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Results are presented from a model of forward smoldering combustion of polyurethane foam in microgravity. The transient one-dimensional numerical-model is based on that developed at the University of Texas at Austin. The conservation equations of energy, species and mass in the porous solid and in the gas phases are numerically solved. The solid and the gas phase are not assumed to be in thermal or in chemical equilibrium. The chemical reactions modeled consist of foam oxidation and pyrolysis reactions, as well as char oxidation. The model has been modified to account for new polyurethane kinetics parameters and radial heat losses to the surrounding environment. The kinetics parameters are extracted from thermogravimetric analyses published in the literature and using Genetic Algorithms as the optimization technique. The model results are compared with previous tests of forward smoldering combustion in microgravity conducted aboard the NASA Space Shuttle. The model calculates well the propagation velocities and the overall smoldering characteristics. Direct comparison of the solution with the experimental temperature profiles shows that the model predicts well these profiles at high temperature, but not as well at lower temperatures. The effect of inlet gas velocity is examined and the minimum airflow for ignition identified. It is remarkable that this one-dimensional model with simplified kinetics is capable of predicting cases of smolder ignition but with no self-propagation away from the igniter region. The model is used for better understanding of the controlling mechanisms of smolder combustion for the purpose of fire safety, both in microgravity and normal gravity, and to extend the unique microgravity data to wider conditions avoiding the high cost of space-based experiments.

Experiments were conducted to measure downward flame spread over PMMA spheres, and an underpinning theoretical basis was developed to explain the relevant mechanisms governing flame spread over spherical geometries. Flame spread over a sphere was classified into two distinct regimes, that being spread over the upper and lower hemispheres. Experiments were conducted using cast PMMA spheres 40 and 50 mm in diameter. Samples were ignited at the top of the sphere and the progression of the flame front was determined using video analysis. The time resolved flame spread rate was found to increase nearly linearly in time while the flame spread across the upper hemisphere of the sample (at rates ranging from approximately 2.0–3.5 mm/min). Flame spread on the lower hemisphere was observed to accelerate nonlinearly reaching instantaneous flame spread rates greater than 15 mm/min. The flame spread rates were found to be unsteady (i.e., continuously increasing) throughout each experiment. A Stokes flow solution was found to adequately characterize the opposed flame spread rate over the upper hemisphere with respect to the induced buoyant flow. Flame spread rates in the lower hemisphere were found to be controlled by a combination of increasing velocity of the ambient flow and increased heat transfer through the interior of the solid. Flame spread rates for each diameter tested were normalized and presented as a function of the relative angle of inclination at the flame front, θ. Thus, the two regimes of flame spread identified in this work are largely independent across sphere size for the diameters used in this study. The study of flame spread over spheres provides a unique condition to observe the transition from spread dictated by a well-defined flow condition to one in which heat transfer effects through the solid become increasingly significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]