The effect of oxygen concentration on selected industrial products in the open controlled atmosphere cone calorimeter

Past research on the effect of oxygen concentration on the heat release rate and carbon monoxide yield has focused on materials in isolation and there is a lack of research that studies end-use products. This paper investigates the effect of oxygen concentration on the heat release rate per unit area (HRRPUA) and carbon monoxide yield for two different cables and a mineral oil used as an operating fluid for vacuum pumps. A standard cone calorimeter was used to conduct the tests at an ambient oxygen concentration of 21% and an open controlled atmosphere cone calorimeter (OCACC) was used for the tests conducted below 21%. The OCACC allows cone calorimeter tests to be run at different oxygen concentrations by attaching a chamber to the standard cone calorimeter. The effects of oxygen concentration on the HRRPUA and carbon monoxide yield for the cables were limited when there was flaming over the entire exposed surface area. For the mineral oil, there was a large decrease in the HRPPUA at a reduced oxygen concentration, but the carbon monoxide yield appeared to be unaffected.