Experimental and numerical simulation studies of liquefied petroleum gas fire in a full-scale compartment

Liquefied petroleum gas fuel fire hazard characteristics such as thermal, toxic, and radiation hazards were investigated in a full-scale compartment. A 0.3 m x 0.3 m sand-filled burner was used as a fire source with quasi-steady-state heat release rate of 40 kW and 160 kW for 300 s and 600 s respectively. The experimental study was carried out in the compartment of size 2.4 m x 3.6 m x 2.4 m with a doorway opening of size 0.8 m x 1 m for ventilation condition. Temperatures, gas concentrations, and irradiance measurements were carried out at different locations in the compartment with respect to time. Numerical simulation studies were performed for validation and predictions for different door aspect ratios using the computational fluid dynamics tool, fire dynamics simulator. Experimental measurements temperatures, velocities, heat flux, and species concentrations at different locations were reported in transient analysis. Numerical predictions were carried out for different door aspect opening ratios and discussed the impact of the thermal, toxic, and radiation hazards. Comparative evaluation of numerical predictions was in good agreement with measurements of experimental data.