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Smoldering Combustion

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SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering

Abstract

Smoldering combustion is the slow, low temperature, flameless burning of porous fuels and is the most persistent type of combustion phenomena. It is especially common in porous fuels which form a char on heating, like cellulosic insulation, polyurethane foam or peat. Smoldering combustion is among the leading causes of residential fires, and it is a source of safety concerns in industrial premises as well as in commercial and space flights. Smoldering is also the dominant combustion phenomena in megafires in natural deposits of peat and coal which are the largest and longest burning fires on Eartht.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Pyrolysis in this context is the chemical decomposition of a solid material solely by heating. It does not involve oxidation reactions and it is endothermic. It involves the irreversible and simultaneous change of chemical composition and physical phase.

  2. 2.

    Oxidation in this context is the reaction of a species with the oxygen in the air. It is an exothermic reaction.

  3. 3.

    The onset of pyrolysis or oxidation does not occur at one fixed temperature but it is known to be a function of the heating rate and start over a range of temperatures; higher onset temperatures are observed for higher heating rates. See Rein et al. [15] and the section “Smoldering Kinetics” for evidence of this.

  4. 4.

    The surface-to-volume ratio of a sample is inversely proportional to its characteristic length (e.g., thickness for a very wide layer, diameter for a cylinder, side length for a prism or diameter for a sphere).

  5. 5.

    Avoidance of flaming re-ignition of a non-porous fuel requires cooling of the surface layer only.

  6. 6.

    The water content in dry basis is the mass of water divided by the mass of a dried sample expressed as a %.

  7. 7.

    The mineral content is the % of the fuel mass (on dry basis) that will not burn or react at high temperatures. It results in ash.

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Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Thomas J. Ohlemiller whose pioneering research and reviews on smoldering combustion provided not only the best sources of knowledge and inspiration for my own research and understanding but also contributed to this chapter in the form of material that I reused from his previous version [7]. This chapter is the culmination of 15 years of work on smoldering combustion that I have conducted at four universities. These are, in chronological order University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Berkeley, University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London. This work would not have been possible without the contributions and encouragements of my mentors, collaborators and PhD students. Of these, I am especially thankful to Carlos Fernandez-Pello, José Torero, Rory Hadden, Claire Belcher, Chris Lautenberger, Matt Davies and Xinyan Huang. A series of institutions have funded this work along the way: Royal Academy of Engineering, Leverhulme Trust, UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, IFIC Forensics, Met Office and NASA Space flight Program.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW72AZ, UK

    Guillermo Rein

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  1. Guillermo Rein
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aon Fire Protection Engineering, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Morgan J. Hurley P.E., FSFPE (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Hughes Associates, Baltimore, USA

    Daniel Gottuk Ph.D., P.E.

  3. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, USA

    John R. Hall Jr. Ph.D.

  4. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazunori Harada Dr. Eng.

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, USA

    Erica Kuligowski Ph.D.

  6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA

    Milosh Puchovsky P.E., FSFPE

  7. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    José Torero Ph.D.

  8. The Fire Safety Institute, Quincy, USA

    John M. Watts Jr. Ph.D., FSFPE

  9. FM Global, Johnston, USA

    Christopher Wieczorek Ph.D.

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Rein, G. (2016). Smoldering Combustion. In: Hurley, M.J., et al. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2565-0_19

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