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Emulation of condensed fuel flames with gaseous fuels supplied through a porous copper calorimeter
Author(s) -
Auth Eric,
Quintiere James G.,
Sunderland Peter B.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
fire and materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-1018
pISSN - 0308-0501
DOI - 10.1002/fam.2896
Subject(s) - combustor , calorimeter (particle physics) , combustion , heat flux , gas burner , materials science , ignition system , waste management , nuclear engineering , composite material , chemistry , thermodynamics , heat transfer , organic chemistry , engineering , physics , detector , electrical engineering
Summary The burning rate emulator (BRE) is a burner that emulates condensed fuel flames using gaseous fuel/inert mixtures by matching four properties: the heat of combustion; the heat of gasification; the laminar smoke point; and the surface temperature. Matching the heat of gasification requires measuring the burner heat flux, for which the BRE has embedded heat flux gauges and a copper top‐plate calorimeter. Seven condensed fuels were emulated: acetone, ethanol, methanol, polyethylene, polymethylmethacrylate, polypropylene, and polystyrene. The gaseous fuels were methane, ethylene, and propylene, diluted with nitrogen. Emulation data and flame images are shown to demonstrate emulation accuracy. A new method of emulation is developed that shifts the focus on which properties are prioritized and yields ~15% improvement in flame height. Calibration and use of the calorimeter are shown to have improved accuracy (within 5%) which provides confidence in the results.