Index

 1 Chemistry
o 1.1 Flaming
o 1.2 Smoldering
o 1.3 Chemical Reaction
o 1.4 Flame
o 1.5 Typical temperatures of fires and flames
 2 Controlling fire
 3 Fire and Fuel
 4 Fire protection and prevention
 5 Practical uses
 6 See also
 7 References
o 7.1 Citations
 8 External links

Fire
From Gemstech, the free encyclopedia

A Forest fire

Fire is an oxidation process that releases energy in varying intensities in the form of
light (with wavelengths also outside the visual spectrum) and heat and often creates
smoke. It is commonly used to describe either a fuel in a state of combustion (e.g., a
campfire, or a lit fireplace or stove) or a violent, destructive and uncontrolled burning
(e.g., in buildings or a wildfire). The discovery of how to make fire is considered one of
humankind's most important advances, allowing higher hominids to ward off wild
animals, cook food, and control their own source of light and warmth.

[>] Chemistry
Broadly speaking there are two types of fire, flaming and smoldering fires, and they
exhibit traits unique to themselves.

[>] Flaming

Flaming fires involve the rapid oxidation of a fuel (combustion or release of energy)
with associated flame, heat, and light. The flame itself occurs within a region of gas
where intense exothermic reactions are taking place. An exothermic reaction is a
chemical reaction whereby heat and energy are released as a substance changes to a
more stable chemical form (usually generating carbon dioxide and water). As chemical
reactions occur within the fuel being burned, light is usually emitted as photons are
released by the oxidation of the fuel. Depending upon the specific chemical and
physical change taking place within the fuel the flame may or may not emit light in the
visible spectrum. For example, burning alcohol or burning hydrogen are usually
invisible although the heat given off is tremendous.

The visible "clear" flame has no mass. What we see as a flame is actually energy
(photons) being released in the form of light by the oxidation of the fuel. The color of
the flame is dependent upon the energy level of the photons emitted. Lower energy
levels produce colors toward the red end of the light spectrum while higher energy
levels produce colors toward the blue end of the spectrum. The hottest flames are
white in appearance. The color of a fire may also be affected by chemical elements in
the flame, such as barium giving a green flame color. The flame color depends also on
the unoxidized carbon particles. In some cases there is a partial fuel oxydation due to
oxygen lack in the central part of the flame, where combustion reactions take place. In
such cases the unoxidized hot carbon particles emit radiation in the light spectrum,
resulting in a yellow/red flame, such that of common house fireplace.

[>] Smoldering

A smoldering fire is a flameless form of combustion, deriving its heat from oxidations
occurring on the surface of a solid fuel. Two common examples are glowing coals and
cigarettes. Smolder propagates in a creeping fashion over solid fuels or inside porous
fuels, and the temperature and heat released are low in comparison to a flame.

[>] Chemical Reaction

The fire triangle >:Fires start when a flammable and/or a combustible material with an
adequate supply of oxygen or another oxidizer is subjected to enough heat. This is
commonly called the fire triangle. No fire can exist without all three elements being
in place.

The common fire-causing sources of heat include:

 sparks ,another fire (such as an explosion) ,a fire in the oven or fireplace

 a lit match, lighter or cigarette
 sources of intense thermal radiation (such as sunlight or an incandescent light
bulb)
  Joule heating, friction or exhaust gas from mechanical or electrical machinery

Once ignited, fires can sustain their own heat by the further release of heat energy in
the process of combustion and may propagate, provided there is a continuous supply
of oxygen and fuel.

Fire can be extinguished by removing any one of the elements of the fire triangle. The
traditional extinguishant of water acts by cooling the combusting material to stop the
reaction, whereas a Carbon Dioxide extinguisher acts by starving the fire of oxygen.

The unburnable solid remains of a combustible material left after a fire are called ash,
soot or cinder.

[>] Flame

A flame is an exothermic, self-sustaining, oxidizing chemical reaction producing

energy and glowing hot matter, of which a very small portion is plasma. It consists of
reacting gases and solids emitting visible and infrared light, the frequency spectrum of
which depends on the chemical composition of the burning elements and intermediate
reaction products.

In many cases, such as the burning of organic matter, for example wood, or the
incomplete combustion of gas, incandescent solid particles called soot produce the
familiar red-orange glow of 'fire'. This light has a continuous spectrum. Complete
combustion of gas has a dim blue color due to the emission of single-wavelength
radiation from various electron transitions in the excited molecules formed in the flame.
For reasons currently unknown by scientists, the flame produced by exposure of zinc
to air is a bright green, and produces plumes of zinc oxide. Usually oxygen is involved,
but hydrogen burning in chlorine also produces a flame, producing hydrogen chloride
(HCl). Other possible combinations producing flames, amongst many more, are
fluorine and hydrogen, and hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.

The glow of a flame is complex. Black-body radiation is emitted from soot, gas, and
fuel particles, though the soot particles are too small to behave like perfect
blackbodies. There is also photon emission by de-excited atoms and molecules in the
gases. Much of the radiation is emitted in the visible and infrared bands. The color
depends on temperature for the black-body radiation, and on chemical makeup for the
emission spectra. The dominant color in a flame changes with temperature. The photo
of the forest fire is an excellent example of this variation. Near the ground, where most
burning is occurring, the fire is white, the hottest color possible for organic material in
general, or yellow. Above the yellow region, the color changes to orange, which is
cooler, then red, which is cooler still. Above the red region, combustion no longer
occurs, and the uncombusted carbon particles are visible as black smoke.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has
recently found that gravity plays a role. Modifying the gravity causes different flame
types.[1] The common distribution of a flame under normal gravity conditions depends
on convection, as soot tends to rise to the top of a general flame, as in a candle in
normal gravity conditions, making it yellow. In microgravity or zero gravity, such as an
environment in outer space, convection no longer occurs, and the flame becomes
spherical, with a tendency to become more blue and more efficient (although it will go
out if not moved steadily, as the CO 2 from combustion does not disperse in
microgravity, and tends to smother the flame). There are several possible explanations
for this difference, of which the most likely is that the temperature is evenly distributed
enough that soot is not formed and complete combustion occurs. [2] Experiments by
NASA reveal that diffusion flames in microgravity allow more soot to be completely
oxidized after they are produced than diffusion flames on Earth, because of a series of
mechanisms that behave differently in microgravity when compared to normal gravity
conditions.[3] These discoveries have potential applications in applied science and
industry, especially concerning fuel efficiency.

In combustion engines, various steps are taken to eliminate a flame. The method
depends mainly on whether the fuel is oil, wood, or a high-energy fuel such as jet fuel.

[>] Typical temperatures of fires and flames

 Oxyhydrogen flame: 2000 °C or above) (3645 °F) [4]

 Bunsen burner flame: 1300 to 1600 °C (2372 to 2912 °F) [5]
 Blowtorch flame: 1,300 °C (3272 °F) [6]
 Candle flame: 1,400 °C (2552 °F)
 Smoldering cigarette:
o Temperature without drawing: side of the lit portion; 400 °C (750 °F);
middle of the lit portion: 585 °C (1110 °F)
o Temperature during drawing: middle of the lit portion: 700 °C (1290 °F)
o Always hotter in the middle.

[>] Controlling fire

The ability to control fire is one of humankind's great achievements.
Fire making to generate heat and light made it possible for people to migrate to colder
climates and enabled people to cook food — a key step in the fight against disease.
Archaeology indicates that ancestors or relatives of modern humans might have
controlled fire as early as 790,000 years ago. The Cradle of Humankind site has
evidence for controlled fire from 1 to 1.8 million years ago. [7] By the Neolithic
Revolution, during the introduction of grain based agriculture, people all over the world
used fire as a tool in landscape management. These fires were typically controlled
burns or "cool fires", as opposed to uncontrolled "hot fires" that damage the soil. Hot
fires destroy plants and animals, and endanger communities. This is especially a
problem in the forests of today where traditional burning is prevented in order to
encourage the growth of timber crops. Cool fires are generally conducted in the spring
and fall. They clear undergrowth, burning up biomass that could trigger a hot fire
should it get too dense. They provide a greater variety of environments, which
encourages game and plant diversity. For humans, they make dense, impassable
forests traversable.
A blacksmith's fire, used primarily for forging iron.

The first technical application of the fire may have been the extracting and treating of
metals. There are numerous modern applications of fire. In its broadest sense, fire is
used by nearly every human being on earth in a controlled setting every day. Users of
internal combustion vehicles employ fire every time they drive. Thermal power stations
provide electricity for a large percentage of humanity.

The use of fire in warfare has a long history. Hunter-gatherer groups around the world
have been noted as using grass and forest fires to injure their enemies and destroy
their ability to find food, so it can be assumed that fire has been used in warfare for as
long as humans have had the knowledge to control it. Homer detailed the use of fire by
Greek commandos who hid in a wooden horse to burn Troy during the Trojan war.
Later the Byzantine fleet used Greek fire to attack ships and men. American and
British warplanes destroyed the German city of Dresden on February 14, 1945 by
creating a firestorm, in which a ring of fire surrounding the city was drawn inward by an
updraft caused by a central cluster of fires. In the Vietnam War, the Americans
dropped napalm from the air. More recently many villages were burned during the
Rwandan Genocide. Aerial bombing of cities, including firebombing using incendiary
bombs, was also used frequently during World War II. Molotov cocktails are cheap to
construct and are commonly used as well.

[>] Fire and Fuel

A coal-fired power station in the People's Republic of China.

Setting fuel aflame releases usable energy. Wood was a prehistoric fuel, and is still
viable today. The use of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, in power
plants supplies the vast majority of the world's electricity today; the International
Energy Agency states that nearly 80% of the world's power comes from these sources.
[8]
The fire in a power station is used to heat water, creating steam that drives turbines.
The turbines then spin an electric generator to produce power.

The burning of wood is often the first association to the word "fire". It is common in a
developing country for wood to be the primary energy source as well. For instance, in
Africa, 65% of the energy used comes from the burning of biomass, such as elephant
dung. This has become much more abundant because the elephant population has
tripled in the past few years.[9] What is less obvious is that wood burning power
stations are less environmentally destructive than the fired oil power station in two
major respects: first, wood is a renewable resource, especially if trees are grown in a
modern, sustainable way; second, the carbon dioxide emissions are negligible
because no more carbon dioxide can be produced by burning than was removed by
photosynthesis during production of the wood. Thus, over a 100-year timescale, the
effect is carbon-neutral.[10]. E.ON UK is soon to build a 44 megawatt wood fired power
station in the United Kingdom for these reasons.[11]

[>] Fire protection and prevention

A structure fire

Flammable gas warning

Main article: Fire protection

Codes and life safety codes offer fire fighting services to extinguish or contain
uncontrolled fires. Trained firefighters use fire trucks, water supply resources such as
water mains and fire hydrants, and an array of other equipment to combat the spread
of fires.

To ensure fire safety of buildings, all building products, materials and furnishings in the
United States must be tested for fire resistance, and researched so it causes no harm.
combustibility and flammability before they can be used in construction. The same
applies to upholstery, carpeting and plastics used in vehicles and vessels. Buildings,
especially schools and tall buildings, often conduct fire drills to inform and prepare
citizens on how to react to a building fire.

Purposely starting destructive fires constitutes arson and is a criminal offense in most
jurisdictions.

Some jursidictions operate systems of classifying fires using code letters. Whilst these may
agree on some classifications, they also vary. Below is a table showing the standard operated in
Europe and Australasia against the system used in the United States.

European/Australasian United States

Type of Fire
Classification Classification

Fires that involve flammable solids such

as wood, cloth, rubber, paper, and some Class A Class A
types of plastics.

Fires that involve flammable liquids or

liquifiable solids such as petrol/gasoline,
Class B
oil, paint, some waxes & plastics, but not
cooking fats or oils
Class B

Fires that involve flammable gases, such

as natural gas, hydrogen, propane, Class C
butane

Fires that involve combustible metals,

such as sodium, magnesium, and Class D Class D
potassium

Fires that involve any of the materials

found in Class A and B fires, but with the
introduction of an electrical appliances,
wiring, or other electrically energized Class E Class C
objects in the vicinity of the fire, with a
resultant electrical shock risk if a
conductive agent is used to control the fire
Fires involving cooking fats and oils. The
high temperature of the oils when on fire
far exceeds that of other flammable Class F Class K
liquids making normal extinguishing
agents ineffective.

[>] Practical uses

 Fire has been used for light, heat (for cooking, survival and comfort) and
protection for thousands of years.
 Fire-stick farming
 Fire is used for cremation.
 Fire is used for welding.
 Fire is used for celebration (birthday candles)
 Back-burning for fighting fires
 Controlled burn-offs for preventing wildfires
 Controlled burn-offs to clear land for agriculture

Fire
Portal
 Active fire protection
 A list of articles relating to fire
 A list of articles relating to firefighting
 A list of articles relating to specific fires
 A list of sources of light
 ATF Fire Research Laboratory
 Colored fire - common and cheap chemicals by which to color a fire
 Culinary fire - pre-modern understanding of fire
 Endothermic
 Explosion, Rust, Digestion and composting are different kinds of combustion.
 Fire door
 Fire lookout tower and/or Fire lookout
 Fireproofing
 Fire protection
 Fire protection engineering
 Firestop
 Firestop pillow
 Fire test
 Fire whirl
 Fire worship
 Flame test - using flame colors to identify common metals
 Intumescent
 Life safety code
 Lightning
 Making fire
 Passive fire protection
  Pyromania
 Pyrokinesis
 Rubens' Tube
 Smoke
 Volcano

[>] References
[>] Citations

1. ^ Spiral flames in microgravity, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2000.

2. ^ CFM-1 experiment results, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April
2005.
3. ^ LSP-1 experiment results, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, April
2005.
4. ^ "Flame Temperature Measurement"
5. ^ "Flame Temperatures"
6. ^ "Pyropen Cordless Soldering Irons"
7. ^ "UNESCO - Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and
Environs"
8. ^ "Share of Total Primary Energy Supply", 2002; International Energy Agency
9. ^ "Energy in Africa - Chapter 3", United States Department of Energy information
administration
10. ^ The Straight Dope: What exactly is fire?. Adams, C. (2002). Retrieved December 19,
2004.
11. ^ "How Can Burning Wood Help Reduce Global Warming", The Guardian

[>] External links

Gemstech Commons has media related to:

Fire
 How Fire Works at HowStuffWorks
 What exactly is fire? (from The Straight Dope)
 On Fire, an Adobe Flash-based science tutorial from the NOVA (TV series)
 Early human fire mastery revealed BBC article on archaeological discoveries
 Flames in microgravity
 Spiral flames in microgravity
 moebuildingcontrol.co.uk - UK Guidance on fire safety codes and fire
engineering
 Smokey Bear- Prevent Wildfires
 Fun Uses with Fire with a Rubens' Tube
 The Wiki Fire - the free encyclopedia of the Knox College Prairie Fire