- Author
- Ohlemiller, T. J.
- Title
- Smoldering Combustion.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NFPA SFPE 88
- Book or Conf
- SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. 1st Edition. Section 1. Chapter 23, National Fire Protection Assoc., Quincy, MA, 1/352-359 p., 1988
- Keywords
- smoldering combustion | propagation
- Identifiers
- self-sustained smolder propagation; one-dimensional smolder spread; multi-dimensional smolder spread; transition to flaming
- Abstract
- Smoldering is a slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, sustained by the heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel. Smoldering constitutes a serious fire hazard for two reasons. First, it typically yields a substantially higher conversion of a fuel to toxic compounds than does flameing (though this occurs more slowly). Second, smoldering provides a pathway to flaming that can be initiated by heat sources much too weak to directly produce a flame.