Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

For some years there have been new trends in the design of portable domestic heaters and a number of new appliances have appeared utilising the catalytic burning of liquefied petroleum gases with air. The appliances are portable and the gas container is either carried within the case of the heater or the catalytic bed assembly is attached to the container itself. The fuel is fed to the catalytic bed where it reacts with oxygen diffusing from the atmosphere. The hot combustion products rise with the entrained air thus supplying convective heat. There is also some radiant heat emitted from the surface of the bed which operates at a black heat temperature. There is no British Standard, applicable to such heaters as yet. Although many safety aspects of catalytic heaters are similar to those associated with portable gas and paraffin fire heaters, nevertheless liquid petroleum fuel and its catalytic combustion presents new specific hazards. This Note contains a specification of tests for portable catalytic heaters as regards their fire hazard, together with some appropriate constructional requirements, mainly based on work carried out at the Building Research Establishment, Fire Research Station.