Laboratory study on the suppression of smouldering peat wildfires: effects of flow rate and wetting agent

Santoso, Muhammad Agung; Cui, Wuquan; Amin, Hafiz M.F.; Christensen, Eirik G.; Nugroho, Yulianto Sulistyo; Rein, Guillermo

doi:10.1071/wf20117

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Fig. 16a shows that successful suppression with water spray and injection agree with the critical suppression threshold found in Santoso et al (2021) from laboratory experiments. The rainfall events that were unsuccessful in suppressing peat fires were below the critical threshold of flow rate and duration of suppression, confirming that the rainfall intensity and duration were too low and too short respectively.…”

supporting

confidence: 74%

“…The exact suppression duration was then estimated by time since water delivery was started to the time when temperature recorded by in-depth thermocouple (located as in Fig. 8 for P1N, P2N, and P3N; and as in Fig A6 in the Supplementary Appendix for P1S and P3S) decreased below 50°C, which was chosen as a conservative extinction threshold previously used to avoid reignition (Santoso et al 2021). After the suppression, all the surveyed points recorded temperatures below 50°C.…”

Section: Suppressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the microscale, in the order of milligram samples, the fundamental chemistry of smouldering peat has been identified, revealing exothermic and endothermic reactions (Chen et al 2011;Huang and Rein 2014). At the mesoscale, in the order of gram to kilogram samples, the studies are on the dynamics of peat fire such as the critical ignition limits based on moisture content (MC) and inorganic content (IC) (Frandsen 1987(Frandsen , 1997Rein et al 2008), horizontal and in-depth spread (Huang et al 2016;Prat-Guitart et al 2016a, 2016bChristensen et al 2020), gaseous emission (Hu et al 2019), and suppression (Ramadhan et al 2017;Lin et al 2020;Santoso et al 2021). Currently, the maximum characteristic length of laboratory mesoscale studies in the literature is 40 cm (Benscoter et al 2011;Huang and Rein 2019;Christensen et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GAMBUT field experiment of peatland wildfires in Sumatra: from ignition to spread and suppression

Santoso

Christensen

Amin

et al. 2022

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Peat wildfires can burn over large areas of peatland, releasing ancient carbon and toxic gases into the atmosphere over prolonged periods. These emissions cause haze episodes of pollution and accelerate climate change. Peat wildfires are characterised by smouldering -the flameless, most persistent type of combustion. Mitigation strategies are needed in arctic, boreal, and tropical areas but are hindered by incomplete scientific understanding of smouldering. Here, we present GAMBUT, the largest and longest to-date field experiment of peat wildfires, conducted in a degraded peatland of Sumatra. Temperature, emission and spread of peat fire were continuously measured over 4-10 days and nights, and three major rainfalls. Measurements of temperature in the soil provide field experimental evidence of lethal fire severity to the biological system of the peat up to 30 cm depth. We report that the temperature of the deep smouldering is ~13% hotter than shallow layer during daytime. During night-time, both deep and shallow smouldering had the same level of temperature. The experiment was terminated by suppression with water. Comparison of rainfall with suppression confirms the existence of a critical water column height below which extinction is not possible. GAMBUT provides a unique understanding of peat wildfires at field conditions that can contribute to mitigation strategies.

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supporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Suppressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GAMBUT field experiment of peatland wildfires in Sumatra: from ignition to spread and suppression

Santoso

Christensen

Amin

et al. 2022

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…Likewise, wildfires in Greenland in July 2017 and July 2019 confirm that a local source of BC deposition on the Greenland Ice Sheet is possible (Evangeliou et al, 2019). Wildfire PM 2.5 emissions are local sources of air pollution for urban and rural communities across the Arctic (Mölders and Kramm, 2018;Schmale et al, 2018), often peaking in summer months.…”

Section: Biogeography Of Future Firesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Reviews and syntheses: Arctic fire regimes and emissions in the 21st century

et al. 2021

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Abstract. In recent years, the pan-Arctic region has experienced increasingly extreme fire seasons. Fires in the northern high latitudes are driven by current and future climate change, lightning, fuel conditions, and human activity. In this context, conceptualizing and parameterizing current and future Arctic fire regimes will be important for fire and land management as well as understanding current and predicting future fire emissions. The objectives of this review were driven by policy questions identified by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Working Group and posed to its Expert Group on Short-Lived Climate Forcers. This review synthesizes current understanding of the changing Arctic and boreal fire regimes, particularly as fire activity and its response to future climate change in the pan-Arctic have consequences for Arctic Council states aiming to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the north. The conclusions from our synthesis are the following. (1) Current and future Arctic fires, and the adjacent boreal region, are driven by natural (i.e. lightning) and human-caused ignition sources, including fires caused by timber and energy extraction, prescribed burning for landscape management, and tourism activities. Little is published in the scientific literature about cultural burning by Indigenous populations across the pan-Arctic, and questions remain on the source of ignitions above 70∘ N in Arctic Russia. (2) Climate change is expected to make Arctic fires more likely by increasing the likelihood of extreme fire weather, increased lightning activity, and drier vegetative and ground fuel conditions. (3) To some extent, shifting agricultural land use and forest transitions from forest–steppe to steppe, tundra to taiga, and coniferous to deciduous in a warmer climate may increase and decrease open biomass burning, depending on land use in addition to climate-driven biome shifts. However, at the country and landscape scales, these relationships are not well established. (4) Current black carbon and PM2.5 emissions from wildfires above 50 and 65∘ N are larger than emissions from the anthropogenic sectors of residential combustion, transportation, and flaring. Wildfire emissions have increased from 2010 to 2020, particularly above 60∘ N, with 56 % of black carbon emissions above 65∘ N in 2020 attributed to open biomass burning – indicating how extreme the 2020 wildfire season was and how severe future Arctic wildfire seasons can potentially be. (5) What works in the boreal zones to prevent and fight wildfires may not work in the Arctic. Fire management will need to adapt to a changing climate, economic development, the Indigenous and local communities, and fragile northern ecosystems, including permafrost and peatlands. (6) Factors contributing to the uncertainty of predicting and quantifying future Arctic fire regimes include underestimation of Arctic fires by satellite systems, lack of agreement between Earth observations and official statistics, and still needed refinements of location, conditions, and previous fire return intervals on peat and permafrost landscapes. This review highlights that much research is needed in order to understand the local and regional impacts of the changing Arctic fire regime on emissions and the global climate, ecosystems, and pan-Arctic communities.

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“…Once ignited, they are particularly difficult to extinguish and can persist for long periods of time (months, years), spreading deep into the ground and over extensive areas. Recent studies have quantified the maximum soil moisture content that allows smouldering spread for different types of [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], the conditions for water suppression [ 37 , 38 ] and the creation of firebreaks [ 23 ]. For most peatland megafire, firefighting with water is very challenging because of the large amounts of water needed.…”

Section: Large Peat Firesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smouldering wildfires in peatlands, forests and the arctic: Challenges and perspectives

Rein

Huang

2021

Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health

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Wildfires can be divided into two types, flaming or smouldering, depending on the dominant combustion processes. Both types are present in most wildfires, and despite being fundamentally different in chemical and physical terms, one transitions to the other. Traditionally, science has focused on flames, while smouldering is often misinterpreted. But smouldering wildfires are emerging as a global concern because they cause extensive air pollution, emit very large amounts of carbon, are difficult to detect and suppress, and could accelerate climate change. Central to the topic are smouldering peat fires that lead to the largest fires on Earth. Smouldering also dominates the residual burning after flames have died out and firebrand ignition. Finally, smouldering is an important part of Arctic wildfires, which are increasing in frequency. Here, we present a scientific overview of smouldering wildfires, the associated environmental and health issues, including climate change, and the challenges in prevention and mitigation.

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Laboratory study on the suppression of smouldering peat wildfires: effects of flow rate and wetting agent

Cited by 16 publications

References 47 publications

GAMBUT field experiment of peatland wildfires in Sumatra: from ignition to spread and suppression

GAMBUT field experiment of peatland wildfires in Sumatra: from ignition to spread and suppression

Reviews and syntheses: Arctic fire regimes and emissions in the 21st century

Smouldering wildfires in peatlands, forests and the arctic: Challenges and perspectives

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