Interaction of a Liquid Aerosol with the Combustion Front of a Forest Combustible Material Under the Conditions of Countercurrent Air Flow

Experimental investigations on the characteristic times of suppression of the flame combustion and thermal decomposition of wastes of coniferous and deciduous forest trees under the action of a liquid aerosol have been performed. As forest combustible materials, birch leaves and a mixture of components of a forest ground cover (leaves, needles, twigs) were used. Three schemes of interaction of a water droplet flow with a forest combustible material in the process of its burning were considered: the first scheme in which a material is preliminary moistened by the water sprayed upstream of its combustion front, the second scheme in which a liquid aerosol is supplied directly to the combustion front, and the third combined scheme in which water is sprayed upstream of the combustion front and over it. The influence of a favoring and an adverse air flows on the termination of combustion of a model fire hotbed was investigated. The conditions of spraying of water over forest combustible materials, providing the suppression of their flame combustion and thermal decomposition, were determined.