Pyrolysis of corrugated cardboard in inert and oxidative environments

The thermal decomposition of corrugated cardboard has been studied in inert and oxidative (non-flaming) atmospheres under a range of radiant heat fluxes relevant to fire conditions in warehouse storage applications. Experiments were performed in a Fire Propagation Apparatus (FPA) on double-wall corrugated cardboard at heat flux levels of 20, 60, and 100 kW/m2. Pyrolysis data comprised of gasification rates and surface temperatures were collected for tests carried out in ambient atmospheres consisting of 100% N2 as well as 2%, 6%, 8%, 10%, and 14% (mol) O2 in balance nitrogen. It is shown that the presence of oxygen has an appreciable effect at all heat flux levels; however, it is most prevalent at low heat fluxes. Analyses are presented in an effort to gain further understanding of char oxidation processes. Results show that the maximum heat evolved in oxidative environments is relatively constant and similar for all conditions tested. Furthermore this heat release rate is found to be comparatively small relative to the high radiant fluxes tested; this explains the experimentally observed behavior. This study provides a comprehensive dataset that may be used in conjunction with approaches recently adopted in the fire community in which optimization procedures are employed to generate material properties for pyrolysis models used in CFD fire simulations.