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Effect of different humectants on the thermal stability and fire hazard of nitrocellulose

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Abstract

In order to ensure the thermal safety of nitrocellulose (NC) mixtures in the process of handing, storage, and usage, it is necessary to obtain the thermal stability and fire hazard of NC with different humectants. In this study, the thermogravimetry experiments with four heating rates (5, 10, 15, 20 C min−1) under nitrogen and air atmospheres were performed to investigate the thermal stability of two NC-humectants, namely NC-water and NC-ethanol mixtures, and pure NC. Moreover, the influence of humectants on the fire hazard of NC was evaluated by the ISO 5660 Cone Calorimeter test. The humectant, water or ethanol, can increase the activation energy and reduce the fire risk of NC. Compared with the NC with water, the NC with ethanol exhibits lower activation energy and higher fire hazard.

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Abbreviations

A :

Pre-exponential factor

c :

Specific heat/kJ kg−1°C−1

C:

The orifice flow meter calibration constant

a − b :

Constants known as the compensation effect parameters

a 1 − b 1 :

Coefficients in describing critical heat flux

E :

Activation energy/kJ mol−1

E 0 :

Energy released per unit mass of O2 consumed/kJ kg−1

f(\( \alpha \)):

The dependence of the reaction rate on the extent of conversion

g(\( \alpha \)):

The integral form of the reaction model

h c :

Convective heat transfer coefficient

k :

Thermal conductivity/W m−1°C−1

m v :

Evaporation content of humectant

m r :

Mass loss range of decomposition of NC samples

\( \dot{m}_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} \) :

Mass flow rate of O2 after the ignition of the material/kg s−1

\( \dot{m}_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }}^{0} \) :

Mass flow rates of O2 before the test/kg s−1

\( \Delta \) p :

The orifice meter pressure differential

\( \dot{Q} \) :

Heat release rate/kW

\( \dot{Q}^{''} \) :

Heat release rate intensity measured from the cone calorimeter/kW m−2

\( \dot{q}^{''} \) :

Incident radiant heat flux/kW m−2

t :

Time

T :

Temperature/°C

T e :

Absolute temperature of the gas at the orifice meter

T on :

Onset decomposition temperature

T m :

Maximum decomposition temperature

T 0 :

Initial temperature of the sample

R:

Gas constant/J mol−1 K−1

w :

Mass ratio measured in TG (= W/Wo)

W :

Mass of the sample in TG/mg

W o :

Initial sample mass in TG/mg

x :

Flashover propensity

\( \alpha \) :

Extent of conversion

\( \beta \) :

Heating rate

σ :

Stefan–Boltzmann constant/W m−2 K−4

ε :

Emissivity

ρ :

Density/g m−2

av:

Average

i:

Different heating rates

ig:

Ignition

on:

Onset

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51376172) and the grant from the Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Contract Grant Number CityU 11301015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Ruichao Wei, Zheng Zhang, Junjiang He & Jian Wang

  2. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, People’s Republic of China

    Ruichao Wei, Zheng Zhang, Junjiang He & Richard Yuen

  3. School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, 1797, Australia

    Yaping He

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  1. Ruichao Wei
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Correspondence to Jian Wang.

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Wei, R., He, Y., Zhang, Z. et al. Effect of different humectants on the thermal stability and fire hazard of nitrocellulose. J Therm Anal Calorim 133, 1291–1307 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7235-6

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