Citation

Staggs JEJ. Fire Mater. 2000; 24(6): 305-308.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The problem of pyrolysis of a material M which decomposes in a single step, under thermally thick conditions, to produce a residue R and volatile products v, M -- lambdaR + (1 - lambda )v, is considered and a simplified mathematical model is developed. The model is applied to two cases: (a) the pyrolysis of a polymer and inert filler mixture and (b) the pyrolysis of a char-forming polymer. Results of the simplified model are compared with numerical results from more complex mathematical models. It is found that, provided the characteristic temperature range of the degradation step is small, agreement is remarkably good. As well as providing a test case for more complex mathematical models, the simplified model is used to estimate the maximum mass loss rate and ignition characteristics for the two cases.