- Author
-
Society of Fire Protection Engineers
- Title
- Piloted Ignition of Solid Materials Under Radiant Exposure. Engineering Guide.
- Coporate
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Bethesda, MD
- Report
-
Engineering Guide,
January 2002,
74 p.
- Keywords
-
pilot ignition
|
solid materials
|
exposure
|
ignition time
|
thermal radiation
|
ignition
- Abstract
- This engineering guide provides methods for predicting piloted ignition of solid materials from thermal radiation. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the Society of Fire Protection Engineers' Engineering Guide: Assessing Flame Radiation to External Targets from Pool Fires 1 or other methods capable of predicting thermal radiation. The focus of this engineering guide is to present the techniques and data available to engineers for predicting the time to piloted ignition of solids exposed to flame radiation and to determine the safe separation distances required to prevent ignition. Radiant ignition of solids is typically broken down into two categories: piloted and spontaneous. Piloted ignition occurs when a material is heated in the presence of an ignition source, i.e., small flame, electric arc, burning ember, etc. As the material is heated, it undergoes rapid decomposition, releasing mass in the form of pyrolyzates. If the concentration of gases being released is above the lower flammable limit and an ignition source is present, the material will ignite. Spontaneous ignition occurs when a material is heated without an ignition source present. For spontaneous ignition to occur, not only must the gases being released be within the flammable range, but the gases must also be above the autoignition temperature. Consequently, it requires less energy to ignite a material in the presence of an ignition source than to spontaneously ignite it.