Small and Large Scale Fire Experiments with Electric Cables under Well-Ventilated and Vitiated Conditions

Andersson, Petra; Rosell, Lars; Simonson, Margaret; Emanuelsson, Viktor

doi:10.1023/b:fire.0000026879.07753.86

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Fifteen pieces of cable, each with a length of 2.7 m were mounted on the ladder in each test. The cable tests were conducted both as wellventilated and under-ventilated tests [4]. The PAH yields quantified for the individual products are given Table 2.…”

Section: Fires Involving Individual Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This behaviour was not seen in the tests with the PVC-cable, which gave relatively higher yields in both experiments. Indeed, it has been discussed previously that the presence of chlorine in the PVC cables implies that the combustion efficiency is low independent of the availability of oxygen [4].…”

Section: Fires Involving Individual Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Published studies containing detailed quantitative data on PAH emissions from fires are few, but several of these have been published by SP [3][4][5][6][7]. A number of large-scale fire experiments with detailed quantitative analysis of PAH are included in the studies made by SP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

et al. 2011

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A number of large-scale fire experiments with detailed quantitative analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) including PAH congener distribution have been conducted by SP. This data is reviewed here and is further assessed with regard to toxicity applying a Toxic Equivalency Factor (TEF) model for estimation of cancer potential. The PAH yield data from the large-scale fire experiments is also compared to emission factors from other combustion sources. The study shows that full-scale fire experiments with different products exhibit a large variation in total PAH yields. Fires with products containing flame retardants were shown to produce the highest yields and generally a more toxic mixture of PAHs than fires with nonflame retarded products. The distribution of individual PAH congeners is generally quantitatively dominated by low molecular weight PAHs, whereas a small number of medium to high molecular weight PAHs are most important in determining the toxicity of the PAH mixture. The large-scale fire experiments indicate that fires normally produce orders of magnitudes higher yields compared to, e.g. modern residential combustion devices. The relative distribution of individual PAHs, which determines the toxicity of the PAH mix, is similar for the fires and open burning data studied, in that benzo(a)pyrene and dibenz(a,h)anthracene dominate the toxicity of the mix as a whole.

show abstract

Section: Fires Involving Individual Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fires Involving Individual Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

et al. 2011

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In nuclear power plants, electrical wire is a major source of fire ignition, consisting of 42% of total fires [3]. Most electrical fires are caused by short circuit, overheating and worn wire with the ignition of insulation attached to the wires [4,5]. Once ignited, fires would propagate along the wire and ignite nearby combustibles, releasing heat, smoke and toxic gas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ignition and Flame Propagation of Externally Heated Electrical Wires with Electric Currents

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2015

Fire Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper describes the results of an experimental and numerical study of the effect of electric current on the ignition and flame propagation propensity of polyethylene-insulated copper conductor electrical wire. Two simplified models were developed to describe the ignition and steady flame propagation of energized electrical wires exposed to an external heat flux, respectively. The models predict that for a higher-conductance wire it is more difficult to achieve ignition and flame propagation. Experiments were performed on three types of electrical wires with different conductor diameter of 0.5 mm, 0.8 mm and 1.1 mm and the same insulation thickness of 0.15 mm. A 20 mm long coil heater was used as the ignition source to generate a controlled heat flux. Experiments show that increasing the current of wire leads to a convexly decreasing critical heat flux for ignition, agreeing with model predictions. Effects of different currents on insulation temperature and flame height are discussed. The flame width of three types of wires could be considered invariable with the current, which are 9.06 mm, 12.45 mm and 15.07 mm respectively. The heat release rate of flame is discussed through the volume of flame and a correlation is presented that DV F µ I 2 . The likelihood for molten PE dripping is determined by the absolute and relative fuel load for different wires. Finally, the correlation between the flame propagation velocity and the current of wire, Dv f µ I 2 , is demonstrated.

show abstract

“…Thus high concentrations of CO appear early on, during smouldering and up to ignition, and much later, when an enclosed fire is so large that it becomes starved of oxygen. In addition, materials such as PVC 10 and polystyrene 5 also give higher yields of CO in well-ventilated burning. The sensitivity to fire conditions of other toxicants is less well characterised, although the yield of HCN and many irritant gases such as hydrocarbons, generally increase with decreasing ventilation, following CO, while HCl and HBr yields are largely independent of ventilation conditions.…”

Section: Fire Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of toxic product yields of burning cables in bench and large-scale experiments

Hull

Lebek

Pezzani³

et al. 2008

Fire Safety Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Toxic product yields from five commercial cables obtained from a steady state tube furnace method , the Purser furnace,) are compared with results from a large scale test, which uses the physical fire model in the proposed prEN50399-2-2 test, with the addition of effluent gas analysis, using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and for further comparison, a static tube furnace method (NF X 70-100). This work represents one of the first attempts to establish a relationship between bench-and large-scale toxic product yields for burning cables. This is difficult because the cables have been formulated for low flammability, and do not, therefore burn consistently. The tube furnace burns the cable completely, whereas the large scale test effluent is the result of a combination of flame spread and toxic product yields, both of which are fire scenario dependant. There is significant differentiation between cable types based on composition, and arising because only a portion of the cables burn in the large scale test, accompanied by possible decomposition of hydrate sheaths. The fire stage of the large scale test appears to have been replicated in an appropriate manner, given the correspondence of the CO 2 /CO ratios. The yields of CO 2 , CO, HCl and smoke show reasonable agreement, given the differences in extent of burning, and the accuracy of the mass loss data available for the large scale test. The yields and extent of burning have been combined to demonstrate the estimation of toxic hazard for a particular fire scenario based around the large scale test, which shows only marginal sensitivity to the differences in toxic product yield between the steady state tube furnace and the large scale test.

show abstract

Small and Large Scale Fire Experiments with Electric Cables under Well-Ventilated and Vitiated Conditions

Cited by 20 publications

References 7 publications

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Quantified in Large-Scale Fire Experiments

Ignition and Flame Propagation of Externally Heated Electrical Wires with Electric Currents

Comparison of toxic product yields of burning cables in bench and large-scale experiments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About