Fire is the heat and light energy released during a chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities within, the color of the flame and the fire intensity might vary.
Contents [hide]
1 Chemistry
1.1 Flaming fires
1.2 Chemical reaction
1.3 Flame
1.4 Typical temperatures of fires and flames
1.4.1 Temperatures of flames by appearance
2 Controlling fire
3 Fire and fuel
4 Fire protection and prevention
5 Fire classifications
5.1 Burns
6 Practical uses
7 See also
8 References
8.1 Citations
9 External links
Chemistry
Flaming fires
"Flaming" cocktails contain a small amount of flammable high-proof alcohol which is ignited prior to consumption.Flaming fires involve the chemical 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 (in the case of fire, usually generating carbon dioxide and water). As chemical reactions occur within the fuel being burned, light and heat are released. 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 is usually invisible to the naked eye although the heat given off is tremendous.
The visible flame has little mass, and it is comprised of luminous gases which emit energy (photons) as part of the oxidation process. 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 oxidation 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 a common house fireplace.
Chemical reaction
The fire tetrahedronFires start when a flammable and/or a combustible material with an adequate supply of oxygen or another oxidizer is subjected to enough heat and is able to sustain a chain reaction. This is commonly called the fire tetrahedron. No fire can exist without all of these elements being in place.
Once ignited, a chain reaction must take place whereby 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 tetrahedron. Fire extinguishant by the application of water acts by cooling the fuel to stop the reaction. The application of carbon dioxide starves the fire of oxygen. Other gaseous fire suppression agents, such as halon or HFC-227, interfere with the chemical reaction itself.
Flame
The incomplete burn of a camp fire produces the common red-orange glowMain article: 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.
A forest fireThe 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.
A garden fire for bonfire nightThe 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 CO2 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
