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Pyrolysis Products

Definition

Hydrocarbons released when synthetic substrates (polyurethane foam, carpet, vinyl flooring) burn or smoulder. They overlap the petroleum range and are the main interference in fire-debris analysis.

Related terms

ASTM E1387 / E1618
ASTM standards for ignitable-liquid residue analysis. E1387 was the older colour-coded scheme; E1618 (current) defines the modern eight-class system based on GC-MS...
Extracted Ion Profile (EIP)
A GC-MS chromatographic display plotting only ions of a specified m/z value against retention time, effectively filtering out all compounds that do...
Ignitable Liquid
In fire debris analysis, any flammable liquid that could serve as an accelerant. E1618 classifies ignitable liquids into eight categories based on...
Passive Headspace Charcoal-Strip Extraction
ASTM E1412 method. Fire debris is sealed in an unlined metal can with a suspended activated-charcoal strip, heated to 60 to 80...
Petroleum Fractions
Crude-oil distillation cuts ordered by boiling range: light (C4 to C9, pentane, hexane, naphtha), medium (C8 to C12, mineral spirits, kerosene), heavy...
SPME
Solid-phase microextraction. A polymer-coated fused-silica fibre (typically PDMS or PDMS-DVB) is exposed to vial headspace, then thermally desorbed in the GC injector....
Weathering
Loss of lighter components from an ignitable liquid by evaporation during and after the fire. Weathered gasoline loses C4 to C7 first;...

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