A wind shielded fire test facility

Sandia National Laboratories has utilized pool fires to subject military components and radioactive material shipping containers to postulated transportation accident environments for over thirty years. Because these are usually very high value items, there is typically a single fire test. Because wind produces the biggest, uncontrollable effect on the thermal environment of open pool fires, there is a risk of an invalid test if winds develop during the test. For example, IAEA regulations specify the average speed must be less than 2 m/s. To reduce weather related risks during small fire tests, several wind shielded test facilities have been developed. In developing these facilities, it was necessary to demonstrate that they closely simulated the environment in a large open pool fire. Recently, a project was undertaken to develop a new facility that could reproduce the thermal environment of an open pool fire and comply with air quality regulations. The design of the facility is based on a scale-up of an existing facility that was used to develop methods for reducing emissions while maintaining the appropriate thermal conditions. 5 refs., 5 figs.