Fire analog: a comparison between fire plumes and energy center cooling tower plumes
Thermal plumes or convection columns associated with large fires are compared to thermal plumes from cooling towers and proposed energy centers to evaluate the fire analog concept. Energy release rates of mass fires are generally larger than for single or small groups of cooling towers but are comparable to proposed large energy centers. However, significant physical differences exist between cooling tower plumes and fire plumes. Cooling tower plumes are generally dominated by ambient wind, stability and turbulence conditions. Fire plumes, depending on burning rates and other factors, can transform into convective columns which may cause the fire behavior to become more violent. This transformation can cause strong inflow winds and updrafts, turbulence and concentrated vortices. Intense convective columns may interact with ambient winds to create significant downwind effects such as wakes and Karman vortex streets. These characteristics have not been observed with cooling tower plumes to date. The differences in physical characteristics between cooling tower and fire plumes makes the fire analog concept very questionable even though the approximate energy requirements appear to be satisfied in case of large energy centers. Additional research is suggested in studying the upper-level plume characteristics of small experimental fires so this information can be correlated with similar data from cooling towers. Numerical simulation of fires and proposed multiple cooling tower systems could also provide comparative data.
- Research Organization:
- Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-06-1830
- OSTI ID:
- 5358327
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-2453
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COOLING TOWERS
PLUMES
FIRES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION
CONVECTION
FLUID FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
WIND
ENERGY TRANSFER
200201* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management- Thermal Effluents
200101 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Cooling & Heat Transfer Equipment & Systems