FIRE INDICATORS Engineering Project Report
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U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING SCIENCES Washington, DC 20207 FIRE INDICATORS Engineering Project Report Dean L. LaRue August 2002 Introduction The heat flux – or heat energy per unit area – produced by some electrical appliances may be sufficient to create a fire hazard by igniting surrounding combustibles. Various combustible materials are specified in a number of voluntary standards for heat-producing appliances to serve as indicators of the potential for ignition as a result of contact with or exposure to hot surfaces. The fire indicators are typically fabrics, textiles or other relatively thin fibrous materials, such as surgical cotton or cotton gauze. The use of such materials can provide an assessment of the potential presented by heat-producing devices for ignition of ordinary household combustibles, but does not provide a quantitative measure of the heat energy required to ignite combustibles that are likely to be near such devices. In addition, fire indicators can be affected by environmental conditions, such as humidity; and differences in manufacturing practices may also affect the ability of the fire indicator to consistently and accurately demonstrate a fire hazard. If a maximum heat flux value that will not result in ignition of household combustibles could be determined, a voluntary standard requirement for mapping of the heat flux generated by an appliance could be developed. If the measured heat flux were below the maximum, the product would pass. If not, the product would fail. Data resulting from heat flux mapping would also provide manufacturers information that could lead to further product safety improvements. Purpose The purpose of testing described in this report was to quantify the heat flux required to ignite various household combustibles and fire indicators and to measure the heat fluxes generated by several consumer appliances. The heat flux values measured for the appliances were compared to the minimum heat flux required to ignite combustibles (fire indicators and household combustibles). The data acquired from these tests may be used to determine a baseline value for heat flux mapping tests. Heat Flux Measurements of Electrical Appliances Heat flux measurements were recorded for seven household heat-producing appliances. The appliances included an iron, a toaster oven, two in-wall air heaters, and three toasters. The intended purpose of this testing was to determine approximate heat flux values produced by appliances that may be present in consumers’ homes. Engineering Sciences staff performed this testing at the CPSC Engineering Laboratory. A heat flux transducer is a sensor that can directly measure heat transfer rates. The transducer converts the heat transfer rate to a proportional millivolt signal. The range for the transducer was 0 – 2 W/cm2 although the specifications allow for an overrange of 150% of the full range or to 3 W/cm2. Tubes are included on the transducer to introduce water into the transducer to cool it and maintain a relatively stable temperature. According to the users manual, water is not required for measurements that will not increase the temperature of the face of the transducer above 400 °F. Water was not used for any of the testing except where mentioned. A Heat Flux Meter was used to provide a digital readout in heat flux units. Page 1 Iron The charts below show the results of heat flux tests for an iron. The iron was filled with water and set on the highest heat setting. Figure 1 shows the data collected during a horizontal scan from left to right. This scan was performed at approximately the vertical center of the sole-plate of the iron, with the transducer as close to the sole-plate as possible without touching it. The maximum recorded heat flux value was 0.17 W/cm2. The unusual shape of the graph is easily explained by the construction of the iron – the heating element is located near the outside edge of the sole-plate – hence, higher values are measured near the left and right edges of the iron. Figure 1. Heat Flux of Iron at Sole-Plate (Horizontal Scan) Iron (Horizontal Scan) 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 Heat Flux (W/cm2) 0.04 0.02 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Location (inches) Figure 2 shows a vertical scan from the top down at the approximate center of the sole-plate (the 2.5-inch mark shown in Figure 1 above). The shape of the sole-plate was typical of irons sold today, with the top forming a point and spreading out at the bottom. The peak value of 0.14 W/cm2 at the 2.5-inch mark was where the heating element was located. The graph shows that the heat transfer rate is lower and more consistent near the bottom of the iron. This is due to the fact that the heat energy is spread out over a wider area near the bottom of the iron. Figure 2. Heat Flux of Iron at Sole-Plate (Vertical Scan) Iron (Vertical Scan) 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 Heat Flux (W/cm2) 0.02 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 Location (inches) Page 2 Toaster Oven The charts below show the results of heat flux tests for a toaster oven in which the oven was set at 500 °F. Figure 3 shows a vertical scan from the top to the bottom of the toaster oven, adjacent to the door handle, and with the transducer approximately 0.25 inch away from the front of the toaster oven. The graph shows that the maximum heat flux was located approximately 0.5 inch from the top of the toaster oven; this is the location of the top edge of the door. The maximum value recorded was 0.45 W/cm2. Figure 3. Heat Flux of Toaster Oven/Oven Mode (Vertical Scan) Toaster Oven (Vertical Scan - 500 degrees F) 0.5 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 Left of Handle 0.25 Right of Handle 0.2 0.15 Heat Flux (W/cm2) 0.1 0.05 0 00.511.522.533.544.55 Location (inches) Figure 4 shows the horizontal scan, from left to right, of the front of the toaster oven at approximately 0.5 inch from the top. The transducer was held approximately 0.25 inch from the toaster oven. The graph shows a gap in the data, which corresponded to the location of the door handle and which interfered with the placement of the heat flux transducer. Again, the maximum heat fluxes were recorded at the edges of the door, with the left edge having the maximum heat flux of 0.44 W/cm2. Figure 4. Heat Flux of Toaster Oven/Oven Mode (Horizontal Scan) Toaster Oven (Horizontal Scan - 0.5" from Top - 500 degrees F 0.5 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.25" away 0.2 0.15 Heat Flux (W/cm2) 0.1 0.05 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Location (inches) Page 3 The next chart shows the results of heat flux tests for the toaster oven while being used in the toast mode, at the darkest toast cycle setting. During these tests, the toast cycle was started and allowed to complete one toast cycle while monitoring and recording the maximum measured heat flux. Figure 5 below shows the horizontal scan, from left to right, of the front of the toaster oven at approximately 0.5 inches from the top. The transducer was held approximately 0.25 inches from the toaster oven. Each data point in the graph corresponds to a separate toast cycle. Again, the graph shows a gap in the data, which corresponds to the location of the door handle. In this mode, the maximum heat flux was slightly lower than that measured previously (with the oven set at 500 °F). The difference in heat flux may be due to the temperature of the toast cycle compared to the oven setting, a different combination of heating elements, or it may be due to the short duration of cooling between toast cycles. The maximum recorded heat flux was 0.39 W/cm2. Figure 5. Heat Flux of Toaster Oven/Toast Mode (Vertical Scan) Toaster Oven (0.5" from Top - Darkest Toast Cycle Setting) 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.25" away 0.2 0.15 0.1 Heat Flux (W/cm2) 0.05 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Location (inches) Radiant Heater 1 Figure 6 shows the test results for one radiant heater. To determine the location of maximum heat flux, several left-to-right scans were taken at varying distances away from the heater. This was done because, for some models, the heater’s reflector may focus the heat energy at some distance in front of the heater. As can be seen in the chart, however, this was not the case with this heater. The heat flux decreased as the distance away from the heater increased. The first two scans, one at 1 inch away and one at 7 inches away, were performed at the vertical center of the heater. The scan at 1 inch away at the vertical center was used to determine the horizontal location of the maximum heat flux. The maximum heat flux was measured at 5 inches from the left edge.