The burning rates of sodium pool fires

The burning rates of sodium pool fires have been measured at pool diameters of 50, 100, and 220 mm. The pool burning was found to exhibit a flat flame zone residing close to the surface of the liquid metal pool. Well-insulated pools attained an equilibrium temperature of ≅1000 K. Brief results from other aspects of sodium combustion are reported. These are the variation of burning rate with pool temperature, the smoke release fraction from small pools, and spectroscopic observations from sodium vapour/air laminar diffusion flames. From these observations and the results of other workers, a model of sodium pool burning is produced dealing in particular with the variation of burning rate with pool size. This analysis forms the basis of prediction of heat release and smoke release rates as may occur from large pool fires following accidents in sodium-cooled fast breeder nuclear reactors.