Experiments on wood crib fire suppression with water mist in a confined space

In order to study the mechanisms and effectivity of solid fire extinction with water mist, a single fluid/low pressure water mist fire suppression system was developed and a series of experiments were conducted in a 3mX3mX3m confined space. Fire sources are two dimensions of wood cribs. Before and after the application of water mist, some K-type thermocouples along the wood crib up-surface centerline and an infrared thermography were used to measure and visualize flame temperature and a turbine flux sensor were used to measure the application rate of water, respectively. The experimental results show that the flame of wood crib can not be extinguished in most time while the pressures are lower than 0.4MPa, and the distance between flame and the water mist nozzle, the application rate of water are two main factors which influence the effectivity of wood crib fire extinction when the working pressure is low. In addition, the larger the wood crib dimension is, the easier the flame can be extinguished.