Earticle

Halogen compounds refer to compounds formed by the combination of halogen elements - Fluorine(F), Chlorine(Cl), Bromine(Br), Iodine(I) - with other elements. Industrial uses of halogen compounds include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, plastics, cleaning agents, flame retardants, as well as well-known fire extinguishing agents like halon and clean fire extinguishing agents. However, despite the wide range of products and applications of these halogen compounds, there is limited knowledge regarding their physical hazards. This is related to the health hazards and environmental hazards associated with halogen compounds as well. Halogen compounds are known to be health hazard substances that, depending on the type, can cause toxicity, carcinogenicity as well as endocrine disruptors. In addition, depending on the type, some halogen compounds are known as environmental hazards that contribute to ozone layer depletion and global warming attribution. Halogen compounds are used as fire extinguishing agents and flame retardants, and due to their recognition as substances with health hazards and environmental hazards, physical hazards are often overlooked. However, depending on the type, some halogen compounds can pose hazards such as highly flammable gases or special flammable liquids. This study aims to distinguish the contrasting properties of halogen compounds, such as their flame retardant and fire extinguishing characteristics versus their flammability from an organic chemical structural perspective. The conclusions of this study will serve as foundational data for investigating the flammability risks of halogen compounds in fire investigations.

The rapid advancement of industrial processes has led to an increase in the use of complex hazardous materials with dual property-flammable and oxidizing-, yet comprehensive hazard assessment criteria remain underdeveloped. Unlike widely recognized contact hazards such as hypergolic materials that react readily upon mixing, the dual-property mixtures exhibit latent hazards, remaining stable under ambient or standard operating thermal conditions. However, this “reliability on stability” often becomes a primary cause of critical judgment errors in the process of fire scene analysis. When these mixtures, which are stable at room temperature, are exposed to threshold energy due to external fire sources or equipment system failures, the thermal decomposition of oxidizer initiates. At this point, the fire’s characteristics deviate from conventional combustible fires, entering a stage of dominant hazards where the oxidizer completely dictates the rate and intensity of combustion. While the current “Act on the Safety Control of Dangerous Substances” regulates materials with multiple properties by defining a hierarchy of dominant hazards, clear classification criteria or hazard determination guidelines remain absent for mixtures of flammable liquids and oxidizing substances. Consequently, existing hazard data and information collected from fire scenes are insufficient to explain the unique synergistic interactions of complex hazardous materials which constitutes a decisive obstacle to accurate fire cause analysis and investigation. Specifically, through step-by-step flammability and oxidizing property tests according to the UN GHS international standards and domestic “Act on the Safety Control of Dangerous Substances” regulations, this study aims to quantitatively verify the transition patterns of hazards depending on mixing conditions. Furthermore, this research will extract precise analytical data on s

Waste organic solvents are designated waste discharged after use at workplaces, and about 90% are generated by manufacturing, followed by sewage, waste treatment, raw material regeneration and environmental restoration, transportation, and professional, science, and technology services, and the generation and recycling rate of waste organic solvents are increasing every year. As a result, the number of fires and accidents at recycling companies for waste organic solvents is also increasing, and fires are occurring due to various causes such as carelessness (welding and cutting operations) and chemical factors (natural ignition, horn ignition, etc.). In addition, if a fire occurs, it may lead to a large fire accompanied by an explosion, and it is a great threat to the safety and health of citizens because it generates a large amount of harmful chemicals harmful to the human body. Therefore, this study was conducted to contribute to the prevention of fire and explosion accidents caused by waste oil solvents and to suggest ways to improve fire-related identification techniques and systems through the risk study and fire cases.

In this paper, two tests were performed using the commonly used HFIX(1.5SQ) cable for the purpose of analyzing the impact of a cable’s Cable Bend Radius and Turn on fire risk. In each test, 14A and 16A stationary electrical currents without a functioning molded case circuit breaker (MCCB) were applied respectively for 180 seconds, and then an infrared camera was used to verify the temperature characteristics and the ignition probability. The results of the tests showed that the Cable Bend Radius, within the scope of not causing physical damage to the copper wire or the cable sheath, did not have meaningful impact upon thermal accumulation. For the Turn however, there was a linear increase in the temperature of the cable even within the range of allowable current of the cable as the number of Turn increased, verifying the risk of fire from the cable sheath. Therefore, to minimize the risk of cable fires, the cable must be correctly used at all times and constant preventive actions through maintenance including regular inspection and repairs are needed.

연구목적: 본 연구에서는 두 물질의 혼합물(가연물+가연물)에서의 인화 위험성의 증가 또는 감소를 실 험적으로 확인하고, 혼합물의 위험성을 제시하는 목적이 있기에 액체 혼합물의 인화 위험성을 실험적으로 확인하였다. 연구방법: 인화점 실험방법 및 결과처리는 원유 및 석유 제품 인화점 시험 방법으로 사용되고 있는 테그밀폐식 시험방법인 KS M 2010-2008을 기준으로 실험하였다. 본 실험에 사용한 장비의 제조사는 일본의 TANAKA사에서 생산한 장비로 KS M 2010의 시험규 격을 만족하는 시험장비로 인화점을 측정하였고, 점화원으로는 LP가스를, 냉각수로는 물을 사용하였다. 또한 인화점 측정시 냉각수의 온도 는 약 2℃의 냉각수를 사용하여 실험을 진행하였다. 연구결과: 실험결과로는 먼저 가연성+가연성 혼합물의 경우 두 물질의 인화점 차이가 크 지 않으면 인화점의 변화가 거의 없었고, 두 물질의 인화점 차이가 낮으면 인화점이 높은 물질의 증가에 따라 인화점이 증가하는 경향을 보였 으나, 톨루엔과 메탄올의 경우, 혼합물에서 인화점이 낮은 물질보다 더 낮은 인화점을 보였다. 또한 도료용 희석제의 경우, 혼합물로 이루어 져서 그 물질의 인화점을 예상하기가 쉽지 않았지만 실험적으로 측정해 본 결과 -24℃~7℃사이로 측정되었다. 결론: 본 연구에서의 결과는 기존의 위험물안전관리법에서의 위험물 판정 기준에 대한 세부 내용의 실효성 확보 및 위험물 판정의 신뢰성 및 재현성 확보를 목적으로 인 화성 혼합물에 대한 실험적 연구를 통해서 혼합물에 대한 위험성 판단 기준을 제시하였고, 향후 소방현장에서 단속되는 인화성 액체 대한 실 험적 판정 기준에 대한 참고적인 자료를 제공할 수 있을 것이다. 또한 본 연구로 시험방법별 차이 실험에 대한 노하우를 축적한다면 위험물의 위험성 평가 연구에 있어 기초 자료이자 위험물 판정 관한 연구의 기반으로 활용될 수 있기를 기대한다.

Purpose: In this study, the risk of flammability of a liquid mixture was experimentally confirmed because the purpose of this study was to confirm the increase or decrease of the flammability risk in a mixture of two substances (combustible+combustible) and to present the risk of the mixture. Method: Flash point test method and result processing were tested based on KS M 2010-2008, a tag sealing test method used as a flash point test method for crude oil and petroleum products. The manufacturer of the equipment used in this experiment was Japan's TANAKA. The flash point was measured with a test equipment that satisfies the test standards of KS M 2010 with equipment produced by the company, and LP gas was used as the ignition source and water as the cooling water. In addition, when measuring the flash point, the temperature of the cooling water was tested using cooling water of about 2°C. Results: First of all, in the case of flammable + combustible mixtures, there was little change in flash point if the flash point difference between the two substances was not large, and if the flash point difference between the two substances was low, the flash point tended to increase as the number of substances with high flash point increased. However, in the case of toluene and methanol, the flash point of the mixture was lower than that of the material with a lower flash point. Also, in the case of a paint thinner, it was not easy to predict the flash point of the material because it was composed of a mixture, but as a result of experimental measurement, it was measured between -24℃ and 7℃. Conclusion: The results of this study are to determine the risk of mixtures through experimental studies on flammable mixtures for the purpose of securing the effectiveness of the details of the criteria for determining dangerous goods in the existing dangerous goods safety management method and securing the reliability and reproducibility of the determination of dangerous goods Criteria have been presented, and reference data on experimental criteria for flammable liquids that are regulated in firefighting sites can be provided. In addition, if this study accumulates know-how on differences in test methods, it is expected that it can be used as a basis for research on risk assessment of dangerous goods and as a basis for research on dangerous goods determination.

연구목적: 본 연구의 목적은 현재 대체연료로 사용하고 있는 바이오디젤과 일반디젤 혼합물의 위험성 을 장비별(태그방식과 펜스키마르텐 방식) 시험방식에 따른 인화점 및 연소점의(밀폐, 오픈) 차이를 비교 분석, 측정함으로서 혼합물의 위험성을 확인하고, 화학물질의 위험성 평가방법을 확립하여 화재원인 물질의 감식과 감정에 참고 자료로 활용하고자 함이다. 연구방법: 인화점 실험 방법 및 결과 처리는 원유 및 석유 제품 인화점 및 연소점 시험방법으로 사용되고 있는 테그밀폐 식 및 펜스키마텐스식 시험방법인 ASTM 및 KS M mode를 기준으로 실험하였다. 본 실험에 사용한 장비의 제조사는 일본의 TANAKA사에 서 생산한 장비로 KS M 2010의 시험규격을 만족하는 시험장비로 인화점 및 연소점을 측정하였고, 바이오디젤과 일반디젤 혼합물의 시험방 식에 따른 인화점(밀폐, 오픈) 차이를 확인하고, 바이오디젤과 일반디젤 혼합물의 발화점을 기존의 디젤과의 비교 발화위험성을 비교 분석 하였다. 연구결과: 실험결과를 살펴보면 먼저 혼합물의 인화 위험성에 대한 실험 결과 분석으로 인화점이 64.5℃인 일반 디젤을 기준으로 했 을 때 바이오디젤이 70% 함유된 물질의 인화점은 약 92℃로 확인되었고, 가솔린과 바이오디젤 또는 바이오디젤 혼합물을 합성했을 때 인화 점이 낮아지는 경향을 확인할 수 있었다. 아울러 인화점과 연소점의 차이는 약 20~30℃정도로 분석되었고, 소량의 가솔린 또는 메탄올의 혼 합시 인화점은 낮아지나, 연소점은 기존의 혼합물의 연소점과 유사하다는 것을 확인하였다. 결론: 본 연구에서는 기존의 위험물안전관리법 렬상의 위험물 판정 기준에 대한 세부내용의 실효성 확보 및 위험물 판정의 신뢰성 및 재현성 확보를 목적으로, 인화성 혼합물에 대한 실험적 연구를 통해서 혼합물에 대한 위험성 판단기준을 확인, 소방현장에서 단속되는 인화성 액체 대한 실험적 판정 기준에 대한 참고적인 자료를 제공할 수 있을 것이다. 또한 향후 본 연구로 시험방법별 실험에 대한 노하우를 축적한다면 위험물의 위험성 평가 연구에 있어 기초 자료이자 위험물 판정에 관한 연구의 기반으로 활용될 수 있기를 기대한다.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the dangers of biodiesel and general diesel mixtures currently used as alternative fuels by equipment (tag method and penski Marten method) and to determine the difference between flash point and combustion point (closed, open) according to test methods. It is intended to be used as a reference material for identification and evaluation of firecausing substances by confirming the risk of mixtures by comparative analysis and measurement, and establishing a risk assessment method for chemical substances. Method: Flash point test method and result treatment were tested based on ASTM and KS M mode, which are tag sealing and pen schematense test methods used as flash point and combustion point test methods for crude oil and petroleum products. The manufacturer of the equipment used in this experiment was a test equipment that satisfies the test standards of KS M 2010 with equipment produced by TANAKA of Japan. The flash point and combustion point were measured, and the flash point according to the test method of biodiesel and general diesel mixture ( Closed, open), and the ignition point of a mixture of biodiesel and general diesel was compared and analyzed for ignition risk compared with conventional diesel. Results: Looking at the experimental results, first, as an analysis of the risk of flammability of the mixture, the flash point of a substance containing 70% biodiesel was found to be about 92℃ based on general diesel with a flash point of 64.5℃, and gasoline and biodiesel or When the biodiesel mixture was synthesized, it was confirmed that the flash point tends to decrease. In addition, the difference between the flash point and the combustion point was analyzed as about 20 ~ 30℃, and when a small amount of gasoline or methanol was mixed, the flash point was lowered, but it was confirmed that the combustion point was similar to that of the existing mixture. Conclusion: In this study, in order to secure the effectiveness of the details of the criteria for judging dangerous materials in the existing Dangerous Materials Safety Management Act, and to secure the reliability and reproducibility of the judgment of dangerous materials, we confirm the criteria for judging the risk of the mixture through an experimental study on flammable mixtures. It will be able to provide reference data for experimental criteria for flammable liquids that are regulated in the field. In addition, if this study accumulates know-how on experiment by test method, it is expected that it can be used as a basis for research on risk assessment and research on dangerous goods.

연구목적: 현재 많은 화학물질들이 산업 및 실생활에서 사용하고 있고, 단일 물질의 상태로 사용하는 물 질도 많으나, 대부분 혼합물의 형태로 사용되고 있고, 이러한 물질들의 위험성을 판단하는 기준이 필요 한 실정이다. 연구방법: 따라서 본 연구에서는 기존의 “위험물안전관리법 위험물 판정 기준”에 대한 세 부내용의 실효성확보 및 위험물 판정의 신뢰성 및 재현성 확보를 목적으로 인화성 혼합물에 대한 실험 적연구를 통해서 혼합물에 대한 위험성 판단기준을 확인하고자 하였다. 연구결과: 실험결과를 살펴보 면 먼저 알코올류 인화점의 경우 비가연성 액체인 물과 혼합되었을 때. 알콜 기준으로 60%를 전후로 비 슷한 인화점 추이를 나타내었고, 또한 가연성-가연성 혼합물의 경우에 있어서는 두 물질의 인화점차이 가 크지 않으면 인화점의 변화가 거의 없었고, 두 물질의 인화점차이가 낮으면 인화점이 높은 물질의 증 가에 따라 인화점이 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 연구결과: 향후 본 실험결과는 소방현장에서 단속되는 인 화성 액체 대한 실험적 판정 기준에 대한 참고적인 자료를 제공할 수 있을 것이다.

Purpose: Currently, many chemicals are used in industrial and real life, and many substances are used in the form of a single substance, but most of them are used in the form of a mixture, and there is a need for a criterion for judging the danger of these substances. Method: Therefore, this study aims to confirm the risk criteria of the mixture through experimental studies on flammable mixtures in order to secure the effectiveness of the details of the existing Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act angerous Goods Judgment Criteria and to ensure the reliability and reproducibility of the dangerous goods judgment. Result: Experimental results show that alcohol flash point is mixed with water, which is a non-flammable liquid. Similar flash point trends occurred around 60% on an alcohol basis. In addition, in the case of flammable-combustible mixtures, there was little change in flash point if the flash point difference of the two materials was not large, and if the flash point difference of the two materials was low, the flash point tended to increase with the increase of the high flash point material. Conclusion: In the future, the test results may provide reference data on the experimental criteria for the flammable liquids that are cracked at the fire site.

This study assesses and compares flammable and unique chemicals in the pesticide, air freshener/deodorizer, tire polishes, hair sprays, sun blocks, anddeodorants. Solvents in the group of pesticide, air freshener/deodorizer, hair spray and deodorant were classified according to butane, propane, alkane(C11- C14), or ethyl alcohol. In specifically, phthalthrin and phenothrin were detected in pesticide product. Moreover, air freshener/deodorizer was mainly verified by masking effect and hair sprays,sunblocks, and deodorants was mainly found in scent of cosmetics. As results, it might be possible to classify the types of aerosol products based on chemical components found in these products. Therefore, this approach can be used for analysis of fire debris related to arson or explosion cases.

Upon direct/indirect exposure to flame or heat, composite structures may burn or thermally buckle. This issue becomes more important in the natural fiber-based composite structures with higher flammability and lower mechanical properties. The main goal of the present study was to obtain an optimal eco-friendly composite system with low flammability and high thermal buckling resistance. The studied composite consisted of polypropylene (PP) and short abaca fiber (AF) with eggshell powder (ESP) and halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) additives. An optimal base composite, consisting of 30 wt.% AF and 70 wt.% PP, abbreviated as OAP, was initially introduced based on burning rate (BR) and the Young's modulus determined by horizontal burning test (HBT) and tensile test, respectively. The effects of adding ESP to the base composite were then investigated with the same experimental tests. The results indicated that though the BR significantly decreased with the increase of ESP content up to 6 wt.%, it had a very destructive influence on the stiffness of the composite. To compensate for the damaging effect of ESP, small amount of HNT was used. The performance of OAP composite with 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT (OAPEH) was explored by conducting HBT, cone calorimeter test (CCT) and tensile test. The experimental results indicated a 9~23 % reduction in almost all flammability parameters such as heat release rate (HRR), total heat released (THR), maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), total smoke released (TSR), total smoke production (TSP), and mass loss (ML) during combustion. Furthermore, the combination of 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT reduced the stiffness of OAP to an insignificant amount by maximum 3%. Moreover, the char residue analysis revealed the distinct differences in the formation of char between AF/PP and AF/PP/ESP/HNT composites. Afterward, dilatometry test was carried out to examine the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of OAP and OAPEH samples. The obtained results showed that the CTE of OAPEH composite was about 18% less than that of OAP. Finally, a theoretical model was used based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to predict the critical bucking temperatures of the OAP and OAPEH composite plates. It was shown that in the absence of mechanical load, the critical buckling temperatures of OAPEH composite plates were higher than those of OAP composites, such that the difference between the buckling temperatures increased with the increase of thickness. On the contrary, the positive effect of CTE reduction on the buckling temperature decreased by raising the axial compressive mechanical load on the composite plates which can be assigned to the reduction of stiffness after the incorporation of ESP. The results of present study generally stated that a suitable combination of AF, PP, ESP, and HNT can result in a relatively optimal and environmentally friendly composite with proper flame and thermal buckling resistance with no significant decline in the stiffness.

Predicting lower flammability limits (LFL) of hydrogen has become an ever-important task for safety of nuclear industry. While numerous experimental studies have been conducted, LFL results applicable for the harsh environment are still lack of information. Our aim is to develop a calculated non-adiabatic flame temperature (CNAFT) model to better predict LFL of hydrogen mixtures in nuclear power plant. The developed model is unique for incorporating radiative heat loss during flame propagation using the CNAFT coefficient derived through previous studies of flame propagation. Our new model is more consistent with the experimental results for various mixtures compared to the previous model, which relied on calculated adiabatic flame temperature (CAFT) to predict the LFL without any consideration of heat loss. Limitation of the previous model could be explained clearly based on the CNAFT coefficient magnitude. The prediction accuracy for hydrogen mixtures at elevated initial temperatures and high helium content was improved substantially. The model reliability was confirmed for $H_2-air$ mixtures up to $300^{\circ}C$ and $H_2-air-He$ mixtures up to 50 vol % helium concentration. Therefore, the CNAFT model developed based on radiation heat loss is expected as the practical method for predicting LFL in hydrogen risk analysis.

The MELCOR code useful for a plant-specific hydrogen risk analysis has inevitable limitations in prediction of a turbulent flow of a hydrogen mixture. To investigate the accuracy of the hydrogen risk analysis by the MELCOR code, results for the turbulent gas behavior at pipe rupture accident were compared with CFX results which were verified by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) model. The postulated accident scenario was selected to be surge line failure induced by station blackout of an Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000). When the surge line failure occurred, the flow out of the surgeline was strongly turbulent, from which the MELCOR code predicted that a substantial amount of hydrogen could be released. Nevertheless, the results indicated nonflammable mixtures owing to the high steam concentration released before the failure. On the other hand, the CFX code solving the three-dimensional fluid dynamics by incorporating the turbulence closure model predicted that the flammable area continuously existed at the jet interface even in the rising hydrogen mixtures. In conclusion, this study confirmed that the MELCOR code, which has limitations in turbulence analysis, could underestimate the existence of local combustible gas at pipe rupture accident. This clear comparison between two codes can contribute to establishing a guideline for computational hydrogen risk analysis.

Natural fibers reinforced polymer composites are being used in several low strength applications. More research is going on to improve their mechanical and interface properties for structural applications. However, these composites have serious issues regarding flammability, which are not being focused broadly. A limited amount of literature has been published on the flame retardant techniques and flammability factor of natural fibers based polymer matrix composites. Therefore, it is needed to address the flammability properties of natural fibers based polymer composites to expand their application area. This paper summarizes some of the recent literature published on the subject of flammability and flame retardant methods applied to natural fibers reinforced polymer matrix composites. Different factors affecting the flammability, flame retardant solutions, mechanisms and characterization techniques have been discussed in detail.

The definition of children's sleepwear of exportation means; any product of wearing apparel such as nightgowns, pajamas, or similar or related items, such as robes, intended to be worn primarily for sleeping or activities related sleeping. Napped pro fleece after knitting is used in sleepwear for comfort and activity, Exported sleepwear in U.S. must be tested by US standard of flammability testing.(중략)

본 연구에서는 압출성형에서 Nylon6 를 기재로 멜라민계 난연제를 사용하여 난연성 및 물성평가를 비교, 분석하였다. 멜라민계 난연제를 선택한 이유는 탈할로겐화 추세에 일조를 하며 연기가 적고, 생분해를 하는 물질이기 때문에 큰 장점이 있다. 또한 새로운 제품 및 적용범위를 발굴하기가 상대적으로 용이하다는 장점이 있기 때문에 멜라민계 난연제를 선택하였다. 난연 Test는 UL-94 측정방법을 이용하였고 물성평가는 UTM 측정기기로 인장강도, 연신율, 굴곡강도, 굴곡탄성율 측정하였다. 또 충격강도 시험기로 충격강도를 측정하였고, 물성평가 경우에는 난연제로 인한 물성저하를 최소화 하기위해 Nano-clay 를 첨가하여 비교하였다. 연구결과는 난연 Test 경우 난연제의 함량이 $5wt\%$ 이상이면 V0급으로 나왔고 물성평가에서는 Nanoclay를 첨가한 실험이 물성저하를 대처할 수 있을 정도의 결과로 보여 진다.

Organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) has attracted much attention for fiber-reinforced polymer composites as a filler material due to high aspect ratio and low charge density. The present study focused on the fabrication of nanocomposites using Vinyl ester and Jute fabric as matrix and reinforcement respectively. The OMMT was uniformly dispersed in vinyl ester resin at 1, 2 and 3 wt%, loading through high speed mechanical stirrer at room temperature and further nanocomposites were manufactured through vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) technique. Effects of OMMT on the mechanical properties of vinyl ester/Jute composites were carefully investigated through tensile, bending and Izod impact tests, which revealed significant improvement in mechanical properties. The morphology of the nanocomposites after tensile test was investigated by SEM which affirmed that OMMT filled nanocomposites has improved interactions with the host matrix than the pure composites. Based on the nature and flame retardancy mechanism, the OMMT slightly improved the flammability property which was clearly explained by horizontal burning test.

The released hydrogen can be ignited even with weak ignition sources. This emphasizes the importance of the hydrogen flammability evaluation to prevent catastrophic failure in hydrogen related facilities including a nuclear power plant. Historically numerous attempts have been made to determine the flammability limit of hydrogen mixtures including several diluents. However, no analytical model has been developed to accurately predict the limit concentration for mixtures containing radiating gases. In this study, the effect of H₂O and CO₂ on flammability limit was investigated through a numerical simulation of lean limit hydrogen flames. The previous flammability limit model was improved based on the mechanistic investigation, with which the amount of indirect radiation heat loss could be estimated by the optically thin approximation. As a result, the sharp increase in limit concentration by H₂O could be explained by high thermal diffusivity and radiation rate. Despite the high radiation rate, however, CO₂ with the lower thermal diffusivity than the threshold cannot produce a noticeable increase in heat loss and ultimately limit concentration. We concluded that the proposed mechanistic analysis successfully explained the experimental results even including radiating gases. The accuracy of the improved model was verified through several flammability experiments for H₂-air-diluent.

The flammability limit and the flame instability of nitrogen-diluted LPG fuel was experimentally studied on a co-flow flame configuration. The combustion reaction of nitrogen-diluted hydrocarbon with air could be interpreted as the equivalent reaction of pure fuel with nitrogen-diluted air. Nitrogen-diluted LPG with nitrogen up to 90 % of nitrogen mole fraction in fuel, which is close to the flammability limit, could form a co-flow flame. Various parameters such as laminar or turbulent flame, the existence of diffusion flame with pure fuel, air temperature could affect the limit of flame formation.

Flammability limits of opposed flow diffusion flame in a narrow channel was investigated experimentally and theoretically. There were three different extinction modes corresponding to high strain rate (HSR), low strain rate (LSR) and dilution ratio (DR) limits. To investigate these limits, a theoretical study was followed by focusing on flow and heat transfer characteristics. Consequently, a dead space concept that has been used for premixed flames was important to reveal the heat loss mechanism in a narrow channel especially for LSR conditions even in the case of diffusion flames.

In this study we investigated the materials which locate in the subway station and train cars. We checked the flammability of the materials such as the signboard, newspaper, wide color film etc. We reported some kind of the data such as oxygen index, optical smoke density, surface flame spread speed for that materials. We hope this data will be help to decide the guideline for such materials.

New materials are being considered for insulator of railroad vehicles. Because people want more environmental material than glass fiber, there are certain needs of finding safe and economical insulating material. We checked the flammability of some kinds insulators such as PE foam, neoprene rubber foam. melamine foam and glass fiber. You could find out the characteristics such as oxygen index. optical smoke density, toxicity index of that insulators.