FireDOC Search

Author
Mitchell, N. D.
Title
New Light on Self-Ignition.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
Journal
NFPA Quarterly, 3-10, October 1951
Report
NFPA Q45-8,
Keywords
autoignition | self-heating | spontaneous heating | coal | spontaneous ignition | warehouses | fire tests
Identifiers
wood fiberboard; cotton fiber felter
Abstract
One carload of wood fiberboard burned in transit and eight carloads burned in a warehouse 15 days after shipment, causing $2,609,000 loss. Tests to determine the susceptibility of wood fiberboard to self-heating revealed that the ambient temperature to cause ignition varied inversely with the size of the specimen, ranging from 603 deg F. for a 1/8-in. cube to 252 deg F. for an octagonal prism 12-in. thich by 12-in high and 228 deg F. for a 222-in. prism. Pronounced self-heating was evident when the surrounding ari was held at 147 deg F.