Abstract
Substances liable to spontaneous combustion are those materials that, though not exposed to any particular source of heat or ignition source, still combust. This can occur
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When the oxidation of a sensitive material (e.g., phosphorus) by oxygen in the atmosphere reaches the material’s autoignition temperature.
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If oxidation takes place when catalyzed by moisture, as in the case of wet cotton, paper, or sodium.
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When autoignition temperatures are reached as a consequence of internal exothermic reactions like the polymerization of some drying oils.
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When autoignition temperatures are reached as substances like sewage and compost are decomposed by bacterial action.
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References
Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms,5th Edition; Parker, Sybil, ed.; McGraw-Hill: New York, 1994
Materials Handbook,14th Edition; Brady, George S., Clauser, Henry R. and Vaccari, John A.; McGraw-Hill: New York, 1997
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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Fox, M.A. (1999). Spontaneously Combustible Materials and Division 4.2. In: Glossary for the Worldwide Transportation of Dangerous Goods and Hazardous Materials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11890-0_71
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11890-0_71
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