Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

For the further assessment on cargo fire hazard, full-scale Jet-A pool fire tests under the specifications of FAA Minimum performance standard (MPS) were conducted in sea-level Hefei and high-altitude Lhasa. A square insulation board (1.2m×1.2m) was place upon the fuel pan to simulate the effect of ceiling on fire plume. The experimental results indicates that the mass burning rate is proportional to the 2/3 power of the ambient pressure, in accordance with the theoretical prediction for convection-dominant fires. The analysis shows that the flame height increases slightly at high altitude. At higher altitude, the centerline temperature decreases in the flame region but increases in the intermittent region. The addition of ceiling increases the mass burning rate and the centerline temperature, although the effect on centerline temperature is observed to be weaker in Lhasa.