S. Brohez

• University of Mons

Emergency and crisis management requires, from operatives and decision-makers, specific knowledge that cannot be acquired through theoretical course or real-life practice only [1]. Besides, developing practical exercises adapted for agents and their needs is even more difficult when the system where they operate is complex [2]. It is therefore nece...

In this study, tannic acid (TA) was investigated as flame retardant agent for PLA. Different strategies to modify its thermal degradation pathway have been explored in order to improve its charring effect. The first one consists in combining TA with organomodified montmorillonite (oMMT), and enables limiting the thermo-oxidative degradation of TA a...

Due to its variable botanical origin, functionality, reactivity, and heterogeneity, using lignin in industrial application is not an easy task. In the present study, we investigate the effect of lignin fractionation as a simple way for reducing the variability in its properties. Kraft lignin was separated by ultrafiltration membranes in two fractio...

La gestion des crises et des situations d'urgence dans les industries à risques s'appuie sur une organisation spécifique qui se substitue au mode de fonctionnement normal des entreprises. Celle-ci exige, de la part du personnel qui la compose, des connaissances et compétences propres à la gestion de telles situations. Or la formation des gestionnai...

Seeking forever greener materials, the use of bio-resources for developing flame retardant systems has roused a growing interest in the last few years. Bio-based polyphenols such as lignin has already attracted interest as sustainable flame retardant for polymers. Its structure containing aromatic cycles provides lignin with the ability to improve...

Fire retardancy of polymeric materials is a subject of major preoccupation due to the need to minimize fire risk and meet fire safety requirements. Numerous efficient conventional flame retardants based on halogen, mineral, and other compounds have been developed. However, some of these compounds, particularly halogen flame retardants, are harmful...

Lignin and phytic acid combinations were used as a simple route for developing bio-based flame retardant systems in PLA. The composites were prepared by melt blending and their mechanical, thermal and fire properties have been explored. Combining these two additives has been shown to present an interesting way of limiting the negative effect of eac...

Seeking forever greener materials, the use of bio-resources for developing flame retardant (FR) systems has roused a growing interest in the last few years. Lignin is a highly aromatic biopolymer that present the second most abundant constituent of the biomass, has already attracted interest as sustainable flame retardant for polymer. Its structure...

The present study focuses on the use of lignin, which is the second most abundant constituent of the biomass, as sustainable flame retardant additive for polylactide (PLA). Indeed, thanks to its aromatic structure, lignin could be advantageously used, in polymeric matrices, as a char promotor agent that can allow some reduction of the combustion ra...

The damages following major accidents in chemical facilities highlight civil society vulnerability to these risks. Many countries have drafted guidelines to prevent such accidents and to reduce the consequences for humans and environment. However, the consequences of such accidents on critical infrastructures (CI) and the cascading effect that may...

In this study, we evaluated the potential flame retardant effect of different metallic phytates as biosourced phosphorous additives for poly(lactic acid) (PLA). Starting from sodium phytate, the sodium cations were replaced by aluminum, iron or lanthanum cations as attested by elemental analysis. PLA-metallic phytate composites containing 20 or 30...

Polylactide (PLA), i.e., a bio-renewable aliphatic polyester, is more and more used in technical applications for which high fire resistance properties are generally required. Fireproofing of bio-based polymers with additives also issued from the biomass is currently an active research subject. As far as PLA is concerned, it is well established tha...

The cone calorimeter, originally designed with an ‘open configuration‘, may be used in combination with a closed-combustion chamber in order to test specimens in oxygen-depleted atmospheres (air vitiation effect) or in fuel-rich combustion (ventilation effect). However, highly under-ventilated conditions are not achievable, as a consequence of an o...

The ISO 5660-1 Cone Calorimeter is commonly used for the measurement of main fire properties of products and materials, such as the heat release rate, the effective heat of combustion, the mass loss rate or the time to ignition. The standard Cone Calorimeter has been designed with an “open configuration”, allowing to test specimens through use of f...

Belgium has a densely populated territory and counts numerous plants covered by the Seveso II Directive. Regional authorities in Wallonia (Belgium) tend to impose additional safety barriers in order to reduce or prevent the external risk, and the BLEVE phenomenon in particular. This paper presents an innovative solution which was studied on the Bel...

The concept of Passive House or Passivhaus (PH) refers to the current highest energy standard for buildings, with a promise to spare up to 90 % of heating, or cooling, energy compared to common buildings. In order to be certified, a PH must meet tough requirements for air tightness and thermal insulation, so that energy losses are kept as low as po...

In a paper in this Journal by Enright and Fleischmann [1] some years ago, the authors gave an interesting presentation of the uncertainty associated with the measurement of heat release rate (HRR) for the Cone Calorimeter. This paper which is a major contribution on the subject was a first attempt at analytical quantification of uncertainty due to...

Energetic materials encompass a wide range of chemical compounds. They react very rapidly releasing large amounts of energy. One of their peculiarities is that they carry an oxidizer and do not require oxygen from the air as their primary reaction partner. The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the ability to estimate the heat release r...

Carbon dioxide generation (CDG) calorimetry is commonly used for measuring heat release rates of materials. Calorimetric equation provided in the ASTM E 2058 and the NFPA code 287 is a simplified equation since the water content in the ambient air and the fumes as well as the expansion factor of the combustion gases are neglected. This paper provid...

Three decades after the pioneering development of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, the arrival of the new century has seen a worldwide boom in the automotive biofuel industry. Although fire safety of biofuels has not been perceived so far as a potential barrier to sustainability of their development, very limited scientific work can be found on the mat...

In addition to global ventilation effects on fires, vitiation of air can also affect the generation of chemical species in a built environment. Experiments were performed at lab-scale with the Fire Propagation Apparatus (ASTM E2058) in order to study the effect of air vitiation on CO and soot yields. Results regarding the fuel burning rate are also...

Years after pioneering development of sugar cane ethanol in Brazil (started in the mid 70's), with the new century venue we are assisting of a booming industry regarding biofuels for transportation in general, at international level. However, fire safety has not appeared so far as a potential bottleneck for future sustainable development, nor has i...

The fire propagation apparatus (FPA) is the bench scale fire calorimeter that was recently described in its updated version in ASTM E 2058. The apparatus was originally developed in the USA by Tewarson and co-workers from the mid 1970s, under the name ‘50 kW lab-scale flammability apparatus’, and is therefore still known in Europe as the ‘Tewarson...

The paper focuses on the detailed characterization of ventilation controlled fires of industrial products that are likely to govern accidental fire scenarios in fire resistant enclosures. Results regarding under-ventilated fires of substances that are not polymers are presented to illustrate the capability of the fire propagation apparatus (FPA) to...

Oxygen consumption calorimetry remains the most widespread method for the measurement of the heat release rate from experimental fire tests. In a first step, this paper examines by theoretical analysis the uncertainty associated with this measurement, especially when CO and soot corrections are applied. Application of theoretical equations is prese...

Bare-bead thermocouples are widely used for measuring temperature fields in compartment fires. It is well-known that temperature readings using such a device can be significantly affected by radiation errors, the apparent thermocouple junction temperature being thus different from the true gas temperature. However, a probe consisting of two thermoc...

Zone models have been developed since the early 60s for the prediction of fire parameters such as smoke temperature, smoke filling and movement in multi-compartment buildings. Unfortunately, one major difficulty in current zone models is that heat and chemical species release rates in relation with a given fire source term are usually to be provide...

This paper is a further contribution to the development of practi cal relationships based on oxygen consumption calorimetry to calculate the rate of heat release (RHR) in fires. The measurement of the RHR based on oxygen consumption was promoted in the 1980s. Previous workers introduced and as sessed the significance of adequate correction factors...

Oxygen consumption (OC) calorimetry and carbon dioxide generation (CDG) calorimetry are usual methods to determine the heat release rate (HRR) in bench-scale and large-scale fire tests. The paper emphasises on measuring problems associated with fires releasing large amounts of soot. Until now, the soot-related energy transfer was hardly ever taken...

Fire is often considered as the most hazardous accidental event which may affect safety in the chemical industries. The fire damage may be thermal or non thermal. As examples, the fire plume may transport a variety of toxic effluents, which may injure the staff of the industrial premises and the fire fighters, as well as the inhabitants in the neig...