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New Approach to Assessment of Fire Hazards of Electrical Cables

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Fire Hazards of Electrical Cables

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Fire ((BRIEFSFIRE))

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Abstract

A new approach to the assessment of the fire hazards of electrical cables is based on an assessment of their ignition parameters, the impact of their combustion on the surrounding area, the impact of a fire on the polymer components in the cable and the impact of fire on the ability of the cable to power critical devices. The ignition parameters of electrical cables that quantify their ignitability include ignition temperature (surface temperature at moment of ignition), critical heat flux (minimum heat flux that causes cable ignition in a specified time), critical electrical current (electrical current that causes cable ignition) and apparent thermal inertia (thermally thick cables) or the apparent product of density and thermal capacity (thermally thin or intermediate cables). The impact of a cable fire on the surrounding area is quantified by the released heat (heat release rate and total heat release), toxicity of combustion products (amount of carbon monoxide and dioxide released and the amount of oxygen consumed) and reduction of visibility in the affected fire compartment (smoke extinction area). For a comprehensive fire hazard assessment of cables, it is also necessary to evaluate the impact of a fire on the polymer components of a cable and its ability to power critical devices under fire conditions. Degradation of polymer components (under fire conditions) usually leads to a decrease in insulation resistance and may cause cable failure or electric shock.

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  1. Department of Fire Engineering, Institute of Integrated Safety, Faculty of Materials Science and Technology in Trnava, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Jána Bottu 2781/25, 917 24, Trnava, Slovakia

    Jozef Martinka

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Martinka, J. (2022). New Approach to Assessment of Fire Hazards of Electrical Cables. In: Fire Hazards of Electrical Cables. SpringerBriefs in Fire. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17050-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17050-8_4

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