of sealed fire states in underground coal mines by so-called ＂fire characteristic＂, which graphically described tendencies of fire gas components - oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons - in time. In order to mark gas components tendencies in time the authors applied the time series analysis. The case studied confirmed, that analysis of fire gas components tendencies in time and their correlation allow to elicit proper conclusions about fire state assessment. Assessment of fire states based on single value of fire indexes without considering their trends in time and correlation between trends of gas components would give wrong results. The suggested method can appropriately indicate fire states in a sealed area.     

高压线路运行环境监测预警研究

介绍从多种数据融合分析的角度建立开展多种环境信息模型的研究?本文针对云南省特有的环境因素,建立了基于温度、湿度、风速等因素的覆冰和山火监测预警模型,对云南省高压输电线路运行工况进行监测预警,实际应用表明预警模型精确有效,能够有效地对覆冰山火等灾害进行预警,从而保障输电线路的安全稳定运行。     

Heat release characteristics of ethanol-water mixtures: Small-scale experiments

Small-scale pool fire tests of ethanol-water mixtures are described in this paper. The main goal of the tests was to obtain data on the heat release rate per unit area, the total heat release per unit area, and the effective heat of combustion of such mixtures with ethanol percentage of 20 vol% or more. The results can be utilised in the interpolation and extrapolation of these quantities for different ethanol percentages and irradiance levels. In addition, the results give information on the heat release of possible pool fires of alcoholic beverages in a retail store in the case of a fully developed fire. It was concluded that significant fire load is not formed until the ethanol percentage of the alcoholic beverage is ca. 20 vol% or more. The data reported can also be used as an input to simulations of ethanol-water mixture pool fires in the performance-based fire safety design.