- Author
- Mulholland, G. W.
- Title
- What We Know About Particulates Resulting From Fires.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NISTIR 1051, December 2007,
- Book or Conf
- Real-Time Particulate Monitoring: Detecting Respiratory Threats for First Responders. Workshop Proceedings. Appendix 3: Workshop Presentations. Appendix 3.F. May 3-4, 2007, Gaithersburg, MD, 54-58 p., 2007
- Keywords
- first responders | respiratory systems | health hazards | fire fighters | particulates | smoke | aerosols | droplets | smoldering | smoke yield | particle size | fuels
- Abstract
- The smoke aerosol is described in more detail in this presentation. Particulates may be either solid particles or liquid droplets. Flaming results in large agglomerates of primary spheres that are roughly 30 nm in diameter, and smoldering results in liquid droplets about 2 µm in diameter. Information on smoke yield and particle size from various fuels is presented. Deposition in the lungs is a strong function of particle diameter. Non-flaming smoke scatters more than 90 % oflight. Its composition is related to the fuel, and gases may adsorb to its surface. This raises the question of what materials would be appropriate for a standard smolder smoke.