TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Spontaneous ignition of soils: a multi-step reaction scheme to simulate self-heating ignition of smouldering peat fires
JO  - International journal of wildland fire
A1  - Yuan, Han
A1  - Restuccia, Francesco
A1  - Rein, Guillermo
A1  - Yuan, Han
A1  - Restuccia, Francesco
A1  - Rein, Guillermo
SP  - 440
EP  - 453
VL  - 30
IS  - 6
N2  - As organic porous soil, peat is prone to self-heating ignition, a type of spontaneous initiation of fire that can take place at ambient temperatures without an external source. Despite the urgency to tackle peat fires, the understanding of the self-heating ignition of peat is insufficient. In this study, a computational model that integrates the mechanisms of heat transfer, mass transfer and chemistry is incorporated with a three-step reaction scheme that includes drying, biological reaction and oxidative oxidation to simulate the self-heating ignition of smouldering peat. The model is first validated against 13 laboratory-scale experiments from literature. For critical ignition temperature (Tig), the model gives accurate predictions for all experiments with a maximum error of 5°C. The validated model is then upscaled to predict Tig for field-size peat soil layers and compared with the predictions using a one-step scheme. The three-step scheme is shown to give more reliable predictions of Tig than the one-step scheme. According to the simulation results, for a 1.5-m-deep peat layer, self-heating ignition can occur at an average ambient temperature above 40°C. This is the first time that a multi-step scheme is used to simulate the self-heating ignition of peat, aiming to help in the prevention and mitigation of these wildfires.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1049-8001
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF19128
ID  - ref1
ER  -