A heated tube furnace test for the emission of acid gas from PVC wire coating materials: effects of experimental procedures and mechanistic considerations

Abstract This work has investigated the mechanism of the reactions involved in the thermal breakdown of PVC wire coating materials and their effect on the conditions under which a test for measuring acid gas emission in a fire should be carried out. Simultaneous thermal analytical procedures were used to model the combustion reactions. The efficiencies of the calcium carbonate, used as a filler, in retaining acid gas, were calculated both from thermal analysis data and from tube furnace data. This allowed some of the deficiencies of the test procedure to be singled out. It has been found that the most important parameters which need to be controlled include: the temperature, the extent of soot formation and the humidity.

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