Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Identification Of Ignitable Liquids In The Presence Of Pyrolysis Products: Generation Of A Pyrolysis Product Database, Joseph Castelbuono

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The fire debris analyst is often faced with the complex problem of identifying ignitable liquid residues in the presence of products produced from pyrolysis and incomplete combustion of common building and furnishing materials. The purpose of this research is to investigate a modified destructive distillation methodology provided by the Florida Bureau of Forensic Fire and Explosive Analysis to produce interfering product chromatographic patterns similar to those observed in fire debris case work. The volatile products generated during heating of substrate materials are extracted from the fire debris by passive headspace adsorption and subsequently analyzed by GC-MS. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) …