Experimental study of the burning behavior of small-scale n-heptane pool fires enhanced by use of immersed thermally conductive thin plates

As a serious environmental concern, oil spill accidents cause the disastrous consequences to ocean ecological environment and resources. This study experimentally investigates the burning behavior of small-scale n-heptane pool fires enhanced by use of immersed thermally conductive thin plates, with the ultimate aim of designing the faster and safer cleanup technology of spilled oil. A series of small-scale n-heptane pool fires with conductive plate embedded were conducted, where the characteristic parameters of plate sheet include the width, the thickness and the number of the plate. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the enhancement ratio and the characteristic parameters of plate. The enhancement ratio increases with the ratio of immersed object area to the burning area following the power-law relationship, which is also verified by experimental data in the current studies. Otherwise, the radiation fraction for pool fire with the plate embedded is found to be lower than free burning pool fire, which is caused by the block of partial radiation emitted from flame. The introduced models could provide new reference for the loss prevention in the process of in-situ burning.