RADIATION-AUGMENTED RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM FIRE SUPPRESSION USING A WATER SPRAY

A series of laboratory-scale experimental tests were carried out to investigate the extinguishment of radiation-augmented vertical Rigid Polyurethane (RPU) fires by a water spray. The experimental work included freeburn and suppression tests under various conditions of external radiation and water application rates. The critical RPU burning rates for two extreme situations were simulated with various water application rates used in the experiment. The simulation data are consistent with experimental results. Both the freeburn and fire suppression experimental data indicate a linear dependence of the burning rate on the external radiant flux. The relationships between three ratios and proper dimensionless indices are discussed. The results show that the external radiant flux plays a more important role than the water application rate for fire suppression. Note that the current experiment was conducted at a significantly reduced scale compared to real building facade. Nevertheless, it still has a guiding significance for fire suppression.