Fire tests and analyses of a rail cask-sized calorimeter

Three large open pool fire experiments involving a calorimeter the size of a spent fuel rail cask were conducted at Sandia National Laboratories Lurance Canyon Burn Site. These experiments were performed to study the heat transfer between a very large fire and a large cask-like object. In all of the tests, the calorimeter was located at the center of a 7.93-meter diameter fuel pan, elevated 1 meter above the fuel pool. The relative pool size and positioning of the calorimeter conformed to the required positioning of a package undergoing certification fire testing. Approximately 2000 gallons of JP-8 aviation fuel were used in each test. The first two tests had relatively light winds and lasted 40 minutes, while the third had stronger winds and consumed the fuel in 25 minutes. Wind speed and direction, calorimeter temperature, fire envelop temperature, vertical gas plume speed, and radiant heat flux near the calorimeter were measured at several locations in all tests. Fuel regression rate data was also acquired. The experimental setup and certain fire characteristics that were observed during the test are described in this paper. Results from three-dimensional fire simulations performed with the Cask Analysis Fire Environment (CAFE) fire code are also presented. Comparisons of the thermal response of the calorimeter as measured in each test to the results obtained from the CAFE simulations are presented and discussed.