Abstract
An investigation of thermal decomposition of wood and its component cellulose and lignin is described, in which the action of some chemicals on decomposition was investigated by means of gaschromatographic analysis and elementary analysis. A remarkable point of this work is whether there is a difference or not when the chemicals was used as a fire-retardant or as a fire-extinguishing agent of wood fires: in which the former had penetrated into materials before decomposition, whereas the later had done after or then at least. And another point is consideration of chemical action on gasgenerating, which is very important for flaming wood.
The result showed the larger effect in such a case that the materials penetrated into as a fluid, which was a fused chemicals or a generated one by thermal decomposition at the adequate temperature. In the point that the chemicals used for fire-extinguishing agent of wood fire is necessary to penetrate into, it is different from one used for fire-retardant.
The author express his approval to the opinion that the action of penetrated chemicals into wood is a action of hydrogen ion or the like having in them, for example, hydrogen chloride from ammonium chloride, ammonium bisulfate from ammonium sulfate, metaphosphoric acid from ammonium biphosphate, and cyanuric acid from urea.
