Estimating Large Pool Fire Burning Rates VYTENIS BABRAUSKAS Center for Fire Research National Bureau of Standards Data for estimating the burning rate and heat output of large pool fires (diameter > 0.2 m) are compiled and computational equations presented. Since a large scatter in the reported data is noted, atten- tion is also focused on areas where further research is most needed in order to improve predictability. p OOL BURNING isprobably the simplest form of combustion applicable to a wide range of industrial fireprotection concerns. Typically, this is conceived of as a firein an open-topped, circularflammable liquid tank or as a bounded spillof combustible liquid.More generally, both liquefied gases and melting plastics materials, horizontally placed, conform to the same pattern. Somewhat related, but computationally different are problems of pools burning in enclosed spaces. The solutions of Reference 2 consider the limit where the enclosure effects dominate the fire.Here we will only con- sider "free" pools, not inside an enclosure nor in the vicinityof another fire. The burning of pool fires presents a rich field for inquiry into flame chemistry, radiation, fluidmechanics and other aspects. To a fireprotection engineer, however, two questions are primary: How fast is the fireburning? And, what is its temperature {or heat flux) distribution? In this article an attempt is made to systematically summarize the available information only to the firstquestion. Furthermore, the fires of greatest practical concern are the larger ones. A fire of 100 kW can be typically produced by a fuelpool %0.2 m in diameter. As willbe shown, such a restriction to "large" pools simplifies the data analysis considerably. 251