The processes of firebrand deposition and accumulation from wind-driven firebrand showers

Abstract

Firebrands, or smoldering and/or flaming particles, are in fact the main culprit to destroy structures in large outdoor fires. A recent comprehensive review of firebrand combustion reported that deposition and subsequent accumulation processes remain largely unexplored. As part of this work, a series of experiments were undertaken to investigate firebrand deposition and accumulation processes in the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster (NRIFD)'s wind facility. A reduced-scale firebrand generator was utilized, and various flow obstructions were placed downstream of these firebrand generators to better understand these complex deposition processes. Results of these investigations for multiple wind speeds, firebrand size and mass distributions, and obstacle placement are presented and discussed.