Objective:
Assess in-situ burn efficiency of oil spills in icy conditions and set new experimental and modeling framework to explore oil spill burning on ice. This will allow quantifying combustion efficiency as well as point of extinction for liquid fuel spills in icy conditions. Objectives will be accomplished with phases below:
Phase I (Small-scale)
1. Identify controlling mechanisms governing spread and burning rate of a combustible liquid in an ice channel. Specifically, the influence of combustible liquid flash point, viscosity, channel width and channel height on spread and burning rate will be analyzed.
2. Interpret experimental results using a theoretical model developed as a part of this study.
Phase II (Large-scale)
3. Conduct oil-spread and burning study in a 10'x18' ice matrix in the WPI Fire Science Laboratory.
4. Analyze predictive models developed during Phase I (small-scale) study and evaluate additional parameters due to increase in scale.
Scope of Work: The project will be accomplished in a series of tasks below:
Phase I (Small-scale)
1. Construct a small-scale experimental apparatus to obtain controlling parameters governing the spread of a liquid (different viscosities) on a sheet of ice and an ice channel.
2. Construct a small-scale experimental apparatus to obtain controlling parameters governing the burning rate of a combustible liquid in a circular ice cavity. The influence of additional heat and mass transfer processes due to melting of ice will be explored.
3. Develop a model to predict the spread and burning rate observed in Task 1 and 2.
The model will be designed for easy implementation as an engineering tool for hazard analysis purposes.
Phase II (Large-scale)
4. Construct a large scale test (10' x 18') ice matrix to study the spread and consequent burning behavior of a liquid in the WPI Fire Laboratory. The impact of large-scale effects such as turns in a crack/fissure, turbulent plumes, radiation etc. will be quantified.
5. Re-assess the scalability of the model developed in Task 3. Additional parameters involved due to scale will be added.
The project is complete and the final report can be accessed by double-clicking on AA below.