Combustion of Large Sodium Pools

Concern over potential spillages of sodium in liquid metal fast breeder reactors has prompted several experimental and theoretical investigations of sodium pool fires in recent years. Newman has measured the burning rates of sodium pool fires and proposed a correlation for the burning rates based on an analogy between mass transfer and heat transfer. In his theory, only oxygen transport to the pool surface is considered and, therefore, experimental data on the flame temperature is needed to compute the pool burning rate. The determination of the flame structure and the pool burning rate are analyzed. The present theory considers not only the oxygen transport to the flame but also the thermal interactions between the flame and the pool surface and between the flame and the ambient. This makes the determination of the flame temperature and position possible