Combustible Organic Materials

Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9783110572339
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Industrial & Technical Chemistry

The combustion properties of organic materials are used to assess their safety specifications. This knowledge is necessary to avoid potentially disastrous fires. The experimental determination of the combustion properties of a new organic compound is laborious and sometimes even impossible. This book describes methods for the determination and prediction of the combustion properties of organic compounds, along with some examples and exercises.

1Flash Point

Flash point (FP) of an organic liquid compound is the lowest temperature at which a liquid can form an ignitable mixture in air near the surface of the liquid where its measurement requires an ignition source. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines FP under specified testing conditions and 101.3 kPa pressure [1]. The FP data are widely used to evaluate the fire and explosion hazards of liquids. They have great practical significance in the handling and transporting of such chemicals in bulk quantities. Above the FP temperature, a liquid can produce enough vapor to form a flammable mixture with air. Organic liquids with lower FP can be ignited more easily because the FP of a volatile organic compound is the lowest temperature at which vapors of a fluid will ignite. Fire point is the temperature at which the vapor continues to burn after being ignited. When the ignition source is removed at the FP, which is different from the fire point, the vapor may cease to burn. Since FP and the fire point do not depend on the temperature of the ignition source, a certain concentration of vapor for each flammable liquid in the air is necessary to sustain combustion. Thus, when an ignition source of sufficient strength is applied, the FP of an organic flammable liquid is the lowest temperature at which there will be enough flammable vapor to ignite.

The FP of a pure flammable organic compound or mixture is an important parameter in hazard classification of flammable liquids. Since the FP is an approximation of the lower temperature limit, the temperature at which a chemical compound evolves enough vapors to support combustion, it is essential to be updated for safe handling, transportation, and storage of many substances [2]. The values of FP for common organic compounds are widely reported because the knowledge of the combustion potential of an organic compound is crucial when designing safe chemical processes. They can also help firefighters in extinguishing fires because a high FP liquid...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Preface
• Contents
• 1 Flash Point
• 2 Autoignition
• 3 Flammability Limit
• 4 Heat of Combustion
• 5 Polymer Flammability
• Problems
• Answers to Problems
• List of Symbols
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D
• References
• About the Author
• Index