A convective–radiative propagation model for wildland fires
Jacques Henri Balbi A , François Joseph Chatelon A , Dominique Morvan B , Jean Louis Rossi A , Thierry Marcelli A C and Frédéric Morandini A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Université de Corse, Systèmes Physiques pour l’Environnement UMR-CNRS 6134, Campus Grossetti, BP 52 20250 Corte, France.
B Aix Marseille Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centrale Marseille, M2P2, 13451 Marseille, France.
C Corresponding author. Email: marcelli@univ-corse.fr
International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(8) 723-738 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19103
Submitted: 11 July 2019 Accepted: 4 April 2020 Published: 7 May 2020
Abstract
The ‘Balbi model’ is a simplified steady-state physical propagation model for surface fires that considers radiative heat transfer from the surface area of burning fuel particles as well as from the flame body. In this work, a completely new version of this propagation model for wildand fires is proposed. Even if, in the present work, this model is confined to laboratory experiments, its purpose is to be used at a larger scale in the field under operational conditions. This model was constructed from a radiative propagation model with the addition of a convective heat transfer term resulting from the impingement of packets of hot reacting gases on unburnt fuel elements located at the base of the flame. The flame inside the fuel bed is seen as the ‘fingers of fire’ described in the literature. The proposed model is physics-based, faster than real time and fully predictive, which means that model parameters do not change from one experiment to another. The predicted rate of spread is applied to a large set of laboratory experiments (through homogeneous pine needles and excelsior fuel beds) and is compared with the predictions of both a very simple empirical model (Catchpole) and a detailed physical model (FireStar2D).
Additional keywords: convective flux, fire dynamics, fire spread, heat transfer, model performance, radiative flux, physical model, steady-state model.
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