A Review on Flaming Ignition of Solid Combustibles: Pyrolysis Kinetics, Experimental Methods and Modelling

Thermal induced pyrolysis and the following flaming ignition of solid combustible play crucial roles in determining the occurrence of fire and the subsequent flame spread. This contribution reviews recent advances in global investigation on these two topics. Solid fuels involved in this study covering from natural materials, such as wood and biomass-based products, to artificially synthetized substances, encompassing neat polymers and functional composites, are in dense continuous form rather than piled combustibles. Most frequently utilized experimental methodologies, from microscale (TGA, DSC, STA) to bench-scale (cone calorimeter, FPA, etc.), and the corresponding analytical or numerical methods employed to extract kinetics and thermodynamics from experimental data are introduced. Meanwhile, the controlling mechanisms of piloted and auto ignitions, various types of ignition criteria, influential factors of ignition, and the modelling techniques are elaborated. Smoldering combustion, glowing ignition, and utilization of flame retardant to suppress pyrolysis or delay ignition time are mentioned in some sections, but not discussed in detail as they are beyond the focused scope. Finally, the challenging issues encountered in current stage which deserve further endeavors are indicated.