- Author
- Stoliarov, S. I. | Williams, Q. | Walters, R. N. | Crowley, S. | Lyon, R. E.
- Title
- Heats of Combustion of Brominated Epoxies.
- Coporate
- SRA International Inc., Egg Harbor Twp., NJ Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ
- Sponsor
- Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
- Report
- DOT/FAA/AR-TN05/45, November 2005, 15 p.
- Keywords
- brominated epoxy resins | heat of combustion | flammability | heat release | bromine | combustion | flame retardants | fire extinguishing agents | aircraft compartments | toxicity
- Identifiers
- summary of cone calorimetry data obtained at the external heat flux of 50 kWm-2; summary of PCFC and PFCC data; pyrolysis-flaming combustion calorimetry apparatus; gas-phase combustion efficiencies of DBA-BDBA and DBA-BBA blends
- Abstract
- The widespread use of brominated flame retardants and fire extinguishing agents in aircraft cabins and recent concerns about their combustion toxicity and environmental impact prompted a study to understand the mechanism by which bromine inhibits the flaming combustion of plastics as a first step towards identifying alternative chemicals or compounds. The heats of combustion of bromine-containing epoxies were calculated from the known atomic composition and compared to measured values in flaming and nonflaming combustion. The heat of flaming combustion was measured in a fire/cone calorimeter (CC) and by burning pyrolysis products in a methane laminar diffusion flame (pyrolysis-flaming combustion calorimetry (PFCC)). Heats of nonflaming combustion were measured by pyrolysis-combustion flow calorimetry (PCFC). The results of these tests indicate that the combustion heat released by these materials decreases with increasing amounts of brominated components as a result of incomplete combustion, char formation, and dilution of the materials with noncombustible bromine. Gas-phase combustion efficiency in the various test methods decreased as: PCFC > PFCC > CC.