Electron Temperature Measurement in a Premixed Flat Flame Using the Double Probe Method

The electron temperatures T_e were measured using a double probe in a premixed methane flame produced by a calibration burner according to Hartung et al. The experiment was performed at atmospheric pressure. In contrast to other authors, we have managed to find typical nonlinearities corresponding to the retarding electron current region and to calculate electron temperatures using a suitable fit on the basis of the measured characteristics. A Pt‐Rh thermocouple was used to measure temperatures T_h corresponding to “heavy” species. Our results indicate that the flame plasma can be considered to be weakly non‐isothermic — T_e = (2400–4000) K, T_h = (1400–1600) K. On the basis of measurement of the saturated ion current, the number density of the charged particles was estimated at (0.3–3.8) · 10¹⁷ m^‐3. The trends in T_e and T_h in dependence on the positions of the probes and thermocouple in the flame differ substantially; this fact has not yet been explained (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Flame retardancy of polyamide 66 nanocomposites with thermally stable organoclay

A thermally stable imidazolium organoclay was synthesized to improve the flame retardancy performance of polyamide 66 (PA 66). To enhance flame retardancy of the PA 66/organoclay nanocomposite, the thermally stable organoclay was coated with monomethylol melamine (MMM) before melt‐compounding with PA 66. Transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction results confirmed the partial exfoliation of the organoclay in the PA 66 matrix. The use of the thermally stable organoclay did not affect the thermal stability of PA 66. The cone calorimeter results showed that the PA 66/orgnaoclay nanocomposite exhibited a greatly reduced heat release rate and a longer ignition time. However, the PA 66/organoclay binary nanocomposite had no rating in the UL‐94 vertical burning test because it did not extinguish until the entire polymer component was burnt. The PA 66 nanocomposite with 15 wt% of MMM‐coated organoclay performed better in the ignition resistance test than the PA 66/organoclay nanocomposite containing 15 wt% of melamine. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation,flame retardancy,and thermal degradation of epoxy thermosets modified with phosphorous/nitrogen‐containing glycidyl derivative

Phosphorus/nitrogen‐containing advanced epoxy resins were obtained by chain‐extension of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol‐A epoxy (DGEBA) resin with phosphorus‐modified triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGICP). The structure of TGICP was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that the EP/TGICP composites possessed higher glass transition temperatures than that of phosphorus free EP. The thermal stability and flame retardant properties of the epoxy resin/TGICP systems were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI), and vertical burning test (UL‐94) test. When the TGICP content was 10 wt%, the LOI value of epoxy resin system was as high as 35.0% and it can obtain the V‐0 grade in UL‐94 protocol. From microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) measurement, it was found that the addition of TGICP reduced the value of peak heat release rate and total heat release. The thermal degradation process of EP and EP/TGICP composite was monitored by real time FTIR. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to explore the morphology and chemical components of the char residues. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation and properties of hollow silica tubes/bismaleimide/diallylbisphenol A composites with improved toughness,dielectric properties,and flame retardancy

New high performance insulating composites based on hollow silica tubes (mHST) and bismaleimide/diallylbisphenol A (BDM/DBA) resin, which exhibit improved toughness, dielectric properties, and flame retardancy, were successfully developed. The effect of the amount of mHST on the properties of composites was systematically studied. Results show that the impact strength of the composite with 0.5 wt% mHST is about 2.2 times that of BDM/DBA resin. In addition, compared with BDM/DBA resin, the composites show lower and stable dielectric constant, better frequency stability of dielectric loss, significantly improved flame retardancy, and similarly outstanding thermal resistance. The reasons behind these attractive integrated properties are discussed from the view of structure–property relationship. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The application of Ce‐doped titania nanotubes in the intumescent flame‐retardant PS/MAPP/PER systems

In this work, we reported the synthesis, characterization of Ce‐doped titania nanotubes (Ce‐TNTs), and application in flame retardancy of an intumescent flame‐retardant polystyrene (PS/IFR) system. The flame retardancy of polystyrene (PS) composite that was composed of pentaerythritol, microencapsulated ammonium polyphosphate, and PS was enhanced significantly by adding a small amount (0.1 wt%) of (Ce‐TNTs). The thermal properties of the flame‐retardant PS were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, limiting oxygen index (LOI), vertical burning test (UL‐94), scanning electronic microscopy, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and the real‐time Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The maximal decomposition rate temperature of PS/IFR containing Ce‐TNTs in air is much higher than that of other PS composite without Ce‐TNTs. The LOI value of PS/IFR that contained 0.1 wt% of Ce‐TNTs was increased from 27.0 to 28.5, and the UL‐94 rating was also enhanced to V‐0 from no rating when the total loading of additive was the same. The real‐time FTIR showed that the degradation process was changed after the addition of TNTs. All results indicated that Ce‐TNTs had a significant synergistic effect on the flame retardancy of PS/IFR. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

乙基苯低压预混火焰动力学模型研究

本文报道了我们发展的一个包含176个物种和806个反应的乙基苯火焰模型,用于模拟4.0 kPa压力下的富燃乙基苯火焰（φ=1.90）。结果表明本模型可以很好地预测各种产物及中间体的摩尔分数曲线。通过生成速率分析得到了乙基苯在富燃条件下的反应路径。分析结果显示,乙基苯在富燃条件下的主要分解路径为C₆H₅C₂H₅→C₆H₅CH₂→C₇H₆→C₅H₅4→C₃H₃→C₃H₂,产生的C₃H₂再经过氧化反应序列生成主要产物CO。此外,乙基苯支链上一系列的脱氢/β-断键反应也对乙基苯的分解具有不可忽视的作用。本模型为发展长链芳香烃模型打下了基础,有助于对未来实用燃料和航空替代燃料中长链芳香烃燃烧持性进行预测。     

基于可调谐半导体激光器吸收光谱的温度测量方法研究

介绍了基于半导体激光器作光源的吸收光谱测温技术研究和开发集成的系统,利用H₂O在1.4μm附近的吸收线对的线强比值来反演温度.介绍了该系统在实验室管式高温上的标定和开放炉管的测量验证,结果显示各设置温度下测量温度波动平均在50 K左右.之后在CH₄/空气预混平焰炉上进行进一步验证,发现在吸收线7153.7 cm^-1长波一侧出现了HITRAN08中未给出的几条H₂O吸收和该吸收线重叠.HITEMP中在这些波长上有对应的吸收线给出,但对另一条选用的吸收7154.354 cm^-1,给出的可对应吸收线中心频率和测量不一致.根据实验测量结果和HITRAN/HIlTEMP的对比,对选择吸收线对的位置和线强等参数继续采用实验室标定结果,并引入HlTEMP中给出的这些高温下表现出来的吸收线参数,在平焰炉不同当量比状态下做了测量对比.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and formation of 4ZnO·B2O3·H2O whiskers via a new route

4ZnO·B₂O₃·H₂O whiskers were prepared from 2ZnO·3B₂O₃·3.5H₂O under hydrothermal process at 160 °C for 10 h. The synthesized product was characterized by XRD, SEM, TG‐DSC and FT‐IR. SEM results showed that the synthesized 4ZnO·B₂O₃·H₂O whiskers' length was about 3–10 μm and the diameter was 0.2–0.3 μm. Further study on the whiskers' growth process and mechanism showed that the formation of the whiskers went through three stages and the morphology of 4ZnO·B₂O₃·H₂O changed from irregular particles to rod‐like structures and finally to whiskers. The variation of the morphology of the 4ZnO·B₂O₃·H₂O whisker with the concentration of the starting material was investigated. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of a novel charring-foaming agent on flame retardancy and thermal degradation of intumescent flame retardant polypropylene

A new triazine polymer was synthesized by using cyanuric chloride, ethanolamine and ethylenediamine as raw materials. It is used both as a charring agent and as a foaming agent in intumescent flame retardants, designated as charring-foaming agent (CFA). Effect of CFA on flame retardancy, thermal degradation and mechanical properties of intumescent flame retardant polypropylene (PP) system (IFR-PP system) has been investigated. The results demonstrated that the intumescent flame retardant (IFR) consisting of CFA, APP and Zeolite 4A is very effective in flame retardancy of PP. It was found that when the weight ratio of CFA to APP is 1:2, that is, the components of the IFR are 64 wt% APP, 32 wt% CFA and 4 wt% Zeolite 4A, the IFR presents the most effective flame retardancy in PP systems. LOI value of IFR-PP reaches 37.0, when the IFR loading is 25 wt% in PP. It was also found that when the IFR loading is only 18 wt% in PP, the flame retardancy of IFR-PP can still pass V-0 rating, and its LOI value reaches 30.2. TGA data obtained in pure nitrogen demonstrated that CFA has a good ability of char formation itself, and CFA shows a high initial temperature of the thermal degradation. The char residue of CFA can reach 35.7 wt% at 700 °C. APP could effectively promote the char formation of the APP-CFA system. The char residue reaches 39.7 wt% at 700 °C, while it is 19.5% based on calculation. The IFR can change the thermal degradation behaviour of PP, enhance T_max of the decomposition peak of PP, and promote PP to form char, based upon the results of the calculation and the experiment. This is attributed to the fact that endothermic reactions took place in IFR charring process and the char layer formed by IFR prevented heat from transferring into inside of IFR-PP system. TGA results further explained the effective flame retardancy of the IFR containing CFA.     

OH Concentration Measurements by Resonant Holographic Interferometry and Comparison with Direct Numerical Simulations

We apply a novel laser diagnostic technique — Resonant Holographic Interferometry (RHI) to measure the concentration of hydroxyl radical (∼2000 ppm) in a co-flow diffusion flame of diluted hydrogen and air stabilized on a Wolfhard-Parkerburner. This methodology is based upon the dispersion of light of frequency close to an electronic transition of a target molecule. The two-color setup utilized in RHI provides a two-dimensional distribution of the target species concentration and quantitative information can be obtained from the interferogram without requiring any calibration. To provide independent flame data for comparison, a two-dimensional numerical simulation was performed taking into account the effects of detailed chemical kinetics and transport phenomena. In spite of a number of simplifying assumptions made in the simulation, computational and experimental results are in good agreement with respect to the magnitude and width of the region where OH is found. We do observe a difference of approximately 1 mm in the flame position due to the simplifying assumptions made in the simulation. The comparison between the experimental and numerical results clearly demonstrated the potential of RHI in flame diagnostics. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.