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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of initial generating eddy height on formation and flame geometry of fire whirl

Congcong Ji A B , Naian Liu A B * , Jiao Lei A B * , Linhe Zhang A B , Xiaodong Xie A B and Yang Zhang A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.

B MEM Key Laboratory of Forest Fire Monitoring and Warning, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.


International Journal of Wildland Fire 32(9) 1381-1390 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23034
Submitted: 11 March 2023  Accepted: 19 July 2023   Published: 15 August 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF.

Abstract

Background: Fire whirl is an extreme fire behaviour in wildland fires, and an essential factor for its formation is the surrounding generating eddy. No systematic experimental study has been conducted on natural fire whirls with varying heights of the initial generating eddy.

Aims: The aim of this research was to provide a comprehensive experimental study on the effect of initial generating eddy height on fire whirl formation and flame characteristics.

Methods: The experiments were conducted in a fixed-frame facility with varying channel wall height (representing the initial generating eddy height). A 20-cm-diameter propane burner (10.0–100.0 kW in heat release rate) was used.

Key results: The critical channel wall height for fire whirl formation decreases with the heat release rate. The mean flame height grows remarkably with initial generating eddy height for large heat release rates, but it varies only slightly at relatively small heat release rates.

Conclusions: The formation of fire whirl depends on the initial generating eddy height, rotational strength, and heat release rate. A flame height correlation of the fire whirl is obtained by considering the initial generating eddy height.

Implications: This work provides a basis for improving the prediction accuracy of natural fire whirls in wildland fires.

Keywords: fire whirl, initial generating eddy height, fire whirl formation, flame geometry, flame height, flame diameter, fire behaviour, wildland fire.


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