Measuring breakdown voltage for objectively detecting ignition in fire research

This paper presents a method intended for detecting the initiation of combustion and the presence of smoke in confined or open spaces by continuously applying an intermittent high-voltage pulse between the electrodes. The method is based on an electrical circuit which generates an electrical discharge measuring simultaneously the breakdown voltage between the electrodes. It has been successfully used for the detection of particle-laden aerosols and flames. However, measurements in this study showed that detecting pyrolysis products with this methodology is challenging and arduous. The method presented here is robust and exploits the necessity of having an ignition system which at the same time can automatically discern between clean air, flames or particle-laden aerosols and can be easily implemented in the existing cone calorimeter with very minor modifications.