Fire/Arson Investigations : Fire/Arson Investigations
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Re: Cooking oil fires
Posted by: dcarpenter (IP Logged)
Date: May 29, 2020 08:38AM
In the United States, the electric burner wattage generally range from 2000 W to 5000 W. You seem to be using a burner wattage of around 1000 W (2000 W / 2 coils).
Not sure if this burner is an exemplar of the burner in the actual incident or if your assuming it is an exemplar. I know that kitchen appliances tend to be more compact in the UK, so perhaps your assumption is valid.
The heat input of the most significant variable to be controlled in such tests. The amount of oil will govern the peak temperature and also the time to reach that peak. Adding food will lower the temperature of the oil before reaching its peak temperature, so the duration of the tests need to be taken into account. Did you run the tests long enough to reach the peak oil temperature?
Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com
Not sure if this burner is an exemplar of the burner in the actual incident or if your assuming it is an exemplar. I know that kitchen appliances tend to be more compact in the UK, so perhaps your assumption is valid.
The heat input of the most significant variable to be controlled in such tests. The amount of oil will govern the peak temperature and also the time to reach that peak. Adding food will lower the temperature of the oil before reaching its peak temperature, so the duration of the tests need to be taken into account. Did you run the tests long enough to reach the peak oil temperature?
Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com
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