A PROBLEM IN FIRE SAFETY: FLAME SPREADING ACROSS LIQUID FUELS

This report provides a brief summary of experimental and theoretical work carried out at Princeton University on flame spreading across liquid fuels. The importance of surface tension driven flows ahead of the flame front in controlling flame spread across liquids at temperatures below the flash point was demonstrated experimentally. Buoyancy and radiation effects were also present but were of lesser importance. Variations in the temperature of the liquid surface are attributed to eddies in the gas phase ahead of the flame front. These eddies may also play a role in flame propagation across solid combustibles. It is proposed to investigate these eddies by means of laser doppler velocimetry. A two-dimensional, steady-state computer program is under development for use as a tool in studying flame propagation above liquid and solid fuels.