Cooperative spot ignition by idealized firebrands: Impact of thermal interaction in the fuel

Zhu, Luqing; Urban, James L.

doi:10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103701

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 41 publications

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“…Spotting ignition by burning firebrands is a significant fire spread pathway both in wildlands and at the wildland-urban interface, contributing to significant loss of life and property (Manzello et al 2008;Caton et al 2017;Wang et al 2017). Due to its critical hazard, many research efforts have been taken to understand the mechanisms of firebrands, including generation (Manzello et al 2007a;Suzuki and Manzello 2016;Thomas et al 2017;Caton-Kerr et al 2019;Ju et al 2023), lofting (Tohidi and Kaye 2017), burning (Manzello et al 2007b;Song et al 2017), transport (Wadhwani et al 2022), deposition (De Beer et al 2023, and ignition of other fuels (Yin et al 2014;Manzello et al 2020;Tao et al 2021;Zhu and Urban 2023). For example, Urban et al (2019) investigated the ignition of a moist fuel bed (sawdust) by glowing firebrands of different sizes and found a minimum firebrand size of 3.17 mm in diameter and maximum fuel moisture content of 40% (wet-mass base) to achieve smouldering ignition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The initiation of smouldering peat fire by a glowing firebrand

Lin,

Zhang,

Huang

et al. 2024

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Background Wildfires represent a significant threat to peatlands globally, but whether peat fires can be initiated by a lofted firebrand is still unknown. Aims We investigated the ignition threshold of peat fires by a glowing firebrand through laboratory-scale experiments. Methods The oven-dried weight (ODW) moisture content (MC) of peat samples varied from 5% ODW to 100% ODW, and external wind (ν) with velocities up to 1 m/s was provided in a wind tunnel. Key results and conclusions When MC < 35%, ignition is always achieved, regardless of wind velocity. However, if MC is between 35 and 85%, an external wind (increasing with peat moisture) is required to increase the reaction rate of the firebrand and thus heating to the peat sample. Further increasing the MC to be higher than 85%, no ignition could be achieved by a single laboratory firebrand. Finally, derived from the experimental results, a 90% ignition probability curve was produced by a logistic regression model. Implications This work indicates the importance of maintaining a high moisture content of peat to prevent ignition by firebrands and helps us better understand the progression of large peat fires.

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