2023/08/22 by Thinnakornsutubutr, Nicharee, Mizuno, Masayuki, Kuwana, Kazunori
#FOS: Materials engineering
paper · doi:10.13023/psmij.2023.04-01-01
This research experimentally investigated the combustion of polymeric materials with water mist application in an enclosure, with an emphasis on the production of toxic gases. Two different diameters, ~100 and ~260 μm, were tested. The experimental conditions were determined based on Froude similarity laws for low drop Reynolds number conditions. Droplets and polymers’ physical and chemical properties influence the burning/extinguishing behavior and toxic-gas evolution. In general, larger droplets can extinguish a fire in a shorter time, and toxic gas concentrations in a test chamber decreased more rapidly. However, the large droplets tended to cause the flame expansion phenomenon for thermoplastics by splashing molten polymer. This flame expansion phenomenon led to a rapid increase in toxic-gas production rate. For a smaller size of water droplets, the formation of a char layer tended to slow down the fire-extinguishing process, which caused continuous CO production.