Smouldering (British English) or smoldering (American English; see spelling differences) is the slow, flameless form of combustion, sustained by the heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel.[1] Many solid materials can sustain a smouldering reaction, including coal, cellulose, wood, cotton, tobacco, cannabis, peat, plant litter, humus, synthetic foams, charring polymers including polyurethane foam and some types of dust. Common examples of smouldering phenomena are the initiation of residential fires on upholstered furniture by weak heat sources (e.g., a cigarette, a short-circuited wire), and the persistent combustion of biomass behind the flaming front of wildfires.[2]
- ^ http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire02/art074.html "Smoldering Combustion" by T.J. Ohlemiller, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering (3rd Edition), 2002
- ^ G Rein, Smouldering Combustion Phenomena in Science and Technology, International Review of Chemical Engineering 1, pp. 3-18, 2009 http://hdl.handle.net/1842/2678