Citation

Guyot A, Bert M, Michel A. Fire Safety J. 1983; 5(3-4): 287-297.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Understanding the problem implicit in the title of this paper requires knowledge of the pyrolysis and combustion of the polymer itself, and also of its side compounds in the material and chiefly the plasticizers. These processes are now partly known and reasonably well understood, and the main points of our knowledge are stressed here. Although a very large number of additives have been proposed as smoke suppressors, little is known about their precise action. They probably react with HCl and air, and then they may be only precursors of active species. It is suggested that these active species may be either catalysts of intermolecular reactions during pyrolysis, which change the composition of the fuel to be burnt outside the material and reduce it to produce more char, or oxidation catalysts which cause the combustion of the char directly to CO and CO2. Dynamic experiments lead to a more scietific approach to the phenomena and, further, give results that can be compared in favourable cases with those of semi-natural scale tests.