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Study on the combustion indices of forest species using thermogravimetric analysis

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Abstract

The challenges of this work focus on better understanding combustion characteristics and their importance to fire hazard by performing thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ultimate goal is to provide a methodology for determining the most relevant indices for a robust fire hazard classification of the species. One of the principles of this methodology is the use of a linear regression method for determining the indices and the activation energy. To achieve this scope, chemical, thermal and kinetic analysis will be performed. Nine combustion indices were calculated and compared to assess combustion characteristics such as ignition, combustion and burnout. Experiments were carried out at three heating rates of 10, 15 and 20 °C min−1 under air atmosphere. A selection of forest materials frequently devastated by wildfire, i.e., Quercus pubescens (QP), Quercus suber (QS), Olea europaea (OE) and Genista Salzmannii needles (GSN), were studied. The TG-DTG curves have shown that the combustion process consists of two stages: devolatilization and char oxidation. The whole process was controlled by the release of volatile gases. According to the relative linearized (RL) index of spontaneous ignition, the samples were ordered as follows: OE > GSN ≥ QS > QP. OE appears to be the most reactive and prone to spontaneous ignition compared to the other samples. The same order was achieved for the combustion characteristic index and, approximately, for the integrated flammability. On the other hand, the average Ea at the low temperature stage of the combustion process was low for GSN (147 ± 9 kJ mol−1) and OE (159 ± 4 kJ mol−1) and high for QP (179 ± 14 kJ mol−1) and QS (174 ± 3 kJ mol−1). Finally, this work provides valuable insight into the relationship between chemical properties and combustion indices and the components that make some indices more effective than others.

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Notes

  1. International Plant Name Index.

Abbreviations

BCI:

Burnout characteristic index (% min−4)

C:

Flammability (% min−1 °C−2)

CCI:

Combustion characteristic index (1 min−2 °C−3)

CSI:

Combustion stability index (% min−1 °C−2)

DIcom :

Devolatilization index for combustion (1 min−1 °C−2)

DDTG:

Second derivative mass loss (% min−2)

DTG:

Derivative of thermogravimetry (% min−1)

DTGmax :

Maximum combustion rate (% min−1)

DTGmean :

Mean combustion rate (% min−1)

DTGshoulder :

Combustion rate of shoulder (% min−1)

DTGpeak :

Combustion rate of peak (% min−1)

Ea :

Apparent activation energy (kJ mol−1)

FC:

Fixed carbon (mass%)

FWO:

Flynn–Wall–Ozawa

GSN:

Genista Salzmannii DC. Needles

HHV:

High heating value (MJ kg−1)

ICI:

Ignition characteristic index (% min−3)

ICTAC:

International confederation for thermal analysis and calorimetry

KAS:

Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose

LHV:

Low heating value (MJ kg−1)

M:

Mass loss in each stage

OE:

Olea europaea L.

QP:

Quercus pubescens Willd

QS:

Quercus suber L.

R:

Reactivity (% min−1 °C−1)

R devolatilization :

Reactivity during devolatilization stage (% min−1 °C−1)

R char oxidation :

Reactivity during char oxidation stage (% min−1 °C−1)

RL indices:

Relative linearized indices

S i :

Index of flammability in the stage i

SII:

Spontaneous ignition index

S n :

Integrated flammability

TGA or TG:

Thermogravimetric analysis

T b :

Burnout temperature (°C)

t b :

Corresponding time of Tb (min)

T DTGmax :

Corresponding temperature of DTGmax (°C)

t DTGmax :

Corresponding time of DTGmax (min)

T pi :

Pyrolysis initiation temperature (°C)

t pi :

Pyrolysis initiation time (min)

T peak :

Peak temperature (°C)

TR:

Temperature range

T shoulder :

Shoulder temperature (°C)

T υ :

Initial temperature of volatile release (°C)

t υ :

Corresponding time of Tυ (min)

VM:

Volatile matter (mass%)

α :

Conversion degree

β :

Heating rate (°C min−1)

\(\Delta T_{1/2}\) :

Temperature range at the half value of DTGmax (°C)

\(\Delta t_{1/2}\) :

Time range at the half value of DTGmax (min)

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Corsican Collectivity and the French state in the framework of the collaborative project GOLIAT (CPER: 40031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SPE Laboratory, UMR-CNRS 6134, Campus Grimaldi, University of Corsica, BP 52, 20250, Corte, France

    Yassine Rahib, Valérie Leroy-Cancellieri, Dominique Cancellieri, Jacky Fayad, Jean-Louis Rossi & Eric Leoni

  2. EPF School of Engineering, 2 rue Fernand Sastre, 10430, Rosières-Prés-Troyes, France

    Yassine Rahib

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  1. Yassine Rahib
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Contributions

YR contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, visualization. VLC contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, resources, writing—review & editing, visualization, project administration. DC contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation, resources, writing—review & editing, visualization, project administration. JF contributed to investigation, formal analysis, validation. JLR contributed to investigation, formal analysis, validation. EL contributed to investigation, formal analysis, validation.

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Correspondence to Yassine Rahib.

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Rahib, Y., Leroy-Cancellieri, V., Cancellieri, D. et al. Study on the combustion indices of forest species using thermogravimetric analysis. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 12919–12935 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12557-8

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