Investigating Kinetic and Thermodynamic Approaches to Predict Evaporation of Gasoline at Elevated Temperatures for Fire Debris Applications

• NCJ Number: 305866
• Author(s): Ruth Smith; Victoria L. McGuffin; Glen P. Jackson
• Date Published: 2022
• Length: 68 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2018-DU-BX-0225
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This paper describes the research design, methods, analytical and data analysis techniques along with the activities and outcomes of the four project goals relating to forensic fire debris analysis.  

Abstract

This paper reports on a project that sought to identify the chemical class of any ignitable liquid present in debris submitted from the scene of a suspicious fire. The four main sections of this paper provide information on the research design and methods, and results and findings; the sections are organized according to the four main goals of the project: refine and validate the kinetic-based model to accurately predict evaporation of volatile compounds in gasoline and to include temperature as a variable; refine and validate the thermodynamic-based model to accurately predict evaporation of gasoline; investigate the kinetic and thermodynamic approaches for accurate prediction of gasoline evaporation at temperatures up to 210 degrees Celsius; and demonstrate the application of the kinetic and thermodynamic approaches to identify gasoline at any evaporation level in fire debris samples.