One-Dimensional Model of Pyrolysis and Ignition of Medium Density Fiberboard Subjected to Transient Irradiation

Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product that is widely used in the interior design of buildings and in furniture because of its good performance, ease of use and cost efficiency. However, like all wood products, MDF poses a fire risk. While the literature contains a lot of studies for wood pyrolysis and burning, MDF has not been thoroughly investigated yet. In this work, we study the pyrolysis of MDF subjected to transient irradiation in the form of parabolic pulses. While the majority of studies in literature employ a constant heat flux, we use transient irradiation to obtain a more comprehensive case. A one dimensional model was set up in GPyro, a generalized pyrolysis code. The model uses heat and mass transfer and temperature dependent properties for each material. We use a kinetics scheme that includes drying and 4 competing reactions in which the four components of MDF (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and resin) decompose into char. For the surface temperature, the model predictions experiments show very good agreement with experimental measurements that were performed in an FPA (Fire Propagation Apparatus).