Experimental Study on Methanol Pool Fires under Low Ventilated Compartment

Compartment fires study isperformed under low ventilation conditions. Methanol pool of size 60 cm diameter is used as a fire source. Burning characteristic of methanol is determined in a compartment of size 4 m × 4 m × 4 m having a door opening of 2 m × 0.2 m. The peak heat release rate resulting in steady state was found to be 80 kW, however the effect of ventilation on burning of methanol is not observed for this type of geometry. K type thermocouples, heat flux sensors at different locations are fixed to measure the temperature and heat fluxes. Maximum incident heat flux is found to be 3.6 kW/m2 at centre of ceiling. The uniform hot layer temperature distribution is observed beneath the ceiling.