Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

A study was conducted on the structure of the turbulent reacting flow developed between two burning vertical walls. Large-scale, gas supplied, water cooled, sintered-metal burners facing each other were used for the experiments. We examined the influence of different parameters such as channel width, burner, length, gas supplied, flow rate and mass transfer driving force B..., on the establishment of a steady turbulent fire. The flow field (velocity and turbulence) was characterized through a statistical analysis of LDV measurements. Mean and fluctuating temperature profiles were also obtained with a similar analysis. The results indicate that, as the distance between both walls decreases, radiation is no longer the dominant mode of heat transfer. The character of the flow changes from natural to forced convection, and there is a "relaminarization" of the flow.