Article
Thermodynamics
Dwi M. J. Purnomo, Matthew Bonner, Samaneh Moafi, Guillermo Rein
Summary: Peat wildfires are the largest fires on Earth involving both flaming and smouldering combustion. This study utilized a cellular automata model to simulate both flaming and smouldering behavior at the field scale, and predicted the impact of peat moisture content on the behavior of peatland wildfires.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Mustafa Versan Kok, Mikhail A. Varfolomeev, Danis K. Nurgaliev, Jayaraman Kandasamy
Summary: The thermal characteristics and model free kinetics of four different oil shale samples were investigated using TGA-MS analysis. The reactions regions, peak temperatures, mass loss, and residue of the samples were determined. The main volatile products and compounds produced during oil shale combustion were identified. Model free kinetics methods were applied to determine the activation energy, which ranged from 91.8 to 154.1 kJ mol(-1) depending on the type and origin of the oil shale.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Eirik G. Christensen, Yuqi Hu, Dwi M. J. Purnomo, Guillermo Rein
Summary: This study investigated the influence of wind direction and slope on smoldering fire spread, finding that wind and slope have varying effects on the spread rate of smoldering fires. The research provides new insights into field conditions affecting smoldering wildfires and helps improve understanding of their spread dynamics.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Guohai Jia
Summary: The research reveals that the five types of biomass pellet fuels have good combustion characteristics and kinetic properties, with fitting results closely matching experimental results. The activation energy remains consistent across different stages for each sample.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yuanbo Zhang, Yutao Zhang, Xueqiang Shi, Yaqing Li, Xiaodi Zhang
Summary: The co-spontaneous combustion process of coal and gangue is dominated by promotion, and the danger of spontaneous combustion is higher when both coexist.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
T. Fournie, T. L. Rashwan, C. Switzer, J. I. Gerhard
Summary: Wastewater treatment plants are important facilities for PFAS treatment because they accumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This study investigated the use of smouldering combustion to treat PFAS in sewage sludge. The results showed that smouldering removed all monitored PFAS from the tests and improved PFAS degradation compared to lower temperatures. Adding calcium oxide (CaO) before smouldering significantly reduced PFAS emissions and minimized the production of hydrofluoric acid (HF). Co-smouldering with CaO had dual benefits of removing PFAS while minimizing other hazardous emission by-products.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Anil Tevfik Kocer, Didem Ozcimen, Iskender Gokalp
Summary: The usage of orange peel wastes for solid biofuel production can provide a sustainable solution for solid waste management while reducing the negative effects of fossil fuels. This study compares the combustion properties of different solid biofuels derived from orange peel wastes. The results show that the combustion behavior of raw biomass and hydrochar are similar, while biochar has a different combustion pattern. Based on the combustion activation energy values, the production of biochar from orange peel wastes by pyrolysis is more energy efficient.
BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Mustafa Versan Kok, Berk Bal, Mikhail A. Varfolomeev, Danis K. Nurgaliev
Summary: This research investigates the non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis and kinetics of oil shale samples at different heating rates and in the air atmosphere. The results show that the decomposition of oil shale samples follows two successive reaction stages, combustion and mineral decomposition, in different temperature intervals. The study determines the reaction intervals, peak temperature, mass loss, and derivative mass loss rate values of oil shale samples. It also calculates the combustibility indices and activation energy values using various model-free methods. Kinetic models are validated by comparing experimental and simulated conversion curves.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Wuquan Cui, Yuqi Hu, Guillermo Rein
Summary: Laboratory experiments were conducted to improve the understanding of how peat conditions and the ignition protocol influence the ignition probability. The new ignition protocol of stopping the heat source when 10% mass of the sample is lost was found to be robust in initiating self-sustained smouldering. Results show that moisture content plays a major role in the ignition probability, but bulk density is also important.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
G. Gianfelice, P. Canu
Summary: This study explores the chemical and physical processes within a single wood pellet to improve the design of wood pellet stoves and boilers, revealing that the conversion rate is controlled by heat conduction and is linearly proportional to the surrounding temperature. It also found that at higher combustion temperatures, the char yield decreases and useful heat must be extracted from volatiles combustion.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yuying Chen, Shaorun Lin, Zhirong Liang, Nicholas C. Surawski, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This study applies a newly developed smouldering-based waste removal technology to purify smouldering emissions using a flame, reducing CO and VOCs emission significantly. It enriches strategies for the clean treatment of smouldering emissions and promotes an energy efficient and environmentally friendly method for organic waste removal.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Tarek L. Rashwan, Taryn Fournie, Megan Green, Alexandra L. Duchesne, Joshua K. Brown, Gavin P. Grant, Jose L. Torero, Jason Gerhard
Summary: Smouldering combustion is being used for environmentally beneficial purposes, including waste-to-energy, and there is potential for co-waste management with higher fuel loadings. This study compares smoulderable and non-smoulderable waste systems and finds that porous solid fuels (PSFs) offer higher throughputs, improved scalability, and production of useful by-products compared to inert porous media (IPM) systems. However, PSF systems are more sensitive to extinction and have lower fuel moisture content limitations. Overall, this study highlights the benefits and trade-offs of co-waste smouldering.
FUEL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Malgorzata Wzorek, Robert Junga, Ersel Yilmaz, Bohdan Bozhenko
Summary: The combustion of olive byproducts was investigated using the TG-FTIR technique, determining reaction regions, ignition, and burnout temperatures at different heating rates, as well as calculating combustion, ignition, burnout, and flammability indexes. Results showed that waste from the three-phase system had the highest combustion index values, igniting more quickly and yielding faster compared to other types of olive biomass. Changes in activation energy fell within the range of 130-140 kJ/kmol, and FTIR analyses showed differences in exhaust gas composition for specific combustion temperature ranges.
Article
Thermodynamics
Tarek L. Rashwan, Marco A. B. Zanoni, Jiahao Wang, Jose L. Torero, Jason I. Gerhard
Summary: Applied smouldering systems are being used to address various environmental challenges, including remediation, sludge treatment, off-grid sanitation, and resource recovery. This study presents a detailed framework to understand the characteristic energy balance evolution in these systems. The research provides new experimental results, validated analytical descriptions, insight into temperature changes over time, re-analysis of published data, and a robust framework to contextualize global energy balance results.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jan-Niklas Weber, David Kaufholdt, Rieke Minner-Meinen, Elke Bloem, Afsheen Shahid, Heinz Rennenberg, Robert Haensch
Summary: Global climate change has led to a dramatic increase in the frequency and intensity of wildfires worldwide, affecting the entire ecosystem including plants. The study analyzed the effect of SO2 exposure on deciduous trees and found that beech and oak trees have different sulphur detoxification strategies in response to smoke exposure.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Aatif Ali Khan, Shaorun Lin, Xinyan Huang, Asif Usmani
Summary: Facade fires in tall buildings occur frequently and cause significant losses. This study examines the fire hazard of flame-retardant aluminum composite panels (ACPs) and finds that even A2-grade and limited-combustible B-grade cores can be ignited at relatively low temperatures. The ACPs also exhibit a higher peak heat release rate compared to timber and PVC. Additionally, the research highlights that fire hazard in ACPs is not solely determined by the core material, but also influenced by structural failure.
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Biao Zhou, Hideki Yoshioka, Takafumi Noguchi, Kai Wang, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This study tests the reaction-to-fire performance of thermoplastic expanded polystyrene (EPS) external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) installed vertically on building facades. The results show that sample orientation and masonry cover have a significant impact on fire hazards. Furthermore, the masonry cover and rock-wool fire barrier embedded in the EPS ETICS can effectively reduce the burning rate and heat release rate.
Article
Thermodynamics
Yuying Chen, Zhirong Liang, Shaorun Lin, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This study explores the combustion of emission gases from smoldering wood chips and finds that a stable flame can be maintained under specific conditions. A simplified heat transfer process is proposed to explain the limiting conditions for the co-existence of flames and smoldering. This research enriches clean methods for treating combustion emissions and promotes an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly approach to biowaste removal.
COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Zhenwen Hu, Xuanze He, Francesco Restuccia, Guillermo Rein
Summary: Recent studies have shown that self-heating ignition can occur when Lithium-ion batteries are stacked in large numbers during storage. The understanding of this ignition type is limited and current studies mainly rely on numerical modelling. This study benchmarks COMSOL Multiphysics and Gpyro, two modelling tools commonly used in thermal-electrochemical behaviour and solid fuel ignition modelling, respectively, and finds that both tools can accurately predict the critical conditions for self-heating ignition, validating their use in studying LIB safety.
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Matthew Bonner, Wojciech Wegrzynski, Guillermo Rein
Summary: This paper presents a novel algorithm, Visual Fire Power, which utilizes video footage captured by two cameras to measure the heat release rate of a turbulent flame. By measuring the time-averaged volume of the fire, this algorithm provides an alternative method for measuring heat release rate and comparing flame performances in different scenarios.
Article
Forestry
Yunzhu Qin, Dayang Nur Sakinah Musa, Shaorun Lin, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This study examines the persistent burning, propagation, and emission of deep peat fires. Laboratory experiments show localized burning and multi-directional smouldering fire spread in deep peat layers. High moisture content can slow down fire propagation and reduce burning duration. The findings help understand the mechanism of in-depth smouldering wildfires in peatland and support future large-scale field experiments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Harry Mitchell, Steve Gwynne, Enrico Ronchi, Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, Guillermo Rein
Summary: The hazards of wildfires are significantly increased when it reaches the wildland-urban interface. This paper presents a framework for developing evacuation triggers that take into account both fire spread and community evacuation. By coupling wildfire and evacuation models, the PERIL tool was applied to real communities, demonstrating its potential to inform safer strategies for protecting rural communities threatened by wildfires.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Jihao Shi, Weikang Xie, Junjie Li, Xinqi Zhang, Xinyan Huang, Asif Sohail Usmani, Faisal Khan, Guoming Chen
Summary: This study proposes a transfer learning-based variable-fidelity approach for real-time plume tracking, which efficiently generates a large volume of low-fidelity data to pre-train the deep learning model and conducts a limited number of high-fidelity simulations to fine-tune the model. The results show that this approach can reduce high-fidelity computations by 72% while ensuring prediction accuracy.
COMPUTERS & CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yuxin Zhang, Xiaoning Zhang, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This work introduces the concept of safe firefighting time (SFT) to ensure the safety of firefighters during firefighting. It defines the available safe firefighting time (ASFT) and required safe firefighting time (RSFT) with detailed calculation methods. The evaluation of SFT is demonstrated in a tunnel fire safety design. In addition, SFT can contribute to smart firefighting and the research needs for intelligent firefighting with SFT are discussed. Overall, this study extends the current fire safety design framework and lays a foundation for smart firefighting.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Yanfu Zeng, Ho Yin Wong, Wojciech Wegrzynski, Xinyan Huang
Summary: Alpert's correlations of fire ceiling jets have been widely used in design applications since the 1970s. However, the feasibility of using Alpert's correlations for smaller fires and early-stage fire detection is still uncertain. This study constructs a numerical model to explore the accuracy of Alpert's correlations and suggests that they are sufficiently conservative for conventional design applications.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Ziyang Zhang, Pengfei Ding, Supan Wang, Xinyan Huang
Summary: This study investigates the burning behaviors of wood and reveals the factors influencing the smouldering-to-flaming (StF) transition. It is found that the interaction between smouldering-induced crack and external airflow leads to the StF transition. A numerical model is proposed to analyze the volatile convection and flaming ignition, which reproduces the StF transition and further explores the effects of smouldering temperature and cross wind. This work enhances the understanding of the StF transition dynamics and provides insights into wildfire ignition dynamics and fire hazards of timber structures.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Han Yuan, Dwi M. J. Purnomo, Peiyi Sun, Xinyan Huang, Guillermo Rein
Summary: This study develops a physics-based two-dimensional model using open-source code Gpyro to simulate lateral and in-depth smouldering spread. The model is validated against a shallow-reactor experiment and used to investigate smouldering in a 3 times deeper peat layer under different soil conditions. The study reveals that lateral and in-depth spread rates are linearly correlated with organic density and oxygen's diffusivity through soil, with lateral spread being approximately 10 times faster than in-depth spread.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yuying Chen, Shaorun Lin, Yunzhu Qin, Nicholas C. Surawski, Xinyan Huang
Summary: Waste biomass treatment is an urgent global issue with significant implications for environmental quality and human health. This study presents a flexible suite of smouldering-based waste biomass processing technologies and proposes four processing strategies. Through quantitative analysis, it is found that partial smouldering effectively generates stable biochar, sequesters carbon, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The process of partial smouldering with a flame is recommended for waste biomass processing, while the process of full smouldering with a flame is preferred for volume reduction with minimal environmental impact.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shakeel Ahmad, Yanhui Liu, Shahid Ali Khan, Menglong Hao, Xinyan Huang
Summary: Combining metal fins with phase change material and air cooling can optimize the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries, reducing the battery temperature. Under the optimized design, the battery temperature can be controlled below 40 degrees Celsius with low power consumption.
JOURNAL OF ENERGY STORAGE
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
C. X. He, Y. H. Liu, X. Y. Huang, S. B. Wan, Q. Chen, J. Sun, T. S. Zhao
Summary: A decentralized centroid multi-path RC network model is constructed to improve the temperature prediction accuracy compared to traditional RC models. By incorporating multiple heat flow paths and decentralizing thermal capacity, a more accurate prediction is achieved.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Yifan Yang, Haodong Zhang, Linye Li, Mingming Gu, Xi Xia, Fei Qi
Summary: This paper investigates the formation of a blue whirl by controlling tangential and radial airflows. By using a unique fire whirl apparatus, the blue whirl can be formed directly upon ignition without going through the transient phase. The study also discovers new flame regimes and explores the mechanism behind the formation and transition of the blue whirl.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Xiaobin Qi, Songyan Gao, Zhiping Zhu, Qinggang Lyu, Haixia Zhang
Summary: This study experimentally investigated the propagation characteristics of reverse combustion under oxygen-limited and enriched conditions. The contribution of volatiles gas-phase oxidation and char surface oxidation to reverse combustion was evaluated. The results showed that oxygen enrichment expanded the operating range of oxygen flow rate for reverse combustion and enhanced the low-temperature oxidation of the solid fuel. The findings provide a better understanding of the driving mechanism of reverse combustion and have important implications for efficient thermal conversion of solid fuels.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Bingjie Chen, Peng Liu, Bingzhi Liu, Zhandong Wang, Xiang Gao, William L. Roberts
Summary: In this study, the low temperature oxidation of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene was investigated using experiments and numerical simulations. The results showed the presence of toxic oxygenated aromatic compounds and proposed potential formation pathways. The numerical simulations accurately predicted the mole fractions of most compounds, but some compounds were missing.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Meng Sui, Zhiheng Zhu, Fashe Li, Hua Wang
Summary: The effect of adding ferrocene as a combustion catalyst to Jatropha biodiesel on its pyrolysis and combustion performance is investigated. The results show that adding ferrocene reduces activation energy and harmful emissions while improving combustion efficiency.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Manaf Sheyyab, Mohammed Abdulrahman, Subharaj Hossain, Patrick T. Lynch, Eric K. Mayhew, Kenneth Brezinsky
Summary: Fuel surrogates, simplified representations of complex fuels, accurately model speciation results and reaction kinetics, reproduce the ignition quality and chemical functional group compositions of their parent fuels.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Yan Wang, Shumeng Xie, Hannes Bottler, Yiqing Wang, Xinyi Chen, Arne Scholtissek, Christian Hasse, Zheng Chen
Summary: This study investigates how flow affects the ignition and transition process of a cool flame. The results show that the ignition energy determines the highest temperature and the strain rate influences the flame propagation and the transition from cool flame to hot flame.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Tanusree Chatterjee, Mengyuan Wang, Goutham Kukkadapu, Chih-Jen Sung, William J. Pitz
Summary: Cycloalkanes, including cyclohexane, are important hydrocarbons in transportation fuels. However, limited oxidation data at low-to-intermediate temperatures and inadequate predictive ability of kinetic models have hindered the understanding and improvement of cyclohexane oxidation. This study provides experimental and modeling results to develop a more accurate kinetic model for cyclohexane oxidation.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Tao Wu, Erik Hagen, Haiyang Wang, Dylan J. Kline, Michael R. Zachariah, Carole Rossi
Summary: It was found that incorporating CuO into Al/I2O5 can significantly reduce the ignition time and enhance the combustion performance. The optimum composition of 80/20 wt% of I2O5/CuO shows a 30 times shorter ignition time and produces a peak pressure and pressurization rate 4 and 26 times greater than traditional Al/I2O5. A series of characterizations helped unravel the cause of improvement and propose a reaction mechanism for this ternary Al/I2O5/CuO system. This study proposes a facile, inexpensive, and efficient way to enhance the combustion performance of Al/I2O5 biocidal nanoenergetic materials.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Mahmoud Gadalla, Shervin Karimkashi, Islam Kabil, Ossi Kaario, Tianfeng Lu, Ville Vuorinen
Summary: In this study, the flame initiation process in dual-fuel spray assisted combustion is explored through scale-resolved simulations, providing numerical evidence on the initiation of premixed flames. It is found that there is a transient mixed-mode combustion phase after ignition, followed by a primarily deflagrative combustion mode. The interactions between turbulence and premixed flame front are characterized in the corrugated regime.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Neeraj Kumar Pradhan, Arindrajit Chowdhury, Debasis Chakraborty, Neeraj Kumbhakarna
Summary: In this study, a modified model for predicting the burn rate of composite solid propellants is proposed. The model has been validated against experimental and theoretical results, and it outperforms existing models in all cases considered. The model is highly robust and provides results quickly, making it highly efficient in terms of time, effort, and computational resources.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Lili Ye, Zhihe Zhang, Fan Wang, Xiaodong Wang, Yiming Lu, Lei Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the pyrolysis mechanism of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) explosive using ab initio and kinetic modeling simulations. The results showed that N-NO2 bond fission and C-H beta-scission are important channels in the decomposition of HMX.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Andrei N. Lipatnikov, Hsuchew Lee, Peng Dai, Minping Wan, Vladimir A. Sabelnikov
Summary: This study investigates the importance of thermodiffusive and hydrodynamic instabilities of laminar flames in turbulent flows through numerical simulations. The analysis suggests that laminar flame instabilities play a minor role at sufficiently high Karlovitz numbers.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Shijie Xu, Yue Qiu, Leilei Xu, Jianqing Huang, Shen Li, Elna J. K. Nilsson, Zhongshan Li, Weiwei Cai, Marcus Alden, Xue-Song Bai
Summary: Metal powder is a promising carbon-free and recyclable energy carrier. In this study, a computational model for the combustion and phase change of micron-sized iron particles was proposed and validated. The model successfully captures the melting, surface reactions, cooling, and solidification processes. The study also reveals a two-stage solidification phenomenon and identifies a diffusion-controlled mechanism during the melting process. The reaction between iron and CH4/O2/N2 flame products is found to play a significant role in the iron combustion process.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Khalid Aljohani, Abd El-Sabor Mohamed, Haitao Lu, Henry J. Curran, S. Mani Sarathy, Aamir Farooq
Summary: This study investigates the impact of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and NOx on the ignition delay time of oxygenated gasoline. A gasoline surrogate model is developed and the experimental data are useful for predicting fuel ignition behavior in internal combustion engines. The results show that EGR inhibits gasoline reactivity, while NOx has a promoting effect at high temperatures. This research is important for understanding the combustion behavior of gasoline in engines.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)
Article
Thermodynamics
Chengcheng Ao, Jia Yan, Tong Yan, Lidong Zhang, Pan Wang
Summary: This study investigates the inhibitory effect of ammonia blended with hydrocarbon fuels on soot formation. The results show that there is a chemical interaction between ammonia and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), blocking the formation of larger PAHs.
COMBUSTION AND FLAME
(2024)