Oxidation of chars during smoldering combustion of cellulosic materials

✍ Scribed by F. Shafizadeh; Y. Sekiguchi

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 513 KB
• Volume: 55
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-2180
• DOI: 10.1016/0010-2180(84)90025-7

✦ Synopsis

In view of the significance of the properties and reactions of chars during the process of smoldering combustion, a series of cellulosic chars was prepared at temperatures ranging from 340 to 600°C and their pyrolysis and combustion properties were studied by thermal analysis. Correlation of the resulting data with the recently available quantitative information on the chemical composition of different chars indicates that solid-phase combustion of these materials proceeds in two distinct exothermic stages. The first exotherm, at ~360°C, is associated with combustion of the aliphatic components, and the second exotherm, at ~ 520°C, is due to oxidation of the aromatic components. The chars formed at lower temperatures have a high concentration of aliphatic groups and burn mainly in the first exotherm. As the temperature of the char formation increases, so does the aromaticity, and the combustion is shifted to the higher temperature range.