@article{ref1,
title="Use of pre-charred surfaces to improve fire performance of wood",
journal="Fire safety journal",
year="2023",
author="Lin, Shaorun and Qin, Yunzhu and Huang, Xinyan and Gollner, Michael",
volume="136",
number="",
pages="e103745-e103745",
abstract="Wood is one of the most commonly-used and sustainable construction materials, but it is flammable in nature. Pre-charring is an ancient approach used to protect wooden construction materials against biochemical impacts, but its effectiveness in improving fire performance is still poorly understood. This work proposes a novel method to generate engineered wood with a uniform and robust surface char layer through slow pyrolysis under low thermal irradiation of 20 kW/m2. We found that the flammability of the pre-charred wood can be significantly reduced under higher irradiations up to 50 kW/m2 by increasing the ignition time by up to seven-fold and doubling the ignition temperature to about 670 °C. For the tested wood species (Merbau), we quantify a minimum char-layer thickness of 6 ± 1 mm to achieve effective fire retardancy. The fire hazards of pre-charred wood are also mitigated significantly, where observed flames become weaker, thinner, and bluer than that of the virgin wood. The peak heat release rate of burning pre-charred wood is reduced by over 50%, helping maintain the fire resilience of timber structures. This work quantifies the fire performance of pre-charred wood, highlighting a promising direction toward fire-safe timber construction materials.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0379-7112",
doi="10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103745",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103745"
}