Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Small-scale free-burning experiments were conducted in a cone calorimeter to obtain the combustion characteristics of 14 different crude oils. Measurements included heat release rate based on oxygen consumption calorimetry, mass loss rate, radiative heat flux from the flame to a nearby target, liquid fuel temperature, extinction coefficient, and CO2 and CO concentrations in the exhaust duct. The effective heat of combustion, radiative heat loss fraction, and smoke yield were calculated on the basis of the measured data. It was found that heat release rate, flame radiation, and smoke yield had relation to the type of crude oil. The effective heat of combustion was nearly constant for the range of crude oils evaluated in this program. Heat release rate, mass loss rate, flame radiation, radiative heat loss fraction, and smoke yield appeared to correlate well with crude oil density. Tendency of boilover was also discussed with mass loss rate and fuel temperature.