Study on the atomizing mechanisms and the fire extinguishing efficiency of pneumatic-atomizing water mist generated by the steam atomizing medium
基於蒸汽輔助霧化的氣動式細水霧發生方法及滅火有效性模擬實驗研究
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis
Author(s)
Detail(s)
Awarding Institution | |
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Award date | 15 Jul 2011 |
Link(s)
Permanent Link | https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/theses/theses(4b83bcd0-6e34-4b5b-b844-7ae356609151).html |
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Other link(s) | Links |
Abstract
The generating method and the efficiency of fire extinction are the most
important issues that should be treated firstly in the research and application of water
mist fire suppression system. And it is with great theoretical and realistic significances
to develop new generating methods and application areas to water mist fire
suppression technology. However, some problems have been faced nowadays in the
processes of the development and application of water mist fire suppression
technology, such as the short flow-length, the poor mobility, the low droplet
momentum, the low mist flux density and so on. Therefore, much more works should
be carried out to solve these problems. The previous studies reveal that the
pneumatic-atomizing (twin-fluid) water mist system can discharge mist flow in a long
distance. Therefore, the present study is conducting works on pneumatic-atomizing
water mist technology.
The contributions and works of the present studies are summarized as follows:
1) The generating method and atomizing mechanism of a pneumatic-atomizing
water mist with longer flow-length and larger mist flux density were developed in the
thesis. Firstly, a new atomizer with adjustable annular orifice was designed to
generate pneumatic-atomizing water mist with long flow-length and large mist flux
density. The gas and liquid was mixing in the way of 'Y' type. Secondly, the water
mist fire suppression system was set based on the systems designs of water supply and gas supply. The steam was taken as the gaseous atomizing medium to study the
promotion of the inert gas in fire extinguishing. And the water mist with good spray
performance was then generated. The water mist spray generated was steady and
symmetrical. The flow-length was about 10m. Thirdly, the calculation of the GLR
value and the condensation of the steam are measured to study the flow characteristics
of the atomizer. Fourthly, the atomizing mechanism of the pneumatic-atomizing
atomizer was studied. The interactions between liquid sheet rings or liquid sheet ring
and liquid sheet were studied with a high speed camera. And the reasons to the
formation of the 'tree and root' structure were explained firstly.
2) The spray performance of the pneumatic-atomizing water mist generated with
a new designed atomizer was measured. Firstly, the temperature distribution of the
water mist with different GLR value was measured due to the higher-temperature
property of the gaseous atomizing medium. Secondly, the mean droplet diameter of
water mist with different GLR value have been calculated based on the binary
analysis of the images which were captured by a high-speed camera with a frequency
of 2000 fps. Thirdly, the droplet velocity was measured based on the DPIV
methodology. And the two dimensional velocity vector field of water mist with
different GLR was rebuilt. Fourthly, the cone angle of the spray was measured based
on the binary analysis of the images. Fifthly, the mist flux was measured with a device
of 'collecting tubes' in case of water mist with different GLR value.
3) Experiments have been conducted to pool fire extinguishing with water mist in
test case of local application and total-flood application. Firstly, the experimental setup was set for fire suppression in local application. And the heat release rate of the
ethanol, gasoline and diesel in different oil pan was calculated. Secondly, the
experimental results were studied. Different kind types of the fuel were compared to
study the effects of the fuel. And the typical processes of pool fire extinguished with
water mist in local application were also studied based on the pictures captured with a
digital video. And then the dominative mechanisms for extinguishing pool fire with
pneumatic-atomizing water mist in local application were studied. The lifetime of the
droplet with various diameters in case of different flame temperature was calculated.
Thirdly, the experimental setup for fire suppression in total-flooding application was
set. And different kind types of the fuel were compared to study the effects of the fuel.
And the effects of the water mist with different GLR values were also studied. And
then the dominative mechanisms for fire extinction with water mist in enclosed space
were studied.
4) The flame expansion phenomenon of pool fire extinguishing with steam jet
and water mist was studied. Firstly, the existence of a fuel vapor rich core is a
prerequisite for observing a flame expansion phenomenon caused by an impinging
steam jet with sufficient momentum. This is also the reason responsible for the
phenomenon that no significant flame expansion phenomenon was observed in Class
A fire. The axial length of the fuel vapor rich core of a medium size pool fire is
Lc = 1/5Lf (Lf is the visible flame height). Secondly, the root cause responsible for the
flame expansion is the fuel vapor convection after impacting with the steam jet. An
expanded fire ball is formed due to the burning of the convected fuel vapor, which gives rise to a flame expansion phenomenon. Thirdly, the flame expansion
phenomenon could be divided to three typical stages: the flame height-decreasing
stage, the fire-expanding stage and the burn out stage. The flame height-decreasing
stage is the stage in which the steam jet impacts the flame and reaches the fuel vapor
rich core. The fire-expanding stage is the stage in which the fuel vapor is convected
and burnt as a fire ball after the steam impacting the fuel vapor rich core. The fire is
then immediately suppressed for lacking of fuel in the burn out stage. The lacking of
fuel is the key for the transient nature of the flame expansion phenomenon. Fourthly,
the experimental results reveal that, the expanded flame shape was very close to the
theoretical analysis proposed and the typical three stages are also be observed in the
experiments. Fifthly, the quantitative features of the flame expansion phenomenon,
the expansion ratio of the flame width φl, the expansion ratio of the flame volume φv and the expansion ratio of the flame radiation φr, are defined to characterize the level
of the expansion. Sixthly, experiments have been conducted to confirm the
quantitative features.
- Fire extinction, Atomization