HEAT RELEASE RATE AND EFFECTIVE HEAT OF COMBUSTION MEASUREMENTS - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THERMAL AND OXYGEN-CONSUMPTION TECHNIQUES

A new calorimeter especially built for the measurement of the heat rel ease rate and effective heat of combustion of composite materials is p resented. Two procedures can be used to obtain these data: the first o ne is based on the direct measurement of the convective and radiant he at liberated by the flame, the second involves oxygen consumption meas urement. Preliminary experiments were carried out with a gas burner to calibrate and check the inertia of the thermal method. In a second st ep, measurements were performed on PMMA and PVC samples. The results o btained with both methods are very similar and in agreement with liter ature values.