Title: Mitigating the risk of secondary fires at MSW bale storage sites

Authors: Muhammad Asim Ibrahim; Ahtisham Arshad; Muhammad Arif; Aiman Fatima

Addresses: Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden ' Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan ' Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan ' Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan

Abstract: The article discusses the suitability of several existing empirical models for determining the safe separation distances (SSDs) for waste fuels. Contour plots of SSDs are generated based on isotropic thermal radiation model for safely storing municipal solid waste (MSW) bales under different storage settings and the plots can be employed for routine hazard assessment purposes. Further, experimental design technique was employed, and orthogonal test matrices were generated to conduct the experiments for studying the combustion dynamics of the primary fire under the influence of storage settings of surrounding fuel units. The main and interaction effects of various storage parameters (e.g., height of adjacent fuel sources, clearance between fuel sources and array size) on the response variables (flame height and burn out time) were studied. A list of appropriate measures for minimising the risk of secondary fires at MSW bale storage sites is provided.

Keywords: bale storage; secondary fires; waste fires; bale fires; waste fuels; safe separation distance; safety distance; interactive burning; abreast flames; industrial fire safety; flame height; burn out time; BOT.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2024.137348

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2024 Vol.12 No.3, pp.193 - 217

Accepted: 23 Jan 2023
Published online: 13 Mar 2024 *