Investigation on the fire hazard characteristics of ethanol–water mixture and Chinese liquor by a cone calorimeter

In this study, a series of ethanol–water mixture and Chinese liquor combustion experiments were conducted using an ISO5660-1 cone calorimeter and an automatic flash point tester. The main purpose was to obtain key fire parameter data, including the burning duration, mass loss rate, mass loss rate per unit area, heat release rate per unit area, CO and CO2 volume fraction, CO2/CO ratio and closed-cup flash point. At the same time, the experimental differences between Chinese liquor and ethanol–water mixture were analyzed. Also, the fire risk classification was discussed based on the code of GB 50016-2014. When the ethanol volume fraction of Chinese liquor is greater than 34.8 vol%, the fire risk is the most dangerous level, Class I. While the critical ethanol volume fraction of ethanol–water mixture is 38.9 vol%, it needs to pay more attention to the fire safety of Chinese liquor storage and usage when the ethanol volume fraction is generally from 30 to 65 vol%.