THE SELF-HEATING AND THERMAL IGNITION PROPENSITY OF FOREST FLOOR LITTER

By means of fundamental ignition theory and its experimental implementation, activation energies of ignition have been deduced for several shredded and mixed forest floor litter samples, and also for some live vegetation samples. The experimental technique involved basket heating of the materials in a recirculating air oven and determination of critical ignition conditions, to which the appropriate theory can be applied. The litter samples used were comprised chiefly of debris originating from various species of the genus Eucalyptus. Activation energies of ignition were all found to be of the order of 102 kJ mol-1, with some spread apparent. A spread was also observed in respect of pre-exponential factors. From the numerical results supplemented by some literature data on calorific values and heat capacities, a retrospective check was made on the applicability of the thermal theory used to the experimental design employed, with satisfactory results. © 1990, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.