In the construction industry, a variety wooden products have been used for thousands of years, according to demand, accessibility/availability, and customers’ requirements. Wood is a preferred material due to its large range of properties, depending on the type of wood. It is an easily available and economically competitive material, and it is also extremely strong in relation to its weight. Therefore, it is used in the production of construction materials, building parts, and finishing components, as well as for furniture and decorative elements. Each of these products is commonly additionally chemically treated in order to improve its performance parameters. However, impregnated wooden products such as furniture and fence boards are often misused, including for house heating, waste incineration, bonfires, etc. For this reason, among the products of combustion, there is a whole range of different chemical compounds, frequently carcinogenic, and dangerous for health and the environment, for example, heavy metals. Knowledge in this field is important for professions, such as: firefighter, lifeguard, people dealing with environmental management, and units responsible for waste landfills. On the other hand, important recipients of this information are ordinary residents who, due to a lack of knowledge, use such materials as e.g., heating material.

Hazards Resulting from the Burning Wood Impregnated with Selected Chemical Compounds

Fires in wood waste storages cause financial losses, are difficult to extinguish, and emit large amounts of fire effluents. The mechanisms related to fires in wood chip piles are not well elucidate ...

Effect of particle granularity on smoldering fire in wood chips made from wood waste : An experimental study

The Combustion process in propulsion systems comprises of premixed flames and diffusion flames. As an active chemical propulsion system, the efficiency of operations depends significantly upon the type of combustion. In real cases, the transition of flames from one mode to another is noted in wide range of cases. This has necessitated research efforts to fundamentally understand the phenomenon for better combustion and thus better propulsion. The combustion transition from pre-mixed to the diffusion state is one of the least explored and quantitatively analysed domains. Present work, experimentally attempts to extensively study and quantify the physical causes thoroughly through manually induced transition in a butane-based cylinder fitted with a nozzle by using image processing techniques. The manually induced transition is processed by varying the inlet area for air entrainment. The phenomenon is systematically video-graphed and image segmentation is carried out to acquire the desired characters. These methods are implemented in unison to theoretically establish a non-dimensional parameter associated with the transition process and thus characterizing it. The results obtained from this experiment could be easily applied to liquid propellant-based propulsion systems for terrestrial and outer space utilities, where micro-gravity conditions play the cardinal role in combustion physics. Results acquired from the experiments are expected to be very helpful in application to space propulsion systems by yielding a prospective insight into the subject, leading to significant improvement in the efficiency and Eco-friendliness of existing propulsion systems.

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Spatial Analysis and Perspective of Flaming Transition through Images

Aim: The paper is aimed at presenting selected problems of the impact of the incident environment on the body of a firefighter-rescuer who is protected with standard personal protective equipment (PPE). The article is an overview and presents the hazards associated with working in harsh environmental conditions, followed by the characteristics of firefighters’ PPE (in particular, special clothing) that play a key role in such conditions. Introduction: The safety of those involved in a fire incident is a very important issue – both in terms of proper management of human resources and the organization of activities in the situation of the incident and after it. The article presents content related to the impact of selected environments on firefighter-rescuers and the importance of firefighters’ “special clothing” during operations. The information on the influence of hot and cold microclimate environments and chemical activity as a consequence of processes occurring during a fire is presented. The issue of the operation of the complex environment of the tactical field and its impact on those involved in incidents was addressed. Methodology: The article is based on a review of selected literature on the addressed subject. Conclusions: During an incident involving not only operations during a fire, but also after the fire is extinguished, a firefighter-rescuer is simultaneously exposed to many factors. In addition to the stress that accompanies such activities, physical and chemical factors that occur side by side should also be considered, often broadening and intensifying the negative impact. The analysis should cover the fullest possible range of factors to which a person is subjected and allow him/her to be equipped with the appropriate protective tools, which are the firefighter’s PPE. The introduced innovations should be multidirectional and include minimizing the risk of high or low temperatures, inhalation poisoning, or skin contact with toxins. In doing so, it should be kept in mind that changes in the structure and properties of clothing must correspond to both the trends observed in the market, the economy and the dynamics of the course of fire. Therefore, it is necessary to work in parallel in many areas, taking into account the properties of the used materials, the spread and nature of incidents, and the tools at the disposal of the firefighter-rescuer. Keywords: hazard factors, firefighter’s personal protective equipment, firefighter’s special clothing, innovations

Analysis of the Issue of Special Clothing in the Operation of Fire Protection Units

Combustion in itself is a complex phenomenon that involves the interaction and interplay of multiple phenomena, the combined effect of which give rise to the common flame that we see and use in our daily life applications from cooking to propelling our vehicles to space. The least thing that goes unnoticed about these flames is the effect of the various phenomena from its surrounding environment that affects its behaviour and properties. These phenomena cause a variety of energy interactions that lead to various types of energy transformations which in turn affect the flame behaviour. This paper focuses on experimentally investigating the effect of one such phenomenon, which is the acoustics or sound energy on partially premixed flames. The subject in itself is extensively studied upon as thermo-acoustics globally, whereas the current work focuses on studying its effect on soot formation of partially premixed flames. The said effect is studied in this research work by the use of a butane as fuel, fitted with a nozzle that houses 3 arrays consisting of 4 holes each that are placed equidistant to each other for entraining air and the resulting flame is impinged with sound from two independent and similar sound sources that are placed equidistant from the centre of the nozzle. The entire process is systematically video graphed using a 60 fps regular CCD and analysed for variation in flame heights and flickering frequencies where the fuel mass flow rate is maintained constant and the configuration of entrainment holes and frequency of sound are varied, whilst maintaining constant ambient atmospheric conditions. The current work establishes significant outcomes on the effect of acoustics on soot formation; it is noteworthy that soot formation is the main cause of pollution and a major cause of inefficiency of current propulsion systems. This work is one of its kinds and its outcomes are widely applicable to commercial and domestic appliances that utilise combustion for energy generation or propulsion and help us understand them better, so that we can increase their efficiency and

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Experimental Investigation on the Role of Thermo-acoustics on Soot Formation

Transitional phenomena of smoldering combustion over thin solid fuels are investigated. An experimental setup was upraised and implications of both smoldering and flaming external heat sources are estimated. Incense sticks were used as potential fuel and external smoldering heat source along with a fixed candle flame. The role of key controlling parameters, namely, separation distance and number of external heat sources in horizontal and vertical direction, was extensively examined. The surfacing issues of enclosure effect and the external heat sources orientation are addressed. The study primarily aims at understanding the feasibility and spontaneity of transition owing to external heat sources (both flaming and smoldering). Forward heat transfer significantly deviates qualitatively and quantitatively with varying separation distance in both directions. Number of external heat sources intensifies the transition phenomenon in smoldering combustion. With practical considerations, external heat sources arrangement and orientation have substantial effect on the combustion process.

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Vikram Ramanan

Papers

An Experimental Insight into the Smoldering-Flaming Transition Phenomenon

Spatial Analysis and Perspective of Flaming Transition through Images

Soot Suppression in Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames by Shear

Combust-o-Acoustics: Energy Transition and Implications

Experimental Investigation on the Role of Thermo-acoustics on Soot Formation