[Stoves] Retted Switchgrass Fireball Test

[AJH]

On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 10:57:30 -0700, Tom Miles wrote:

>Straw, even in he form of a fireball, seems to have just enough air to
>support combustion in a smoulder but needs a pilot flame to burn the gas. 

This is why straw bale fires are difficult to extinguish, the straw
has enough air in the stalk to burn out the char and continue to
produce enough heat to continue pyrolysis, the aligned stalks also
have a fluidic effect guiding water off the surface.

The other thing to consider is that most gas:air mixtures often have a
fairly narrow range under which they will support a flame, if this
holds for an aerosol like smoke also, then it may just be too
difficult to supply the right amount of air if the temperature is
below the autoignition (spontaneous ignition) temperature.

AJH