Fire/Arson Investigations : Fire/Arson Investigations
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Re: Ignition temperature of wood
Posted by: dcarpenter (IP Logged)
Date: September 29, 2020 08:22AM
Your confusing findings in antidotal incidents with reproducible experiments. All of the testing disproves this hypothesis. There has been no testing that does not disprove this hypothesis.
In further testing of this hypothesis, if this is a valid hypothesis that cannot be disproved, then why do we routinely not see fires in attics on sunny and hot days?
With that said, this antidotal evidence suggests that there may be an alternative hypothesis that could explain the ignition of wood when exposed to these temperatures. This is a heat transfer problem. The energy balance requires a finite control volume. Where do we draw that boundary for the energy balance? On the surface of the dimensional lumber? Around a wood cavity that is thermally insulated? More work has to be done in this area.
Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com
In further testing of this hypothesis, if this is a valid hypothesis that cannot be disproved, then why do we routinely not see fires in attics on sunny and hot days?
With that said, this antidotal evidence suggests that there may be an alternative hypothesis that could explain the ignition of wood when exposed to these temperatures. This is a heat transfer problem. The energy balance requires a finite control volume. Where do we draw that boundary for the energy balance? On the surface of the dimensional lumber? Around a wood cavity that is thermally insulated? More work has to be done in this area.
Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com
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