Ryo Takahashi
Hirosaki University, Japan
Title: Effect of gravity on heat feedback of small-scale pool fires
Biography
Biography: Ryo Takahashi
Abstract
There are few combustion experiment reports of partial gravity environment such as Mars and Moon. The flame characteristics of pool fires such as their height vary depending on gravity. To improve our understanding of the effects of gravity on flame characteristics, we experimentally investigated small-scale pool fires under conditions of normal to partial gravity; using the drop tower at Hirosaki University in Japan to obtain arbitrary partial gravity conditions, which varied from 1G to 0.55G. We performed the measurement of the temperature distribution with a fine thermocouple and that of the flame height with a digital camera. To clarify the effect of gravity on the heat feedback of pool fire, we estimated the convective and radiative heat feedback amount to the fuel surface based on the temperature distribution. From these analyses, we made clear that the heat feedback amount of pool fires decreases under partial gravity environment. We also discussed the effect of gravity on the liquid phase of fuel based on results.