Compartment fire phenomena under limited ventilation

Fire behavior of heptane pool fires were investigated in a small-scale 40 cm cubic compartment with wall vents at the ceiling (top vent) and the floor (bottom vent). The measurements included pressure, mass loss, temperature, heat flux, and gas mole fraction. Flame oscillations, ghosting, and burning at the air inlet were seen. The regime of limited ventilation was examined to study the effect of extinction and the influence of oxygen. A theory based on a critical flame temperature showed that extinction depends on heating as well as oxygen concentration. A complete uniform property model was developed and its solution agrees qualitatively with the measurements.