Behavior of luminous zones appearing on plumes of large-scale pool fires of kerosene

• Published in: Fire safety journal Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Nobuhide, Suzuki, Masataro, Dobashi, Ritsu, Hirano, Toshisuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.1999; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Exact sciences and technology; Fire protection; kerosene; Miscellaneous; Image processing; Ignition; Probability distribution; Velocity distribution; Full scale mockup test; Plume; Kerosine; Pool fire; Luminous intensity; Smoke emission; Lighting; Frequency spectrum; Fire safety
• ISSN: 0379-7112
• DOI: 10.1016/S0379-7112(99)00009-0

In order to understand characteristics of large pool fires, behavior of intermittent luminous zones appearing on the smoky plumes has been analyzed using a recently developed image processing technique. The images of large pool fires analyzed in this study are of 30 and 50-m diameter pool fires of kerosene recorded on videotapes at the large-scale experiments performed in Japan, 1981. The results indicate that the probability of a luminous zone appearing is the maximum on the central point of the average plume width and at a distance from its base, and decreases with the distance from the maximum point. It can be inferred that the luminous zone on the smoky plume of a pool fire likely appears at its concave boundary (in a side view). It ascends at an almost constant velocity while changing it's area at the same frequency as that of the “breathing”.