- Author
- Chen, H. | Chuan, R.
- Title
- Study of Pyrolytic Aerosols and Fire Detection. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Brunswick Corp., Costa Mesa, CA
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- Final Report, July 1979, 114 p.
- Contract
- EO-A01-78-00-3577
- Keywords
- fire detectors | aerosols | cellulose | size distribution
- Identifiers
- mass concentration
- Abstract
- The aerosols released in the course of the controlled pyrolysis of a standard material, alpha-cellulose, are studied experimentally, in terms of their mass concentration and size distribution, in real-time, as the pyrolysis progresses. At the same time, the response of two types of fire detectors--optical and ionization--are observed in relation to the aerosol characteristics. It is found that response characteristics of these two types of instruments are significantly different from each other at different states of the pyrolysis. The optical instrument appears to respond best in an early stage of the developing fire when the aerosol particles are large and are optically absorbing; while the ionization detector shows better response at a later stage when the aerosols are smaller and are optically non-absorbing.