WESTMEAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY
CDI-6 FIRE PROTECTION AND ARSON INVESTIGATION

MODULE 3

Lesson 3: Behavior and Nature of Fire (Continuation) and Concept of Fuel

Objectives: At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:
1. Define Fuel;
2. Identify the Different Types of Fuels;
3. Enumerate some examples of Fuel according to its typologies;
4. Identify the Advantages and Disadvantages of the different types of Fuels in the Industry;
5. Define Flame, Pyrolysis, and Smoke;
6. Identify the Physical Properties of Fire;
7. Differentiate Traditional and Modern Content Fires; and
8. Enumerate the BFP’s Fire Alarm Levels.

What is FUEL?
• Any compound which has stored energy.
• Any substance that can provide heat and produce energy when it is burned.
• Any material used to produce heat or power of burning.
• In the process of combustion, the chemical energy of the fuel is converted into heat
energy.

Types of Fuels
1. Solid Fuels
Advantages Disadvantages
Easy to transport. Ash content is high.
Convenient to store without any risk of Large proportion of heat is wasted.
spontaneous explosion.
Cost of production is low. Burn with clinker formation.
Possess moderate ignition temperature. Combustion operation cannot be controlled
easily.
Cost of handling is high.

Two Categories of Solid Fuels

a. Natural Solid Fuels
• Wood- Vegetable tissue of trees and bushes. The most commonly used
and easily obtainable solid fuel. Oldest type of fuel which man had used for
centuries after the discovery of the fire itself. Consists of mainly cellular
tissue and lignin and lesser parts of fat and tar, as well as sugar.
• Coal- Black sedimentary rock that can be burned for fuel. Defined as
having more than 50% by weight (or 70% by volume) carbonaceous matter
produced by the compaction and hardening of altered plant remains-
namely, peat deposits.
b. Manufactured Solid Fuels- any solid fuel made from wood, coal, plant-derived
materials, waxes, or petroleum products, mixed with other ingredients.
• Charcoal- odorless, tasteless, fine black powder, or black porous solid
consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash. Produced by the incomplete
combustion of plant or animal products.
• Coke- used in the steel making process that is created by heating coal in
the absence of air. Produced by heating coal at high temperatures for long
periods of time. This heating is called thermal distillation or pyrolysis.
• Briquette- compressed block of coal dust or other combustible material
(such as charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel as
well as for kindling to start a fire.

2. Liquid Fuels
Advantages Disadvantages
Possess higher calorific value per unit mass Cost of liquid fuel is relatively much higher as
than solid fuels. compared to solid fuel.

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Instructor- CDI-6
 Burn without dust, ash, clinkers, etc.
Firing is easier and also fire can be
extinguished easily by stopping liquid fuel
supply.
Easy to transport to pipes.
Can be stored indefinitely without any loss.
Clean in use and economic to handle.
Require less excess air for complete
combustion.
Costly special storage tanks are required for
storing liquid fuels.
Greater risk of fire hazards, particularly in
case of highly flammable and volatile liquid
fuels.
Give bad odor.
For efficient burning of liquid fuels, specially
constructed burners and spraying apparatus
are required.

Two Classifications of Liquid Fuels

a. Natural or Crude Oil- naturally occurring petroleum product composed of
hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. It is a nonrenewable resource,
which means that it can’t be replaced naturally at the rate we consume it and is,
therefore, a limited resource.
• Petroleum- a basic natural fuel (crude oil). A dark greenish brown, viscous
mineral oil, found deep in earth’s crust.

Types of Petroleum
o Paraffinic Base Type Crude Petroleum- sometimes called waxes.
o Asphaltic Base Type Crude Petroleum- contains mainly
cycloparaffins or naphthene with smaller amount of paraffins and
aromatic hydrocarbons.
o Mixed Base Type Crude Petroleum- contains both paraffinic and
asphaltic hydrocarbons and are generally rich in semi-solid waxes.
b. Artificial or Manufactured Oils- obtained mostly by fractional distillation of crude
petroleum or liquefaction of coal.
• Gasoline or Petrol- mixture of volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbons
derived from petroleum and used as fuel for internal-combustion engines.
Used as a solvent for oils and fats.
• Diesel or Gas Oil- combustible liquid used as fuel for diesel engines,
ordinarily obtained from fractions of crude oil that are less volatile than the
fractions used in gasoline. It releases more energy on combustion than equal
volumes of gasoline, so diesel engines generally produce better fuel
economy than gasoline engines.
• Kerosene Oil- also called paraffin or paraffin oil, flammable hydrocarbon
liquid commonly used as a fuel. Typically, pale yellow or colorless and has a
not-pleasant characteristic odor. Obtained from petroleum and is used for
burning in kerosene lamps and domestic heaters or furnaces, as a fuel or
fuel component for jet engines, and as a solvent for greases and insecticides.
• Heavy Oil- high density, highly viscous petroleum product from
petrochemical refining. High content of sulfur, heavy metals, wax, and carbon
residues makes it unsuitable for combustion. This oil on refractionation gives:
o Lubricant Oils- used as lubricants.
o Petroleum Jelly- used as lubricants in medicines and in cosmetic
products.
o Greases- used as lubricants.
o Paraffin Wax- used in candles, boot polishes, wax paper, tarpaulin
cloth and for electrical insulation purposes.

3. Gaseous Fuels
Advantages Disadvantages
Can be conveyed easily through pipelines to Very large storage tanks are needed.
the actual place of need, thereby eliminating
manual labor in transportation.
Can be lighted at ease. Highly inflammable, so chances of fire
hazards in their use is high.
Have high heat contents and hence help us
in having higher temperatures.

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Instructor- CDI-6
 Can be pre-heated by the heat of hot waste
gases, thereby affecting economy in heat.
Combustion can readily be controlled for
change in demand like oxidizing or reducing
atmosphere, length flame, temperature, etc.
Clean in use.
Do not require special burner.
Burn without any soot, or smoke and ashes.
Free from impurities found in solid and liquid
fuels.

Two Types of Gaseous Fuels

a. Natural Gas- cleanest fuel compared to crude oil and other gases because it
produces less carbon dioxide. Also called methane gas or natural methane gas,
colorless highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane
and ethane.
• Conventional natural gas- moves into large cracks and spaces between
layers of overlaying rock.
• Shale gas or Tight gas/ Unconventional natural gas- natural gas occurs
in the tiny pores (spaces) within some formations of shale, sandstone, and
other types of sedimentary rock.
• Associated natural gas- occurs with deposits of crude oil.
• Coalbed methane- some of the natural gases are also found offshore and
deep under the ocean floor. A type of natural gas found in coal deposits.
b. Manufactured Gas- obtained from solid and liquid fuels.
• Coal Gas- obtained when it is carbonized or heated in absence of air at about
1300ºC in either coke ovens or gas-making retorts. Lighter than air and burns
with a long smoky flame.
• Blast Furnace Gas- product flue gas obtained during the reduction of ion
ore by coke in the blast furnace. Has high carbon monoxide (CO) content
and a low heating value.
• Water Gas- combustion fuel containing carbon monoxide (CO) and
hydrogen gas (H2). Made by passing steam over heated hydrocarbons.
• Producer Gas- gas mixture containing carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen
(H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen (N2). In the USA, producer gas is
a generic term referring to wood gas, town gas, or syngas. In the UK,
producer gas, also known as suction gas, means fuel gas made from coke
or other carbonaceous material.

4. Biofuel- any fuel derived from biomass- that is a plant or algae material or animal waste.
• Biomass- is organic, meaning it is made of material that come from living
organisms, such as plants and animals.
• Biomass feedstocks- plants, wood, and waste.
• Biomass energy- can also be a non-renewable source.

What is FLAME?
• The luminous body of a burning gas which gets hotter and less luminous when mixed
with more oxygen.
• It fades when carbon burns completely, so flame is considered a product of incomplete
combustion.
• The manifestation of fire when the fire is in its gas-phased combustion.

Types of Flames:

A. According to Color and Completeness of Combustion:

a. Luminous Flame- a reddish-orange in color; it deposits soot because it is a
product of incomplete combustion; it has lower temperature.
b. Non-Luminous Flame- bluish in color; it does not deposit soot because it is a
product of complete combustion; it has a higher temperature than luminous flame.

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Instructor- CDI-6
 B. According to Burning Fuel and Air Mixture:
a. Premixed Flame- example of Bunsen Burner.
b. Diffusion Flame- example of flame of the oxyacetylene torch
(diffused-dispersed; widely spread).

C. Based on Smoothness:
a. Laminar Flame- (smooth flame) a particle flows a smooth path through a
gaseous flame.
b. Turbulent Flame- (rough flame) those having unsteady, irregular swirls and
eddies.

What is PYROLYSIS?
• Refers to the chemical process whereby fire consumes the most solid part of the fuel.
• The thermal decomposition of a solid fuel through the action heat.

The process of Pyrolysis involves the following:

1. The fuel is heated until its temperature reaches its fire point;
2. Decomposition takes place- moisture in the fuel is converted to vapor;
3. Decomposition produces combustible vapors that rise to the surface of the fuel. These
combustible vapors are technically termed as free radicals;
4. Free-radicals undergo combustion if proper amount of oxygen is present.

The most common types of free-radicals- (combustible vapors):

1. Hydrogen gas
2. Carbon monoxide
3. Carbon Dioxide
4. Nitrogen

What is SMOKE?
• The visible product of incomplete combustion, usually a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, finely divided particles of soot and carbon, and
miscellaneous assortment of product released from the burning material.

Physical Properties of Fire

1. Specific gravity- the ratio of the weight of a solid or substance to the weight of an equal
volume of water.
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 2. Vapor Density- weight of vapors. The weight of a volume of pure gas compared to the
weight of a volume of dry air at the same temperature and pressure.
3. Vapor pressure- the force exerted by the molecules on the surface of the liquid at
equilibrium.
4. Temperature- the measure of thermal degree of the agitation of molecules of a given
substance.
5. Boiling point- constant temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to
the atmospheric pressure.
6. Ignition temperature or kindling temperature- the minimum temperature to which the
substance in the air must be heated in order to initiate or cause self-contained combustion
without the addition of heat from outside sources.
7. Fire point- the temperature at which the material will give off ample vapors to keep
burning. There is about 5 to 10 degrees difference between the flashpoint and the fire
point of most materials.
8. Flashpoint- the temperature at which material is not hot enough to keep burning, but still
gives off enough vapors to cause a flame to “flash” across the surface. The term
“flashpoint” is used to express the condition of a fuel vaporizing fast enough to keep
burning.

Stages of Fire Development

1. Traditional Fire Development- refers to the stages of the development of legacy content
fires. Legacy fires contain a relatively low heat release rate especially when compared
to hydrocarbon commonly based products. Which may primarily consist of natural fiber
contents such as wood, wools, and also cottons. Which is not as toxic as the chemicals
that are in modern fire contents.

A. Growth Stage (Incipient)

• Fire increases in size from small flames to full fire that involves the entire room.
• May take several seconds to several hours for this to occur.
• With the initial flame as a heat source, additional fuel ignites.
• Convection and radiation ignite more surfaces.

Fire growth is dependent on the following:

• Combustible content (fuel load).
• Oxygen supply (ventilation openings).
• Size of room.
• Insulation of room.

a. Ignition stage
• The point where the fire starts.
• There is a plenty oxygen, little heat and smoke.
• Fire is still small and generally confined to the fuel that initially ignited.
• This is where the fuel, oxygen, and heat join together in a sustained chemical
reaction.
• At this stage, a fire extinguisher can control the fire.
b. Incipient
• Refers to the pre-heat or pre-ignition.
• With the help of oxygen, the ember increases in heat and strength.
c. Rollover
• The condition when flammable gases released by the burning material collect
at the ceiling level and mix with oxygen.
• The heated gases are pushed under pressure from the fire area into uninvolved
areas.
• When this mixture ignites, flashes of flame can be seen in this layer of smoke.
• Rollover should serve as a warning that the fire area may flashover.
d. Flash Over
• Transition between growth and fully developed stage.
• The sudden involvement of a room or area in flames from floor to ceiling caused
by thermal radiation feedback.
• There is a presence of huge smoke which indicates rapid change of situation.
• Flames are visible and gaining ground.
• The increase level of smoke decrease the visibility.
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Instructor- CDI-6
 B. Fully Developed Stage (Free-Burning)
• The entire room and contents are involved in fire.
• Where all combustible materials present are continuously burning.
• If no efforts were made to extinguish fire, the fire would continue to burn until the
available fuel and/or oxygen in the room or area was consumed.
• The most dangerous phase of fire, and the hottest.
• At the peak of combustion, once all the material has been ignited, the fire begins its
downward spiral.
• Because of limited ventilation, most structure fires are air regulated, not fuel
regulated. The volume of fire is dependent of the number and size of ventilation
openings. Unburned gases begin flowing to adjacent spaces and ignite once it
enters a space where air is more abundant.
• This means that fires will move to decay stage due to insufficient oxygen.
• Outside fires are fuel regulated.
• The duration and extent of an outside fire is controlled by the amount of fuel
available, not oxygen.

C. Decay Stage (Smoldering)

• Happens when the available oxygen is consumed.
• Also happens when the fire consumes the available fuel.
• With a decrease in fuel or oxygen, the fire reduces down to embers and ash.
• This is a dangerous phase because any introduction of new fuel loads or increase
in oxygen could reinvigorate the fire.
• Longest stage of fire; in fact, it often takes weeks to fully extinguish all embers and
firebrands from a large fire.

Backdraft- a smoke explosion which can occur when additional oxygen is

introduced into a smoldering fire and the heated gases enter their flammable range
and ignite with explosive force. After a fire burning in a confined area consumes all
the oxygen, visible flames disappear, solid fuels smolder, and hot flammable gases
accumulate and fill the room. The temperature increases, the gases expand, and
pressure builds, pulsing against doors and windows. From outside, the building may
look like it is breathing or throbbing. If an opening is made to admit oxygen, the hot
vaporized fuel bursts into flames, and the pressurized gases explode through the
opening, resulting in a rolling fireball.

Warning signs of a possible backdraft includes:

• Heavy dense smoke with no visible flame in a tightly closed occupancy.
• Black smoke pushing out around closed doors or window frames.
• Glass stained with smoke condensation and pulsating from the pressure of the
fire.
• Reversal of air movement pulling smoke back into a building through a doorway.

2. Progression of Modern Content Fires

Modern Content Fires
• Largely comprised of hydrocarbons and synthetics which rapidly consume the
available oxygen in the air as they burn at a greater rate than legacy content fires.
• Ventilation limited fires due to their higher fuel load.
• Enter an early decay stage due to the limited available oxygen, producing heavy
smoke and varying heat conditions.

The progression of modern content fires differs from the traditional fire development curve
as follows:
• Incipient Stage
• A rapid growth stage that consumes the available oxygen very quickly.
• Due to limited ventilation, modern content fires rapidly consume the available
oxygen within the fire area, they enter into an earlier Oxygen Limited Decay
Stage when compared to traditional or legacy fires and will remain in the Decay
stage if no additional oxygen is added to the fire area.
• When units encounter this earlier decay stage, they shall control ventilation of
windows and maintain control of the door to the fire area. These actions will limit

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Instructor- CDI-6
 the in-flow of additional air towards the fire area. Wind blowing in towards a
ventilation opening will increase the air flow towards the fire area.
• If additional oxygen is admitted to the heated atmosphere through ventilation
openings, the following can occur:
o The fire regains its energy, increases its heat release rate, and enters into
a rapid Second Growth Stage, generating more heat and increased
smoke production.
o This may be followed by a Ventilation Induced Flashover and transition
into the Fully Developed Stage.
o It ends in a Second Decay Stage as the fuel load is depleted or the fire is
extinguished.

Fire Alarm Levels

• The prescribed boundaries of fire alarm or conflagration situation equated according to
the number apparatus coming from one or various fire station(s) and/or municipalities
having the capability to extinguish fire.
• Fires in the Philippines are classified under alarm levels systems implemented by the BFP
under the DILG.
• The decision on which alarm level to call during a fire, initially depends on the assessment
of the Fire Ground Commander, an officer under BFP who heads the substation which has
jurisdiction over the area damaged by the fire.

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Instructor- CDI-6