Radiation to the surroundings from large pool fires over storage tanks

This paper deals with the modelisation of the heat radiated by a pool fire occurring over a storage tank of liquid hydrocarbons. Two different approaches are considered. One strategy is based on the flame modelling as a lumped parameter system and the radiative heat over surroundings is calculated according to a complete 3D propagation model. The other approach is CFD analysis, which takes into account the chemical kinetics and the fluid-dynamics, by means of the Nist FDS code. A review of existing correlations for pool fire parameters is presented together with an analysis of available closed form formulas for view factor estimation. A case study is analysed in order to compare results and cross-check the reliability of predictions provided by the different methods here considered