NCJ Number
155419
Date Published
1992
Length
289 pages
Annotation
This doctoral thesis examined how examining the soot of a fire could possibly lead to determination of the combustion products or accelerants burned during the fire.
Abstract
Twenty liquid fuels (mostly petrol derivatives) and 10 plastic materials were burned for 1 hour under laboratory conditions. The soot produced was examined by physical and chemical analysis. Twelve samples of glass covered with soot were taken from actual fires, and five blind controls were submitted to the same analysis. Macroscopic and microscopic results were compared visually. Chemical content was explored by three chromatographic methods: pyrolysis-GC or PY-GC, GC(FID), and GC- MS. Analysis revealed the original identity of the soot samples with the discriminating power of the chemical methods higher than that of the physical ones, and the soot samples from plastic products more easily identified, especially by PY-GC. Parameters linked with the form or size of the aggregates could not be used for discrimination. Results from the analytic methods allowed the construction of a dichotomic table to be used for the analysis of soot samples coming from actual fires. numerous references, tables, graphs, and figures (Author abstract modified)