Autoignition of combustible materials, particularly hydrocarbon fuels, play an important role in the fire hazard in the storage and handling of these materials. The minimum autoignition (or spontaneous ignition) temperature of a given fuel is an important flammability property of the material, but its experimentally determined value is markedly dependent on the method and apparatus employed for its determination. Some of the complex phenomena associated with autoignition, such as cool flames, zones of nonignition, multiple ignition, ignition delay, and hot-surface ignition, are defined and discussed. The numerous experimental and other factors which may influence autoignition temperatures are discussed, and their relations to autoignition phenomena are described. Some of the factors are chemical structure and composition, fuel-air ratio, concentration of oxygen, surface-volume ratio, geometry of the containing vessel, and pressure.

The new definitive reference in the field. Between them, the renowned team of editors and authors have amassed unparalleled experience at such institutes as BAM, PTB, Pittsburgh National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, BASF AG, and the University of Göttingen. In this work -- the first of its kind for 35 years -- they describe in detail those measures that prevent or limit industrial explosions and the damage so caused. They cover various preventative methods, as well as the current state of technology combined with data gained through experimentation. This handbook offers operational, planning, design and safety engineers working in industry, government agencies and professional associations in-depth knowledge of the scientific and technical basics, allowing them to apply explosion protection according to any given situation.

MIL-T-83133C grade JP-8 is of interest to the U.S. Army as the single fuel for the battlefield. The conversion to JP-8 occurred primarily to improve the safety of aircraft, although the single fuel for the battlefield concept (and the similarity of jet fuel to diesel fuel) is centered on the use of aviation kerosene in all Air Force and Army aircraft and ground vehicles. Detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms that describe combustion of many of the components in JP-8 are not available and are unlikely to be developed in the near future. Hence there is a need to study the characteristics of JP-8 experimentally. The following is the final progress report on our developments and accomplishments through May 2001- May 2004. The detail of the experimental facilities including two combustion chambers, spherical and cylindrical, optical set up, a high temperature oven and also our thermodynamic model used to calculate burning speed were discussed in the last reports and will be briefly discussed here. Measurements have been done in these facilities for gaseous and liquid fuels over the wide range of temperature and pressure. In the last year we developed a new heating system for fuel injection line in cylindrical vessel. The liquid fuel line in the spherical vessel was redesigned. Burning speeds of premixed JP-8 air have been measured for a range of temperature and pressure. Pictures of JP-8 flame have been taken using the high speed CCD camera in the cylindrical chamber. The results are presented in this report.