Heat of preignition of three woody fuels used in wildfire modeling research

Ronald A. Susott

Treesearch

Heat of preignition of three woody fuels used in wildfire modeling research

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Ronald A. Susott

Year:

1984

Type:

Research Note

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Res. Note INT-RN-342. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 4 p.

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Download (PDF 511 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/65274.pdf

Abstract

Differential scanning calorimetry has been applied to three woody laboratory fuels studied in current wild/and fire modeling research. The heat required to increase a fuel's temperature to ignition is an important modeling parameter affecting the rate of fire spread. Below 200° C, ground fuel-stick samples had similar heat requirements, but above 200° C the heat of preignition varied up to 19 percent among fuels. Therefore, these variations can affect fire spread rates similarly to variations in moisture content. A consistent set of data is provided for calculating the heat of preignition. Thermogravimetric analysis data are included to allow mass balance calculations.

Keywords

specific heat capacity, pyrolysis, thermogravimetric analysis, fire models

Citation

Susott, Ronald A. 1984. Heat of preignition of three woody fuels used in wildfire modeling research. Res. Note INT-RN-342. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 4 p.