Burning of Wood and Plastic Cribs in an Enclosure. Final Report. Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Burning of Wood and Plastic Cribs in an Enclosure.
Final Report. Volume 1 and Volume 2.
(30547 K)
Quintiere, J. G.; McCaffrey, B. J.
NBSIR 80-2054; 202 p. November 1980.
Sponsor:
Products Research Committee, Washington, DC
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB81-182586
Keywords:
crib fires; experiments; mathematical model; plastic;
polyurethane; room fires; pyrolysis rate; wood
Abstract:
This study was designed to assess the fire hazard of a
cellular plastic material which has comparable
structural characteristics to wood. The study attempts
to determine the relative fire risk of such materials in
furniture. Rigid (high density) structural polyurethane
foam and supar pine were selected for fuels and burned
in the form of cribs in a room. The crib loading and
door width were parameters experimentally varied.
Twenty-one room fire experiments and eight free burn
experiments were conducted. Measurements of mass loss,
temperature, heat flux, CO2 and O2 concentration were
recorded. These data were analyzed and empirical
correlations were developed for air flow rate and upper
gas temperature. A theoretical fire simulation model
was developed and yielded results in fair to good
agreement with the data. An extrapolation with the
theoretical model was used to predict the critical (or
minimum) fuel pyrolysis rate to cause flashover (as
implied by 2 W/cm(2) of incident radiation to the room
floor). This was done for various size rooms and door
openings. It appears that to cause flashover, for a
given room and door size, about twice as much wood must
be involved in fire as the rigid polyurethane material.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899