Characterization of Stovetop Cooking Oil Fires

Area of Science:

• Fire Science
• Combustion Research
• Home Safety

Background:

• Cooking oil fires are a common cause of residential fires.
• Existing fire suppression standards may not fully capture the dynamics of modern cooking fires.
• Understanding the rapid fire growth is crucial for developing effective safety measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the fire hazard associated with cooking oil fires.
• To characterize the thermal measurements of cooking oil fires under different conditions.
• To evaluate the fire spread and growth within a compartment setting.

Main Methods:

• Conducted twelve open-flame experiments on gas and electric ranges using varied oil amounts and pan types.
• Performed two full-scale residential kitchen experiments with corn oil fires.
• Measured temperatures, heat release rates, and heat fluxes during fire events.

Main Results:

• Cooking oil fires exhibit rapid autoignition and high heat release rates.
• Fires spread and grew ultra-fast within the compartment, even from small cooktop ignitions.
• Thermal measurements confirmed the significant hazard posed by these fires.

Conclusions:

• Cooking oil fires present a severe and rapidly escalating hazard.
• Compartment fires involving cooking oil grow extremely quickly.
• Further research into fire suppression for these scenarios is warranted.