Search for: All records

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), which are mildly flammable and pose potential fire risks, have received greater attention as a viable low global warming potential (GWP) alternative to traditional refrigerant and fire-suppressant compounds. Therefore, there is a demand to accurately quantify their flammability and reactivity to establish proper safety metrics. This study investigates the effects of radiation in slow-propagating HFC/air laminar flames. Planar 1-D simulations of R-32/air and R-1234yf/air flames show significant reductions in laminar flame speed due to radiative heat losses from the flame zone. Simulations of spherically expanding flames revealed that the radiation-induced flow needs to be considered when interpreting data from experiments. To this end, a radiation model was developed to circumvent the effects of radiation-induced inward flow in constant-pressure (CON-P) SEF experimental measurements, accounting for radiation heat loss using the optically thin limit model. Validation of the radiation model is currently underway, but preliminary results show that the model better predicts the inward flow velocity for most conditions compared to existing analytical models.