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.

Prof Grunde Jomaas profile: https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/prof-grunde-jomaas

Edinburgh Fire Safety Engineering: https://www.fire.eng.ed.ac.uk

MP4 Video lecture capture: https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Inaugural+Lecture+of+Professor+Grunde+Jomaas%2C+BRE+Chair+of+Fire+Safet...

School of Engineering: https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk