Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

The Mackey test has been considered from the point of view of its suitability as a general method for assessing the spontaneous heating and ignition hazards of materials which are subject to atmospheric oxidation. An experimental study has shown that there is an optimum packing density for self-heating in specimens of oiled fibre in the Mackey tester. The Mackey test can be used to show whether spontaneous heating can occur in a given material, and it may give an indication of the possibility of spontaneous ignition under practical conditions. But, if the test is to be used for classification of materials in order of their liability to spontaneous ignition, it may be necessary to determine the optimum test conditions for each material. Further experimental work is required to show if this, extension of the test is praoticable.