A large-scale experiment was performed to measure heat transfer to a massive cylindrical calorimeter engulfed in a 30 minute circular-pool fire. This test simulated the conditions of a truck-sized nuclear waste transport package in a severe fire. The calorimeter inner surface temperature and the flame environment emissive power were measured at several locations as functions of time. An inverse heat conduction technique was used to estimate the net heat flux to the calorimeter. Tall porous fences surrounded the test facility to reduce the effect of wind on the fire. Outside the fences, 2.9 m/s winds blew across the calorimeter axis at the beginning of the test but decreased with time. The wind tilted and moved the fire so that the initial flame environment emissive power was substantially less on the windward side than the leeward side. The calorimeter became more uniformly engulfed as the winds decreased. The maximum heat flux to the calorimeter was 150 MW/m2 on the leeward side at the beginning of the fire, and generally decreased with time. The local variations of calorimeter temperature and heat flux were closely related to the local flame environment emissive power.

Issue Section:
Combustion and Reactive Flows
Keywords:
calorimeters, fires, heat transfer, radioactive waste storage, accidents, nuclear materials packaging, safety, Experimental, Fire, Heat Transfer, Radiation
Topics:
Emissivity, Fire, Flames, Heat flux, Heat transfer, Temperature, Wind, Liquid pool fires
1.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2001, “Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material,” Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 71.
2.
International Atomic Energy Agency, 1985, “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material,” Safety Series No. 6, IAEA, Vienna.
3.
Suo-Anttila, A. J., Koski, J. A., and Gritzo, L. A., 1999, “CAFE: A Computer Tool for Accurate Simulation of the Regulatory Pool Fire Environment for Type B Packages,” Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, August 1–5, 1999, Boston, MA.
4.
Nuclear Packaging Inc., 1989, “Safety Analysis Report for the TRUPACT-II Shipping Package,” Docket Number 71-9218.
5.
Gregory
,
J. J.
,
Keltner
,
N. R.
, and
Mata
, Jr.,
R.
,
1989
, “
Thermal Measurements in Large Pool Fires
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
,
111
, pp.
446
–
454
.
6.
Koski
,
J. A.
,
Gritzo
,
L. A.
,
Kent
,
L. A.
, and
Wix
,
S. D.
,
1996
, “
Actively Cooled Calorimeter Measurements and Environment Characterization in a Large Pool Fire
,”
Fire Mater.
,
20
(
2
), pp.
69
–
78
.
7.
Nakos
,
J. T.
, and
Keltner
,
N. R.
,
1989
, “
The Radiative-Convective Partitioning of Heat Transfer to Structures in Large Pool Fires
,”
Heat Transfer in Radiation, Combustion, and Fires
, R. K. Shah, ed.,
106
(
2
), pp.
381
–
3878
.
8.
Ju, H., Greiner, M., and Suo-Anttila, A., 2001, “Computer Simulations of a Generic Truck Cask in a Regulatory Fire Using the Container Analysis Fire Environment (CAFE) Code,” Int. J. of Radioactive Materials Transport, 13, pp. 35–40.
9.
Kramer, M. A., Greiner, M., and Koski, J. A., 2001, “Radiation Heat Transfer to the Leeward Side of a Massive Object Suspended Over a Pool Fire,” presented at the 2001 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, November 11–16, 2001, New York, Paper No. IMECE2001/HTD-24250.
10.
Kramer, M. A., Greiner, M., Koski, J. A., Lopez, C., and Suo-Anttila, A. J., 2000, “Design of an Experiment to Measure Heat Transfer to a Massive Object Engulfed in a Full Scale Regulatory Fire,” Proc. 2000 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Seattle WA, July 23–27.
11.
Kramer, M. A., Greiner, M., Koski, J. A., and Lopez, C., “Uncertainty of Heat Transfer Measurements in an Engulfing Pool Fire,” presented at the Symposium on Thermal Measurements: The Foundation of Fire Standards, ASTM Committee E05 on Fire Standards, Dallas Texas, December 3, 2001.
12.
Koski, J. A., 2000, “Measurement of Temperature Distributions in Large Pool Fires with the use of Directional Flame Thermometers,” Proc. 2000 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Seattle WA, July 23–27.
13.
Blanchat, T. K., Humphries, L. L., and Gill, W., May 2000, “Sandia Heat Flux Gauge Thermal Response and Uncertainty Models,” issued by Sandia National Laboratories, SAND2000-1111, 45 pages.
14.
Blackwell, B. F., Douglass, R. W., and Wolf, H., 1987, “A User’s Manual for the Sandia One-Dimensional Direct and Inverse Thermal (SODDIT) Code,” issued by Sandia National Laboratories, SAND85-2478, 136 pages.
15.
Kramer, M. A., 2001, “Measurements of Heat Transfer to a Massive Cylindrical Object Engulfed in a Regulatory Pool Fire,” M.S. thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, NV.
Copyright © 2003
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.