MEASUREMENT OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTIONS IN LARGE POOL FIRES WITH THE USE OF DIRECTIONAL FLAME THERMOMETERS

Temperatures inside the flame zone of large regulatory pool fires measured during tests of radioactive materials packages vary widely with both time and position. Measurements made with several Directional Flame Thermometers, in which a thermocouple is attached to a thin metal sheet that quickly approaches flame temperatures, have been used to construct fire temperature distributions and cumulative probability distributions. As an aid to computer simulations of these large fires, these distributions are presented. The distributions are constructed by sorting fire temperature data into “bins ” 10°C wide. A typical fire temperature distribution curve has a gradual increase starting at about 600°C, with the number of observations increasing to a peak near 1000°C, followed by an abrupt decrease in frequency, with no Because fuel and oxygen are not premixed in a pool fire, combustion is supported through a turbulent mixing process of air and fuel vapors. Where mixtures of fuel vapor and oxygen are within the limits fo