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Effect of Airflow Direction and Velocity on Smoldering Waves in Combustible Porous Layers

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Abstract

The mechanisms of propagation of smoldering waves in porous layers of pine sawdust were studied experimentally for cocurrent and opposed airflows in closed (with one open butt–end) and semiclosed (with a flat free surface) systems. We investigated the shape of the smoldering front and the effects of the airflow direction and velocity, combustible-layer porosity, and the dispersity of the sawdust layer on the smoldering wave velocity. Maximum temperature in the smoldering wave is established. In a closed system with airflow velocity higher than 5–7 cm/sec, the smoldering rate is an order of magnitude higher in a cocurrent flow than in an opposed flow. For cocurrent flow, the velocity of a smoldering wave is two orders of magnitude higher in a closed system than in a semiclosed system. The experimental dependences are explained. Key words: smoldering, wave processes, porosity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, GSP–1, Moscow, 117977

    N. N. Bakhman, G. P. Kuznetsov & V. M. Puchkov

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  1. N. N. Bakhman
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  2. G. P. Kuznetsov
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  3. V. M. Puchkov
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Bakhman, N.N., Kuznetsov, G.P. & Puchkov, V.M. Effect of Airflow Direction and Velocity on Smoldering Waves in Combustible Porous Layers. Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves 38, 518–524 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020378232064

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020378232064

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