Burning Characteristics of N-Heptane Pool Fire in a Controlled Dynamic Pressure Environment

Cabin fires during in-flight and fires in high altitude airport have attracted a lot of attention. The previous fire tests at high altitudes were all conducted under very limited number of static pressure levels. It is important to design a controlled oxygen and pressure environment and conduct experiments to study the fire behaviors at different depressurization rates. A low-pressure chamber with oxygen and pressure control of 2×3×4.65m 3 in volume is developed and built to simulate high-altitude environment. Pool fire experiments using 20-cm and 30-cm-diameter pans are performed at three different depressurization rates, e.g. 5.46kPa/min, 10.92kPa/min, and 19.68kPa/min. The parameters measured include burning rate, flame temperature, radiative heat flux, and heat release rate, et al. The results from fire experiments under different depressurization rates demonstrate the difference and impacts of dynamic pressure environment on liquid fire behaviors and helpful for fire prevention during the flight of the aircraft.