Effect of Bio-Based Organic‒Inorganic Hybrid Hydrogels on Fire Prevention of Spontaneous Combustion of Coals

To solve the fire accidents caused by coal combustion,this work prepared four hybrid hydrogel materials using bio-based polymers,flame retardants,and inorganic materials.Compared to pure water and 3.5 wt%MgCl_(2)solution,the as-prepared hydrogel presents good fire prevention performance.In addition,it is found that CO and CO_(2)are not produced by coal when the pyrolysis temperature is lower than 200℃.During low-temperature pyrolysis,CO is more likely to be produced than CO_(2),indicating inadequate pyrolysis behavior.At the same time,the addition of fire-preventing hydrogel can not only decrease the maximum CO_(2)concentration before the critical temperature but also prolong the corresponding time.In addition,based on the cone calorimeter test,the inhibition effects of pure water,magnesium chloride solution,and four hybrid hydrogels on heat release behavior are evaluated.It is demonstrated that different dosages of different hydrogels affected the fire prevention effect.Phosphorous-modified cellulose/silica and carrageenan/DMMP/vermiculite composite hydrogels have the weakest fire prevention effect at 20 g,which is weaker than that of water.However,the fire prevention effect of carrageenan/DMMP/vermiculite composite hydrogels exceeded that of water at 40 and 60 g.Additionally,the fire prevention effect of the sodium alginate/sepiolite/ammonium polyphosphate composite hydrogel is most significant in common tests,attributed to the intumescent flame retardant system.

Thermal runaway evolution of a 280 Ah lithium-ion battery with LiFePO_(4) as the cathode for different heat transfer modes constructed by mechanical abuse

Lithium iron phosphate batteries have been increasingly utilized in recent years because their higher safety performance can improve the increasing trend of recurring thermal runaway accidents.However,the safety performance and mechanism of high-capacity lithium iron phosphate batteries under internal short-circuit challenges remain to be explored.This work analyzes the thermal runaway evolution of high-capacity LiFePO_(4) batteries under different internal heat transfer modes,which are controlled by different penetration modes.Two penetration cases involving complete penetration and incomplete penetration were detected during the test,and two modes were performed incorporating nails that either remained or were removed after penetration to comprehensively reveal the thermal runaway mechanism.A theoretical model of microcircuits and internal heat conduction is also established.The results indicated three thermal runaway evolution processes for high-capacity batteries,which corresponded to the experimental results of thermal equilibrium,single thermal runaway,and two thermal runaway events.The difference in heat distribution in the three phenomena is determined based on the microstructure and material structure near the pinhole.By controlling the heat dissipation conditions,the time interval between two thermal runaway events can be delayed from 558 to 1417 s,accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of in-situ gas production during the second thermal runaway event.

Effect of safety valve types on the gas venting behavior and thermal runaway hazard severity of large-format prismatic lithium iron phosphate batteries

The safety valve is an important component to ensure the safe operation of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).However,the effect of safety valve type on the thermal runaway(TR)and gas venting behavior of LIBs,as well as the TR hazard severity of LIBs,are not known.In this paper,the TR and gas venting behavior of three 100 A h lithium iron phosphate(LFP)batteries with different safety valves are investigated under overheating.Compared to previous studies,the main contribution of this work is in studying and evaluating the effect of gas venting behavior and TR hazard severity of LFP batteries with three safety valve types.Two significant results are obtained:(Ⅰ)the safety valve type dominates over gas venting pressure of battery during safety venting,the maximum gas venting pressure of LFP batteries with a round safety valve is 3320 Pa,which is one order of magnitude higher than other batteries with oval or cavity safety valve;(Ⅱ)the LFP battery with oval safety valve has the lowest TR hazard as shown by the TR hazard assessment model based on gray-fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.This study reveals the effect of safety valve type on TR and gas venting,providing a clear direction for the safety valve design.

Early warning method for thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries under thermal abuse condition based on online electrochemical impedance monitoring

Early warning of thermal runaway(TR)of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)is a significant challenge in current application scenarios.Timely and effective TR early warning technology is urgently required considering the current fire safety situation of LIBs.In this work,we report an early warning method of TR with online electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)monitoring,which overcomes the shortcomings of warning methods based on traditional signals such as temperature,gas,and pressure with obvious delay and high cost.With in-situ data acquisition through accelerating rate calorimeter(ARC)-EIS test,the crucial features of TR were extracted using the RReliefF algorithm.TR mechanisms corresponding to the features at specific frequencies were analyzed.Finally,a three-level warning strategy for single battery,series module,and parallel module was formulated,which can successfully send out an early warning signal ahead of the self-heating temperature of battery under thermal abuse condition.The technology can provide a reliable basis for the timely intervention of battery thermal management and fire protection systems and is expected to be applied to electric vehicles and energy storage devices to realize early warning and improve battery safety.

Experimental research on the launching system of auxiliary charge with filter cartridge structure

A launching system with a filter cartridge structure was proposed to improve the muzzle velocity of the projectile.The combustion chamber of the launching system is divided into two fixed chambers,one is located in the breech chamber,and the other is arranged in the barrel.The breech chamber charge was ignited first,and the charges in the auxiliary chambers were ignited by the high-temperature,highpressure combustible gas trailing the projectile.In this way,the combustible gas in the auxiliary chambers could compensate for the pressure drop caused by the movement of the projectile.The proposed device features the advantage of launching a projectile with high muzzle velocity without exceeding the maximum pressure in the chamber.In order to obtain some internal ballistic characteristics of the launch system,some critical structure,such as the length of the filter cartridge auxiliary charge,the combustion degree of the propellant in the chamber,and the length of the barrel,are discussed.The experimental results show that with the increased auxiliary charge length,a pressure plateau or even a secondary peak pressure can be formed,which is less than the peak pressure.The projectile velocity increased by 23.57%,14.64%,and 7.65%when the diaphragm thickness was 0 mm,1 mm,and2 mm,respectively.The muzzle velocity of the projectile can be increased by 13.42%by increasing the length of the barrel.Under the same charge condition,with the increase of barrel length,the energy utilization rate of propellant increases by 28.64%.

The efficiency and toxicity of dodecafluoro-2-methylpentan-3-one in suppressing lithium-ion battery fire

Currently,the effective and clean suppression of lithium-ion battery(LIB)fires remains a challenge.The present work investigates the use of various inhibitor doses(Xin)of dodecafluoro-2-methylpentan-3-one(C_(6) F_(12)O)in 300 Ah LIBs,and systematically examines the thermal and toxic hazards of the extinguished batteries via real scale combustion and gas analysis.The inhibitor is shown to be completely effective.The inhibition mechanism involves a combination of chemical inhibition and physical cooling.While the chemical inhibition effect tends to saturate with increasing Xin,the physical cooling remains effective at higher inhibitor doses.However,extinguishing the battery fire with a high Xin of C_(6)F_(12)O is found to incur serious toxicity problems.These results are expected to provide a guideline for the design of inhibitor doses for the suppression of LIB fires.

A review on research of fire dynamics in high-rise buildings

Since serious fire occurred frequently in recent years, fire safety of high-rise building has attracted extensive attention. A National Basic Research Program （973 program） of China has been set up by Ministry of Science and Technology （MOST） of China in 2012 to meet the research requirements of fire safety in high-rise buildings. This paper reviews the current state of art of research on fire dynamics of high-rise buildings, including the up-to-date progress of this project. The following three subjects on fire dynamics of high-rise buildings are addressed in this review： the ejected flame and fire plume behavior over facade out of the compartment window, the flame spread behavior over facade thermal insulation materiMs, and the buoyancy-driven smoke transportation characteristics along long vertical channels in high-rise buildings. Prospective future works are discussed and summarized.

Structural behaviors of steel roof truss exposed to pool fire

Experimental research was conducted to study the structural behaviors of a steel roof truss model without fire-proof coating under pool fire conditions.The data of temperature distribution and displacements of typical members were obtained.It is found that the temperature distribution of environment inside the structure,which is found to be in accordance with the multi-zone model with height,has a decisive effect on the temperature evolution of steel members.Besides,it can also be observed that due to the restriction and coordination among the truss members in the localized fire,the maximum relative deflection,which occurs at the mid-span of the top chord,is relatively slight and has not exceeded 1 mm under experimental conditions.On the other hand,the column experiences a notable thermal expansion during the test.Then,a finite element model is presented and validated by the test results.

Bio-Based Trivalent Phytate:A Novel Strategy for Enhancing Fire Performance of Rigid Polyurethane Foam Composites

Biomass phytic acid has potential flame retardant value as the main form of phosphorus in plant seeds.In this study,phytate-based flame retardants aluminum phytate(PA-Al)and iron phytate(PA-Fe)were synthesized and characterized.Subsequently,they were introduced into rigid polyurethane foam(RPUF)as flame retardants by one-step water-blown method.The results indicated that RPUF/PA-Fe30 exhibited the highest char residue of 22.1 wt%,significantly higher than 12.4 wt%of RPUF.Cone calorimetry analysis showed that the total heat release(THR)of RPUF/PA-Al30 decreased by 17.0%and total smoke release(TSR)decreased by 22.0%compared with pure RPUF,which were the lowest,demonstrating a low fire risk and good smoke suppression.Thermogravimetric analysis-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(TG-FTIR)implied the release intensity of flammable gases(hydrocarbons,esters)and toxic gases(isocyanate,CO,aromatic compounds,HCN)of composites was significantly reduced after the addition of PA-Fe.The analysis of char residue indicated that the RPUF composites formed a dense char layer with a high degree of graphitization after the addition of PA-Al/PA-Fe,endowing RPUF composites with excellent mass&heat transmission inhibition effect and fire resistance in the combustion process.

Research on the effect of the component proportion in the new water mist additive on firefighting performance

Water mist technology provides efficient firefighting performance while there is still room for improvement. So varieties of additives have been studied in recent years both at home and abroad. The self-made additives are used to compare the firefighting performance of diesel and heptane fire in open space. By adjusting the concentration of substance in the additives and conducting the experiment under the pressure of 0.3 MPa,0.5 MPa and 0.7 MPa,extinguish time and temperature are measured in the experiment. Through the experiments using different fuels,it can be found when the fuel is heptane that has a lower ignition point and a higher evaporation rate, the water mist additive can still significantly improve the firefighting performance. According to the data based on different concentrations of fluorinated surfactants,we find that fluorinated surfactants are the main substance to improve the performances by changing physical property of water mist. Optimal proportion of the additives for firefighting performance is found by experiment results.

Effect of a static pedestrian as an exit obstacle on evacuation

Building exit as a bottleneck structure is the last and the most congested stage in building evacuation.It is well known that obstacles at the exit affect the evacuation process,but few researchers pay attention to the effect of stationary pedestrians(the elderly with slow speed,the injured,and the static evacuation guide)as obstacles at the exit on the evacuation process.This paper explores the influence of the presence of a stationary pedestrian as an obstacle at the exit on the evacuation from experiments and simulations.We use a software,Pathfinder,based on the agent-based model to study the effect of ratios of exit width(D)to distance(d)between the static pedestrian and the exit,the asymmetric structure by shifting the static pedestrian upward,and types of obstacles on evacuation.Results show that the evacuation time of scenes with a static pedestrian is longer than that of scenes with an obstacle due to the unexpected hindering effect of the static pedestrian.Different ratios of D/d have different effects on evacuation efficiency.Among the five D/d ratios in this paper,the evacuation efficiency is the largest when d is equal to 0.75D,and the existence of the static pedestrian has a positive impact on evacuation in this condition.The influence of the asymmetric structure of the static pedestrian on evacuation efficiency is affected by D/d.This study can provide a theoretical basis for crowd management and evacuation plan near the exit of complex buildings and facilities.

Behavior of external welded flange-bolted web joints of steel structure exposed to fire

In order to investigate the behavior of external welded flange-bolted web joints of steel structure exposed to fire,a series of experiments were carried out.Influence of fire model and load ratio on the behavior of the joints,failure characteristics and fracture modes of the joints exposed to fire were studied.The experimental results indicated that the fire model has a great influence on the temperature rising as well as temperature distribution of the joints exposed to fire.A slower temperature rising fire will lead to slower temperature rising and more uniform temperature distribution of joint.Decrease of the load ratio will improve the fire-resistant capability of the joint.Furthermore,a highly detailed three-dimensional(3-D) finite element model(FEM) was set up with ANSYS software to predict the behavior of the external welded flange-bolted web joints exposed to fire.Comparisons between the predicted results and the experimental results indicated that FEM has an acceptable degree of accuracy to predict the behavior of this type of joints exposed to fire.

Facile Synthesis of a Novel Bio-Based P-N Containing Flame Retardant for Effectively Reducing the Fire Hazards of Epoxy Resin

In this work,a bio-based flame retardant(Cy-HEDP)was synthesized from cytosine and HEDP through a facile salt-forming reaction and embedded into epoxy matrix to improve the flame retardancy and smoke suppression performance.The product Cy-HEDP was well characterized by FTIR,^(1)H and^(31)P NMR and SEM tests.On the basis of the results,by adding 15 wt%Cy-HEDP,the EP15 can pass UL-94 V-0 rating,and the total smoke production(TSP)as well as total heat release(THR)can be decreased by 61.05%(from 22.61 to 8.7 m^(2)/m^(2))and 39.44%(from 103.19 to 62.50 MJ/m^(2))in comparison to the unfilled EP,reflecting the attenuated smoke toxicity and impeded heat generation.According to the analysis results of residual char,it can be concluded that Cy-HEDP possessed the ability to promote the formation of continuous and dense char layers,which would be a physical barrier to insulate oxygen and prevent heat feedback during the combustion of EP.This work provide inspiration towards developing bio-based flame retardant,probably extending the prospects to other polymeric material system.

Editorial: Special subject on the mechanical behavior of fire dynamics in high-rise buildings

With rapid economic and social development in China, high-rise buildings have continuously sprung up since 2006. However, several big fire accidents in high-rise buildings such as the Beijing Television Cultural Center fire in 2009 and the Shanghai Jing＇an District fire in 2010 etc. have claimed people＇s lives and caused huge amounts of economic and property losses,

Exploring the thermal stability of lithium-ion cells via accelerating rate calorimetry:A review

Given the importance of lithium-ion cell safety,a comprehensive review on the thermal stability of lithium-ion cells investigated by accelerating rate calorimetry(ARC),is provided in the present work.The operating mechanism of ARC is discussed first,including the usage and the reaction kinetics.Besides that,the thermal stability of the cathode/anode materials at elevated temperatures is revealed by examining the impacts of some significant factors,i.e.,the lithium content,particle size,material density,lithium salt,solvent,additive,binder and initial heating temperature.A comparison of the common cathode materials indicates that the presence of Mn and polyanion could significantly enhance the thermal stability of cathode materials,while the doping of Al also helps to restrain the reactivity.Except for their high capacity,some alloy materials demonstrate more competitive safety than traditional carbon anode materials.Furthermore,the thermal behaviors of full cells under abusive conditions are reviewed here.Due to the sensitivity of ARC to the kinetic parameters,a reaction kinetic modeling can be built on the basis of ARC profiles,to predict the thermal behaviors of cell components and cells.Herein,a shortcircuit modeling is exampled.

Facile modification of aluminum hypophosphate and its flame retardancy for polystyrene

A phosphorus-containing flame retardant, aluminum hypophosphite(AHPi), has been modified by(3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane(KH550) to prepare flame-retardant polystyrene(PS). The influence of modified AHPi on the morphology and characterization was investigated, and differences in flame retardant properties of the PS/AHPi and PS/modified AHPi were compared. The PS composite can pass the vertical burning tests(UL-94 standard) with a V-0 rating when the mass content of modified AHPi reaches20%, compared with the mass content of 25% AHPi. The element mapping of the PS composite shows that modified AHPi has better dispersion in PS than AHPi. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that adding modified AHPi can advance the initial decomposition temperature of the composite material.With the addition of modified AHPi, the decrease in peak heat release rate(p HRR) is more evident than AHPi, and the char yield of the resultant PS composites gradually increased. With the addition of 25%modified AHPi, the p HRR and total heat release of PS composites decreased by 81.4% and 37.6%. The modification of AHPi promoted its dispersion in the PS matrix and improved the char formation of PS composites. The results of real-time infrared spectrometry of PS composites, Fourier transform infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron analysis of the char layer indicated that modified AHPi has flame retardancy in condensed and gas phases.

Buckling morphology of glassy nematic films with staggered director field

The photo-induced buckling of axially periodic glassy nematic films with alternating stripped director domains is explored by the F¨oppl-von K′arm′an plate theory along with a modified kinetics approach.The effects of domain widths on the critical light intensity as well as the buckling morphology are examined numerically.It is found that in most cases the buckled film forms regularly aligned dimples and protrusions,but shows large scale bending perpendicular to the periodic axis if the widths of the stripes are nearly the same.In addition,change in light intensity is shown to alter the wavenumber of the buckling pattern.These results are expected helpful to the design of shape-shifting structures with glassy nematic films.

Insight into pyrolysis of hydrophobic silica aerogels:Kinetics,reaction mechanism and effect on the aerogels

Silica aerogels have promising applications in thermal insulation,but their flammability and reaction mechanisms have rarely been investigated.The pyrolysis kinetics and thermodynamics of hydrophobic silica aerogels under N_(2) environment were studied.The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were obtained by three model-free methods.Based on the calculated kinetic parameters,the pyrolysis mechanism of silica aerogels was discussed by the master plots method.The results indicate that the reactions of the whole pyrolysis phase can be characterized by a random nuclear model.In addition,FTIR test results show that the volatile products of silica aerogel pyrolysis are mainly hydrocarbons generated by the decomposition of hydrophobic groups(methyl groups)on the surface.Finally,the effects of pyrolysis on the properties of silica aerogels Finally,the effects of pyrolysis on the properties of silica aerogels were investigated based on the analysis results of SEM,specific surface area,pore size distribution,X-ray diffraction,XPS and infrared spectroscopy.

Boron nitride silicone rubber composite foam with low dielectric and high thermal conductivity

Silicone rubber(SR)is widely used in the field of electronic packaging because of its low dielectric properties.In this work,the porosity of the SR was improved,and the dielectric constant of the SR foam was reduced by adding expanded microspheres(EM).Then,the thermal conductivity of the system was improved by combining the modified boron nitride(f-BN).The results showed that after the f-BN was added,the dielectric constant and dielectric loss were much lower than those of pure SR.Micron-sized modified boron nitride(f-mBN)improved the dielectric and thermal conductivity of the SR foam better than that of nano-sized modified boron nitride(f-nBN),but f-nBN improved the volume resistivity,tensile strength,and thermal stability of the SR better than f-mBN.When the mass ratio of f-mBN and fnBN is 2:1,the thermal conductivity of the SR foam reaches the maximum value of 0.808 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1),which is 6.5 times that before the addition.The heat release rate and fire growth index are the lowest,and the improvement in flame retardancy is mainly attributed to the high thermal stability and physical barrier of f-BN.

Multi-grid simulation of pedestrian counter flow with topological interaction

We investigate the dynamics of pedestrian counter flow by using a multi-grid topological pedestrian counter flow model. In the model, each pedestrian occupies multi- rather than only one grid, and interacts with others in the form of topological interaction, which means that a moving pedestrian interacts with a fixed number of those nearest neighbours coming from the opposite direction to determine his/her own moving direction. Thus the discretization of space and time are much finer, the decision making process of the pedestrian is more reliable, which all together makes the moving behaviour and boundary conditions much more realistic. When compared with field observations, it can be found that the modified model is able to reproduce well fitted pedestrian collective behaviour such as dynamical variation of lane formation, clustering of pedestrians in the same direction, etc. The fundamental diagram produced by the model fits also well with field data in thc frce flow region. Further analyses indicate that with the increase of the size of pedestrian counter flow system, it becomes harder for the system to transit into a jamming state, while the increase of interaction range does not change the transition point from free flow to jamming flow in the multi-grid topological counter flow model. It is also found that the asymmetry of the injection rate of pedestrians on the boundaries has direct influence on the process of transition from free flow to jamming flow, i.e., a symmetric injection makes it easier for the system to transit into jamming flow.