Mathematical modeling of nitrogen-pressurized Halon flow in fire extinguishing systems

Resumen

In this work the discharge process of a fire extinguishing agent through a pipe is studied. Particularly, Halon 1301 is considered, an halocarbon that is introduced in bottles pressurized by nitrogen. Nitrogen dissolves in Halon at high pressure, so the bottle contains a multicomponent liquid. Moreover, the discharge process typically entails phase change leading to three different discharge steps with complex governing equations. Therefore the driven forces of each case are analysed and a simplified model is proposed. The results given by the developed model are validated with numerical and experimental data provided by NASA [D.G. Elliott et al. Flow of Nitrogen-Pressurized Halon 1301 in Fire Extinguishing Systems, JPL Publication 84 (1984) [15]], consisting of a discharge of Halon 1301 and nitrogen mixture through a nozzle of reduced length. Finally, numerical results corresponding to a case of practical application are shown, and a parametric study is presented.