Practical Guide to Smoke and Combustion Products from Burning Polymers

This Practical Guide presents one of the most complete overviews of this important topic, covering smoke generation (including obscuration, toxicity, corrosivity), small and large scale smoke assessment, regulation of smoke, and methods of controlling smoke by plastics formulation. In particular this book focuses on the assessment of fire hazard and fire risks from combustion products and is an important book for plastics processors, regulatory personnel, and fire research and safety engineers.

This book presents a state of the art overview of smoke formation from natural and synthetic polymeric materials. Also presented is a discussion on why different commercial polymers have different intrinsic tendencies to generate smoke and ways in which smoke generation can be assessed. Mechanisms and general approaches for decreasing smoke formation are examined.

This book also gives an overview of flammability tests for measuring smoke formation. In particular, the criticality of assessing smoke formation in realistic scale is discussed. An overview is provided of regulations, codes and standards for critical application of polymeric materials where smoke generation is controlled. Common commercial approaches to decrease smoke formation in specific polymer systems and for specific applications are also presented. Finally, a balanced opinion on the controversial issue of smoke and associated combustion gases is given.

1. Smoke Obscuration/Opacity

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Parameters of Smoke Obscuration

1.3 Visible Smoke (Soot) Formation

1.4 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

1.5 Chemical Structure of Polymers in Relation to Smoke

1.6 Effects of Metals on Soot Formation

1.7 Effects of Flame Retardants

References

2. Generation of Combustion Products from Polymeric Materials (Smoke Toxicity)

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Common Smoke Toxicants

2.3 Calculation of Smoke Toxicity in Small Fires

2.4 Asphyxiants

2.5 Irritants

2.6 Overview of Smoke Toxicants - Is There Evidence for 'Supertoxic' Components?

2.7 Oxygen Depletion

2.8 Effect of Flame Retardants on Smoke Toxicity

2.9 Autospies of Fire Victims and real-fire Monitoring

2.10 Post Flashover Fires, Mass-loss Model

2.11 Meaning of Smoke Toxicity Tests

2.12 Long-term Effects of Smoke Toxicity

2.13 Conclusions

3. Smoke Corrosivity

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Corrosivity of Construction Materials

3.3 Smoke Corrosivity of Electrical and Electronic Equipment

3.4 Measurements of Smoke Corrosivity

4. Transport and Decay of Combusion Products

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Early Small-Scale Experiments

4.3 Large-Scale Experiments

4.4 Later Small-scale Experiments

4.5 Modelling

4.6 Other Gasses

4.7 Conclusions

4.8 Appendix

5. Fire Test to Assess Smoke and Combustion-Product Generation

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Static Small-scale Obscuration Tests on Materials

5.3 Dynamic Small-scale Smoke Obscuration Test on Products

5.4 Traditional Small-scale Measuring Heath and Smoke Release on Specific Products

5.5 Full-scale Tests Measuring Heat Release and Smoke Release

5.6 Specialised Full-scale Tests Measuring Heat and Smoke Release on Specific Products

5.7 Small-scale Tests Measuring Heat and Smoke Release

5.8 Smoke Toxicity Tests

5.9 Smoke Corrosivity Tests

6. Methods of Reducing Visible Smoke in Specific Polymer Systems

6.1 General Comments

6.2 Smoke and Decomposition/Combustion Products from Polyvinyl Chloride

6.3 The Smoke Problem with Styrenics

6.4 Smoke Considerations with Textiles

6.5 Smoke Considerations with Polyurethanes

6.6 Smoke Considerations with Polycarbonates

6.7 Smoke Considerations in Thermoplastic Polyesters

6.8 Smoke Considerations in Polyamides

6.9 Smoke Considerations in Polyolefins

6.10 Aluminium Trihydrates and Magnesium Hydroxides in Elastomers: Low Smoke Formulations

6.11 Smoke Considerations in Unsaturated Polyester Resins

6.12 Inherently Low Smoke Phenolic Resines

6.13 Low Smoke Epoxy Resins

7 Regulations, Codes and Standard Associated with Smoke

7.1 Background

7.2 Regulations

7.3 Codes

7.4 Standards

7.5 Conclusions

8. Fire Hazard and Smoke Generation

References

Abbreviations