doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7724-8_08-03

ABSTRACT

The modelling of the spread of a fire over slabs represents a significant challenge. In order to reliably predict the behaviour of such a fire, an adequate description of the processes occurring at the gas/solid interface is necessary. In particular, polymeric materials are of primary importance because of their increasingly use in buildings and furniture. The purpose of this study is to propose a more accurate model for pyrolysis of solid fuel over existing ones by addressing the thermal degradation of black poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The joint use of a Thermogravimetric analyser in non-isothermal conditions coupled to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was applied to investigate the thermal degradation of black PMMA in an inert (Nitrogen) and oxidant (Air) atmospheres at different heating rates. Characterisation of volatile degradation products, as well as the temporal evolution of the sample weight under study, provided the necessary information needed to develop a kinetic mechanism that is in agreement with the chemical processes involved at the gas/solid interface.

Keywords: Mechanism of degradation, Model of pyrolysis, Gaseous emissions, Infrared spectroscopy.

© 2011 CPD Unit, University of Leeds