Numerical modeling of limiting oxygen index apparatus for film type fuels
01 Dec 2012-International Journal of Spray and Combustion Dynamics (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 4, Iss: 4, pp 299-322
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed three-dimensional numerical model is used to compute the flow pattern and the flame behavior of thin solid fuels in a rectangular column that resembles a standard Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) device.
Abstract: A detailed three-dimensional numerical model is used to compute the flow pattern and the flame behavior of thin solid fuels in a rectangular column that resembles a standard Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) device. The model includes full Navier-Stokes equations for mixed buoyant-forced flow and finite rate combustion and pyrolysis reactions so that the sample LOI can be computed to study the effect of feeding flow rate, sample width and gravity levels. In addition to the above parameters, the sample location in the column and the column cross-sectional area are also investigated on their effect on the ambient air entrainment from the top.
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01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce fire safety standards for flammability evaluation of solid material intended for use in a spacecraft habitat, and the difference between the limiting value in microgravity and the indices given by the standard test methods on the ground is discussed.
Abstract: This paper introduces fire safety standards for flammability evaluation of solid material intended for use in a spacecraft habitat. Two types of existing standards include material evaluation by pass/fail criteria corresponding to Test 1 of NASA STD 6001B and evaluation by a flammability index such as maximum oxygen concentration (MOC) corresponding to the improved Test 1. The advantage of the latter is the wide applicability of the MOC index to different atmospheres in spacecraft. Additionally, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) method is introduced as a potential alternative index for the evaluation using the improved Test 1 method. When criteria based on an index such as MOC or LOI are applied for material screening, the discrepancy of the index to the actual flammability limit in microgravity such as minimum limiting oxygen concentration (MLOC) is essential information for guaranteeing fire safety in space because material flammability can be higher in microgravity. In this paper, the existing research on the effects of significant parameters on material flammability in microgravity are introduced, and the difference between the limiting value in microgravity and the indices given by the standard test methods on the ground is discussed. Finally, on-going efforts to develop estimation methods of material flammability in microgravity according to normal gravity tests are summarized.
74 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the near-limiting behavior of various thicknesses of thermoplastic materials under a candle-like burning configuration; followed by an ISO 4589-2 protocol.
Abstract: We studied the near-limiting behavior of various thicknesses of thermoplastic materials under a candle-like burning configuration; followed by an ISO 4589-2 protocol. The motivation for this work is to understand the sensitivity of the sample thickness on the limiting oxygen concentration in the range from 0.5 mm to 10 mm. In the first place, the effect of heating time on successive ignition was discussed. Through a simple analysis, it was suggested that a 30 s heating time, regulated in ISO 4589-2, might be insufficient to achieve a successful ignition when the specimen becomes thicker. Second, the effect of the thickness of the test specimen (PMMA, ABS) on the limiting oxygen concentration was examined. Flames formed over thicker PMMA (>4.0 mm thickness in this study) at near-limiting condition displayed a flickering motion, which then suddenly extinguished when the critical condition was achieved due to temporal acceleration of the surrounding flow. While the flame behavior with a thinner sample (<4.0 mm thickness in this study) at the limiting condition was found to be stationary, a gentle extinction was experienced as approached to the limit. This fact suggests that the key to leading extinction is different between thicker and thinner sample. Third, the temperature distribution over the 4.0 mm PMMA at the near-limiting condition was measured and a strategy to model/predict the limiting behavior is then proposed.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a mass balance coupled with a variable oxygen flow tunnel/nozzle was used to measure the burning rate of solid and liquid fuels as a function of ambient oxygen percentage all the way to the extinction limit.
Abstract: A precision mass balance coupled with a variable oxygen flow tunnel/nozzle enables us to measure the burning rate of solid and liquid fuels as a function of ambient oxygen percentage all the way to the extinction limit. Two sample configurations have been studied. The first is a liquid fueled wick flame (ethanol tea lamp). The total burning rate (mass/time) is measured as a function of wick length and oxygen percentage. Near the low oxygen limit, limit-cycle flame oscillation has been found that can last for many minutes to hours. The averaged mass burning rate of the oscillatory flame is about one-half that of the steady flame occurring at slightly higher oxygen. In the second configuration, local burning rate (mass/area/time) of poly(methyl methacrylate) spherical shell samples have been measured in the flame stabilization zone. Each sample has a different amount of heat loss and a different oxygen limit. The critical burning rate at their respective oxygen limits are different. This implies that critical burning rate is not a property of the material alone and it should not be used as the only criterion to judge the extinction or the ignition of materials.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a wick-LOC method is used to evaluate the fire-retardant effectiveness of organophosphorus compounds (OPC) added to Li-ion battery electrolyte solvents, and the flame stability limits are measured as a function of OPC addition for both flame modes.
Abstract: To evaluate the fire-retardant effectiveness of organophosphorus compounds (OPC) added to Li-ion battery electrolyte solvents, the limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) method is used in conjunction with a wick combustion system, called as wick-LOC method. With the wick-LOC method, two modes of stabilized flame are found, namely, wake flame and full flame. When OPC is added to the electrolyte, two distinct branches of extinction processes occur according to the different flame modes near extinction with no transition from the full flame to the wake flame in the case of higher OPC addition. The flame stability limits are measured as a function of OPC addition for both flame modes. The wake flame is shown to be consistently more stable at low levels of OPC addition. However, once the OPC addition exceeds a critical amount, the full flame shows higher stability with a lower LOC than the wake flame. These phenomena in the two regimes are also found in other cases of high OPC addition (different type of OPC and electrolyte solvent). In the most stable flame mode, the regime switches from the wake flame to the full flame with increasing OPC addition, and they are defined correspondingly as “blow-off regime” and “quenching regime”. To explain the presence of these two regimes, the thermal balance effect is considered in the discussion of flame extinction mechanisms. The difference in flame volume near the extinction limit shows that the quenching mechanism dominates flame extinction under higher OPC addition. The thermal balance effect on flame stabilization or extinction can be the additional impact on the fire retardation abilities of OPC itself.
10 citations
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the extinction conditions for diffusion flames in inert porous media and analyzed the effects of the heat exchange between gas and solid phases on the flame structure and found that when the heat removed from the flame by the solid matrix is large, the flame can extinguish because the lowering in the flame temperature leads to increasingly large leakage of reactants through the flame sheet.
Abstract: Diffusion flames established in inert porous media have been reported to present temperatures lower than a comparable gaseous mixture. Therefore, the study of the flame structure, temperature and extinction limits of confined diffusion flames is of importance. In the present work we discuss extinction conditions for such flames. Using an asymptotic model that accounts for the excess/deficient enthalpy at the reaction region, we study the multiscale problem and analyze the effects of the heat exchange between gas and solid phases on the flame structure. When the heat removed from the flame by the solid matrix is large, the flame can extinguish because the lowering in the flame temperature leads to increasingly large leakage of reactants through the flame sheet. We show that this occurs when the porosity or the mass injection rate is small enough. The extinction limit associated with a small value of the mass injection rate adds to the kinetic extinction limit (which is associated with a large value of the mass injection rate) to characterize a dual-extinction-point behavior for this problem. When the porosity of the medium reaches a minimum critical value, these two distinct extinction points collapse, such that for porosities lower than the critical porosity no flame can be established inside the porous chamber. Then, it is possible to construct a flammability map for the confined diffusion flame, where the critical porosity defines an absolute flammability limit.
7 citations
References
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01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of surface and gas-phase radiation on the rate and the structure of laminar flame spread over thin fuels are investigated using a flame-spread model which consists of the continuity, momentum, species, and energy equations in the gas and the continuity and energy equation in the solid.
Abstract: The effects of surface and gas-phase radiation on the rate and the structure of laminar flame spread over thin fuels are investigated using a flame-spread model which consists of the continuity, momentum, species, and energy equations in the gas and the continuity and energy equations in the solid. Numerical calculations, complemented by scaling arguments, show that, at high velocities of the oxidizer flow, radiation effects are unimportant; the spread rate decreases with increasing opposing velocity due to finite-rate gas-phase kinetics. However, radiation becomes progressively important when the opposing velocity is below a certain value: the flame cools, shrinks in size, and its spread rate falls sharply with decreasing opposing velocity.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a two-dimensional, opposed-flow, flame-spread model, with flame radiation, has been formulated and solved numerically, and a comparison of flammability limits and flame-spreading rates between opposing and concurrent spreading flames are made; both models contain the same assumptions and properties.
Abstract: Flame-spread phenomena over thin solids are investigated for purely forced-opposing and concurrent flows. A two-dimensional, opposed-flow, flame-spread model, with flame radiation, has been formulated and solved numerically. In the first part of the paper, flammability limits and spread rates in opposed flow are presented, using oxygen percentage, free-stream velocity, and flow-entrance length as parameters. The comparison of the flammability boundaries and spread-rate curves for two different entrance lengths exhibits a cross-over phenomenon. Shorter entrance length results in higher spread rates and a lower oxygen-extinction limit in low free-stream velocities, but lower spread rates and a higher oxygen-extinction limit in high free-stream velocities. The entrance length affects the effective flow rate that the flame sees at the base region. This affects the radiation loss and gas residence-time in an opposing way to cause the cross-over. Radiation also affects the energy balance on the solid surface and is in part responsible for the solid-fuel non-burn-out phenomenon. In the second part of the paper, a comparison of flammability limits and flame-spreading rates between opposing and concurrent spreading flames are made; both models contain the same assumptions and properties. While the spread rate in concurrent spread increases linearly with free-stream velocity, the spread rate in opposed flow varies with free-stream velocity in a non-monotonic manner, with a peak rate at an intermediate free-stream velocity. At a given free-stream velocity, the limiting oxygen limits are lower for concurrent spread, except in the very low free-stream-velocity regime, where the spreading flame may be sustainable in opposed mode and not in concurrent mode. The cross-over disappears if the two spread modes are compared using relative flow velocities with respect to the flames rather than using free-stream velocities with respect to the laboratory.
58 citations
01 Jan 1975
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the flammability of a gaseous fuel by finding the limiting mixture with air which just propagates a flame, and showed that n-hexane is less flammable than hydrogen.
Abstract: The flammability of a gaseous fuel can be investigated by finding the limiting mixture with air which just propagates a flame. For example,(1) mixtures of hydrogen and air burn only if the molecular ratio, O2/2H2, lies in the range 0.15–10. Mixtures of n-hexane and air burn only over a narrower range of compositions containing 0.3–1.8 times the stoichiometric amount of oxygen. The hydrocarbon may therefore be considered less flammable than hydrogen.
52 citations
"Numerical modeling of limiting oxyg..." refers background or result in this paper
...At the time of development of the test, preliminary studies by Fenimore and Martin [2] showed that Limiting Oxygen Index would be fairly constant within the velocity range 3–12 cm/s, a conclusion which was later questioned by several investigators [3–5]....
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...3) In the suggested range of feeding velocities between 3 cm/s and 12 cm/s, the computed LOI for all practical purposes can be taken to be independent of the velocity in support of the claim by the designers of the test [2]....
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43 citations
"Numerical modeling of limiting oxyg..." refers result in this paper
...This is consistent with previous studies [21, 22] and the recommended test specification for thin materials....
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01 Dec 1987
TL;DR: In this article, a flame spreading over a thermally thin cellulose fuel was studied in a quiescent microgravity environment, and two different extinction limits were found in microgravity for the two thicknesses of fuel.
Abstract: A flame spreading over a thermally thin cellulose fuel was studied in a quiescent microgravity environment. Flame spread over two different fuel thicknesses was studied in ambient oxygen-nitrogen environments from the limiting oxygen concentration to 100 percent oxygen at 1 atm pressure. Comparative normal-gravity tests were also conducted. Gravity was found to play an important role in the mechanism of flame spread. In lower oxygen environments, the buoyant flow induced in normal gravity was found to accelerate the flame spread rate as compared to the microgravity flame spread rates. It was also found to stabilize the flame in oxidizer environments, where microgravity flames in a quiescent environment extinguish. In oxygen-rich environments, however, it was determined that gravity does not play an important role in the flame spread mechanism. Fuel thickness influences the flame spread rate in both normal gravity and microgravity. The flame spread rate varies inversely with fuel thickness in both normal gravity and in an oxygen-rich microgravity environment. In lower oxygen microgravity environments, however, the inverse relationship breaks down because finite-rate kinetics and heat losses become important. Two different extinction limits were found in microgravity for the two thicknesses of fuel. This is in contrast to the normal-gravity extinction limit, which was found to be independent of fuel thickness. In microgravity the flame is quenched because of excessive thermal losses, whereas in normal gravity the flame is extinguished by blowoff.
41 citations
"Numerical modeling of limiting oxyg..." refers methods in this paper
...Figure 2: A comparison of prediction of flame spread rate from the 3D numerical model with the experiments of Olson [10] over a wide range of Oxygen percentage (21 to 100)....
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...While the higher sensitivity of the microgravity flame and non-monotonic flame spread rate trend with velocity have been demonstrated and explained previously by both experiments [10, 15] and numerical simulations [9, 13], it is interesting to note that the maximum Vf occurs for narrow width fuel strips at higher inflow velocities....
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...Olson carried out experiments on opposed flow flame spread over thin cellulosic fuel strips of half thickness 3.8 × 10–3 cm and width 3 cm in both normal gravity (1ge) and 5s drop tower microgravity (0ge) environments....
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...Before addressing the LOI device, theprediction capability of the model was assessed by simulating the experiments of Olson [10]....
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