Exploring how fire spread mode shapes the composition of pyrogenic carbon from burning forest litter fuels in a combustion wind tunnel

Surawski, NC; Macdonald, LM; Baldock, JA; Sullivan, AL; Roxburgh, SH; Polglase, PJ

Exploring how fire spread mode shapes the composition of pyrogenic carbon from burning forest litter fuels in a combustion wind tunnel

Surawski, NC

Macdonald, LM Baldock, JA Sullivan, AL Roxburgh, SH Polglase, PJ

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 698
Issue Date:: 2020-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Surawski, NC https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2584-1044	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Macdonald, LM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Baldock, JA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sullivan, AL	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Roxburgh, SH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Polglase, PJ	en_US
dc.date.available	2019-09-04	en_US
dc.date.issued	2020-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 698	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0048-9697	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/137697
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 In this study, solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to explore the carbon-containing functional groups present in pyrogenic carbon (PyC) produced during different fire spread modes to forest litter fuels from a dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest burnt in a combustion wind tunnel. A replicated experimental study was performed using three different fire spread modes: heading fires (i.e. fires which spread with the wind), flanking fires (i.e. fires which spread perpendicular to the wind) and backing fires (i.e. fires which spread against the wind). In addition to 13C NMR measurements of PyC, detailed fire behaviour measurements were recorded during experiments. Experiments showed that heading fires produced significantly more aryl carbon in ash samples than flanking fires. All other experimental comparisons for burnt fuel samples involving different fire spread modes were statistically insignificant. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the relationship between 13C NMR functional groups and fire behaviour observations. Results from PCA indicate that maximising the residence time of high temperature combustion and the combustion factor (i.e. the fraction of pre-fire biomass consumed by fire) could be a method for increasing the amount of aryl carbon in PyC. Maximising the amount of aryl carbon could be beneficial for the overall PyC balance from fire, since more recalcitrant carbon (e.g. carbon with a higher aryl carbon content) that is not emitted to the atmosphere has been shown to have longer residence times in environmental media such as soils or sediments.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Science of the Total Environment	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134306	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Exploring how fire spread mode shapes the composition of pyrogenic carbon from burning forest litter fuels in a combustion wind tunnel	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	698	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
utslib.copyright.embargo	2022-01-02T00:00:00+1100
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	698	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 In this study, solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to explore the carbon-containing functional groups present in pyrogenic carbon (PyC) produced during different fire spread modes to forest litter fuels from a dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest burnt in a combustion wind tunnel. A replicated experimental study was performed using three different fire spread modes: heading fires (i.e. fires which spread with the wind), flanking fires (i.e. fires which spread perpendicular to the wind) and backing fires (i.e. fires which spread against the wind). In addition to 13C NMR measurements of PyC, detailed fire behaviour measurements were recorded during experiments. Experiments showed that heading fires produced significantly more aryl carbon in ash samples than flanking fires. All other experimental comparisons for burnt fuel samples involving different fire spread modes were statistically insignificant. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the relationship between 13C NMR functional groups and fire behaviour observations. Results from PCA indicate that maximising the residence time of high temperature combustion and the combustion factor (i.e. the fraction of pre-fire biomass consumed by fire) could be a method for increasing the amount of aryl carbon in PyC. Maximising the amount of aryl carbon could be beneficial for the overall PyC balance from fire, since more recalcitrant carbon (e.g. carbon with a higher aryl carbon content) that is not emitted to the atmosphere has been shown to have longer residence times in environmental media such as soils or sediments.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/137697