Suppression characteristics of flame combustion and thermal decomposition of forest fuels

An approach to the mathematical modeling of the suppression of thermal decomposition and flame burning of forest fuels is proposed which is different from the well-known approaches in that a pyrolyzed FF layer is represented as a heterogeneous structure with high porosity and the thermophysical characteristics of this layer are described within the framework of additive mathematical models of thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and density. Experimental studies of the main thermophysical characteristics (thermal conductivity, heat capacity, thermal diffusivity) of typical FFs were performed. Mathematical modeling of heat- and mass-transfer processes under the conditions considered was performed, and the suppression characteristics of the destruction reaction of a typical FF were determined using the values of thermophysical characteristics established in the experiments. The ranges of the integral characteristics of FF flame suppression while varying the thermophysical characteristics of FF within the permissible limits were identified.