Emerging Risks from Smoldering Fires

Project summary

We propose a joint project between Stord/Haugesund University College, University of Magdeburg, Germany and Lund University, Sweden - on emerging risks associated with smoldering fires.

Smoldering is a flameless form of combustion. It is initiated at relatively low temperatures, operates at intermediate temperatures, and smoke is produced. Smoldering is difficult to detect - and is frequently a precursor of flaming fire (at high temperature) and explosions. Therefore, it represents a hidden danger in many situations: for dwellings, for stored biomass, for powders and grains in silos, for stored industrial waste, for goods under transportation.

The smoldering process is complex: It is governed by a self-tuned balance between air entering and smoke leaving the reaction zone, heat generated and heat lost (transported) to the surroundings - and depends in addition on geometry, material chemistry, etc.

Furthermore, the distribution among various chemical reactions during the oxidation (smoldering) process is coupled to the temperature and the gas and heat flows. Many materials are prone to smoldering, but properties and crucial parameters are in many cases unknown. New industrial settings with a potential for smoldering keep emerging.

In this project, we propose a concerted effort to improve the knowledge both on smoldering mechanisms and on properties of relevant materials: We will study experimentally the influence of geometrical details on the transition from smoldering to flaming fire, and we will measure characteristic quantities for several materials of importance industrially.

Self-ignition is a major concern. Based on project results, we will make systematic predictions for cases that hardly are accessible experimentally, due to sample sizes and time scales.

Finally, we will study emergency management both to smouldering fires and worst-case scenarios with transition to extensive fires in large storages and in buildings.