Fire risks associated with combine harvesters: Analysis of machinery critical points

Val Aguasca, Jesús P. ; Videgain Marco, María (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Martín Ramos, Pablo (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Vidal Cortés, Mariano (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Boné Garasa, Antonio (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; García Ramos, Francisco J. (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: Combine harvesters are an important cause of fires worldwide. The purpose of this work has been to investigate the critical points associated with the risk of fire, identified through a survey distributed to combine owners in Aragon (Spain). Information was collected on the technical characteristics of the machines and, when appropriate, on the characteristics of the generated fires (crop, use of straw chopper, point in which the fire was originated, etc.). Based on the survey data, relationships between the characteristics of the machine and the ignition of a fire were analyzed, and the points of the harvester in which the fire originated were investigated. A statistically significant relationship of fire risk was only found with the number of hectares harvested, in such a way that the risk would be especially high for machines with more than 6000 accumulated ha. 32% of the fires were originated in the engine zone, compared with 31% in the cutting bar and 18% in the bearings and belts. The study was completed with on-site temperature measurements carried out on nine machines in 2018 and 2019, in which temperatures above 250 °C were recorded in the exhaust manifold and in the cutting bar. These temperatures exceeded the ignition thresholds obtained in the flammability studies conducted for wheat residues collected from the harvesters

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/agronomy9120877

Año: 2019

Publicado en: Agronomy (Basel) 9, 12 (2019), 877 [13 pp.]
ISSN: 2073-4395

Factor impacto JCR: 2.603 (2019)

Categ. JCR: AGRONOMY rank: 18 / 91 = 0.198 (2019) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: PLANT SCIENCES rank: 65 / 234 = 0.278 (2019) - Q2 - T1

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.7 - Agronomy and Crop Science (Q1)

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Area Ingeniería Agroforestal (Dpto. CC.Agrar.y Medio Natural)
Área (Departamento): Área Ingeniería Mecánica (Dpto. Ingeniería Mecánica)
Área (Departamento): Área Expresión Gráfica en Ing. (Dpto. Ingeniería Diseño Fabri.)