• International Journal of Safety
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.24-29
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• 2005

An experimental study was presented for extinguishing characteristics of liquid fuel fire by water mist($Dv_{0.99}{\leq}200{\mu}m$) containing potassium acetate and sodium acetate trihydrate. To evaluate the extinguishing performance of water mist containing additives, the evaporation characteristics of a water droplet on a heated surface was examined. The evaporation process was recorded by a charge-coupled-device camera. Also, small-scale extinguishing tests were conducted for n-heptane pool fire in ventilated space. During the experiments, flame temperatures were measured, and concentrations of oxygen and carbon monoxide were analyzed by a combustion gas analyzer. The average evaporation rate of water droplet containing additives was lower than that of pure water at a given surface temperature and decreased with the concentration increase due to the precipitation of salt in the liquid-film and change of surface tension. In case of using additives, the fire extinguishing times was shorter than that of pure water at a given discharge pressure and it was because the momentum of a water droplet containing additives was increased. And also dissociated metal atoms, potassium or sodium, were reacted as a scavenger of the major radical species OH, H which were generated for combustion process. Moreover, at a high pressure of 4 MPa, the fire was extinguished through blowing effect as well as primary extinguishing mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.3 s.71
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• pp.105-111
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• 2005

An experimental study is performed for extinguishing of n-heptane pool fire by water mist containing potassium acetate as a fire suppression additive. Water mist was generated by a single pressure nozzle in a small-scale chamber. The drop size distribution of water mist was measured using laser diffraction(Malvern particle sizer). The flame temperature, oxygen concentration and carbon monoxide concentration were measured. In case of using additives, the fire extinguishing time was shorter than that of pure water at a given discharge pressure and it was because the momentum of a water droplet containing additives was increased. And also dissociated metal atoms, potassium, were reacted as a scavenger of the major radical species OH, H which were generated for combustion process. Moreover, at a high pressure of 4MPa, the fire was extinguished through blowing effect as well as primary extinguishing mechanisms.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.251-265
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• 2006

To prevent the ozonosphere from being destroyed by Halon, it is an urgent task to find out Halon replacement. As one of the replacements water mist have showed broad applications by its advantages: little pollution to environment (not destroying the ozone layer or bring green house effect), extinguishing fire quickly, consuming a small quantity of water and having little damage to the protected objects. The methods of generating water mist strongly influence fire suppression effectiveness, which determine the cone angle, drop size distribution, flux uniformity, and momentum of the generating spray. The traditional water mist nozzle included pressure jet nozzles, impingement nozzles and twin-fluid nozzles. All of them have more or less disadvantages for fire suppression. Therefore, many research institutes and corporations are taking up with innovations in mist generation. This article provided some recent studies in State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) of University of Science and Technology of China. SKLFS have investigated new methods of generating water mist (i.e. effervescent atomization and ultrasonic atomization). and self developed a series of nozzles and developed advanced DPIVS (Digital Particle Image Velocimetry and Sizing) technique. Characteristics of water mist (the distribution of droplet sizes, flux density, spray dynamics and cone angle) produced by these nozzles were measured under different conditions (work pressure, nozzle geometry, etc.) using LDV/APV and DPTVS systems. A series of experiments were performed to study the fire suppression effectiveness in different fire scenario (different kindsof the fuel, fire size and ventilation conditions). The fire extinguishing mechanisms of water mist was also discussed.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.19 no.3 s.59
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• pp.13-19
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• 2005

An experimental study is presented for extinguishing characteristics of liquid fuel fire by water mist containing sodium acetate trihydrate. To evaluate the extinguishing performance of water mist containing an additive, the evaporation characteristics of a water droplet on a heated surface was examined. The evaporation process was recorded by a charge-coupled-device camera. Also, small-scale extinguishing tests were conducted for n-heptane pool fire in ventilated space to measure flame temperature variation. The average evaporation rate of a water droplet containing an additive was lower than that of a pure water droplet at a given surface temperature due to the precipitation of salt in the liquid-film and change of surface tension. In case of using an additive, the flame temperature was lower than that of pure water at a given discharge pressure and it was because the momentum of a water droplet containing an additive was increased reducing flame size. And also dissociated metal atoms, sodium, were reacted as a scavenger of the major radical species OH^-,\;H^+$ which were generated for combustion process. Moreover, at a high pressure of 4MPa, the fire was extinguished through blowing effect as well as primary extinguishing mechanisms.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.19 no.3 s.59
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• pp.52-57
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• 2005

It has been known that there is not the general design method for water mist system because the fire extinguishing mechanisms are dependent on both spray characteristics and a fire compartment. It is therefore rational that a general performance-evaluation guideline does not exist. The present work suggests the performance-evaluation guideline for water mist system applied to the power transformer room based upon the investigation and analysis of fire accidents and the similar guideline.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.215-221
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• 2003

A series of experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness of the extinction of a liquid pool fire with two different water atomizing nozzles. Fire source is small-scale circular stainless steel pan of 120mm in diameter with the fuels of hexane and ethanol. K-type thermocouples were used to measure the flame and fuel temperature along the pool centerline and under fuel surface. A digital camera was used to visualize the process of the fire suppression. The experimental results show that water mist droplet size is $115{\sim}180{\mu}m$ with nozzle A and $130{\sim}190{\mu}m$ with nozzle B. The extinguishing time of pool fire was reduced with the increase of pressure. When water droplets are small, they do not reach the flame base since they may be deflected or evaporated by the fire plume. However, influence of flow rate is more important than droplet size on fire extinction. Among the fire extinction mechanisms, drop of flame temperature is superior to suffocation of O2 concentration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1591-1599
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• 2004

A series of experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness of the extinction of a liquid pool fire with two different water atomizing nozzles. Fire source is a small-scale circular stainless steel pan of 120mm in diameter with the fuels of hexane and ethanol. K-type thermocouples were used to measure the flame and fuel temperature along the pool centerline and under fuel surface. A digital camera was used to visualize the process of the fire suppression. The experimental results show that water mist droplet size is l15∼180${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ with nozzle A and 130∼190${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ with nozzle B. The extinguishing time of pool fire was reduced with the increase of pressure. When water droplets are small, they do not reach the flame base since they may be deflected or evaporated by the fire plume. However, influence of flow rate is more important than droplet size on fire extinction. Among the fire extinction mechanisms, drop of flame temperature is superior to suffocation of $O_2$ concentration.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.55-62
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• 2012

The suppression mechanisms of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) as a representative fire suppression agent were revisited using a counterflow diffusion flame which could be applied the concept of a local application system. To end this, the low strain rate $CH_4$/air counterflow diffusions with $CO_2$ addition in either fuel or oxidizer stream were examined numerically using detailed-kinetic chemistry. Radiative heat loss due to radiating gas species including $CO_2$ added was considered by the optically thin model (OTM). As a result, the critical $CO_2$ volume fractions in the oxidizer stream required to extinguish the flame were in good agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature, while somewhat under-prediction was observed with $CO_2$ added in the fuel stream. The surrogate agents were adopted to estimate the quantitative contribution with changing in global strain rate ($a_g$) on the flame extinguishment among pure dilution effect, thermal effects including radiation heat loss and chemical effect due to the $CO_2$ fire suppression agent.