Influence of Vegetation Moisture on Combustion of Pyrolysis Gases in Wildland Fires
Since wildland fires occur in living vegetation, the fuel moisture content must be considered in order to correctly predict the behavior of the fire. One facet of combustion of pyrolysis gases that has not been considered in previous research is the effect of moisture on the combustion process. This effect is investigated by using CHEMKIN software to study an opposed diffusion flame model for three pyrolysis fuels relevant to wildfires. The effect of moisture on flame structure is investigated by varying the mole fraction of water vapor in the fuels, with air as oxidizer. In all cases, the flame extinguishes when the water mole fraction is between 0.55 and 0.65. O2 and H are the only components that exhibit a significant change in concentration under these conditions.