To improve our understanding of flaming, smoldering, or self-extinction in the burning of wood, it is necessary to quantify the conditions that lead to self-extinguished and self-sustained smoldering combustion. Experiments were performed in a cone calorimeter under an external irradiation of 10 to 25 kW/m² to analyze the temperature and mass loss of self-extinguished and self-sustained smoldering. The smoldering front depth was the significant parameter used to capture the smoldering characteristic, and it was defined as the axial thickness that reaches the smoldering characteristic temperature. The critical smoldering front depth of self-extinguished smoldering was lower than 10–15 mm for 30 mm thick wood at 15.5 kW/m² irradiation. This critical depth decreased with the increase in heat flux, from 26.5 ± 1.5 mm at 10 kW/m² to 11 ± 1 mm at 25 kW/m². A simple theoretical analysis is proposed to explain the smoldering thickness threshold of self-sustained smoldering propagation based on the local heat balance. The equation predicts that the critical depth decreases as the heat flux increases, from 23.9 mm at 8 kW/m² to 7.3 mm at 25 kW/m². The predicted critical depth and heating duration were consistent with the experimental results. This study proposes a feasible parameter to help understand the threshold of smoldering propagation and the development of biomass burners.

Background: Ignition of natural fuels by hot porous particles originating from electrical faults and firebrands is a major cause of wildfire initiation and spread. Methods: This study investigated the ignition behavior of pine needles with a moisture content of 13% induced by a hot hollow steel particle. Particle effective energy was varied by adjusting the void ratio (0–0.85), while particle temperature (700–1100°C) and diameter (8–16 mm) were independently controlled under a constant ambient wind speed of 2 m/s. Key results and conclusions: Three distinct phenomena were observed, namely direct flaming ignition, smoldering-to-flaming (StF) transition and no ignition. The results reveal that the controlling parameter for ignition depends on the ignition pathway. The overall critical ignition temperature is governed by particle effective energy, which determines the ability of the particle to sustain smoldering within the fuel bed. In contrast, direct flaming ignition is primarily controlled by particle temperature and size. Although hollow particles exhibit critical temperatures for direct flaming ignition comparable with solid particles, their reduced effective energy suppresses self-sustained smoldering, thereby increasing the overall critical ignition temperature. Implications: This study improves the understanding of the interaction between hot porous particles and natural fuels during wildfire initiation.