[GSBN] Straw Bale House Fire [and CO2]

[RT]

Derek Roff <derek at unm.edu> wrote:


> [comments re: CO2] not applicable to the scenario that
> we have been discussing, of smoldering straw in a plastered SB wall.
[Captain CO2's explanation <snipped>]

I don't know nuttin' about nuttin' about CO2, liquid or otherwise and what  
its effect might be on smouldering straw.

In Captain CO2's army, I'd be Gomer Pyle.

But the thought did occur to me that while smouldering straw isn't  
desirable, charred straw may not necessarily be a Bad Thing once the  
smouldering has ceased.

In the days before poisoned wood treatments as a means of preserving wood  
against microbial attack/subsequent decay, one technique was to char the  
portion of the wooden post that would be going into the hostile  
environment.

Pull anyone off of the street and mention "Straw bale walls, Man!" to them  
and the second thing that is likely to come into their minds is potential  
straw rot as a result of moisture exposure.

Assuming that the smouldering straw needs oxygen for the process to  
continue (?) and that one would be able to detect that smouldering in the  
wall by sniff sensors (our schnozzes), visual sensors (our eyes) or  
temperature sensors (touch) then it should simply be a matter of finding  
the weaknesses in the air barrier that should have been sealed in the  
first place.

And once that has been done, the smouldering should self-extinguish and  
the fire will have served the beneficial purpose of identifying/remedying  
sloppy air barrier detailing and treating the straw to make it resistant  
to microbial attack ?

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  ChaffY a h o o  dot  C a >
(manually winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply)
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com