Wood Material Science and Engineering

ISSN: 1748-0272 (Print) 1748-0280 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/swoo20

Fire performance characteristics of acetylated ash

(Fraxinus excelsior L.) wood

Andris Morozovs & Edgars Bukšāns

To cite this article: Andris Morozovs & Edgars Bukšāns (2009) Fire performance characteristics
of acetylated ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) wood, Wood Material Science and Engineering, 4:1-2,
76-79, DOI: 10.1080/17480270903315580

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17480270903315580

Published online: 29 Oct 2009.

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Wood Material Science and Engineering, 2009; 12: 7679

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Fire performance characteristics of acetylated ash (Fraxinus excelsior

L.) wood

ANDRIS MOROZOVS1 & EDGARS BUKŠĀNS2

1
Department of Chemistry, Latvia University of Agriculture, Lielā iela 2, Jelgava, LV 3001, Latvia, 2Forest and Wood
Products Research and Development Institute, Dobeles iela 41, Jelgava, LV-3001, Latvia

Abstract
Wood acetylation with acetic anhydride is used to reduce swelling and shrinkage in changing humidity as well as to protect
against biological deterioration in an environmentally acceptable manner. Changes in the chemical composition of wood will
influence its fire performance. The objective of this investigation was to estimate the influence of wood acetylation on the
reaction of wood to fire. Acetylated and untreated ash wood parquet boards conditioned according to EN 13238:2002 were
tested for their reaction to fire on flooring radiant panel equipment and on a cone calorimeter according to EN ISO 9239-
1:2002 and ISO 5660-1:2002. Acetylation diminished the performance of the wood on reaction to fire compared with
untreated wood. It was supposed that acetylation decreased critical heat flux at extinguishment by acetic acid split off in
pyrolysis conditions. Burning of acetylated wood produced less smoke than natural wood. In conditions of more intense
radiant heat flux the difference in smoke production between acetylated and unmodified wood was less pronounced.

Keywords: Acetylation, cone calorimeter, flooring radiant panel, reaction to fire, wood.

Introduction to fire using flooring radiant panels and cone

The durability of wood can be improved consider-
ably by acetylation, which makes wood more hydro-
phobic, decreases its changes in dimensions in
varying humidity and protects it against biological
damage (Kumar, 1994; Hill, 2006). Any changes in
wood chemistry will change the properties of wood,
one of which is its reaction to fire. In the process of
selecting new or alternative materials for applications
in the built environment it is necessary to consider
the fire performance of the material. Acetyl groups
may be eliminated from acetylated wood as acetic
acid under conditions of pyrolysis. Acetic acid is a
volatile and flammable substance that would in-
crease the flammability of acetylated wood. How-
ever, acetylation increases wood density, thus
decreasing its flammability, because denser wood is
less flammable (White, 2002; Njankouo et al., 2005).
The objective of this investigation was to estimate
the influence of chemical modification with acetic
anhydride of wood for flooring on the wood reaction
calorimetry.
Materials and methods
Ash wood (Fraxinus excelsior L.) parquet boards
(200
40
15 mm) were oven-dried until they at-
tained a constant mass. They were then impregnated
with acetic anhydride in a vacuum and acetylated for
6 h at 390393 K, followed by drying at 37691 K
for 50 days to evacuate acetylation by-products, i.e.
acetic acid residues. Mass gain by acetyl groups of
parquet acetylation varied from 16 to 24%. Refer-
ence parquet boards were stored at 37691 K for the
same period of thermal impact as the acetylated
boards.
The specimens for reaction to fire in the flooring
radiant panel tests (1050
240 mm) and the cone
calorimeter tests (100
100 mm) were mounted
from acetylated and reference boards conditioned
at 296 K and 50% relative humidity according to EN
13238:2002 until both kinds of specimen reached a

Correspondence: A. Morozovs, Department of Chemistry, Latvia University of Agriculture, Lielā iela 2, Jelgava, LV 3001, Latvia. E-mail:
andris.morozovs@llu.lv

(Received 26 August 2009; accepted 7 September 2009)

ISSN 1748-0272 print/ISSN 1748-0280 online # 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/17480270903315580

constant mass. Each specimen for reaction to fire in
the flooring radiant panel test was mounted on a
plywood substrate and fixed with nails. Twenty-five
parquet boards were used for this test. Specimens for
the cone calorimeter test were cut from three
parquet boards and mounted in the sample holder
without any substrate or additional fixing. Three
duplicates were used for each test.
The tests in the flooring radiant panel (Fire
Testing Technologies) were performed in accordance
with EN ISO 9239-1:2002. The heat flux of the cone
heater was set to 50 kW m2. The cone calorimeter
tests (Fire Testing Technologies) were continued
only until flame extinguishment, in contradistinction
to ISO 5660-1:2002, to reduce the influence of
smouldering combustion on the test results. Calcu-
lations were performed using the flooring radiant
panel software and the cone calorimeter software.
Results and discussion
Wood will burn when exposed to heat and air. The
same is valid for any modified wood. An increased
content of acetyl groups in acetylated wood is a
source of acetic acid exudation. Acetic acid has a
relatively low ignition temperature (311 K) and its
lower limit of inflammation concentration is 3.3%
(Prisjazhnjuk, 1998). The acetyloxy group in acety-
lated wood is better compared with the hydroxyl
group in unmodified wood owing to the well-known
×
stabilization of the acetyloxy (H3CCOO ) radical by
the interaction of an unpaired electron with the p-
electron system of the carbonyl group. Acetic acid
formed from these radicals and hydrogen atoms split
off from the neighbouring carbon atoms would
increase the flammability of acetylated wood during
acetylated wood pyrolysis in fires, as confirmed in
the flooring radiant panel tests.
In these tests an inclined radiant panel directed
towards the horizontal surface of the specimen is
used to produce a decreasing gradient of heat flux
along the specimen’s length. The specimen is ignited
with a pilot burner at the high heat flux end and the
flame moves towards the low heat flux end. The
point at which the flame spread ceases corresponds
to a critical heat flux necessary for flame spread. In
these tests increased flame spread was observed for
acetylated wood that corresponds to the less incident
heat flux from the radiant panel, as shown in Table I.
This means that less energy is required for acetylated
wood split off to provide a sufficient concentration of
wood pyrolysis products for a sustained flame in
comparison with unmodified ash wood.
An indirect indication of the presence of a
remarkable amount of acetic acid in acetylated
wood pyrolysis products is a bluish colour compo-
Fire performance of acetylated wood 77
nent in the flame plume observed in the region of
lower heat fluxes. The bluish colour of acetylated
plywood flame in ISO 11925-3 tests was observed by
Mohebby et al. (2007).
The impacts on reaction parameters of wood
acetylation to fire presented in Tables I and II were
evaluated according to eq. (1). The sign of the
calculated impact is assigned in order of the para-
meter effect on the fire performance of wood:
jPacet  Pref j
I :100 (1)
Pref
where I is the impact of wood acetylation on the
elevated parameter P, and the subscripts acet and ref
denote acetylated and reference wood, respectively.
Acetylation of ash wood increased flame phase
duration and flame spread, but decreased critical
heat flux at extinguishment. Changes in all these
parameters had a negative effect on the fire perfor-
mance of modified wood which decreased its poten-
tial classification regarding reaction to fire.
Acetylation of wood decreased the amount of
smoke produced. Total smoke production from
acetylated specimens was 3697% less than from
reference wood in the radiant panel tests.
The impact of incident heat fluxes on wood in
walls and ceilings in real fire conditions is much
higher (Babrauskas, 2003) than on flooring used in
radiant panel tests. Cone calorimetry was used to
evaluate the reaction of acetylated wood to fire at
more realistic heat fluxes. The results of the cone
calorimeter tests are represented in Table II.
Acetylated wood under 50 kW m2 heat flux from
the cone heater maintained analogous trends to the
flooring radiant panel tests, i.e. a longer flame period
and less total smoke production compared with
reference wood. No bluish colour of the flame was
noticed in this case, but an aerosol in the form of
‘‘white smoke’’ characteristic of acetic acid vapours
and air mixture was noted before ignition, which
increased by 17% the impact of the total smoke
release in the non-flaming phase. The bluish flame of
acetic acid may be masked by the greater fraction of
other pyrolysis products (e.g. levoglucosan, tar)
formed under conditions of more intense destruction
of acetylated wood under higher energy levels, which
change the composition of pyrolysis products by less
selective reactions.
More intense heat flux in the cone calorimeter
tests scaled down the positive impact of acetylation
on total smoke production compared with the
radiant panel tests. The total decrease in smoke
production was reduced from 3697% in the radiant
panel tests to 1996% in the cone calorimeter tests
owing to the more intense radiant heat flux. The
78 A. Morozovs & E. Bukšāns
Table I. Results of flooring radiant panel tests.

Parameter Reference ash wood 95% CI Acetylated ash wood 95% CI Impact (%)

Density (kg m 3) 607 962 700 932 15%

Time to ignition (s) 147 95 139 95 5%
Time to flame out (s) 1185 9533 1675 9121 41%
Extent of burning (mm) 437 982 600 948 37%
Critical heat flux at extinguishment (kW m 2) 4.8 91.4 2.6 46%
Total integrated smoke (% min) 10.38 94.41 6.65 94.69 36%
Potential classification Between Cfl and Dfl Ef1 Negative
Smoke production classification s1 s1 Neutral

Note: CIconfidence interval.

Table II. Results of cone calorimeter tests.

Parameter Reference ash wood 95% CI Acetylated ash wood 95% CI Impact (%)

Time to ignition (s) 17 92 19 92 12%

Time to flame out (s) 476 99 613 911 29%
Total heat release in 0300 s (MJ m 2) 55 96 52 95 5%
Fuel load (MJ kg 1) 9 91.1 10 90 11%
Total smoke release (m2 m 2) 337 958 274 925 19%
Effective heat of combustion (MJ kg 1) 11 90.8 12 90.2 9%
Mass loss rate (g s 1) 0.14 90.01 0.13 90.02 7%
Specific extinction area (m2 kg1) 46 94 31 94 33%
Carbon monoxide yield (kg kg1) 0.0035 90.0006 0.0033 90.0011 6%
Carbon dioxide yield (kg kg 1) 1.34 90.03 1.40 90.03 4%
Heat release rate (kW m 2) 162 925 156 919 4%
Effective heat of combustion (MJ kg 1) 11 90.8 12 90.2 9%
Total smoke release: non-flaming phase (m2 m 2) 1.2 90.9 1.4 90.4 17%
Total smoke release: flaming phase (m2 m 2) 337 958 274 925 19%

Note: CIconfidence interval.

acetic acid formed during wood pyrolysis may
improve the burning of volatile products to carbon
dioxide (Richter & Howard, 2000; Babrauskas,
2003; Hull & Paul, 2007).
A positive correlation (correlation coefficient
0.67) was found between acetylated ash wood
density and mass loss rate in the cone calorimeter
tests, but the same correlation was not found for
untreated wood. Contradictory implications of wood
density on fire performance were found in the
literature. It is generally accepted that denser wood
has a higher rate coefficient of pyrolysis (White,
2002; Njankouo et al., 2005), but Lingens et al.
(2005) did not found such a link.
In conclusion, acetylation diminishes the fire
performance of wood and the appropriate modified
wood fire safety class, which could be explained by
split-off acetic acid from acetylated wood. Wood
modification with acetic anhydride decreases smoke
production when burning compared with natural
wood owing to dilution with the acetic acid formed
from volatile wood pyrolysis products. Reduction of
smoke production from burning of acetylated wood
compared with natural wood is less pronounced
under conditions of more intense radiant heat flux.
This indicates the dependence of the composition of
wood’s volatile pyrolysis products on process condi-
tions.
Acknowledgements
The authors greatly acknowledge financial support
from the European Regional Development Fund
and from the Latvian Council of Science Fund, as
well as technical support from the Forest and Wood
Products and Development Institute.
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