Experimental and Numerical Study on Suppression of a Turbulent Fire Via Water Mist
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The present work provides a detailed experimental and numerical study on fire suppression phenomena via water mist in a buoyant, turbulent diffusion flame representing the key characteristics of a realistic fire. Detailed temperature and species fields in addition to heat transfer are presented at the base region of a heptane medium-scale pool fire during the addition of a water mist. The finely divided water mist (50μm) can’t be transported to the fire source due to upward buoyancy-induced flow, and its injection has a combustion-supporting effect. The customarily described well defined structure of the flame does not exist any longer by application of water mist. It is observed that the size and shape of the flame vary randomly and continuously due to sudden and short mist vaporization periods. Reduction in flame-to-liquid surface radiation heat feedback via cooling of thermal plume by water mist does not conduct to extinguishing of a fully developed turbulent fire. This behavior suggests that extinguishment is achieved by total clearance of the liquid surface rather than from the reduction in burning rate of liquid fuel. It is important to realize that the measurements are not instantaneous which are affected by the flame disruption, and only averaged values are provided for comparison with the predicted results.
Language: English
Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7170886161