Thanks. Thats nice of you to say. Making these videos has really been a learning experience.. and there are always things i'd go back and change.. I appreciate the feedback!! Cheers, Matt.
Nice video. You may want to add the following: The pyrolysis gases are not directly consumed by the flame. they are broken down by the high heat into combustible gases (mainly methane0 which then burn to further fuel the fire.
Great video In the station nightclub fire, the place was filled with carbon monoxide and pyrolysis gas which caught fire quickly, right? Or was it just CO?
It's dependent on what is burning. If we are talking about wood then yes, in the early stages of the of wood being heated up moisture will be a major component of the smoke. However once the moisture has been removed the remainder will consist of more pyrolysis products. A simple example of this is a car doing a burnout. The tyres heat up from friction with the road and then begin to smoke. There is no flame so it is just pyrolysis products being emitted. If you do a quick youtube search you will see that the smoke is often white in colour 🙂
Yes you can (or at least almost all of it). It's called biochar. It is even sometimes made commercially by heating fuels to around 700 degrees Celsius in the absence of oxygen. I believe it can be used in a range of applications such as bio plastics etc. But essentially what is left is carbon and ashes (which are minerals and are not broken down by the process). Hope this answers your question 🙂
