Fire Sqfety Journal, 3 (1980/81) 107 - 121
© Elsevier Seqoia S.A., Lausanne -- Printed in the Netherlands
Entrainment in Fire Plumes
E. E. ZUKOSKI, TOSHI KUBOTA and BAKI CETEGEN
California Institute of Technology, Karman Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and Jet Propulsion, Pasadena,
CA 91125 (U.S.A.)
SUMMARY
A new technique for measurement of mass
flow rates in buoyant fire plumes is described.
The characteristics of 10 - 200 kW methane
diffusion flames stabilized on porous-bed
burners o f 0.10 - 0.50 m dia. are described. A
transition in the dependence o f flame height
on heat input and burner size was observed
when the flame height was about four times
the burner diameter. The mass flow rates in
the buoyant plumes produced by the fires
were measured for a range o f elevations start-
ing just below the time-averaged top of the
flame and extending to six times this flame
height. The mass flow rates in this region o f
the plume were correlated by the use o f a
simple plume model. Atmospheric and forced
disturbances in the air being entrained in-
creased the entrainment rate o f the plume.
INTRODUCTION
In the early stages of a fire in a building,
the rate of production of hot gas by a fire and
the temperature of this gas will depend very
strongly on the rate of entrainment in the fire
plume and in the flame itself. Although con-
siderable information is presently available
concerning entrainment in buoyant plumes, it
has principally been obtained in plumes which
have risen far from their origin and which
have densities which are little different from
that in the surrounding gas. By contrast, in
building fires we are interested in regions of
the plume located very close to the origin. In
these regions, we expect that the size of the
fire source, the effects of large density dif-
ferences, and the presence of heat release due
to combustion will greatly influence the
entrainment process.
107
This paper contains a report on work done
with a new apparatus designed to make mea-
surements of the mass flow rate in buoyant
diffusion flames and the buoyant plumes
produced by such flames. In the experiments
discussed here, measurements were made at
heights which lie in the range from about
eighty percent, of the visible flame height to
more than ten times the flame height. In the
future we will extend this range to include the
region near the base of the fire.
We believe that the results discussed here
can form a useful element in the modeling of
the early stages of room fires.
In the following Sections of this paper we
will give a very brief survey of past work, a
description of the experimental approach and
the apparatus, and then describe our experi-
mental results. A report containing a detailed
description of our experimental results will be
made available later.
PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS
Previous work on fire geometry and plume
entrainment is extensive, and we will not
attempt to present a complete review here.
However, a few papers and results will be
discussed.
Early work on flame geometry was pre-
sented by Thomas [ 1]. More recently, flame
height literature was reviewed by Steward [2]
who also presents extensive new data which
are directly pertinent to our experiment.
Entrainment by plumes has been studied
both experimentally and theoretically by a
long line of investigators beginning with
Schmidt [3], Rouse et al. [4], Morton et al.
[5] and Yokoi [6]. Recent efforts include
Thomas [ 7], and work in progress by McCaf-
frey [8], and Terai et al. [9] who are con-
108
cerned with entrainment in the region of the
flame itself.
Experimen tal
The experimental work concerning entrain-
ment can be divided into two types. In the
first, point measurements of fluid properties
such as velocity, temperature, and composi-
tion are made and then are used to determine
the area and time averaged values of net up-
ward fluxes of mass and enthalpy. (See, for
example, the work of refs. 4 - 9.) Problems
arise here because of the very large scale fluc-
tuations in direction of the velocity vector
and in the magnitudes of all observable quan-
tities. The magnitude of the fluctuations is
often increased by the wandering of the plume
axis due to small disturbances present in the
atmosphere surrounding the flame. Finally, in
this approach, experimenters have typically
assumed that the time average value of the
vertical mass flux per unit area, ~-~, is equal
to the product of the time average values of
the vertical velocity, ~, and the time average
value of gas density, ~. That is, that p-~ is
equal t o / 7 ~. This assumption ignores the
contribution of the correlation of the vertical
velocity fluctuations and the density fluctua-
tions which may be large, since b u o y a n c y is
the driving force for vertical motion.
Thomas [7] avoided these problems by
making mass flow measurements at a cylindric
surface surrounding the flame at a distance
such that density was constant. However,
uncertainties concerning the proper surface
remain in this work.
The second approach involves the use of a
direct measurement of entrainment rates.
Ricou et al. [10] used a technique of this
type to make measurements in m o m e n t u m -
dominated jets and for two diffusion flames
in which b u o y a n c y effects were important.
We have adopted the latter approach in our
work and will describe our experimental
approach in the following Section.
Theoretical
Modeling of plumes without combustion
started with the mixing length model used by
Schmidt [3], Rouse et al. [4], and Yokoi [6].
Morton et al. [5], and Taylor [11] abstracted
an ad hoc entrainment model from Schmidt's
results which was used by many subsequent
investigators. More recently, the full modern
apparatus for modeling turbulent flows has
been applied to the buoyant plume problem
by Tamanini [ 1 2 ] , and Steward's [2] approach
has been extended to include a study of the
b u o y a n t diffusion flame with radiation and
more complex chemistry by Wilcox [ 13]. The
problem of properly dealing with the dif-
ference between the time averaged values of
the products of fluctuating parameters, which
appear in the differential equations, and the
product of time averaged values of the same
parameters, which is easier to calculate, still
remains to be solved. This problem is greatly
accentuated when equations dealing with
chemical reaction rates must be integrated.
Simple model
In the past, see ref. 16, we have combined
the general approach concerning entrainment
suggested by Morton et al. [5] and Taylor
[11] with data obtained by Yokoi [6] to
develop a very simple model. The model is
based on a point source heat addition and a
Boussinesq treatment of the density. Clearly,
neither of these approximations is appropriate
for treatment of the plume near the flame and
near the burner. However, we use the entrain-
ment predicted from this model as a scaling
parameter, which we have found does take
into account most of the dependence of the
plume mass flow rate on elevation above the
burner and heat release rate in the fire when
the observation point is above the flame.
We apply the buoyant plume model of
Morton et al. [5], which makes use of the
Boussinesq approximation, and assume that
vertical velocity w and temperature difference
A T have Gaussian profiles in the radial direc-
tion with half width, b;
AT
- exp(--{3r2/b 2) (1)
ATm
w
- exp(--r2/b 2) (2)
Wm
instead of the "top-hat" profile used in ref. 5.
We get the following solutions when we have
a point source addition of heat, Q, located at
Z = 0. The terms Cl, CT, and Cv are constants
and Q* is a heat input and height parameter.
 109

b = C~Z The agreement of the model of Ricou et al.

[10] with eqn. (7) should put to rest, finally,
A Tm _ CTQ*2/3 the idea that Ricou and Spalding dealt with
Too the effects of plume or jet density on the
(3) entrainment process. Since eqn. 7 is based on
Wn, = C v ~ Q * 1/3
a totally Boussinesq approximation, the plume
density clearly does not enter the calculation
Q* = or the result.
p.CpT Z2
In the original model equations, there appear
two " f u n d a m e n t a l " constants, a and ~. Here, EXPERIMENTAL
a is the entrainment constant used to approxi-
mate the rate of entrainment by The basic idea behind this experiment is
best illustrated by use of the sketch shown in
--lim(rv) = ~ w m b Fig. 1. In the early stages of a fire, the hot
r ---> o o
products of combustion are usually segregated
and ~ is the ratio of the Gaussian half widths in a well stirred ceiling layer whose properties
of velocity and temperature profiles. There are roughly homogeneous. The flame and the
exist three relationships among five constants, buoyant plume it produces entrain cool air
which are derived from the three conservation from the room, rhE, and heat it in the fire by
equations: combustion processes, and in the plume by
5 mixing with the plume gas. This heated gas
( X ---- - - e l flows into the ceiling layer at a rate (mE + rhf).
6 Other gas may flow into the ceiling layer as a
3 result of the disturbance produced by the
f3C~ = ~ CT (4)
plume as it plunges into the ceiling layer (rhl)
or as a result of other mixing processes which
1 + ~ _ ~CTC2" may occur at the interface separating the hot
Cv ceiling layer from the cool air layer (rh2).
Therefore, we can determine all five constants Thus, the total mass flux to the ceiling layer,
if we use two inputs from experiments. Yokoi rhc, will be the sum of these contributions,
[6] measured the temperature and velocity
,hc = (mE + rh~ + ,hi) + rh2,
along the plume centerline and found that:
The terms (the + rh~ + rhl) are directly asso-
CT = 9.115, C, = 3.87 (5)
ciated with the fire plume and are called the
The other parameters are computed from the plume mass flux, rhp. We need to be able to
equations given above and are: describe this flux as a part of any model which
is used to predict the behavior of the early
= 0.110, ~ = 0.913, C~= 0.131. (6)
stages of a fire. Because the interface between
These values can now be used to determine the hot and cold gas is stabilized by the gravi-
the plume mass flow as tational field we expect that the mass entrain-
ment rate at the interface far from the fire,
rapt = 0.210p~Z2/Q .113" (7)
This result will be used throughout this paper
to normalize measured values of the plume /{,'/ // /////-" / / / ~ / / / i / / / // /'///

flow rate. This form of the plume mass flux

law can be obtained from the equation sug-
gested by Ricou e t al. [10]. They propose a
constant of about 0.18 rather than the value
0.21 we use' in eqn. (7). In previous work
[16] we used a value of this constant of about
0.19; as a result of a reassessment, we have //,z/ / / / / / / / /. / / / f / / / / / /
now chosen a ,slightly different but, we believe,
selfconsistent set of values. Fig. 1. Sketch of plume-ceiling layer interaction region.
110
th2, will often be negligible in the absence of
some other active mixing process such as air
flow through a door or window.
The primary purpose of our experiment is
to measure the plume related mass flux, rhp.
This is accomplished by use of a hood shown
schematically in Fig. 2. The interface level of
the ceiling layer in the hood is maintained at a
constant height above the fire by withdrawing
a suitable flow of hot ceiling layer gas from
the hood. The hood is made large enough to
insure that the gas in the hood is kept relatively
quiescent so that it will not entrain air at the
interface (rh2 of Fig. 1). When this entrain-
ment can be neglected, a simple conservation
of mass argument shows that the mass with-
drawal rate required to maintain a fixed inter-
face height, is the plume mass flux rhp.
Fig. 2. Schematic of hood apparatus.
Results of flow visualization experiments
utilizing a smoke technique indicated that
entrainment at the interface, th2, is negligible
in our experiments and suggest that entrain-
ment produced by the plunging plume, rhl, is
small also. Consequently, we believe that the
measured mass flux is predominantly fixed by
the entrainment rate of the fire and its plume,
thE, and we will use this terminology in this
paper. However, from the point of view of
fire modeling, the flux we need to describe is
that produced by the plume (the + th~ + rhl)
and that is what we are measuring here. Note
that when thl and th2 are n o t negligible, our
measured mass flow rates o v e r e s t i m a t e the
plume mass flow rate.
The experimental technique described here
is similar to that used by Thomas e t al. [17]
in studying the flow of h o t gas through r o o f
vents.
APPARATUS
The hood and associated equipment used in
our experiments are shown in the sketch of
L Gmg~lta PK)De
4: ' F o~ MefeT
5drr
T h e r ~nrOoC:ou: ~'
. Hood
6 x }8 Mes~
Screens
~ ~ ~ NQturc
Gas Fire
24~
020 m POROUS
Bed Burnel
24~24m
I Moveble Floor
z~
• I
24m
Fig. 3. Sketch of hood showing details of the appara-
tus.
Fig. 3. The burner and the floor can be moved
vertically to change the elevation of the inter-
face height between 2.3 m and a lower bound
of roughly one meter, which is set by our
desire to keep the ratio of the interface thick-
ness to interface height below 1/10.
The location of the interface between the
cool room air and the hotter h o o d gas was
determined from temperatures measured with
the two vertical arrays of thermocouples
which span the interface. We used 0.1 mm
wire in these probes and spaced the thermo-
couples at intervals of 0.05 m in the longer
array and 0.10 m in the shorter one.
A typical temperature profile is shown in
Fig. 4. In the regions both above and below
the interface the gas temperature is constant;
in the interface, large temperature gradients
and fluctuations are observed. These condi-
tions are a result (a) of the real thickness of
the interface in which the gas temperature
rises rapidly, and (b) of waves in the interface
produced by a sloshing back and forth of the
h o t gas in the hood. Typical interface thick-
nesses are 10 - 15 cm.
Observations of gas motion {made visible
b y adding smoke to the ambient gas) suggest
that very little entrainment occurs at the inter-
face and that most occurs at the edges o f the
plume itself.
Two layers of 16 X 18 mesh screens made
of 0.05 cm dia. wire were hung from the

Top Of Hood
0 In all the experiments described here, the
I :_ ±Top Of Fire
i_
i.
Fire Source Level
0 the boundary fixed by the initial density
2O 6'0 °c 80 100
' ~<
Fig. 4. Typical temperature profile near the interface
of the ceiling layer.
b o t t o m of the h o o d and allowed to fall around
the floor. The floor-screen arrangement was
used to reduce the strength of disturbances
present in the laboratory air as this gas was
sucked into the plume by the entrainment
process.
The fuel used in these experiments was
natural gas taken w i t h o u t processing from the
Southern California Gas Company mains. The
fuel is a mixture of hydrocarbons, and its
principal constituents, with their mole frac-
tions, are methane 0.924, ethane 0.042,
nitrogen 0.015, and propane 0.01. The lower
heating value is about 47.5 MJ/kg and the
density is about 0.72 kg/m a at 20 °C and one
atmosphere. These properties are average
values which do n o t vary more than a few
percent, from week to week. A laminar-flow
meter was used to measure the fuel flow rate.
The fuel was introduced into the flame area
through a porous-bed which consisted of a
layer of glass beads whose surface was flush
with the floor. Two burner designs were used.
In the first, 2 m m dia. glass beads were ar-
ranged in a layer about 4 cm deep. The basic
burner had a diameter o f 0.50 m and this
diameter could be reduced to 0.30 m or 0.20 m
by use of two inserts. The second design was
0.20 m in dia. and used a 5 cm thick bed of
glass beads which had diameters of about
111
0.63 cm. This burner diameter could be re-
duced to 0.10 m by use of another insert.
burners were set flush with the floor which
was about 2.5 m square.
The flames produced by the burners were
made visible by the presence of hot soot
particles, which were present in most of the
flame, and by chemluminescent radiation in
the blue region of the spectrum in the lower
regions, where the flame burned close to the
surface of the bed of glass beads. Observations
of the flame geometry were made with the
help of a video-tape camera which t o o k 30
pictures/s and direct photographs. A shadow-
graph system was also employed and it allows
us to compare the visible flame boundary with
increase in the gas.
An outstanding characteristic of the flames
was the presence of roughly periodic pulsa-
tions of the flame shape which were associated
with the rise and fall of the flame near its
attachment point at the edge of the burner.
These oscillations also were associated with
fluctuations in the height of the flame. The
flame height was measured by eye with the
aid of a meter stick and the height was defined,
in these crude measurements, as the elevation
above which the observer judged the flame
spent 50% of the time. That is, the flame
height marks our estimate of the elevation for
which flame intermittency is 0.50. Repeatabil-
ity and variations between different observers
was no better than -+10%.
Mass flow measurements of the plume gas
were made in a 0.40 m pipe with a standard
ASME, flat-plate orifice located 12 diameters
downstream from a 90 ° elbow. Estimates of
the enthalpy flux from the hood were made
by taking average values of temperature mea-
sured with five thermocouple probes m o u n t e d
at the exit of the hood.
To give an idea of the conditions present in
an experiment, we list here parameters for a
typical case:
Burner diameter 0.20 m
Heating value of fuel flow 106 kW
Interface height 1.5m
Flame height 1.5m
Mass withdrawal rate 0.62 kg/s
Fuel flow rate 0.0022 kg/s
Ceiling layer temperature 165 °C
R o o m temperature 27 °C.
112

FLAME GEOMETRY our data obtained at large values of the two

parameters. T hey lie along a curve with a
In order to be able to make rational mea- slope of roughly 2/5. This t ype of dependence
surements of en tr ai nm e nt in fire plumes at has been obtained earlier, by Putnam et al.
elevations near the fire or heat release zone, [ 14 ], and Steward [ 2], who also used methane
we must be able to determine at least the or natural gas as their fuel. We show a few of
distribution in space of the time-averaged heat Steward's data points and a curve fitted to
release rate for our model fires. At present, other data n o t shown on this Figure and also
we are still trying to develop techniques to extending out to Z f / D values of 200. Data of
make measurements of this type, and have Putnam et al. also lie on this curve at 100
been forced to rely on a determination of fire Z f / D <~ 200. The range of agreement is truly
height to give us an upper bound on the height remarkable when we consider that we are
of the heat release region. Even this measure- dealing with 100 kW fires stabilized on a
m e n t is n o t a trivial one because of the roughly 0.20 m burner at one end of the scale and
periodic fluctuations of the " t o p " of the 10 kW fires burning on a 0.003 m burner at
flame. the ot her end.
We present some preliminary measurements Also not e that the diameter can be com-
of flame g eo metr y here, because we need some pletely eliminated from this correlation since
measure o f the e x t e n t of the heat release we have:
region of the fire, and because the flame is the Z f / D c~ ((~/D5/2)2/5 o: Q2/5/D.
origin o f the plume and, hence, must influence
its initial development. Thus, we find t hat for our data
Z~/(~ 2/5 = 0.23 m/(kW) 2/s
Flame height
Flame height data measured by eye are or
shown in Fig. 5 in the f or m of a plot of Z~/D
Zf/((~/p ~ C, ~ T= )2/5 _= (1/Q*zt)2/s = 3.83.
vs. either a dimensional parameter, Q./D 5/2 kW/
m5/2, ' or a dimensionless parameter QD = There is still no generally accepted way to
( ~ / p = C p ~ T = x / ~ D 2 which has the same make the Z~/Q 512 parameter dimensionless.
dependence on total heat release rate, (~ We use the Q*zf variation for the present,
(based on fuel flow rate and lower heating although some l~arameter ot her than p= Cp ~ T=
value}, and burner diameter, D. We also show m ay be more appropriate in making Q/D 5/2
data obtained from the work of a n u m b e r o f dimensionless. N ot e that this normalizing
o t h e r investigators on this plot. First consider group is i ndependent of P~ since p = T= is

20

STEWARD (CH 4 ~-) ~ ~ , ~ % v

D A T A OF
YOU B FAETH THOMAS - - - ' ~ ' ~ - - - - ~ - ~

X MC CAFFREY "1"

T T E R A I 8, y ~ RI~ DIAMETER / ~ ~ HEIGHT

~ . x_,,T-" k" 23
_ , ~" x e 4 " - " ~ (0 z;:LOr.
x',-~ io~ ~e, s
08 k* 23
09 I t I L I l I L L I I J ~ I t J I J I , I , i
2 4 6 8 I03 2 4 6 8 I04 2 4 8

6 loS/2 Kw.~Wa
I I I I I I I I I $ J
02 0 4 OB I0 2 4 @ I0 20 40 80

*~
QD C~/#.C..T. gy~6'O2

Fig. 5. Flame height dependence on heat release parameters.

 113

proportional to P,. (by the ideal gas law) which Q=6Okw D=O.2m
is constant in our work. • : . ,,:. ,
Other data shown here include fire heights : : .. .:...::: ..:. . :. ..,"
: .:." ..: .(" ... .:.
measured by Thomas et al. [1] who used Zn 1.0 .j'
.": .¢~. ~:" .." .... ./" .::': : ..." ,~'.:
w o o d crib fires; You et al. [ 1 5 ] , who used m 0 5! °" "~"" " * "' : *"
wicks with a range of alcohol fuels; and Terai • ..." . ! • ~. :" Y" . / .~." ./ ,,.,"

et aL [9] and McCaffrey [ 8 ] , who used o "" "" ",'" ''~ ", '" ", "" J", .,*' .."
2 3 4 '~ 6
natural gas flames on 0.30 m square, porous (a) time, sec.
bed burners. These data and our data which
lie in the left-hand side of Fig. 5 are in good
agreement, and show a gradual transition from
the 2/5 ths power curve to a linear curve at
values of Z f / D < 2. Thus, dependence on
burner diameter, D, reappears in this range,
since:
z~ Q (b)
-- ~ ~ o r Q *D
D D 5/2
F i g . 6. M o t i o n of vortices in a fire plume.
or

we can follow the upward motion of these

Z~ cc D "~/2 or (~/p ~ Cp T = x / - ~ D .
The transition between the t w o curves occurs
in the range 2 ~< Z~/D ~< 6. Similar behavior at
small Z~/D is n o t e d by Thomas [18].
The good agreement among these data
indicates that the phenomena we are all ob-
serving is a general o~e which is not strongly
dependent on burner geometry or fuel prop-
erties. The transition which occurs around
Z~/D = 4 is n o t unexpected since it seems
natural that as the flame t o p approaches close
to the burner the scaling parameters should
change.
Flame geometry
In order to understand the mechanism of
entrainment, and to investigate the periodic
fluctuations observed in our burner flames,
we have begun to study video tape pictures of
the flames. We will discuss here some prelimi-
nary results of this study.
Analysis of a typical section of a video
tape record of a 60 kW fire stabilized on a
0.20 m burner is shown in Fig. 6. The sketch
shown in Fig. 6(b) is a highly simplified picture
of a typical photograph. In this example, the
flame has three, well-defined boundaries.
These are the top of the visible flame Zj, and
t w o symmetric indentations at elevations Zj ÷1
and Zj +2. These indentations appear to us to
define t w o toroidal shaped vortex rings which
we believe are a primary source of entrain-
ment. On successive frames of the video tape
features. Data obtained in this manner are
shown in Fig. 6(a) in which values of Zj are
plotted for successive events vs. the time t.
A number of features emerge from examina-
tion of plots of this type. First, the boundaries
defined by the indentations can often be
followed all the way from a point near the
burner to the t o p of the flame, although, at
times, they become ill defined or actually
vanish. This result encourages us to believe
that in our flames, toroidal vortices are shed
b y the puffing of the flame near the base and
retain their identity as they move upward and
finally burn out. These structures appear to
be similar to the large structures present in
mixing layers and demonstrate some of the
same phenomena such as pairing.
Second, as these vortices move upward the
fuel contained within each eventually burns
o u t and that vortex vanishes. The top of the
flame then drops suddenly to the top of the
next vortex. Given data such as those shown
in Fig. 6(a), we can make a precise definition
of the average flame height -- for the time
covered by our video data. Note that in this
experiment the flame boundary is the instan-
taneous boundary defined by the hot, burning
soot. Ambiguities resulting from choice of
exposure times are no more than a few mil-
limeters and the problem of finding the average
height reduces to that of using enough photo-
graphs to get a truly representative sample.
Comparison between our flame height mea-
surements made by eye and those obtained
114
from data plots such as that shown in Fig. 6(a)
indicates that the eye-averaged results lie
closer to the time-averaged top of the flame
than to the 50% intermittency value. Here the
time-averaged top is the simple average of the
maximum height reached by each structure
prior to flame extinction.
Third, the shedding or puffing frequency
appears to be fairly well defined but is far
from being perfectly uniform. The regularity
is most marked in the larger burners {0.50 m
and 0.20 m) and least marked in the 0.10 m
burner. In 0.5 m and 0.20 m burners, the
frequency of shedding, F, normalized by the
dimensionless frequency x / ~ / 9 has the value
F x / ~ g = 0.29.
Fourth, the average velocity, W, of the
features shown in Fig. 6(b) scales very roughly
with ~ such that
~/gv~-~j ~ 0.36
over the whole of the flame height. This
result is in sharp contrast with the observations
of McCaffrey [ 7] which indicate that the gas
speed on the axis of the burner increases as
2 . 2 v ~ for Z < 0.4Zf and is constant for
0.4Zf ~< Z ~< Zf. Thus, in the lower region, the
gas speeds reported by McCaffrey appear to
be about 6 times the speed of our supposed
vortex structures. The velocity is also a b o u t
1/3 that reported by Thomas [18] who ana-
lyzed the data of Rasbash et al. [19]. These
differences are probably related to the fact
that we are clearly measuring the velocity of
a structure, n o t the gas speed.
We have examined shadowgraph and direct
photographs of the flames and plume, and
I-4
0 •
o
M 1,2 (~0
0 O
OR
c~
rnp 1.0
inTO
0.~ I I I t I I
06 0.8 LO
Fig. 7. D e p e n d e n c e o f p l u m e mass flux ratio on ratio of the interface height to flame height for 0.50 m burner.
have found that the scale of density variations
in the flame or heat release region is much
larger than that in the plume. The flames
appear to be wrinkled laminar diffusion flames
with a scale measured in tenths of meters,
whereas the plume is characterized by small
disturbances with a scale length measured in
centimeters.
M E A S U R E D P L U M E MASS F L O W R A T E S
Values of plume mass flux rates have been
obtained for three positions of the floor (inter-
face heights of approximately 1.0, 1.5 and
2.3 m), with three burner diameters (0.1, 0.2
and 0.5 m) and with heat input rates of 10 -
200 kW. The data are presented in Figs. 7 - 9
as the ratio of the measured mass flow rate
rhp to the ideal value rhvt which we calculate
from our model for the plume described above
in eqn. (7). Thus, the parameter used is
M ~ t/2p/rr/pt.
Because of radiant heat transfer processes,
about 25% of the heat release by combustion
is lost from the fire and plume before the
plume gas enters the hood exhaust duct. This
heat loss will have an effect on the plume
behavior and we have arbitrarily chosen to
compute the theoretical entrainment rate from
a heat release rate based on the enthalpy of
the gas withdrawn from the hood. This effec-
tive heat release rate is a b o u t 70% of the heat
release rate based on the fuel flow rate and
lower heating value of the fuel, Q. Because
the ideal value tnpt is proportional to the cube
root of the heat release rate, the values of rhpt
used in presenting the data are a b o u t 13%
I , I i 1.4
OI O •
1.2
.50m BURNER
0 Zl =1,0 m
1.0
• 2.3
i I I I I I I I 0-0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IO
Z~/zf
 115

1.5 l I I I I I I I I | I I 1.3

.20m BURNER
1.2 1.2
0 Zi= 1.0 m
B 1.5 B
M • 2.3 m~s
[]
OR 1.0 8 1.0

BO []
Q •• []

MTO 0.6 N 0.8

0.6 I I I I I, I i l I I I I I I 0.6
0.6 0.8 1.0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ~0

Zi/zf
Fig. 8. Dependence of plume mass flux ratio on ratio of the interface height to flame height for 0.20 m burner.
1.3 I I I I a I ' I , I ~ ~ I , 1.3

I-2 .lOre BURNER

1.2
M.
~) ZI--" 1.0 m
I.I 1.1
OR O 1.5
o
• 2.3
kO 1.0
mp ¢ 0 ~'0
0.9 0.9
oo
0.8 00 0.8

0.7 @ 0Y

0.6 i I I I ! I I I | I I i | i 0.6
0.6 o.e ~.o E 3 4 s e 7 e B I0

Zi/z.
Fig. 9. Dependence of plume mass flux ratio on ratio of the interface height to flame height for 0.10 m burner.

lower than values we would have calculated simple model. As Zi/Z~ decreases toward 2,
based on the fuel heating value. Thus, values the ratio M increases slightly and then drops
of M would be smaller by a factor of a b o u t as Zi/Z~ decreases to values of 1 or less. The
0.89 if we had used the heat release rate based scatter (whose effect is exaggerated in these
on the fuel heating value, {~. figures by the suppressed zero of the M scale)
In addition, we have chosen to present the is a b o u t +10%. The plume mass flow rate
data as a function of the interface height, Zl, decreases more rapidly than the ideal value as
normalized b y the flame height, Zf. This form the t o p of the visible flame penetrates the
of presentation was chosen because the use of interface.
thpt to normalize the plume mass flux rhp This general pattern is repeated for the
substantially removes the dependence on inter- other burners. In addition, the general level of
face height. Thus, use o f the ratio Zi/Z~ allows the M curves drops as the burner diameter is
us to examine the influence of flame position decreased from a value of a b o u t 1.25 for the
relative to the interface. 0.5 m burner, to a b o u t 1.05 for the 0.2 m
Consider first the data for the 0.5 m burner burner, and to a b o u t 1.0 for the 0.1 m burner.
shown in Fig. 7. Values for mass flux ratio, M, The cause of this change is n o t n o w under-
for large values of Zi/Z~ lie near 1.20. Thus, stood, b u t m a y be associated with the strong
for this configuration the entrainment rate is vortex shedding observed with the 0.5 m
a b o u t 20% larger than the prediction of our burner, which was discussed above, and to
116

changing values of the ratio of interface temperature, and compared it with the heat
height to burner diameter. release expected from the heating value of the
Despite these variations, the results show fuel. The ratio of these two quantities is called
that our Simple Model can be used to make HBI and is
remarkably good estimates of entrainment
rates when the top of the visible flame lies HBI -= mpCp,(Tp -- T~)/rhfh~ (S)
below the interface between the ceiling layer where rhf and h~ are fuel mass flow rate and
and cooler layer near the floor. This degree of heating value; Tp is the average temperature
agreement is achieved without any offset for of gas entering the hood exhaust and Cpp is
the origin of the model plume or other device the specific heat of this gas. Values of HBI are
used to account for the small values of the shown in Fig. 10 as a function of the ratio,
ratio of fire height to burner diameter, the Zi/Z~. The data lie about the line 0.7 and
finite vertical extent of the heat addition show a slight tendency to decrease as fire size
region, and the large density differences decreases or Zi/Z~ increases. Most of the 30%
present in the flame zone. difference between hood enthalpy flux, rela-
These values for plume mass flow, thp, are tive to ambient enthalpy, and the expected
larger by about 25% than data reported by fuel heat release is due to radiant energy loss
Ricou et al. [ 10] and are considerably smaller from the flame and plume. We estimate that
than the results of several experiments reported about 1/6 or less of the 30% difference is due
by Thomas etal. [7]. to convective heat transfer to the hood walls.
We have carried out a number of experi- The data of Fig. 10 indicate that the heat
ments to determine the effects of various loss is independent of fire and burner size over
parameters on the entrainment process and a large variation of these parameters. This
the flame geometry. The results of these result is in agreement with the measurements
experiments will be discussed in the following of Markstein [20] who found that the radiant
paragraphs. energy loss for propane diffusion flames was
a constant fraction of the heat release rate.
Heat balance
As part of the investigation of entrainment Fuel heating value
rates, we have also measured the enthalpy flux We have carried out several other experi-
of the hood exhaust gas relative to the ambient ments in which we have examined the effects

1.0 I I I I I I I I I I I l I 1.0

0 0.@
0.8
o o •
13 III •

0.6 !06

HBI
BURNER INTERFACE
DIAMETER HEIGHT
0.4 0.4
50 m 1.5
2.3
t! Zi ffi1.0 m
.t0 m 1.5

0.2 20 m
f! Zi = I.O
1.5
m 2.3
0.2
2,:5

0 ~. I. I ] i I e I I I I I I I 0
06 08 ,.o 2 3 4 5 6 ~ o e io

Zl/zf
Fig. 10. Dependence of heat balance ratio o n ratio o f interface height to flame height.

of the fuel heating value on the entrainment
process. In these experiments, nitrogen gas or
air was added to a fixed fuel flow rate and the
effects on fire height and plume mass flux
were examined.
Typical results are shown in Table 1 for
nitrogen injection. In this example, for which
the mass fraction of the nitrogen diluent was
a b o u t 0.83, the values of plume mass flux
decreased a b o u t 8% when the nitrogen diluent
was added and the flame height increased by
a b o u t the same amount. Both changes are
within the accuracy of our present measure-
ments.
TABLE 1
Effects of diluting fuel on fire plume
D Qf rhN/rh f Zf M HBI
(m) (kW) (m)
l0 0.89 1.32 0.73
0.50 50 4,8 0.96 1.22 0.86
Note that the heat balance ratio, HBI
(defined above in eqn. (8)) increases by a b o u t
14% when nitrogen is added. This is a real
effect which is a result of the fact that the
continuum radiation we associate with the
formation and burning of soot almost vanishes
at this level of nitrogen dilution. Because the
heat losses due to radiation from the soot also
decrease greatly, the net enthalpy increase of
the plume gas and, hence, HBI increases.
The results shown here for the example are
typical of a number of similar tests carried
out for a range of burner diameters, heat
release rates, and dilution rates. In general, we
found no effect on either plume mass flow
rate or flame height (to within +10%) when
nitrogen mass flow rates were used which were
up to 5 times the fuel flow rate. Steward [2]
reported a similar insensitivity to nitrogen
addition when ratios o f fuel and nitrogen mass
flow rates around one were tested. We con-
clude from these results that the heating value
of the fuel per mass of fuel is n o t important
in fixing entrainment or flame height, and also
that neither parameter is sensitive to the initial
value of the m o m e n t u m of the fuel-jet.
However, note that the quantity which fixes
the temperature increase in a stoichiometric
117
fuel-air mixture is the heating value of the
fuel per mass of air at the stoichiometric ratio
(hffs), (i.e., the heating value of the fuel per
mass of fuel times the stoichiometric value
of the fuel-air ratio). In these dilution experi-
ments, we only decrease this value by about
20%. We agree with Steward's assumption that
this parameter, hffs, rather than hf alone is the
important scaling parameter related to fuel
heating value. The change in (hffs) achieved
here (about 20%) is t o o small to indicate that
it is, or is not, an important parameter in
fixing entrainment rates.
Aerodynamic disturbances
Early in our experimental program, we
observed that disturbances in the room air
could have a substantial effect on entrainment
rates. For example, currents produced by an
air conditioning system caused the plume
mass flux to rise by a b o u t 20% above values
obtained when the system was blocked off.
This effect is illustrated in Fig. 11, where
data for the 0.20 m burner are presented for
tests in which screens were and were n o t used.
In the latter tests, the air conditioning system
was turned off and air was allowed to enter
the test room through a door located at a
distance of a b o u t 20 m from the test area.
The entrainment rates were a b o u t 15% higher
when the screens were removed. In addition,
fire whirls and random deviations from axi-
symmetric flow were observed in the visible
flame in these experiments. The disturbances
in these experiments were largely a result of
the flow of air through the room which was
produced by the entrainment process itself.
We also studied the effects of producing a
more controlled flow by blocking off the sides
of the hood. However, screens were present
over the areas left open. The geometries used,
and the resultant entrainment ratios, M, are
shown in Fig. 12. The largest effect was pro-
duced by the corner flow configuration in
which adjacent walls were blocked, and some-
what smaller effects for the other t w o exam-
ples.
When the flow was blocked, the flame was
blown-over most strongly at the floor level
and gradually turned to a vertical orientation
as distance from the floor increased, and the
ceiling layer interface was thicker by a factor
118

1.4 I I I [ I ---I ~ T "F...... I I I I~ 14

L2 L2

OR 1.0 ~ I
/
I "-'- i ~
[.0

r~p /
OB __/ , .co o "ORNER O0

I" .COrn INSERT in ,50ra BURNER

"I,, ,CO m BURNER - NO SCREENS

06 06

05 I I l I I I ~ l I I I I 1 05
06 OÜ 1.0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IO
Zcz,
Fig. 11. D e p e n d e n c e o f m a s s f l u x r a t i o o n a e r o d y n a m i c d i s t u r b a n c e s .

D=O2m
NO BLOCKAGE M = 1.10 Q:6Okw (A) ~ IC)
Zi= 2.3m
PLAN VIEW @

CORNER FLOW M : 1.49 I ( ~ I

j.,,,~;v

T H R E E SIDES
BLOCKED M = 1.28

SIDE VIEW

DOOR FLOOR M = 1,28 / i 77

"7////// rh~ 97 rnpa .57mpo

BURNER
PLAN VIEW O =0.50m 0 = 55 kw Zi = 15m

Fig. 12. E f f e c t o f b l o c k a g e o n m a s s f l u x r a t i o . Fig. 13. E f f e c t o f v e r t i c a l wall o n p l u m e m a s s f l u x .

of about 2 than for the corresponding un- reduced to a semi-circular geometry. The fuel
blocked case. flow rate was maintained at a level correspond-
ing to a heat release rate of 55 kW for all three
fires.
Wall effects The effect of placing the wall tangent to
We have carried out one set of measure- the burner was to reduce the plume mass flux
merits to determine the effect of a plane, from rhpa to 0.97 rhpa , a reduction of 3%
vertical wall located close to the fire. The which lies within our data scatter. The effect
experimental arrangement is shown in Fig. 13. of placing the wall over a diameter o f the
Sketch (A) of this Figure shows the usual burner and of blocking off half the burner
configuration with no walls; in (B), a 1.22 m (Case C) was to reduce entrainment to 0.57
wide wall is placed tangent to the edge of the rhp=, a reduction of 43% of the original value.
0.50 m burner, and in (C), the wall is placed In geometry (B) the fire did not attach to the
across a diameter of the burner which is now wall and the centerline of the plume only
 119

approached the wall slightly. In case (C) the TABLE 2

flame looked like half of an undisturbed fire, Fuel-air ratio at flame top
the puffing appeared to be unchanged by the
presence of the wall, and the flame and plume Zi D Zi/Zf ~* (~adjusted)f
were attached to the wall. (kW) (m) (m)
The reduced entrainment rate for case (C)
27 1.0 0.10 0.99 0.062 0.061
can be understood as follows. The rate of 42 1.0 0.20 0.96 0.073 0.068
entrainment for a plume is proportional to 92 1.5 0.10 0.97 0.079 0.075
the cube r o o t of the heat addition rate. Hence, 106 1.5 0.20 1.00 0.061 0.061
if we treat the fire in case (C) as half of a fire 106 1.5 0.50 1.07 0.056 0.063
with a heat release rate of 110 kW (or twice 128 1.5 0.50 1.06 0.065 0.071
the real heat release rate), we would expect *~ is the fuel-air ratio divided by the stoichiometric
the entrainment rate to increase by a factor of fuel-air ratio.
(2) 1/3. However, we are only dealing with half
of the plume or half of this rate. Thus, the
actual entrainment rate will be -~(2)1/3 or mation that rhp ~ Z 5/3 to correct or adjust the
1/(2) 2/3 which is about 0.63. The latter value is data to the value expected when Zi = Z~.
close to our measured value of 0.57. Note Values of the fuel-air ratio at the top of
that because of this reduction in entrainment the flame and normalized by the stoichio-
rate, the average plume temperature rise will metric value (0.058 for methane) ~f, are
increase by a factor of 1/0.57 or by a factor presented in the right-hand column of the
of 1.75. Table. They are scattered about the value
If we apply this same idea to a fire in a 0.067 with a variation of a b o u t 10%. Given
corner, the entrainment rate will decrease by the sensitivity of the plume mass flow rate to
a factor of (1/4)(4) I/3 or 0.40 and the tem- variations in height, and the crude nature of
perature would increase by a factor of 2.5. our flame height measurements, this scatter is
less than we should expect. This close agree-
ment in values of ~f at the top of the flame
Fuel-air ratio at '~flame t o p " suggests an underlying similarity in the com-
One of the assumptions which is used in a bustion process despite changes in QD from a
number of analyses is that the combustion rate minimum of a b o u t 0.6 to a maximum of 26.
in the flame is fixed b y the local entrainment This measured value of the fuel-air ratio is
rate -- that is, that some fraction of the en- much smaller than the value of 1/4 used by
trained air is immediately burned at the eleva- Steward [2] to correlate his flame height data.
tion where it is entrained. Our data can be However, it is much closer to the value of
used to examine this t y p e of hypothesis to ~f ~ 1/10 estimated by Thomas et al. [ 1 8 ] .
the extent that we can determine the fuel-air In addition, it is close to, b u t lower than, a
ratio at the top of the flame. value inferred from the plume centerline tem-
The latter fuel-air ratio is also of interest perature data obtained by McCaffrey [8].
since it throws some light on the fate of This comparison can be made by first using
unburnt fuel which enters the ceiling layer the fuel-air ratio measured here to estimate
when the flame top lies above the ceiling the average temperature increase in the plume
layer interface. flow. If we n o w make the assumption that the
We can determine the fuel-air ratio at the velocity and temperature profiles in the plume
top of the flame directly from our measure- are Gaussian, we can estimate the value of the
ments if we again make the assumption that maximum temperature increase, A Tma x (which
our measured mass flow rates are a good occurs on the plume center line). We must
measurement of the flow rates in the plume. also correct this calculation for the radiant
Data for three burner diameters are shown in energy loss of a b o u t 25% of the total heat
Table 2. Because few measurements were release. Calculations of this type lead to values
made with the interface exactly at the mea- of A Tmax at the t o p of the flame of a b o u t
sured flame height, i.e., with Z l / Z f = 1.0, we 250 -+ 25 K. Values of temperature, measured
have taken data which had values of the ratio by McCaffrey with large thermocouples which
Z i / Z ~ close to one and have used the approxi- were n o t corrected for radiation from the
120
flame or to the surroundings, were in the
range 250 ~< A T~ ~< 350 K at the flame top
with data from the larger fires grouped around
the higher value.
This agreement suggests that our estimate
of 0.067 for the equivalence ratio (the fuel-
air ratio normalized by the stoichiometric
value) at the top of the flame is a reasonable
value for this position in the flame.
The very low value of the fuel-air ratio at
the top of the flame suggests that large ratios
of flame height to interface height can be
allowed before the overall fuel-air ratio in the
plume flow will approach the stoichiometric
value.
Finally, comparison of photographs of the
visible flame boundaries with boundaries
determined from shadowgraph pictures ob-
tained simultaneously, suggests that much of
this excess air is entrained within the visible
flame boundaries.
DISCUSSION
The dependence of the height of a b u o y a n t
diffusion flame on burner diameter and heat
addition rate undergoes a transition for values
of a parameter Q~ around 4. For values of Q~
greater than 6 and as large as 104, the flame
height is independent of the burner diameter
and scales with heat release rate raised to the
2/5 TM power. When values of Q~ are below 2,
the flame height scales linearly with heat
release rate and is inversely proportional to the
3/2 power of the burner diameter. This transi-
tion occurs when the flame height is about
5 times the burner diameter.
Observation of video films of flames stabi-
lized on large diameter burners suggests that
the more-or-less regular shedding of burning,
toroidal vortices plays an important role in
the flames studied here. These structures rise
with a velocity which scales roughly with
x/gZ and the shedding frequency is about
0.3x/~-/D. These structures appear to persist
throughout flames that are at least 10 burner
diameters high. Based on examination of
shadowgraph pictures, the turbulence in the
flame appears to be more coherent than that
in the plume above the fire.
The mass flow rates entering the ceiling
layer from fires, when the time-averaged flame
tip is below the ceiling-layer interface with
room air, can be reasonably well predicted
from a very simple point source and Boussinesq
model. The rough agreement between model
and experiment is most probably the result of
a number of factors that produce conflicting
effects which combine to cancel each other.
The primary factors are: the finite size of the
fire source, large density differences which
exist in the flame or heat release zone, and
the distribution of heat addition over the
volume of the flame. We believe that the finite
size source acts to increase the local entrain-
ment rate, whereas the other two factors tend
to decrease this rate. For example, we believe
that the high plume mass fluxes observed with
the 0.50 m burner are a result of the relatively
small values of flame height for this burner,
which accentuates the effect of the finite
sized burner and decreases the effect of the
distributed heat addition because the heat
source lies close to the burner.
Plume mass fluxes are less than values
predicted from this simple model when the
ceiling layer interface lies below the top of
the visible flame, and rise to or above the
predicted values as the interface moves up.
Note this result indicates that the entrainment
rate (i.e., dmp/dZ) is very high around the top
of the flame and then decreases to a value
close to that used in the simple model as the
interface height moves above the flame top.
Disturbances and air currents produced in
the flow induced by the entrainment process
can cause gross distortions of the flame geom-
etry and at least 20 - 40% increases in plume
mass flow rates.
The overall fuel-air ratio in the plume near
the top of the flame is only 6 - 7% of the
stoichiometric value and increases rapidly at
lower elevations.
Finally, we conclude that the h o o d appara-
tus described here can be a very useful tool in
measuring plume flow rates. Given a large
enough hood, the technique is easy to apply
to a wide variety of fire problems involving
the production and dilution of products of
combustion in b u o y a n t diffusion flames and
plumes. Although the situations studied here
involved steady flows, we believe that transient
flows involving time scales as small as a minute
could also be studied in this apparatus.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work has been carried out with support
from The Center for Fire Research of the
 121

National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Depart- N nitrogen diluent property

ment of Commerce, under the technical P plume, or products
management of Drs. James Quintierre and s stoichiometric
John A. Rockett. t theoretical
OO refers to ambient conditions

LIST OF SYMBOLS REFERENCES

half width in Gaussian profiles for 1 P. H. Thomas, C. T. Webster and M. M. Raftery,

w, A T CombusL Flame, 5 (1961) 359.
2 F. R. Steward, Combust. Sci. Technol., 2 (1970)
CI, Cv, CT constants in eqns. (1) - (7) 203.
Cp specific heat at constant pressure 3 W. Z. Schmidt, Z. Angew. Math. Mech., 2 (1941)
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f fuel-air ratio 5 B. L. Morton, G. I. Taylor and J. S. Turner, Proc.
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D.C., 1961, pp. 186 - 206. See also: Rep. 29
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r radius 10 J. P. Ricou and D. B. Spalding, J. Fluid Mech., 9
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E entrained 18 P. H. Thomas, Ninth Symp. Int. on Combustion,
f fuel or flame top Academic Press, New York, 1963, p. 843.
19 D. J. Rasbash, Z. W. Rogowski and G. W. V. Stark,
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