Pyrolysis of materials in the event of fire

In fire situations, the materials present are subjected to very severe conditions of temperature or irradiance (abusively referred to as heat flux). These phenomena take place in hot, oxygen-depleted atmospheres such as smoke or the interior of the flame, or in the air. In reaction, combustible materials degrade, producing combustible gaseous species that fuel the flames. In the event of fire, this is pyrolysis.

From a fundamental point of view, the devolatilization process of a polymer material, or more generally, the thermal decomposition of a material, is a complex heterogeneous phenomenon consisting of numerous simultaneous and consecutive partial chemical reactions. This leads to irreversible physical and chemical changes in the material as a function of temperature. The reactions are often very numerous, sometimes several hundred, and the very local composition...