Heat Transfer in a Pine Tree Trunk

Abstract

This article presents a numerical study on the heat and mass transfer in a pine trunk under the effect of a forest fire. The numerical model of the pine trunk is based on energy balance integral and differential equations. The virtual trunk geometry was developed using grid generation. The radiation heat exchanges are evaluated between the pine trunk and the plan surface of the front fire. These radiative exchanges are evaluated using view factors considering the grid generation in the tree and front fire. A fire front propagation at a constant fire spread rate of 0.01 m/s and a flame temperature of 500ºC were considered in this study. The field temperature evolution in the external surface and inside the pine trunk was obtained considering wind speed fluctuations with three different frequencies. In general, pine trunk temperatures increase with decreasing frequency of wind speed fluctuations.

Keywords: Design · Forest fire · MRT · Numerical models · Tree thermal response

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002775