Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Analytical data on NOx in the pyrolysis/combustion products of various materials have been available for some time. In this study, its generation is discussed, based on data obtained from the literature and the authors experiments. In these experiments, polyacrylonitrile fabric was burnt in: (a) a quartz tube, (b) an ASTM oxygen index test apparatus, (c) an ASTM (or Ohio State University) heat release rate apparatus, and (d) an ASTM full-scale room. The toxicity of NOx was comparable to or less than that of HCN. Since concentrations of NO, produced are normally much lower than those of HCN, NO, would be expected to be of minor in fire gas toxicity considerations.