Firebrand Production From Burning Vegetation.
Firebrand Production From Burning Vegetation.
(748 K)
Manzello, S. L.; Maranghides, A.; Mell, W. E.; Cleary,
T. G.; Yang, J. C.
Fire Behavior - Poster Presentations;
Forest Fire Research, V International Conference.
Proceedings. Fire Behavior. Poster Presentations.
November 27-30, 1006, Coimbra, Portugal, Viegas, D. X.,
Editor(s), 1-12 pp, 2006.
Keywords:
firebrands; urban/wildland interface; fuel beds;
ignition; experiments; size distribution; moisture
content; air flow; heat release rate
Abstract:
A series of real scale fire experiments were performed
to determine the size and mass distribution of
firebrands generated from Douglas- Fir (pseudotsuga
menziesii) trees. The results of the real scale fire
experiments were used to determine firebrand sizes to
perform reduced scale ignition studies of fuel beds in
contact with burning firebrands. The firebrand ignition
apparatus allowed for the ignition and deposition of
both single and multiple firebrands onto the target fuel
bed. The moisture content of the fuel beds used was
varied and the fuels considered were pine needle beds,
shredded paper beds, and shredded hardwood mulch.
Firebrands were constructed by machining wood
(Douglass-Fir) into small cylinders of uniform geometry
and the size of the cylinders was varied. The firebrand
ignition apparatus was installed into the Fire
Emulator / Detector Evaluator (FE/DE) to investigate the
influence of an air flow on the ignition propensity of
fuel beds. Results of this study are presented and
compared to relevant studies in the literature.
