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Numerical investigation of expandable graphite suppression on metal-based fire

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Abstract

Aqueous suppression systems (i.e. fire sprinkler, water mist) have been extensively utilised for compartmental fire suppression due to their significant heat extraction ability. Nevertheless, challenges can be foreseen in suppressing water-reactive chemicals as a violent explosive reaction will be triggered, such as alkali metals (i.e. Na, Li) and alkali metal hydrides (i.e. LiH, LiAlH4). In this study, expandable graphite (EG) is proposed as a potential suppressant against alkaline metal fire due to its advantageous thermal properties and chemical stability. In-house user-defined functions (UDFs) are developed to characterise the particle expansion coupled with the heat and mass transfer process between EG and the fluid mixture. The model is incorporated in the large eddy simulation (LES) framework to study the temporal fire behaviours and the suppression effect of EG against the flame plume. The numerical model was validated by comparison of temperature profiles and expansion rate of EG particles along the suppression event against experimental results. The EG was found to be relatively effective in fire suppression compared to the same amount of natural graphite. Parametric analysis was conducted on a range of EG particle size between 400 µm—1000 µm to investigate the suppression mechanisms and the suppression efficiency of EG particles against metal fires. Within the range of the current study (400 µm—1000 µm), the EG particle diameter of 400 µm has achieved the most effective suppression performance and the suppression time of 2 s. It is observed that the smaller size of EG tends to be effective in fire suppression than the larger sizes.

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Abbreviations

A:

Inlet Area (m2)

\(A_0\) :

Initial Inlet Area (m2)

\(A_p\) :

Surface Area of Particle (m2)

\(C_d\) :

Drag Coefficient

\(C_s\) :

WALE Model Constant

\(c_p\) :

Heat Capacity (J/K)

\(D^\ast\) :

Characteristic Length (m)

d:

Distance to the Closest Wall (m)

\(d_p\) :

Particle Diameter (m)

F:

Additional Force (N)

f:

Mixture Fraction

gi:

Gravity (m/s2)

h:

Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient (W/m2K)

\(L_s\) :

Mixing Length for Sub-grid Scales

\(m_p\) :

Mass of Particle (kg)

\(m_f\) :

Mass Loss Coefficient (kg/s)

\(\overline p\) :

Background Pressure (Pa)

Pr:

Molecular Prandtl Number

Re:

Reynold’s Number

\(S_{ij}^d\) :

Rate-of-Strain Tensor

\(\overline{S_{rad}}\) :

Global Radiative Heat Exchange

\(\overline T\) :

Temperature (K)

\(T_\infty\) :

Local Temperature of the Continuous Phase (K)

\(T_p\) :

Particle Temperature (K)

\(V_0\) :

Initial Volume (m3)

\(\alpha_{1,2,3}\) :

Range Constants For Corresponding Reynolds Number

\(\kappa_d\) :

Von Kármán constant

\(\in_p\) :

Particle Emissivity

σ:

Stefan-Boltzmann constant

\(\theta_R^4\) :

Radiation Temperature (K)

ρ:

Density (kg/m3)

\(\rho_p\) :

Particle Density (kg/m3)

\(u_i\) :

Velocity Vector (m/s)

\(u\) :

Fluid Phase Velocity (m/s)

\(u_p\) :

Particle Velocity (m/s)

\(\mu\) :

Molecular Viscosity (kg/ms)

\(\mu_t\) :

Turbulent Viscosity (kg/ms)

\(\overline{\omega_T}\) :

Filtered Heat Release Rate (W)

\(\delta_{ij}\) :

Rate of Strain

\(\tau_{ij}\) :

Subgrid-scale Stress

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Acknowledgements

All financial and technical support are deeply appreciated by the authors. This research was sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre IC170100032). The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Ivan Miguel De Cachinho Cordeiro, Hengrui Liu, Anthony Chun Yin Yuen, Timothy Bo Yuan Chen, Ao Li, Rui Feng Cao & Guan Heng Yeoh

  2. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW, 2232, Australia

    Guan Heng Yeoh

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  1. Ivan Miguel De Cachinho Cordeiro
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Correspondence to Anthony Chun Yin Yuen.

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De Cachinho Cordeiro, I.M., Liu, H., Yuen, A.C.Y. et al. Numerical investigation of expandable graphite suppression on metal-based fire. Heat Mass Transfer 58, 65–81 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03097-8

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