Sources of Ignition

Book excerpt: Sources of Ignition: Flammability Characteristics of Chemicals and Products describes the flammability characteristics of substances and deals with the different sources of ignition. Case histories are presented for review and analysis. The book is comprised of six chapters and seven appendices. The introduction gives a basic description of the anatomy of fire and explosions, including the access to fuel and the interaction of oxygen and fuel. A description of the flammable limits of gases, dusts, mists, and mixtures and the method of estimating these follow. The text also explains the flash point of a substance and the method of calculating it, using citations from Fuji and Hermann. The ignition energy of a chemical, as well as how to estimate it using the method of Calcote et al., is also presented. The book explains that autoignition temperature of gases is dependent on different factors, such as time delay, oxygen concentration, and catalyst effects of materials, but may still be estimated citing Zabetakis, 1965 as reference. The formula is given in more detail. Finally, the energy sources for ignition are enumerated as mechanical, electrical, thermal, and chemical. The appendices deal with chemicals, self-heating substances, organic peroxides, substances prone to spontaneous combustions, unstable substances, flammability characteristics of dusts, and a checklist of possible sources of ignition. This book is beneficial to fire safety engineers, firemen, fire prevention maintenance administrators, fire hazard officers, and other personnel whose line of work is in fire safety and prevention.