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 Engineering Laboratory /                  Fire Research Division
      National Fire Research Laboratory

    
    Breadcrumb
        Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)Stovetop Cooking Pan Fire Safety

            Research Overview
                                A series of experiments was conducted characterizing the flammability properties of small-scale corn oil fires. The oil was placed in a pan located on the center of an electric coil heating element associated with an electric cooktop. Ignition was accomplished with a torch with the heating element off or by auto-ignition when the heating element was on. The mass loss, heat release rate, pan bottom temperature, heat flux to the surroundings, and flame height were measured. The radiative fraction and combustion efficiency were estimated from the measurements. Heating the oil on a typical electric cooktop leads to auto-ignition of the oil. Continued heating of the oil on the cooktop enhances the vaporization of the oil and leads to rapidly growing fires with relatively large peak heat release rates. Under some conditions, heated corn oil can boil-over, a phenomenon in which the oil bulk density decreases until it flows over the pan sides. For a given pan volume, the occurrence of boil-over depends on the initial fuel volume. Compared to traditional gasoline pool fires, the corn oil undergoing auto-ignition and continued heating had larger peak values of heat release rate and peak flame height by factors of 3.1 and 1.6, respectively.


                  Y. Hu, J. Chen, Z. Wang, K.Y. Lee, M. Bundy M. Fernandez, A. Hamins, The Character of Residential Cooktop Fires, NIST Technical Note 2133, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, January 2021
  https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2133
                                        Chen, J. et al , Why are cooktop fires so hazardous?, Fire Safety Journal, May 2020
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103070
                                        Hu Y, Chen J, Bundy M, Hamins A. The character of residential cooktop fires. Journal of Fire Sciences. February 2021
  https://doi.org/10.1177/0734904121990392
  

      

      Experiment Name
                            Plot of Heat Release Rate
                                                  Ignition Photo
                                                  Date/Time
                                                  Specimen
                                                  Fuel Type
                            Test Duration (min)Sort ascending
                            Total Heat Released (MJ)
                            Peak HRR (kW)stovetop_test_MassLoss_13
                            Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
                                                                                        heating element on
                                                                                        10/25/2017 9:54:37 AM EDT
                                                                                        cooking pan
                                                                                        Corn Oil
                            4.63
                            5.59
                            73.7stovetop_test_MassLoss_14c
                            Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
                                                                                        heating element on
                                                                                        10/25/2017 11:07:45 AM EDT
                                                                                        cooking pan
                                                                                        Corn Oil
                            3.77
                            1.71
                            18.50Gasoline_50g
                            Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
                                                                                        fuel pour
                                                                                        11/19/2019 8:37:04 AM EST
                                                                                        gasoline in 20 cm pan
                                                                                        Gasoline
                            1.97
                            2.04
                            21.9CornOil_50g_20cm_Calphalon
                            Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
                                                                                        fuel pour
                                                                                        11/19/2019 11:17:12 AM EST
                                                                                        corn oil in 20 cm pan
                                                                                        Corn Oil
                            1.65
                            1.656
                            34.0CornOil_50g_20cm_AlumiPanRepeat2
                            Plot of Fire Heat Release Rate with event markers. Uncertainty bar shown at peak value.
                                                                                        fuel pour
                                                                                        11/19/2019 11:44:44 AM EST
                                                                                        corn oil in 20 cm pan
                                                                                        Corn Oil
                            1.45
                            1.447
                            28.2

      Bryant, R. and Bundy, M. The NIST 20 MW Calorimetry Measurement System for Large-Fire Research, Technical Note (NIST TN) 2077, 2019https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2077
        NIST Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-2314

      Last Updated May 14, 2021
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