Development of a Spatially Resolved Optical Technique for Measuring Heat Flux and Thermal Footprint of Firebrand Piles

Published

July 25, 2019

Author(s)

Yasin M. Abul-Huda

Abstract

Firebrand showers have been identified as the primary mechanism of fire spread and cause of destruction in wildland-urban interface fires. The heat transfer processes that follow deposition and lead to ignition have received little attention until recently. While conventional methods of measuring temperature and heat flux provide bulk-averaged information regarding deposited firebrand piles, they fall short of elucidating essential information such as surface contact areas and heat feed-back mechanisms, that are necessary for understanding ignition propensity and developing high-fidelity physics-based models. This work describes the development and implementation of a spatially resolved optical technique for quantifying heat flux and thermal footprint of firebrand piles using laser induced phosphorescence of YAG:Dy. The technique involves coating the surface of a UV-transparent substrate with YAG:Dy phosphors to yield surface temperature. Heat flux is inferred through simultaneously measuring of the top and bottom substrate surface temperatures after they are coated with a staggered grating pattern. An intensity ratio over two separate spectral regions of emission is used to calibrate the optical measurement system and infer temperature from 300 K - 1100 K over a 7 cm diameter interrogation area. The uncertainty in temperature and heat flux are discussed in detail. The spatial resolution of the temperature and heat flux measurements are 0.5 mm and 4 mm, respectively.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 2052

Report Number

2052

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2052

Local Download

Keywords

firebrand, heat flux, thermal footprint, surface contact area, thermographic phosphors, thermometry

Citation

Abul-Huda, Y. (2019), Development of a Spatially Resolved Optical Technique for Measuring Heat Flux and Thermal Footprint of Firebrand Piles, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2052 (Accessed October 12, 2025)