Effect of Gravity on Radiative Heat Feedback on Small-Scale Pool Fires Using the Radiative Absorption Model

The flame characteristics of pool fires such as their height vary depending on gravity. To improve our understanding of the effects of gravity on flame characteristics, we experimentally investigated small-scale pool fires under conditions of normal to partial gravity; using the drop tower at Hirosaki University in Japan to obtain arbitrary partial gravity condition, which varied from 1 G to 0.55 G. We performed the measurement of the temperature distribution with a thermocouple and that of the flame shape with a digital camera. Based on these data, we estimated radiative heat feedback using our new model “The radiative absorption model†. It becomes easy to estimate radiative heat transfer using this model if flames have complicated shapes and time variability. From these analyses, we made clear that the radiative heat feedback of small-scale pool fires decreases under partial gravity environment.