Experimental Study of Upward Forward Smoldering Combustion

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate characteristics of upward forward smoldering combustion of an unretarded polyurethane foam in a forced oxidizer flow. Experiments are done in a small-scale, vertically oriented smoldering cylindrical apparatus. The oxidizer is forced through the igniter which is contact with the bottom surface of foam in a certain volume flow rate. A constant power to igniter is applied until the temperature of foam at 30 mm reached 300 °C which make smoldering can propagate itself interior the foam without the aid of igniter. The temperature histories of foam are measured by 14 type-K thermocouples. The gas and condensate released during smoldering are also analyzed by GC and GC/MS respectively. It is shown that the smoldering propagation rate and heat rate of fuel both increase when the smolder front propagates from the bottom of fuel to upper. During the smolder process, concentration of oxygen is below to 0.5%, concentrations of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide reach up to 5% and 7.6%, respectively. The ruselts also show that more than 73 compounds are identified which including alcohol, ethers and olycyclic aromatic compounds.