FORMULATION OF A SURROGATE FOR THE SIMULATION OF JET FUEL POOL FIRES

ABSTRACT

The simulation of pool fires involving complex hydrocarbon fuels requires the development of a simplified surrogate with a limited number of compounds having known oxidation mechanisms. A series of six-component surrogates was developed for the simulation of JP-8 pool fires, and experiments were carried out with a 30-cm-diameter pool fire to allow comparison of the surrogate fuel behavior to that of the jet fuel. The surrogate was shown to simulate the burning rate, radiant heat flux, and sooting tendency of jet fuel under steady-state pool fire conditions. This study also illustrated the transient nature of batch pool fire experiments and highlighted the difficulties associated with formulating an appropriate surrogate to mimic jet fuel behavior over the lifetime of a batch pool fire. These difficulties were shown to arise from fuel compositional changes, with preferential destruction of lighter components and accumulation of heavier components during the course of the fire.

Keywords:

• jet fuel (JP-8/Jet-A)
• pool fire
• surrogate fuel

Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored by the Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions at the University of Utah, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract LLL B341493, with matching funds provided by the University of Utah Research Fund.

Notes

^a The approximate composition of Jet-A in this table is in wt%.

^a MW of Jet-A is estimated with API empirical equation.

^b VABP means volumetric average boiling point; it is the mean of 10, 30, 50, 70, 90% recovery temperature determined in ASTM D86.

^c Latent heat is estimated at VABP.

^a Species concentrations are in wt%; except for the fresh feed sample, all other samples are taken after the fire reaches steady state.

^a Species concentrations are in wt%.

^a Aromatic C (%) is the ratio of aromatic carbon atoms to total carbon atoms; aromatic H (%) is the ratio of aromatic hydrogen atoms to total hydrogen atoms.