The Effect of Velocity on the Extinction Behavior of a Diffusion Flame during Transient Depressurization

Current fire suppression plans for the International Space Station include the use of venting (depressurization) as a method for extinguishing a fire. Until recently this process had only been examined as part of a material flammability experiment performed on Skylab in the early 1970's. Due to the low initial pressure (0.35 Atm) and high oxygen concentration (65%), the Skylab experimental results are not applicable for understanding the effects of venting on a fire in a space station environment (21%O2, 1 Atm). Recent research examined the extinction behavior of a diffusion flame over a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cylinder during a transient depressurization in low-gravity. The numerical model was used to examine extinction limits as a function of depressurization rate, forced flow velocity, and initial solid phase temperature. The experimental and numerically predicted extinction data indicated that as the solid phase temperature increased the pressure required to extinguish the flame decreased. The numerical model was also used to examine conditions not obtainable in the low-gravity experiments. From these simulations, a series of extinction boundaries were generated that showed a region of increased flammability existed at a forced flow of 10 cm/s. Analysis of these extinction boundaries indicated that they were quasi-steady in nature, and that the final extinction conditions were independent of the transient process. The velocity range in the previous study was limited and thus the results did not examine the effects of velocities less than 1 cm/s or greater than 20 cm/s. This study utilized low-gravity experiments performed on NASA's Reduced-gravity Research Aircraft Laboratory and numerical simulations to examine conditions applicable to the Space Station environment. This paper extends the analysis of the previous study to a comprehensive examination of the effect of increased velocity on extinction behavior and extinction limits during a transient depressurization in low-gravity. This is achieved by examining extinction data from buoyant (normal-gravity) and low-buoyant (low-gravity) depressurization. experiments, as well as from numerical predictions of flame behavior during depressurization in a non-buoyant (zero-gravity) environment.