From Phlogiston to Spacecraft Fire Safety - The Chemistry and Physics of Flames
Before one of his Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution, Michael Faraday said:
“…
were it left to my own will, I should prefer to repeat [The Chemical
History of the Candle] almost every year, so abundant is the interest
that attaches itself to the subject, so wonderful are the varieties of
outlet which it offers into the various departments of philosophy. There
is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which
does not come into play and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is
no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the
study of natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena
of a candle.”
Today, 150 years after his death, there are
still many unresolved engineering and scientific problems related to
fire and fire safety. For example, high fidelity scaling laws for fire
phenomena are still not in place. As a result, small scale fire testing
in laboratories will most often not lead to understanding of fire
phenomena at building scale. This is a challenge both for single
elements and assemblies, and for flame spread along a flat sample as
well as for fire development in rooms. As a result of this lack of
understanding, fire disasters continue to cause large losses of life
worldwide.
In this lecture, a history of oxidation processes from
the Phlogiston Theory to flammability experiments in outer space will be
given, ending up with the activities and contributions of the lecturer
to the chemistry and physics of flames, such as information about
experiments carried out in parabolic flights (low gravity) and on board
the Cygnus resupply spacecraft while orbiting Earth (microgravity).
The Inaugural Lecture of Professor Grunde Jomaas, BRE Chair of Fire
Safety Engineering was held at 5.30pm on Thursday, 2nd November 2017
in the Swann Lecture Theatre, Swann Building, The King's Buildings, The University of Edinburgh.