Citation

Rasbash DJ, Drysdale DD, Deepak D. Fire Safety J. 1986; 10(1): 1-10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Traditionally, pilot ignition of a combustible solid is associated with a critical heat flux to the surface and a surface temperature necessary to produce the volatiles. More fundamentally, it can be interpreted in terms of a critical mass flow of volatiles sufficient to support a nascent flame capable of losing heat to the surface without the flame temperature being reduced to a value below which the flame is extinguished. Measurement of the critical mass flowrate at pilot ignition provides a method of quantifying ignition and extinction conditions in terms of basic properties of the solid and its decomposition products.