The Effects of Spray Characteristics of Water Mist on the Fire Suppression of Liquid Pool Fire

미분무수 분무특성이 액체연료 Pool 화염의 소화에 미치는 영향

A series of experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness of the extinction of a liquid pool fire with two different water atomizing nozzles. Fire source is small-scale circular stainless steel pan of 120mm in diameter with the fuels of hexane and ethanol. K-type thermocouples were used to measure the flame and fuel temperature along the pool centerline and under fuel surface. A digital camera was used to visualize the process of the fire suppression. The experimental results show that water mist droplet size is $115{\sim}180{\mu}m$ with nozzle A and $130{\sim}190{\mu}m$ with nozzle B. The extinguishing time of pool fire was reduced with the increase of pressure. When water droplets are small, they do not reach the flame base since they may be deflected or evaporated by the fire plume. However, influence of flow rate is more important than droplet size on fire extinction. Among the fire extinction mechanisms, drop of flame temperature is superior to suffocation of O2 concentration.