Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

A two-phase formulation is used to study the cross wind effects on the propagation of a line fire through a fuel bed. Each phase is described by a set of time-dependent equations and the coupling between them is rendered through exchange terms of mass, momentum, and energy. Turbulence is approached by using a RNG (Renormalization Group) k – ? statistical model. The radiative transfer equation in the fuel bed is solved using the discrete ordinates method extended to a two-phase medium. Soot formation is considered. First-order kinetics is incorporated to describe pyrolysis and combustion processes. A finite-volume method including high-order upwind convective scheme and flux limiter strategy along with a projection method for the pressure velocity coupling is used; the effects of cross wind on the behavior of a line fire through a bed of pine needles are examined and compared to measurements.