The carousel burner allows experiments concerning the variation in flame front geometry and heat transfer with orientation of the flame front. The apparatus consists of a 2’X 9’ propane fueled sand burner embedded within a rotating disk and surrounding platform (see picture). The burner was designed to be situated in the 10’ X 10’ slow-speed wind tunnel to permit study of wind effects on forward heat transfer. When the platform is tilted, it allows study of both wind and slope effects. As with other sand burners, the flow rate of propane (heat release rate) is regulated to the 4 independently controlled burner tubes which can be adjusted to support arbitrary flame zone widths as well as flame zone depths.
The burner can be rotated 90 degrees from perpendicular to parallel relative to the oncoming air or slope direction. Measurements by thermocouples embedded in the lee-side decking record the surface gas temperature as flames impinge on the surface. The study is vital of understanding how heat transfer varies with different orientations of the flame zone and thus how modeling of fire spread can incorporate two-dimensional effects.
