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Modeling the Flow-assisted Flame Spread Along Conveyor Belt Surfaces.

Hwang CC; Litton CD; Perzak FJ; Lazzara CP

Ch 6 in Proceeds of the 5th Us Mine Ventilation Symposium SME PP 39-45 :39-45

10010884

Fire development and spread along conveyor belts in ventilated ducts were investigated experimentally and theoretically by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Various types of conveyor belts used in mining applications were ignited and burned in a full-scale gallery under various flow conditions. The flame spread rates depended strongly on the ventilation air speed. The time-temperature traces of gas and belt obtained at 12 ft from the entrance show that a rapid belt surface temperature change takes place prior to a change in the gas temperature, indicating that radiative heat transfer from the flame to the belt surface plays an important role. Further, anomalies in the flame spread rate in the vicinity of 1.5 M/s air speed (i.e., much greater rate than that observed at either higher or lower speeds) can be explained through the mechanism of fllame tilt and the resultant view factor between the flame surface and the belt surface. To correlate the fire spread with material properties of the conveyor belts (such as the specific heat, the thermal conductivity, and the pyrolysis temperature) and the fire environment (such as the gas temperature and the ventilation air speed), a theoretical model has been developed. This model is based on the experimental observation that the radiative heat transfer is the dominant mode of energy transfer ahead of the flame front. Agreement between the theory and the experimental results is good.

19910101

OP;

1991

OP 179-91

PRC

Ch. 6 in Proceeds. of the 5th Us Mine Ventilation Symposium. SME, PP. 39-45

PA