Advances in Fire and Combustion Safety

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2022) | Viewed by 21281

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, Via Terracini 28, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Interests: explosion; fire; security; natech; risk assessment

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, Via Terracini 28, 40131 Bologna, Italy
Interests: safety; sustainability; kinetic modeling; energy production; low temperatures
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Continuous research seeking at the reduction of environmental impacts generated by several industrial fields and climate change effects have raised further challenges for the characterization and quantification of safety aspects related to combustion science. Most of the current unravelled questions involve either the characterization of undesired combustion or its interactions with the surrounding environment. Cutting-edge research dealing with physics, chemistry, technological, and procedural aspects represents an essential step toward the realization of novel concepts and robust practices. Indeed, the acquired know-how may have positive feedback either for the accurate consequence analysis or for the hazard assessment. Besides, the effectiveness of mitigation systems for innovative processes or alternative species is still under evaluation. The current special issue aims at gathering information by fundamental-based or case studies investigations, as well as experimental or numerical approaches valuable to fill the highlighted gaps on fire, wildfire, explosion and more in general on self-accelerating oxidation reactions. Researchers can submit articles presenting innovative studies or literature reviews related to fire safety.

Prof. Dr. Ernesto Salzano
Dr. Gianmaria Pio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Combustion
  • Safety
  • Fire
  • Wildfire
  • Explosion
  • Hazards
  • Prevention
  • Prediction
  • Mitigation
  • Consequence Assessment

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 6076 KiB  
Article
FDS Results for Selecting the Right Scenario in the Case of a Building Fire: A Case Study
by Florin Manea, Emilian Ghicioi, Marius Cornel Suvar, Maria Prodan, Nicolae Ioan Vlasin, Niculina Sonia Suvar and Titus Vlase
Fire 2022, 5(6), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5060198 - 23 Nov 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2593
Abstract
On the evening of 5 April 2014, at a building located on 122 Tomis Boulevard, Constanta Municipality, Constanta County, Romania, a restaurant with its kitchen on the ground floor and a lounge bar located on the first floor experienced a fire, one that [...] Read more.
On the evening of 5 April 2014, at a building located on 122 Tomis Boulevard, Constanta Municipality, Constanta County, Romania, a restaurant with its kitchen on the ground floor and a lounge bar located on the first floor experienced a fire, one that resulted in four victims and total building destruction. An important step in the technical-scientific expertise was the investigation of the incident based on the elaboration of two fire scenarios using the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) model, which observed the fire propagation, the generation of toxic gases (carbon monoxide that disoriented and intoxicated the victims, three of whom could not save themselves) depending on the location of the plausible ignition sources, and explained the destructive effects. This paper focuses on the steps required to identify the critical conditions that led to the occurrence of the unwanted event. Based on the calculations, hypothesis, and FDS simulations, the mechanism of the event occurrence was considered to be strongly related to the onsite observations and criminal file issued by the state authorities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Fire and Combustion Safety)
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12 pages, 5188 KiB  
Article
Controlling Metal Fires through Cellulose Flake Blanketing Followed by Water Spray Cooling
by Josef Hagauer, Ulrich Matlschweiger, Christian Tippelreither, Markus Lutz, Thomas Hribernig and Maximilian Lackner
Fire 2022, 5(3), 83; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5030083 - 17 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3006
Abstract
The traditional methods of fighting metal fires are not always safe for firefighters. The sand and salts that are thrown onto the fire to suffocate the flames can lead to splashes of molten metal, putting the firefighters and the surroundings at risk. A [...] Read more.
The traditional methods of fighting metal fires are not always safe for firefighters. The sand and salts that are thrown onto the fire to suffocate the flames can lead to splashes of molten metal, putting the firefighters and the surroundings at risk. A novel process is described where magnesium fires are brought under control using a simple two-step process. First, coated cellulose flakes, which contain approx. 30% inorganic salts, are blown onto the fire from a distance of several meters. Due to its low bulk density, the material settles smoothly on the fire and immediately covers the flames for several seconds. Before the hot metal can break through this cover, a fine water spray is applied to the fire. The water spray wets the top layer of the cellulose flakes, which will begin to char from the bottom. The water evaporates from within the cellulose flake layer and withdraws heat. It was observed that no hydrogen is formed and that this technique can safely control fires. It is judged that 90 kg of flakes could safely bring a pile of 75 kg of burning Mg flakes under control. By using a pneumatic conveying unit for the flakes, firefighters can effectively and efficiently cover the flames from a safe distance. This novel method could be recommended to firefighters in industrial magnesium processing plants, as well as local firefighters in the vicinity of such plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Fire and Combustion Safety)
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12 pages, 1599 KiB  
Article
Reduced Combustion Mechanism for Fire with Light Alcohols
by Fekadu Mosisa Wako, Gianmaria Pio and Ernesto Salzano
Fire 2021, 4(4), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040086 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3795
Abstract
The need for sustainable energy has incentivized the use of alternative fuels such as light alcohols. In this work, reduced chemistry mechanisms for the prediction of fires (pool fire, tank fire, and flash fire) for two primary alcohols—methanol and ethanol—were developed, aiming to [...] Read more.
The need for sustainable energy has incentivized the use of alternative fuels such as light alcohols. In this work, reduced chemistry mechanisms for the prediction of fires (pool fire, tank fire, and flash fire) for two primary alcohols—methanol and ethanol—were developed, aiming to integrate the detailed kinetic model into the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The model accommodates either the pure reactants and products or other intermediates, including soot precursors (C2H2, C2H4, and C3H3), which were identified via sensitivity and reaction path analyses. The developed reduced mechanism was adopted to predict the burning behavior in a 3D domain and for the estimation of the product distribution. The agreement between the experimental data from the literature and estimations resulting from the analysis performed in this work demonstrates the successful application of this method for the integration of kinetic mechanisms and CFD models, opening to an accurate evaluation of safety scenarios and allowing for the proper design of storage and transportation systems involving light alcohols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Fire and Combustion Safety)
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23 pages, 837 KiB  
Review
Probability Analysis and Prevention of Offshore Oil and Gas Accidents: Fire as a Cause and a Consequence
by Dejan Brkić and Pavel Praks
Fire 2021, 4(4), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040071 - 14 Oct 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 10554
Abstract
Failures during the drilling and exploitation of hydrocarbons that result in catastrophic offshore oil and gas accidents are relatively rare but if they occur the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of loss of life and environmental damage. Therefore, to gain insight into [...] Read more.
Failures during the drilling and exploitation of hydrocarbons that result in catastrophic offshore oil and gas accidents are relatively rare but if they occur the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of loss of life and environmental damage. Therefore, to gain insight into their prevention, the largest major offshore oil and gas accidents, those with more than 10 fatalities or with a large environmental impact, are analyzed in this article. Special attention is placed on fire as a cause and a consequence. Relevant technological and legislative changes and updates regarding safety that have followed such accidents and that can prevent potential future similar misfortunes are evaluated. Two main approaches to safety are compared: (1) the American prescriptive vs. (2) the European goal-oriented approach. The main causes of accidents are tested statistically in respect of failure probability, where the exact confidence limits for the estimated probabilities are computed. The results of the statistical test based on exact confidence intervals show that there is no significant difference between the analysed factors, which describe the main causes of offshore oil and gas accidents. Based on the small but carefully chosen group of 24 of the largest accidents, it can be concluded that there is no evidence of a difference between the categories of the main causes of accidents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Fire and Combustion Safety)
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