Large scale high pressure jet fires involving natural gas and natural gas/hydrogen mixtures

A series of six large scale high pressure jet fires were conducted using natural gas and natural gas/hydrogen mixtures. Three tests involved natural gas and three involved a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen containing approximately 24% by volume hydrogen. For each fuel, the three tests involved horizontal releases from 20,35 and 50 mm diameter holes at a gauge pressure of approximately 60 bar. During the experiments, the flame length and the incident radiation field produced around the fire were measured. The fires also engulfed a 1 m diameter horizontal pipe placed across the flow direction and about halfway along the flame. This pipe was instrumented to measure the heat fluxes to the pipe. The data obtained is compared with previous data obtained for various hydrocarbons at large scale. (C) 2011 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.