Prudent practices for the design and installation of heat‐producing devices near wood materials

The conditions required to cause ignition of solid wood materials under short‐term heating are examined, and it is found that the appropriate ignition temperature applicable under these conditions is 250°C. It is then shown that ignition requirements are different if long‐term heating is involved and that ignition can occur at exposure temperatures much lower than the ignition temperature pertinent to short‐term heating. It is shown that hot surfaces of 77 °C or higher, if located for a long duration next to a wood member are liable to lead to its ignition in a self‐heating mode. Recommendation is made that prudent practices for design or installation must also involve a suitable safety factor. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigations on the self‐ignition of deposits containing combustibles

Self‐ignition of deposited combustibles is a possible reason for excessive fires occurring on deposits for recycling materials or on waste dumps. Two series of experiments were performed to assess the hazard of self‐ignition: hot storage tests with different homogeneous mixtures of combustible material and inert material and tests with pockets of combustible material embedded in inert matter. In the first test series considerable exothermicity (ΔT>60K) was observed for mass fractions of combustible material as low as 2.5%. In the second series it could be shown that the heat transfer from a pocket of burning material through the inert matter can ignite a second pocket of combustible matter. Based on the experimental data, numerical simulations were performed to predict self‐ignition on real‐scale waste deposits. For a deposit of specific size and shape, the influence of the ambient temperature on the occurrence of self‐ignition has been investigated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Partial Heating of Solid Propellant as Elucidated by Simulation of Microwave Heating

It has been demonstrated that the performance of direct‐fire kinetic‐energy ammunition improves significantly with increasing preignition temperature (approximately 5 % performance increase at 49 °C above that demonstrated at ambient temperature for JA2). Existing launch systems are designed to withstand pressures up to the level generated by ammunition with a propellant temperature of 49 °C, but are typically used at lower temperatures. This study simulated the effects of heating the propellant bed of large‐caliber ammunition to 49 °C by microwave energy. When rapidly heated, propellant within a propellant bed may not have sufficient time to thermally equilibrate. This study investigated heating a typical propellant bed in two configurations: (1) through heating one‐half of the axial length of the bed and (2) radial heating into the bed along the entire axial length. A subscale (7.6 cm diameter) simulator was used. Pressure‐time histories from several transducers placed along the wall of the simulator in the axial direction were used to elucidate the flame spreading process. Baseline tests of the propellant bed were conducted at −30 °C and at 49 °C. Tests of propellant beds with regions of both −30 °C and 49 °C simultaneously within the bed showed ignition and early burning characteristics approximating those at 49 °C.     

A theoretical basis for flammability properties

Theoretical formulations are presented for the fire growth processes under external radiant heating. They included ignition, burning and energy release rate, and flame spread. The behaviour of these processes with external heating is described along with the critical conditions that limit them. These include the critical heat fluxes for ignition, flame spread and burning rate. It is shown how these processes and their critical conditions depend on a limited number of properties measurable by a number of standard test methods. The properties include heat of combustion, the heat of gasification, ignition temperature and the thermal properties of the material. Alternatively, the properties could be related to parameters easily found from data; namely: (1) the critical heat flux (CHF) for ignition; (2) the slope of the energy release rate with externally imposed flux, defined as heat release parameter (HRP); and (3) the ignition parameter, defined as thermal response parameter (TRP). It is further shown that the flame heat flux differences between small laminar flame ignition sources and larger turbulent flames can affect flame spread due to heat flux and ignition length factors. Finally, it is found that the critical energy release rates theoretically needed for ignition, sustained burning, and turbulent upward flame spread are roughly 13, 52, and 100 kW/m², respectively, and independent of material properties. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study on the radiative ignition of silicones

Silicones comprise a wide variety of materials such as fluids, elastomers, resins, and foams. This paper reports the ignitability of some typical silicones under various external radiant heat fluxes. The ignitability of silicones was studied using a cone calorimeter under radiant heat flux levels of 0.5–60 kW m⁻². The time to ignition of the silicones was found to be proportional to a power of the incident heat flux that varies from −1.33 to −2.84. For silicone fluids, viscosity (or molecular size) is the key variable in controlling the ignitability. For silicone elastomers, the fillers play an important role in controlling the ignitability, especially at incident heat fluxes lower than 35 kW m⁻². The ignitability of silicone resins depends on the chemical structure of the resins: the pure trifunctional resin has the lowest ignitability. The ignitability of the silicone foams having the same density depends on the foam thickness, especially at incident heat fluxes lower than 30 kW m⁻². © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ignition performance of new and used motor vehicle upholstery fabrics

This paper examines the standards for fire safety in transport systems and in particular the test method for the flammability of materials within passenger compartments of motor vehicles. The paper compares data from ignition tests conducted in the cone calorimeter and the FIST apparatus with tests conducted using the FMVSS 302 horizontal flame spread apparatus. Ten materials were selected as representative of those used as seat coverings of private and commercial passenger vehicles. The time to ignition of new and used materials subject to exposure heat fluxes between 20 kW/m² and 40 kW/m² was measured. The results from the ignition tests were analysed using thermally thick and thermally thin theoretical models. The critical heat flux for sustained piloted ignition was determined from the time to ignition data using the thermally thin approach. Derived ignition temperatures from both the thermally thick and thermally thin methods were compared with measurements using a thermocouple attached to the back surface of materials in selected tests. The flame spread rates in the FMVSS 302 apparatus were determined and a comparison was made between the performance of the materials in the flame spread apparatus, the cone calorimeter and the FIST. The results suggests that a critical heat flux criterion could be used to provide an equivalent pass/fail performance requirement to that specified by the horizontal flame spread test although further testing is needed to support this. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of Measurement Uncertainties in Adiabatic Hot‐Storage Experiments for Reactive Dusts

The formal kinetics of self‐ignition of solid bulk materials theoretically can be derived from just one single adiabatic hot‐storage test. The question arises how uncertainties in the measurements can be quantified and how these uncertainties affect the results of the subsequent predictions. Adiabatic and isoperibolic hot‐storage basket tests were performed for samples of lignite coal, black coal, cork dust, a polymer dust, and wax‐coated silicid acid. In the adiabatic experiments, the starting temperature and the temperature control of the oven were varied systematically to study the uncertainty margin of adiabatic tests. The apparent activation energy and the pre‐exponential factor of the lumped reaction were derived from the adiabatic tests including average values and standard deviations and compared to isoperibolic experiments performed according to the European standard EN 15188. It could be shown that with a precise temperature control of the adiabatic oven combined with an automated computation of the maximum rate of temperature rise the uncertainty of the apparent activation energy can be limited to less than 10 %.     

Ignition and combustion of low‐density polyimide foam

The ignition, flaming and smoldering combustion of low‐density polyimide foam have been studied using a cone calorimeter. Low‐density polyimide foam exhibits a high ignition resistance. The minimum heat flux for the ignition of flaming combustion ranges from 48 to 54 kW/m². This minimum heat flux also indicates the heat flux for transition from smoldering to flaming combustion. The flaming combustion results show that the heat release rate of low‐density polyimide foam is very low even at a high incident heat flux of 75 kW/m². The smoldering combustion results show that the smoldering of low‐density polyimide foam becomes significant when the incident heat flux is greater than 30 kW/m². The smoldering combustion of low‐density polyimide foam cannot be self‐sustaining when the external heat source is removed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fire properties of surrogate refuse‐derived fuels

This paper investigates the fundamental fire properties of surrogate refuse‐derived fuels (RDF), a class of multicomponent materials characterized by high void fraction, with particles of polydisperse sizes and significant internal porosity. A surrogate RDF was developed to improve the reproducibility of experimental measurements. This surrogate RDF reflects typical municipal solid waste collected in the city of Newcastle, in the state of New South Wales in Australia. The material consists of shredded newspaper, wood, grass and plastic bags, with small amounts of sugar and bread. About 95% of the material passes through 50 mm square screens, as required by ASTM E828 standard for RDF‐3 specification. The experiments presented in this paper were performed with the components of the RDF dried in a forced‐air oven at 103° C, except for grass which was dried under nitrogen. The material was found to be very hygroscopic, requiring special care in handling. The experiments performed in the cone calorimeter were designed to measure the heat release rate, total heat release, time to ignition, time to extinction, effective heat of combustion and formation of CO during the combustion process, as a function of sample thickness, sample density and the magnitude of the imposed radiative heat flux. The thermophysical properties of the surrogate material were either measured (solid density, void space, particle density, particle porosity) or extracted from the published data (heat capacity). The present surrogate RDF material was found to ignite easily, within a few seconds of the imposition of the incident heat flux of 40 kW m^?2, and then to reach rapidly the peak heat release rate of 110–165 kW m^?2. The deduced values of the critical heat flux, pyrolysis temperature and effective thermal conductivity are 9–10 (±2) kW m^?2, 280–310 (±30)° C, and 0.4–0.7 (±0.3) W m^?1 K^?1, respectively, depending on the material density. The effective heat of combustion of the RDF was estimated as 15.3 MJ kg^?1. The material produced 1 kg of CO per 18 kg of dried RDF, mostly during smouldering phase after the extinguishment of the flaming combustion. These results indicate that dried RDF pose significant fire risks, requiring that fire safety systems be implemented in facilities handling RDF. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pneumatic impact ignition of selected polymers in high‐pressure oxygen environments

One likely cause of polymer ignition in high‐pressure oxygen systems is adiabatic‐compression heating of polymers, caused by pneumatic impact. This study investigates ignition by pneumatic impact of selected polymers in high‐pressure oxygen environments. Six polymers commonly used in high‐pressure oxygen systems were tested in a pneumatic‐impact test system at 8.3–37.9 MPa oxygen pressures. The six polymers tested were Teflon^®(polytetrafluoroethylene), Neoflon^®(polychlorotrifluoroethylene), PEEK (polyetheretherketone), Zytel^® 42 (Nylon 6/6), Buna N (nitrile rubber), and Viton^® A (copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene). This study shows that the ignition of polymers due to pneumatic impact could be initiated by a local heterogeneous reaction between the hot oxygen and the oxidation sites of the polymer, and proposes an ignition mechanism. Ignition susceptibility of a material to the pneumatic impact can be expressed by its ignition probability. The ignition probabilities of the six polymers at the various oxygen pressures are presented. There is no good correlation between the ignition probability and the autoignition temperature. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flame penetration and burn testing of fire blanket materials

Materials were evaluated in laboratory tests for a fire blocking blanket to protect stores of U.S. Army munitions from burning material and hot fragments. The objective of testing was to evaluate and rank materials' ability to resist the penetration of flame and heat and to limit flame spread. Materials in all tests were subjected to an oxyacetylene torch with temperatures in excess of 3000°C. Inorganic fiber‐based fabric, insulation and blankets evaluated in flame penetration tests were rated by their time to limit backside temperature rise to 100°C above ambient and 500°C for a given material areal mass. Carbon fiber fabric performed the best of the fabrics tested. Silica aerogel insulation was the top performing insulation material group. The blanket with carbon fiber sandwiching silica aerogel insulation performed best. Horizontal and vertical flame burn tests were conducted on several candidate blanket cover materials. Fabrics coated with polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene and silicone rubber coatings were all found to be immediately self‐extinguishing when the flame was removed. Burn damage was confined locally to the heated zone beneath and around the lit torch tip's flame. All flames were immediately self‐extinguishing beyond those regions, with zero flame‐out times recorded. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strain model for traditional and self‐compacting concrete during fire

In this paper, a complete strain model is derived that describes the strains developed during fire (up to 400 °C) and is based on the model of Anderberg et al., published in 1976. This model describes the total measured deformation as a superposition of four strain types: free thermal strain, instantaneous stress‐related strain, creep strain and transient strain. The strains are derived from loading tests on cylinders with dimensions Ø106 × 320 mm, submitted to load ratios of 0%, 20% and 30% of the initial strength before heating. For damage to the oven to be avoided, the instantaneous stress‐related strain is found from Young's modulus tests immediately after cooling. All tests occurred at a heating rate of 5 °C/min, and the specimens were pre‐dried to avoid explosive spalling. The investigated concretes are a traditional and a self‐compacting concrete with a testing age of about 30 months. Only small differences between both concrete types are found for the transient strain despite the different fracture of cement matrix. For the studied test conditions, the modern siliceous concretes such as self‐compacting concrete yielded similar results as the traditional siliceous concretes tested in the 1970s. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intrinsic flame resistance of polyurethane flexible foams: Unexpectedly low flammability without any flame retardant

Virgin polyurethane flexible foams are widely assumed to be highly flammable materials. The flammability of three model polyurethane flexible foams suggests that this may not be universally true. Two of them show unexpectedly low flammability in the limiting oxygen index test and pass flammability tests such as FMVSS 302 and FAR 25.853. Cone calorimetric measurements at 25 kW/m² and 50 kW/m² furthermore show a high resistance against ignition and demonstrate the self‐extinguishing properties of these two virgin, flame‐retardant‐free, polyurethane flexible foams.     

Hot-surface ignition temperatures of dust layers

Minimum dust layer ignition temperatures on a hot surface were determined for several dusts, using a test procedure recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. The dusts included coal, three oil shales, lycopodium spores, corn starch, grain and brass powder. For a few of the dusts the effects of particle size and layer thickness on the minimum ignition temperatures were examined. Test results were repeatable and reliable for the fuels, the lycopodium and the brass powder. The minimum hot-surface ignition temperatures of 12.7-mm thick layers of these dusts ranged from 160°C for brass to 290°C for 20-gal ton⁻¹ oil shale. Flaming combustion was observed only with the brass powder. The minimum ignition temperatures decreased with thicker layers and with smaller particle sizes. Some difficulties were encountered with the corn starch and grain dusts. During heating, the starch charred and expanded; the grain dust swelled and distorted. The test was found acceptable for the purpose of determining the minimum layer ignition temperature of a variety of dusts. To prevent fire hazards due to smoldering or flaming dust layers the temperatures of surfaces on which combustible dusts accumulate should be lower than the minimum hot-surface ignition temperatures of the dusts.     

Preparation and Properties of Boron‐Based Nano‐B/NiO Thermite

Boron particles have several major burning problems, such as incomplete combustion, poor ignitability, and a complex burning process in solid propellants. It is documented that the low ignitability and combustion efficiency of boron are caused by the oxidation of its surface. In order to improve the combustion efficiency of boron particles, a precipitation method was employed to prepare nanometer‐sized NiO and coat it on boron particles. The morphology and coating results of the B/NiO nanocomposite thermite were characterized using different approaches such as SEM, X‐ray Diffraction (XRD), and EDS. The results indicated that the boron particles were well distributed and coated completely by nanocomposite NiO. The B/NiO nanocomposite thermite reaction process was tested by TG‐DTA. The results showed that the reaction temperature of B/NiO particles is about 30 °C lower than that of boron particles. The B/NiO thermite and boron powder were added to Mg/PTFE propellant to be measured for their respective combustion performance. The results showed that the burning rate of the B/NiO‐Mg/PTFE propellant increased by 22.8–25.2 %, mass burning rate by 26.7–30.8 %, and combustion temperature increased by 8–56 °C compared to the B‐Mg/PTFE propellant. The above results indicate that NiO coating of boron particles has a significant effect on the combustion behavior and increases the combustion performance of the propellant compared with uncoated particles.     

Effects of retainer frame,irradiance level and specimen thickness on cone calorimeter test results

The effects of retainer frame use, irradiance level and specimen thickness were studied as the second phase work of a round robin project on the cone calorimeter. The project was conducted in support of various U.S. building code groups, developing a system to determine the degrees of combustibility of building materials. The results of the second phase and a comparison with the corresponding round robin results conducted at 75 kW/m² according to the Board for the Coordination of the Model Codes (BCMC) protocol, are presented here. For most of the materials, no significant differences in parameters measured in the cone calorimeter were found when the retainer frame was not used, versus when the retainer frame was used. The irradiance of 50 kW/m² compared with 75 kW/m² produced significantly longer ignition times (with one exception) and lower heat‐release‐related variables as expected. The exception was gypsum board, for which heat release related values were usually higher at 50 kW/m² than at 75 kW/m². The specimen thickness effect could not be studied adequately due to the small number of tests conducted. A significant thickness effect was shown for the heat‐release‐related variables but not for time to ignition. The effect, however, was opposite for polyurethane foam in comparison with cellulosic materials. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel synthesis of cerium hexaboride by hexamine route

An endeavor has been made to prepare cerium hexaboride using a mixture of cerium nitrate, boron trioxide, and hexamine as a fuel burning at a relatively low temperature (500°C). The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, TGA/DTA, SEM, and TEM. The upshot of the exploration exemplifies that CeB6 with a crystallite size of about 50 nm can be beneficially prepared. Some impurities are also perceived with the pure compound, which embodies the presence of lower valence cerium borides.      

Effect of hot‐press on electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was electrospun into ultrafine fibrous membranes from its solutions in a mixture of N,N‐dimethylformamide and acetone (9:1, v/v). The electrospun membranes were subsequently treated by continuous hot‐press at elevated temperatures up to 155°C. Changes of morphology, crystallinity, porosity, liquid absorption, and mechanical properties of the membranes after hot‐press were investigated. Results of scanning electron microscopy showed that there were no significant changes in fibrous membrane morphology when the hot‐press temperature varied from room temperature to 130°C, but larger pores were formed because of fibers melting and bonding under higher temperatures. Analyses of X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimeter exhibited that the crystalline form of PVDF could transfer from β‐type to α‐type during hot‐press at temperatures higher than 65°C. Tensile tests suggested that the mechanical properties of the electrospun PVDF membranes were remarkably enhanced from 25 to 130°C, whereas the porosity and the liquid absorption decreased. The hot‐press at 130°C was optimal for the electrospun PVDF membranes. The continuous hot‐press post‐treatment could be a feasible method to produce electrospun membranes, not limited to PVDF, with suitable mechanical properties as well as good porosity and liquid absorption for their applications in high‐quality filtrations or battery separators. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Mechanisms and modes for ignition of low‐voltage,PVC‐insulated electrotechnical products

PVC is the most common insulation material used for wiring in low‐voltage (LV) service. ‘Low‐voltage’, in the context of this paper, is taken to be 120–240 VAC. The electrotechnical products considered include insulated wires, cables and cords, and also appurtenant termination devices, e.g. male plugs or female taps. Well‐known factors leading to the ignition of PVC‐insulated wiring and related products include: (a) manufacturing defects; (b) grossly excessive current; (c) over‐insulation, sometimes augmented by overcurrent; (d) localized heating due to strand breakage; (e) localized heating due to mechanical strand severing by staples or nails; and (f) localized heating due to failed terminations. Other failure modes are known but have received only limited study. These include (i) excessive force and creep; (ii) chemical interaction effects; and (iii) breakdown under voltage surge conditions. Additional research is needed in these areas. The proximate cause of ignition involved with many of the above mechanisms is arc tracking (arcing across a carbonized path). In turn, it is shown that PVC is especially susceptible to becoming charred, it requiring only approximately 160°C for the material to become semiconducting during short‐term exposure (around 10 h), while longer‐term exposure (around 1 month) may cause failures at temperatures as low as 110°C. Some limited data exist which suggest that standard UL and IEC temperature classifications are unduly optimistic, as applied to PVC. Fire can originate if wiring or equipment cannot withstand a powerline surge. Mains‐connected electrical appliances need to be designed to resist 6000 V surge voltages, even though this is not mandated in most of the current UL and IEC standards. Data are presented showing that the IEC 60112 wet‐tracking test gives especially misleading results for PVC and should be improved or abrogated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influences of specimen size and heating mode on the ignitability of polymeric materials in typical small‐scale fire test conditions

Small‐scale fire tests including the Underwriters Laboratories 94 (UL94) vertical burning test and the cone calorimeter test are widely used. In this paper, the ignition times of materials heated by the conical heater of a cone calorimeter and the UL94 flame were measured. It was found that for polymer bars heated by the UL94 flame, the ignition time is relatively short and increases with the specimen thickness. But the contribution of the specimen thickness to the delay of the ignition time is limited. The intrinsic properties of materials play a more important role in the ignition time than the specimen thickness. In addition, respectively corresponding to one‐dimensional, two‐dimensional, and three‐dimensional heat transfer, three heating modes of the UL94 flame were presented and compared with the conical heater. It was found that whether the heat source is the conical heater or the UL94 flame, the ignition time depends on the heat flux and the multidimensional heat transfer. The ignition time decreases with the increasing heat flux, and the magnitude order of the ignition time might drop when the heating mode changes from one‐dimensional to multidimensional heat transfer. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.