| Abstract: | When exposed to a lean hydrogen-oxygen flat flame, slabs of poly(methyl methacrylate) ignited to flaming combustion after a delay, the length of which depended on the gas temperature and the separation between the slab and the igniting flame. The delay obeyed an Arrhenius-type expression, giving an activation energy of 96 ± 8 kJ mol?1. By the end of the delay the surface of the sample was pitted if the delay was long and almost unchanged if the delay was short. The rates of flame development measured immediately after the ignition were proportional to the ignition delay, the proportionality constant varying with the separation between slab and flame. These rates decreased as temperature increased; the slope of the linear Arrhenius plots was independent of slab-flame separation. During the delay, carbon dioxide was formed within the boundry layer and a blue preignition glow was visible at its outer edge. These data were explained by a model in which ignition delay is governed by the induction period of gas-phase reactions in or near the boundry layer. Models in which delay is governed by the time taken to heat the polymer to a critical ignition temperature did not satisfactorily explain the data. |
